Explore the Description and style of this artwork.
Considered a symbol of the 20th century, artistically and socially, The Fourth Estate depicts a workers' strike. The divisionist style is used to depict the strikers walking casually towards the light, with their shadows behind them. The painting represents the full development of this theme from Pellizza's preparatory studies. The composition of the painting is balanced in its shapes and vibrant in its light, giving force to the mass movement it depicts.
The painting's laborers march in a piazza, presumably Piazza Malaspina in Volpedo. The procession's advance is not violent, but slow and sure, to suggest their inevitable victory. It was Pellizza's intention to give life to "a mass of people, of laborers of the earth who, intelligent, strong, robust, and united, advance like a river that floods each obstacle in its way to reassume a place of equilibrium.": 7  While Pellizza first wished only to draw a street demonstration, as had been represented in other works of the time (such as La Piazza Caricamento a Genova by Nomellini and The Orator of the Strike by Longoni), in later versions his intent changed to celebrating the imposition of the working classes, the "Fourth Estate," on the bourgeoisie class.In the foreground of the image, there are three definite subjects: two men and a woman with a baby in her arms. The woman, whom Pellizza modeled on his wife Teresa, has bare feet and invites the demonstrators to follow her with an eloquent gesture. The folds of her dress show forward movement. To her right is probably the main protagonist of the scene: a "man of 35, fiery and intelligent, a laborer" (as Pelliza described him).: 391  He has one hand in his pants pocket and the other carries a jacket thrown over his shoulder; he proceeds with ease and strength. To his right is another man who advances mute and pensive, with a jacket falling over his left shoulder.The other protestors take up around a fifth of the painting's frontal plane. They all display natural gestures: some carry babies in their arms, others use their hands to block the sun from their eyes, and some simply look straight ahead. Their figures are spread out horizontally, following a paratactic composition. On the one hand, this compositional solution recalls classical friezes. On the other, it evokes the realistic scene of a street demonstration. As described by art critic Maresa Sottile, through this combination, Pellizza "harmoniously joined the values of ancient classical civility to the modern consciousness of one's own civil rights." Pellizza married the demonstration to images reminiscent of Renaissance artworks, which directly inspired him through the expressiveness of figures in masterpieces like The School of Athens by Raphael and The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.The painting is in the divisionist style, which was popular in early 20th century Italy. The style, similar to the earlier pointillism, uses the juxtaposition of individual points of color to create new chromatic experiences, rather than mixing paints before they reach the canvas. It was believed that this led to the most natural depiction of light possible, through the scientific application of color. Art critic de Puppo also believes that the use of unmixed colors to generate the entire painting's palette has affinity with its theme of "organized masses of people.": 142
The School of Athens Longoni Raphael Leonardo da Vinci Fourth Estate Nomellini The Last Supper bourgeoisie pointillism frieze 20th century divisionist Volpedo strike working class paratactic the working class