Paintings by leading Macchiaiolo artist Telemaco Signorini are set against works by his top European contemporaries in a new exhibition in this northern Italian city. Over 100 paintings are on display, examining Signorini's output in the context of work by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The exhibition aims to compare Signorini with the most famous painters from northern Europe, gradually drawing out similar themes, ideas and acquaintances. 'Signorini and Painting in Europe' includes a string of the artist's most famous works and spotlights the success he enjoyed during his lifetime. He was one of the only member of the Macchiaioli movement to attract an early international following, which is partly the result of his numerous visits to France and Britain and the time he spent with his many British acquaintances in Florence. The exhibition is divided into 12 sections, starting with his early years in Italy's Realist movement and then moving on to look at his first forays with the movement. The next section focuses on the involvement of the Macchiaioli in the Risorgimento and related conflict. The central sections of the exhibition compare Signorini's work to artists from across Europe, looking at experimental light and colour techniques, a renewed passion for Realism, interiors, the move outdoors celebrating the countryside and, finally, cityscapes. For example, Signorini's paintings of intimate, interior rooms are reflected in works by Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, while his numerous depictions of Italian, French and British streets are contrasted with those of James Tissot, who spent years in Paris and London.

The final four sections spotlight Signorini's time in different Italian locations, before wrapping up with his later fascination with the human form. Signorini (1835-1901) was the son of an artist and was exhibiting his work publicly by the age of 20, the same year he met other key Tuscan artists who would later form the Macchiaioli movement. Forerunners of the Impressionists, they painted outdoors to capture natural light and colour. Like their younger French cousins, they broke with the conventional rigidity of the traditional art world by using dabs of colour to try to capture a spontaneous moment in time and the painter's emotional reaction to it. Although Signorini remained closely tied to Tuscany throughout his life, he travelled abroad often and is well-known for his paintings of Scotland. In addition to his art, Signorini is best remembered as the voice of the Macchiaioli, helping shape their direction through his writing. The Padua exhibition is on show at Palazzo Zabarella until January 31.