In the middle of the 19th century, in the midst of the Risorgimento conflict, Florence is a freeminded meeting point for artists and intellectuals of the entire Apennine Peninsula. One of their favorite gathering places was Caffè Michelangelo, the stage of many interesting artistic debates, fruitful cultural exchanges between artists from rather different areas of the country (still politically and geographically disparate). The bar is often defined as the birthplace of the macchiaiola, a group of young artists who have led to numerous innovations in an already outdated academic tradition. Telemaco Signorini and Diego Martelli are considered to be the founders and theorists of the group. Among the most important representatives of the movement are Giovanni Fattori and Silvestro Lega. In the process of growth and emancipation of landscape painting, outdoor painting is becoming a widespread practice. For the emergence and the beginnings of the group's activities, the role of French contacts is fundamental, among which the activity of the Barbizon School is extremely important. Visits by Vito D'Ancona, Serafin de Tivoli and other Italian artists to Paris, as well as French artists (such as Manet) to the Tuscan city, are also considered as crucial ones. Macchiaioli believe that the basis of any artistic expression should be "truthfulness". They pay great attention to transmitting the feeling of light on the canvas, which is perceived through modulations of colors and shadows, emphasizing the fact that the eye only captures colors, without erased lines. They depict topics mainly from everyday life of the common man and convey chronicles from the wars of independence, ommitting celebratory accents on the presented topics.