Born into a wealthy family in Florence in 1835, Telemaco Signorini is often described as fundamental to the development of the Macchiaioli. In 1855, Signorini began to frequent the Caffe Michelangelo in Florence, where he met Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega and other artists who together were to form this group of artists who, much like the Impressionists, looked to work outside, en plein air.

Signorini was a fierce patriot and after volunteering to fight in the Second Italian War of Independence, he painted military scenes which he exhibited in the early 1860s. In 1861 he traveled to Paris where he met and became friends with a group of Italian ex patriot artists including Giusep...