Drummers

As I walked along the harbour promenade this evening, at Santa Margarita di Liguria, andĀ  enjoying stracciatella gelato (those who know me know I eat no other), I came upon these two enterprising boys who had turned buoys into drums and were busking in the park. Such creativity one just can’t pass by. They were elated at the coins that were quickly appearing in their dish. I was certainly happy to add to their college funds. I suspect they’ll appear on many a Facebook page. If they keep this up through the high tourist season, they may be driving Ferraris by the end of the year.

Port of the Dolphins

This is the classic view of Portofino, the picturesque little tourist trap on the Ligurian Coast of Italy. The theory is–having come down to us from the Roman author Pliny the Elder,who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, when it also destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum–that the city was originally known as Portus Delphini because of the prominence of those playful cetaceans in its azure waters in ancient times. The dolphins, alas, have been replaced by the streamlined yachts of the super-rich.

Just Married

I took this picture in the village of Barolo today. A pair of newlyweds came from their wedding on a scooter, dragging tin cans behind and a ‘Just Married’ sign on the back, the bride lovely in her gown. Only Italians could pull this off with this kind of style.

Barolo Vines

In the Barolo wine area of north Italy, a variety of grape called Nebbiolo is grown and made into many very fine wines. Spent a few hours there today, tasting and looking out over the rolling hills of vines, which are just now showing some new green growth.

Terrific Tapestries

There is a great tapestry hall in the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella near Stresa, Italy. There are six enormous works, called the Unicorn Collection because they feature the unicorns in many scenes. The animal appears on the coat of arms of the family and represents its virtue. These extraordinary textiles were made by Flemish tapestry artists from Brussels in the mid-16th century. The tapestries are allegorical. They often show leopards, which were known by their Latin name, panthera. Pan-thera means ‘to take everything’ and was understood as a allegory of Christ by medieval theologians. Leopards went after nasty animals, like dragons. This one seems to be eyeing a lizard on the right, growling at him lest he think of bothering the little panther nursing and just visible beneath the mother’s body.

Antonio’s Ladies

The Italian Neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova (1857-1922) did many sculptures in his career, but in no subject did he excel more than in the reclining female nude. He did a few of them, perhaps even this one in the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella. If you live in the United States you can see one –Reclining Naiad–in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Like this one, the woman’s bottom is put on especially pert display. The MOMA nude lies on a panther’s pelt, adding an extra erotic charge, if you’re into that sort of thing. If you live in the UK, you’ll find another at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and if you’re friends with royalty you can find yet another in Buckingham Palace. Say hi to Liz for me, will you? That one’s being serenaded by a cupid with a harp. In Rome you can find Canova’s famous semi-nude of Pauline Borghese, in, logically enough, the Palazzo Borghese Museum. In the same place you can see the sculpture that inspired Canova, a sleepingĀ  Hermaphrodite from the Hellenistic period, around the second century BCE. If you want to thank him you can go to Venice and visit his monumental tomb in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, which locals simply call, thankfully, the Frari.

Light Reading

Today, while touring the Palazzo Borromeo, on the Isola Bella near Stresa, Italy (see posts below), I took a picture of the spines of some old books in the library. One was entitled ‘Statues Antique and Modern’, though I couldn’t pull it out just to see how ‘modern’ modern got. I felt sad that hundreds of volumes sat on shelves, wired shut so tourists wouldn’t filch them. An unread book is a sad thing, but I suppose, in time, reading also destroys books. The one to the left of the statues book had lost the finish on its leather; more loved but more worn as well.

Proud Peacock

On the Isola Bella, a small island in north Italy’s Lago Maggiore, is the Palazzo Borromeo and its gardens. In the gardens live a small colony of white peacocks. Today, the boys were trying to impress the girls, who were completely uninterested. But the fellows never gave up, tracking the hens with their outstretched fans, like a big radar dish trying to send a signal. At least the many tourists trying to take their pictures must have bolstered their egos.

Fool the Eye

In the Palazzo Borromeo, on the Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore, near Stresa, Italy (see post below), there is a marvelous circular table with the top done in mosaic. There are around 9000 glass mosaic pieces–called tesserae–that compose a basket brimming with fresh spring flowers. Apparently it took 8 years to complete, by the early 19th century Roman micro-mosaicist Domenico Molgia.

Snowy Stresa

I just came from sunny and relatively warm southern Italy yesterday. It was a bit of a shock to find temperatures in the low 40s Fahrenheit in Stresa. The morning, though cold, was beautiful. This is a view from the roof of the Hotel Palma, with the new snow on the mountains beyond and the Isola Bella floating in Lago Maggiore.

Lecce Lighting

The Apulian town of Lecce is a wonderful place. It’s sometimes called ‘the Florence of the south’, but it really has its own character, incomparable to any other place. At night, when the city’s cathedral square is lit, as here, it seems otherworldly, like an enormous and ambitious stage set. You almost think opera singers will appear. Instead, kids are learning to ride their bicycles and everyone is out for their evening walk. Such a lovely sight.

Icon of Italy

One of Italy’s enduring icons has to be the bicycle. There was never invented a more elegant and efficient mode of locomotion. Even a crappy old junker, leaning against a wall in Lecce, seems proud of its classic design. I’m almost always on the move, traveling virtually all the year, and one of the main things I miss about a more sedentary life is the pleasure of riding my bike.

Original Chocolate of Modica

When the Spanish came upon the ‘New World’–new to them anyway–the processing of cocoa and chocolate was one of the things they learned from the native peoples. The Maya made chocolate where the cocoa was not heated, and thus sugars stayed crystalline and crunchy. The Spaniards brought the original recipe from the New World to Europe, but in later centuries attempts to smooth the texture led to heating and eventually the introduction of milk. These later European processes of heating the cocoa also changed the complex aromas and tastes of the cocoa. The Spanish had introduced the original process to many of its colonies, including Sicily, and while everywhere else they lost the original method, in the little southeastern Sicilian town of Modica they continue to this day making chocolate in the original Mayan cold process way. There’s a wonderful chocolate store in Lecce, Italy, that has these wonderful ‘Chocolate of Modica’ bars. I got a plain dark chocolate one, one with sea salt, and one with almonds. Oh boy.

Living Lazarus

This mosaic panel is in the early 6th century CE church of Sant’Apollinaire Nuovo in Ravenna (see post below). In the upper parts of the walls, above the clerestory, are panels depicting scenes from the life of Christ. Here is the story of the Raising of Lazarus, told in spare efficiency: Christ on the right just raises his hand and Lazarus, in his sepulcher and still in his burial winding cloth, opens his eyes, alive once again.

Bearing Gifts

This procession of female saints can be found in the church of Sant’Apollinaire Nuovo in Ravenna (early 6th century CE). On the opposite wall, a complementary parade of male saints also bears gifts for Christ. For saints there are superbly dressed, with crowns and elegant clothing. Behind them are palm trees, the palm branch being symbolic of the martyrdom that they suffered. Their names float above them in black lettering. At the procession’s end they are joined by the Three Magi, also bearing gifts to the infant Christ.