I’ve been following the Italian Blog written by Serena for quite a while now. It’s a super blog. It regularly has articles that are very useful for anybody learning or trying to improve their command of the Italian language.

Recently Serena posted the poem I Pastori (The Shepherds) by Gabriele d’Annunzio (born in Pescara) and provided an English translation.

This is special for me because not only is it the first time I’ve come across a translation of a poem by d’Annunzio, it is also a poem about the traditional way of life in Abruzzo and reflects the transumanza (migration of sheep).

I’ve had a chance to visit d’Annunzio’s birth place in Pescara which is now a museum Casa Natale di Gabriele d’Annunzio. It was one of the rare occasions I’ve ever been close to a Brioni suit!

I’m delighted to have been given permission to reproduce the article so I’m going to stop writing shortly and hand you over to Serena, Gabriele d’Annunzio and the shepherds of Abruzzo.

If you’d like to read the original post you’ll find it here, I Pastori di Gabriele d’Annunzio. Note also that you can follow the Italian Blog on Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe via an RSS Feed or by email.

What follows is the article in full…

Yesterday it rained and rained all day and all night. This morning there is a new freshness in the air, and with it the feeling that the summer is drawing to an end. The seasonal change reminds me of a poem by Gabriele d’Annunzio entitled I Pastori (The Shepherds).

Gabriele d’Annunzio was born in Pescara (Abruzzi) in 1863. He was a poet, novelist, journalist, play writer, patriot, trend setter, and much more. He had many nicknames, amongst which was l’Imaginifico (The Creator of Imagery) due to his particular writing style which mixed together lesser known words such as verga instead of the more common bastone = stick, with words from dialect such as avellano instead of nocciolo = hazelnut. He twisted and created new words (such as erbal from erba = grass), and made use of numerous similes.

In this poem d’Annuzio (who by the time that he wrote it had moved to the north of Italy where he died in 1938) describes, with a sense of nostalgia, the seasonal migration of the Abruzzesi shepherds from the summer Alpine meadows down to the winter pastures on the coast of the Adriatic sea. I Pastori was published in 1903 in Alcyone, a collection of verses written between 1899 and 1903.

 

 

I Pastori

Settembre, andiamo. È tempo di migrare.

Ora in terra d’Abruzzi i miei pastori

lascian gli stazzi e vanno verso il mare:

scendono all’Adriatico selvaggio

che verde è come i pascoli dei monti.

Han bevuto profondamente ai fonti

alpestri, che sapor d’acqua natia

rimanga ne’ cuori esuli a conforto

che lungo illuda la lor sete in via.

Rinnovato hanno verga d’avellano.

E vanno pel tratturo antico al piano,

quasi per un erbal fiume silente

su le vestigia degli antichi padri.

O voce di colui che primamente

conosce il tremolar della marina!

Ora lungh’esso il litoral cammina

la greggia. Senza mutamento è l’aria.

Il sole imbionda sì la viva lana

che quasi dalla sabbia non divaria.

Isciacquio, calpestio, dolci rumori.

Ah perché non son io co’ miei pastori?

 

 

The Shepherds

September, let’s go. It’s time to migrate.

Now in the land of Abruzzi my shepherds

leave the folds and go towards the sea:

they go down to the wild Adriatic

that is green like mountain pastures.

They’ve drunk deeply from the Alpine fonts,

so that taste of their native water

may stay in their exiled hearts for comfort

to deceive their thirst along the way.

They’ve renewed their hazelnut sticks.

And they go along the ancient bridleway,

that is almost like a silent grassy river

in the traces of the ancient ancestors.

Oh voice of the one who first

discerns the shimmering of the sea!

Now along this coast moves the flock.

Without movement is the air.

The sun bleaches the living wool so that

it almost blends into the sand.

Swishing, stamping, sweet sounds.

Ah why am I not with my shepherds?

Post from: About Abruzzo

The Shepherds by Gabriele d’Annunzio Featuring Serena

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I’ve been asked a few times which of the fifteen photos was responsible for my sudden fame.

This is it.

Surprised?

It’s always interesting to see which photograph of a collection stands out and appeals most.

I’m not sure I’d have selected it as the best of the fifteen but the judges have a set of criteria and I’m just thrilled that any of my photos appealed.

For 3^rd place I received a beautiful medallion, a glass plaque with my name engraved, a book by a local photographer whose work I admire and €100.

The €100 will go into the camera upgrade fund. I’ve still a good way to go there.

I was hoping I’d be able to show you the five winning photos selected by the judges but so far that hasn’t worked out.

If I manage to get hold of them and get permission I’ll post them for you all to see.

So for now you’ll have to make do with the image that makes me smile every time I see it.

Post from: About Abruzzo

A Little bit of Trumpet Blowing

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That was the first photograph of Abruzzo I’d ever sold. “Sold” might be too strong a word as it was really a form of barter, but I certainly did gain by giving him the print. Months later, visiting A in Poole, I saw the photograph in all its 30” x 20” glory, framed beautifully, quietly beckoning the onlooker to drop everything and take a flight to Pescara.

