Eugenio Cecconi's Rural and Hunting Scenes at Forte dei Marmi

This summer 2025, Forte Leopoldo I in Forte dei Marmi hosts a retrospective of Eugenio Cecconi (Livorno 1842 – Florence 1903), featuring 51 works that blend Macchiaioli and naturalist styles. Cecconi, a law graduate turned painter, studied under Diego Martelli among the Macchiaioli in Castiglioncello, focusing on plein air painting. A trip to Tunisia in July 1875 inspired orientalist works, but his primary subject remained the Tuscan countryside, where he spent long periods hunting. The exhibition's seven sections highlight his depictions of peasant life, hunting, and fishing across Maremma, Lake Massaciuccoli, and the Burano lagoon. Women are central, portrayed as dignified laborers and modern Ceres and Demeter. Hunting scenes evoke a lost rural society, with references to Eugenio Niccolini's "Giornate di Caccia." Cecconi's style combines luminous macchia with anti-rhetorical naturalism, creating fairy-tale-like landscapes.