The painting depicts a female figure caught during a pause beside a fish stall, direct, realist approach conveying the subject’s popular character with immediacy.

Composition built on dark tones and focused light, enhancing facial expression and the figure’s tangible presence, bringing out the scene’s narrative quality.

Genoese painter active between the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th, Montanella is chiefly remembered for still lifes and scenes of everyday life, with particular preference for subjects tied to the maritime and working-class world of his city, fishermen, fishmongers, and women mending nets.

Canvas dimensions: width 71.5 cm, height 101 cm
(28 1/8 in.; 39 3/4 in.)