It was a proud moment.

But that wasn’t the first piece of encouragement I’d received. P has always encouraged me to sell prints of my photographs. We’d wander around a photographer’s studio and she’d say that some of my photographs were at least as good if not better than what was on display.

But I did nothing.

I made excuses to myself trying to justify why I hadn’t started the ball rolling. I was too busy in work, I had other projects I had to finish, I hadn’t found a suitable way of displaying my creations – the list goes on. P kept encouraging and I kept finding excuses.

Fast forward…

I met Nora (and John) of Enchanting Italy in Dublin earlier this week. Nora is a regular reader and commenter on this blog and when I realised we were both based in Dublin, I got in touch and we met and had some damn fine cappuccinos. As we chatted Nora mentioned that she loved her copy of the Abruzzo Charity calendar and particularly loved seeing “The Dancing Olive Trees” every day during February. She also asked if I’d considered selling my photos.

Sometimes you just have to take the hint!

So over the last couple of days I looked at various ways I could open my About Abruzzo photography shop and I’ve chosen a company called Photobox to help me out. I also did some jiggery-pokery (very technical stuff) to this website and now, as a sub-menu under THE SHOP, you have PHOTOGRAPHS ON PHOTOBOX which will take you to my current selection of photos.

Over time I’ll add more and try to pull them into themed collections, but for now I’m feeling pretty good about the images I’ve chosen.

The collection Abruzzo – Out and About includes the “The Dancing Olive Trees” and also “La Campagna”, the photograph that made its way from Abruzzo to Dorset. In Abruzzo – Dogs and Tomatoes you have a pair of very relaxed dogs and a handful of very tasty tomatoes!

If you like what you see and want to buy a print, Photobox will guide you through the process. You can chose matt or gloss (don’t know why but I’ve always preferred matt) and select from sizes that are in keeping with the original width to height ratio of the image. Look out for the Print Options button as you order as it allows you to check if any part of the image will be lost due to the size selected.

By the way, if you are looking though posts or the full photo album of all the photos I’ve posted since this blog started and see a photo that you like but that isn’t currently for sale, let me know and I do my best to make it available. Usually the only reason I might not make it available is if the resolution of the original photo is too low to support enlargement.

That’s it – browse away, we’re open for business!

Post from: About Abruzzo

Open All Hours – After Much Encouragement

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This small village to the east of L’Aquila has two superb churches: the church of S Maria Assunta (11^th – 12^th cent.) which is certainly one of the most elegant in Abruzzo, and the oratory of S. Pellegrino (1263) with its wonderful frescoes. The castle is also worth a visit.

That’s all it says, nothing else. That entry is in the Medieval Abruzzo section of a chapter on Art and Architecture.

I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised as the guide tries to cover a lot in less than 100 pages and not many places get more than a few lines.

But Bominaco deserves a lot more than that. I thnk it is one of the most important places to visit in Abruzzo. It checks all the boxes except perhaps proximity to the Adriatic. Its high up at around 970m, with great views of the surrounding countryside (those pesky Abruzzo views again!), it has a ruined castle that you can walk up to and explore, it has walking trails down to the town of Caporciano and Navelli, it has two churches and one of these churches has the most exquisite frescoes I have ever seen.

We had a picnic on the grass within the walls of the castle ruins. We ate while looking out at wonderful scenery. We saw birds of prey circling below us, searching for lunch in plains below. The sun was shining; the clouds were scurrying and casting shadows in their wake. But taking all this into account if I was asked why you should visit Bominaco I’d have no hesitation in saying “the frescoes in the Oratorio of San Pellegrino”.

Those of you who read my last post on Capestrano (AQ) might now understand why I was so pleased (after the fact) that we didn’t visit a church there.  I have a limited capacity for churches and church art but to have missed the frescoes in the Oratorio of San Pellegrino, and not to be of a mind to study them, would have been a sin.

We left Capestrano and headed to Bominaco, via Caporciano (Bominaco is part of the comune of Caporciano). We parked outside the oratory and phoned the key holder. The churches are usually locked but there’s a notice indicating a number to call if you want to go inside. You’ll be expected to make a contribution to the upkeep of the churches and I think that’s only fair. The key holder doesn’t just open and close the doors. She’s your guide and she takes time to go through the history and the art of the churches and to help you understand the significance of the frescoes in the lives of the congregation.

We phoned and agreed a time that allowed us to go explore the castle and have our packed lunch before seeing the churches.

I’ve visited a few castles in Abruzzo and it’s usual to have a steady trickle of visitors. In the case of Rocca Calascio that steady trickle is probably a steady stream. But we spent a good hour and a half enjoying our picnic, in the ruins of this 13^th century castle and the only sign of other humans was the odd car moving slowly on the roads below. We had it to ourselves. It was so peaceful you couldn’t help but relax.

Although it’s mostly a ruin, the 15^th century watch tower built by the Fioravanti Counts of Forfona, still looks in good shape. For the rest of castle, you’ll need to engage your imagination to try to see what it would have looked like in its prime.

