oil on canvas, 37×31 cm
signed and dated lower right P. Cónti 1920
The deformations to which the avant-garde had subjected the human figure, during the "return to order" period, take on the character of psychological observations in Conti, which the artist first explores within himself, before bringing them outward. An example of this is Head of a Cross-Eyed Peasant Woman, which aspires to regain composure in vision, slightly widened in the shape of the eyes.
The bowing of the head and the lowering of the eyes express, on the other hand, a trait of sullen melancholy, typical of Conti's shy nature, particularly receptive to the subdued moods of this historical moment, in which he can also reflect on the ancient artistic concept that attributes to melancholy the power to elaborate creation.
