Study for the large painting “Tærskning i Abruzzerne. Cività d'Antino” (Threshing in the Abruzzo. Cività d'Antino") at The National Gallery of Denmark (Inv. No. KMS1434). With a few exceptions, the work here is almost identical to the painting at The National Gallery, and must therefore be one of the very last studies before the final painting.

Civita d'Antino is a small town in the Abruzzo approx. 100 km east of Rome. Through the ages, the city attracted many Danish artists. The climate in the mountains was more pleasant than in the big city of Rome. Kristian Zahrtmann went there for the first time in 1877. From 1883 he lived with the Cerroni family, whose house is located by the city wall with the city gate through the house.

Here other Danish artists came to visit him. In 1890 P. S. Krøyer and Marie went there on their honeymoon. They arrived in Civita d'Antino in June and Krøyer portrayed Zahrtmann and painted several scenes of everyday life in the picturesque village and in the vicinity. Krøyer as well as other artists were fascinated by the light and the beautiful Italian women in their colourful costumes busy with their daily chores and the hard-working harvest workers in their white shirts and straw hats.