Bagnante

The protagonist of this painting is a young woman taking a dip in the sea and painted from behind. She is knee-deep into the water and the waves follow one another in front of her. Her silhouette is dressed in a white bathing suit that goes down to cover her thighs. Her shoulders and arms are pointing downwards with her hands distant from the rest of her body. Her auburn hair is tied in a bun. The woman’s head is also pointing downwards, her gaze directed at the water on her left leaving her cheek visible to the viewer. The light is coming from the right side of the painting creating a gradual chiaroscuro on the figure. The marine environment is made up of a small portion of the sandy shore on which the weaves are breaking. The cerulean sky is homogenous without any colour variation differently from the sea, which progressively goes from the white foam of the waves to the blue-green reflections of the water up to the bright blue of the horizon. (Alessandra Durante)