The Return from the Woods – Giovanni Segantini

The woman is heading toward the village; it is not far, yet the fatigue is already being felt, and the short distance will not be covered quickly. We cannot see her face, she has her back to us, but we can imagine that with every tug to set the sled in motion there corresponds a grimace of effort on her face.

All around there is only silence; perhaps one can hear an occasional gust of wind. It is a place isolated from the noises of the city; it is very cold outside, and one must return home as soon as possible. When night falls, temperatures will drop rapidly. The landscape is snow-covered, the background filled with mountains; the church tower acts as a beacon for orientation, and the track carved into the ground down to the earth marks the road back home