I tre fratelli

The three brothers are two tall men, one on horseback, with a youth between them. Their bodies are marked by a rough power, as they stand out against a stormy sky. The language is summary but always structured so as to highlight the anatomical construction of the bodies. The light from the sky strikes – violently, one is tempted to say – the arms of the man on the left, the body of the youth and the horse’s head. The painting, dated 1933, is from Sironi’s highest, most singular creative period between the two wars.