Segantini 07: Ritorno all'ovile – Rückkehr zum Schafstall, 1888

Sheep in Savognin

At the time of Segantini, every family still has its own sheep. The meat contributes to the diet, the wool is processed into clothes. The archipelago of sheep is women's work. The wool is spun, dyed and knitted into sweaters, socks and gloves for the whole family.

From the middle of the 20th century, sheep are bred for higher meat production. The value of the wool, on the other hand, decreases, it is partially burned. Today, the archipelago costs more than the wool yields. In Savognin, four farms still keep sheep for meat production.

Segantini and the animals

Giovanni Segantini addresses the deep and intimate connection between humans and animals, as well as interdependence. In the diary entry of January 1891 he writes: «I want people to love the good animals, namely those from whom they receive milk, meat, fur, and that is why I painted 'the two mothers' [...] and the good horse before the plough [...]. Everywhere I have depicted the good animals with eyes full of gentleness; they who give everything to man: their strength, their young, their flesh, their skin, and are beaten and mistreated by the people."