The Dance of the Hours

The Dance of the Hours, painted in 1890 and held by the Fondazione Cariplo's art collections in Milan, represents Previati at the pivotal moment of his stylistic transformation from academic realism toward the Symbolist-Divisionist manner that would define his mature career. The Hours — divinities of time, seasons, and the day's progression — were a subject from classical mythology that offered painters freedom to depict female figures in rhythmic movement within a luminous outdoor setting. For Previati in 1890, such a mythological subject became an opportunity to explore light as the primary expressive medium, anticipating the luminism that would characterize his subsequent decade's work. The year 1890 saw Previati developing the technique that would cause the scandal and eventual triumph of his Maternità the following year. The Dance of the Hours as a theme is associated with the passage of time and the beauty of transience — themes central to the Symbolist sensibility Previati was absorbing.

The 1890 date places this work at the edge of Previati's Divisionist conversion, and the technique likely shows his developing interest in breaking light and color into component elements without yet adopting the full filamentary Divisionist method of his mature works. Figures in rhythmic movement gave him opportunity to experiment with how color and light could convey motion and atmospheric immersion.