FILIPPO PALIZZI Vasto, 1818 - Naples, 1899 Landscape with young peasant girl and animals Signed F Palizzi and dated 1854 lower right Oil on canvas, 29X36 cm Provenance: Rome, private collection He was a leading exponent of the Posillipo School, but was also able to develop an entirely personal artistic language, distinguishing himself in the reproduction of natural environments and rural animals with meticulous realism. Like his brothers, he showed a marked aptitude for painting from an early age, so much so that in 1837 he obtained a prize from the municipality of Vasto that allowed him to join his brother Giuseppe, already an established painter, in Naples. Initially, he seemed to want to take up history painting and, in Bonolis' school, he began to study the nude. However, after winning a prize at the Academy of Fine Arts for the most beautiful drawing of cows, he decided to devote himself entirely to the depiction of animals, becoming a master in the genre. He soon established himself as the main protagonist of the innovative ferment that characterised Neapolitan painting in the second half of the 19th century. In addition to his artistic activity, Palizzi played a fundamental role in the renewal of academic teaching, promoting the importance of studying from life and direct contact with nature.