In the context of this artwork, explore the 1895–1898: La Fiumana of the History.
Pellizza, before painting The Fourth Estate, decided in August 1895 to create a preliminary study in oil. This version, titled La Fiumana ("The River of Humanity"), represented a break from the previous drafts of Ambasciatori della Fame. Compared to them, there are many more people in the crowd and the painting is physically much larger.: 145 
Pellizza also used a different range of color in La Fiumana than in earlier versions. This time, he played with "contrasts of yellow and red, with the dominant ones in the earthy, sulfuric figures and the tones of blue to green in the background, where the sky is of a more intense, stronger azure blue and the green of plants is reflected on the ground.": 357 : 42,47  The result is a much darker palette, compared to the light tones in Ambasciatori.: 145 The shadow in the front of the earlier versions is no longer present, and the crowd is placed further forward and emphasized with a lower viewpoint. Likewise, the architectural elements have been reduced or removed.: 145  The pleading figure at right has been replaced by woman holding a baby in her arms; she stands slightly behind the other two workers and represents the inclusion of women as deserving of workers' rights.: 146 Thanks to the various drawings, preparatory studies, and photographs of the models in pose,: 177  Pellizza was able to draft the definitive version of Fiumana in July 1895. The variants multiplied: the countryside underwent changes, while the line of figures in the back was made thinner or set further back, permitting the insertion of more figures. Pellizza's goal was to restore the vitality of a people that were no longer "a natural death, but a living, palpable mass, full of humble hopes or dark menace."Pellizza tried to give Fiumana a universal scope, exemplified in a poem he wrote on the margin of the canvas:
Fourth Estate