 At the National Exposition in Florence in 1861, Abbati was awarded a medal for his interior views—but refused to accept it, as a gesture of protest against the composition of the jury.Subsequently, he became attracted to the practice of painting landscapes "en plein air".His activity as a painter was interrupted during 1866 when he enlisted again in the army for the Third Independence War, during which he was captured by the Austrians and held in Croatia.