Verismo (meaning "realism", from Italian ''vero'', meaning "true") was a 19th-century Italian painting style, or group of styles, related to the contemporary movements using the same name in

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...

and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. It may reflect either or both "realist", unglamorous, subject matter, or a style of usually rather loose brushwork, anticipating later painting. Though the term originated in the 1860s to describe painting, it became more widely used to describe literature and opera, where it mostly meant

social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

, showing the lives of poor people in an un-romanticised way, especially (in literature) in backward

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. In painting the Italian ''verismo'' movement was part of a wider European trend of Realism (often called "Naturalism" in some countries), and practiced most characteristically by the "

Macchiaioli The Macchiaioli () were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century. They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order ...

" group of painters, who emerged in the 1850s and can be considered forerunners of the French

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

. Contemporary art historians often try to distinguish the different elements by calling the choice of mundane, social realist, subject matter "realism", and the relaxed, even loose, technique "naturalism". The term " verism" may sometimes be used in English,"Verism"
Tate glossary but this more often refers to the "warts and all" realism of some Ancient Roman portrait sculpture, or to a very precise finish in 20th-century painting, approaching

photorealism Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can b ...

References

Italian art movements {{italy-art-stub