Giovanni Segantini
Giovanni Segantini was an Italian-born painter known for his large pastoral landscapes of the Alps. He was one of the most famous artists in Europe in the late 19th century, and his paintings were collected by major museums. In later life he combined a Divisionist painting style with Symbolist images of nature. He was active in Switzerland for most of his life. Segantini painted The Punishment of Lust in 1891. It was an early entry in a thematic series on "cattive madri" (bad mothers) that he produced between 1891 and 1896. Segantini was inspired by Nirvana, a poem written by Luigi Illica, one of Puccini's librettists in imitation of the Indian text Panghiavahli. Illica's poem contained the phrase 'la Mala Madre' (the bad or wicked mother with an echo similar to 'la mala femmina' or prostitute) to describe those women who refused the responsibilities of motherhood.Segantini came from a country shaped by catholicism. Although in his private life he never conformed to catholic doctrine, for example he refused to marry his partner and mother of his four children, his work was strongly influenced by religious ideas. What may have attracted Segantini to religion may have been the hope for a life after death. The souls of the women are depicted floating against a snowy background based on the Swiss Alps where Segantini spent much of his life. The grandeur and spirituality of the Alps must have been a constant inspiration to Segantini whose last words before he died are recorded to have been: "I want to see my mountains". Segantini had lost his mother when he was seven years old and was probably passionate to represent the trauma of the mother for the loss of her child. Fun fact - the painting was purchased by the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool in 1893, but before it was exhibited it was retitled The Punishment of Luxury (Luxury being an archaic translation of the Italian lussuria) as the mention of "Lust" was thought to be too challenging for a Victorian public.
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