Being social committed the painter Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo made some sketches during 1880 representing a demonstration against the bread price increase.

From this sketches he painted his masterpiece, “Quarto Stato”, that was finished after ten years. Infact he was obsessed with the studies of this painting.Different names were given to the paint. Only at the end the artist choose the title “Quarto Stato” in order to identify the working class as the one during the French Revolution.

A charcoal portrait of the central character of his masterpiece is shown at the Civic Art Gallery of Alessandria.We are proud to be allowed to use this drawing as part of our labels: the farmer represented expresses our cultural and social heritage.