This painting is a good example of the Biedermeier style, which developed in Germanic Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century. Ideologically opposed to academic and religious subjects, Biedermeier painters were typically concerned with everyday subject-matter, in particular portraiture and landscapes populated by rustic figures. These were painted in a detailed, naturalistic style characterised by a clear palette and high degree of finish.

Italian Peasants in the Campagna seemingly belongs to the second wave of the Biedermeier movement, during which painting became less formal and more sentimental. The peaceful landscape scene with rustic Italian peasant children is indicative of the revived interest in nature, characteristic of nineteenth century art, and the new taste for anecdotal genre paintings. While it is not possible to definitively attribute the painting, it is similar in style and subject to the works of Julius Köckert (1827-1918), Julius Schrader (1815-1900) and in particular, to that of Friedrich Dürck (1809-1884). Munich-based Dürck worked initially as a portrait painter but later specialised in such sentimental genre scenes of childhood.