The Dinner Guest

Eugenio Zampighi painted happy scenes of Italian peasant family life. Grandparents, parents and children gather in simple rustic kitchens, laughing, playing music, feeding a baby or teasing the cat. The pictures are warm, bright and affectionate, full of detail of pots, baskets and plain furniture. He was born in Modena and studied at the academy there, then in Rome and Florence, where he settled in 1884. He began with historical subjects but soon found his lasting theme in rural genre scenes. He used photographs of models in peasant dress to plan his compositions. His cheerful pictures were popular with foreign visitors to Italy, and he painted them for decades. A Happy Family and A Child’s First Step show his style. Look at the faces, each with its own expression, and the lived-in rooms.