Self-portrait at the easel

Self-Portrait at the Easel, painted in 1894 and held at the Centro Matteucci in Viareggio, depicts Fattori in his seventies still actively painting — a statement of professional identity and continued commitment at an age when many contemporaries had ceased to work. Self-portraits of artists at the easel belong to a long tradition of professional self-assertion, but Fattori's version is notable for its lack of grandeur: he depicts himself as a working painter, canvas and brushes present, no emblems of honour or achievement. By 1894 he was the last major survivor of the Macchiaioli movement, and the image of the old painter at his easel carries an elegiac undertone alongside its professional directness.

Fattori renders himself with the same unsparing observation he brought to other subjects — no flattery, no idealism. The face is the central passage of careful modelling, while the working context of easel and canvas is described more broadly. Warm, studio light governs the palette. The composition is simple and dignified.