At the appointed hour we made our way down the narrow track to meet the gatekeeper! (Forgive the phrase but I’m feeling a tad medieval.) It was time to see the inside of the churches. We first went into the Oratorio of San Pellegrino. On entering I just started grinning. I looked around at the frescoes and was stunned by how well preserved they were. Granted they were significantly faded on one wall but they were so clear and sharp everywhere else.  They tell the story of the childhood of Christ, the Passion, the Final Judgment and the life of Saint Pellegrino. But that’s not all. Along with these scenes there are also references to a yearly calendar and what looks like the zodiac. We were all surprised to see references to such a non-Christian discipline as astrology in a place of Catholic worship but we were assured that the monks were students of natural sciences and that included the positions of heavenly objects, we’re talking astronomy not astrology.

According to tradition, the church was founded by Charlemagne who, while in Abruzzo , had dreamt that a pilgrim had begged him to complete a church in honour of San Pellegrino.

After a while our guide (the key holder) commented that I had been grinning broadly ever since I came into the church. She was right. There was so much to see in such a small building. I asked if I could take a photo and she indicated that unfortunately it wasn’t normally allowed. I said I understood and once again said how marvellous the frescoes were.  Then out of the blue I was given permission to take one photo of each wall. I took that to mean four photos, so I size them up, looked for the best vantage points, waited to be the last one in the church, and quickly took four photos. I hope you like them.

I know that a great amount of church art is intended to depict important scenes from the lives of saints but this is the first time I’ve ever felt as though I was looking at the equivalent of a book for those who cannot read. Since only the monks and some nobles were likely to be educated it dawned on me how important frescoes and other form of religious paintings were in the lives of the faithful. A bit of a “duh” moment perhaps.

Next we had a look at the Abbey of Santa Maria Assunta. This is a bigger more solid looking building and I’ve read it has a similar structure to San Liberatore a Majella in Serramonacesca (PE).  The Abbey is a fine example of Romanesque architecture with the inside divided into three aisles by seven arches. Tradition says it was founded in 1001 by Odorisius, son of Bernardo di Valva. It also has frescoes but they are not as striking as those in the oratory.

After examining the abbey we wandered around the grounds again taking in the outside of the impressive buildings. We gave our contribution to the upkeep of the churches and went on our merry way home.

I hope you get a chance to visit.

One of the photographs from this trip appears in my Abruzzo 2011 Calendar in aid of the Italian Red Cross. Click here to preview the calendar, find out more and order your copy.

Post from: About Abruzzo

Bominaco (AQ) – A Castle, Two Churches and Some Magnificent Frescoes

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Atri is blessed with the magnificent Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta containing the frescoes of Andrea de Litio, the panoramic views of the Adriatic and the surrounding countryside and the calanchi. Add to that plenty of places to stop and have un cafè or un gelato, the market every Monday and a perfect location that puts the sea and the mountains in easy reach – Atri is well worth repeat visits.

We were back again in August and we were treated to a particularly special visit. P and I were being shown around Atri by friend of ours who lives in Dublin but is originally from Atri. M was back visiting his family and friends and very kindly took time to meet us and show us around.

I’ve visited and written about Atri before. When we have friends or family with us who are new to Abruzzo, visiting Atri is always high up on the list of things to do. But this time we were on our own, being shown around by an expert who was able to share with us his local knowledge.

If there was one unfortunate element to our visit it was that the day was overcast and visibility wasn’t that good. That meant that the stunning views you can often get from Atri would have to wait for another day.

But that didn’t stop us from seeing the calanchi. These are erosion furrows that are typical of the area. Here comes a bit of geology – they are caused by a combination of rainfall, the softness of the clay and the odd landslide. I took a picture of a house on a ridge outside Atri with the characteristic calanchi falling away below. It looked a bit precarious to me.

M told us about the ancient names of the town (Adria, Atria, Hadria, or Hatria) and the close connection between these ancient names and the Adriatic. Although it’s very possible that the Adriatic got its name from Atri there is a debate. The town Adria, in Veneto also claims this distinction. But I bet the honour should go to Atri.

As we wandered around the town visiting the 14^th century Acquaviva Palace, the 12^th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta with its many frescoes, M told us about some of the specialities of Atri.

Pan Ducale comes from a recipe dating back to 1352 based on eggs, sugar, flour and almonds. It has a few variations and my sweet tooth gets drawn to the Pan Ducale Prestige as it is filled with chocolate cream and a cocktail of liquors.

The other foodie product from Atri is liquorice. Now I’m not really a fan of liquorice but I really liked what I tasted in Atri. Perhaps I’ve only ever tasted a poor imitation before. I also tried a liquor based on liquorice and I really liked it. I came across a reference to the calanchi also being called Concio della Liquirizia referring to them as being a source of the liquorice plant.

Moving back into history we discovered that the family of Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus AD 76 – 138) came from Atri. This is the Emperor who ordered that a wall be built in Northern England back in AD 122 to protect Roman territory from its unruly neighbours.

M had one more surprise for us. We were invited to his parent’s home in Atri for lunch. This was a real treat. I always feel it’s an honour to be invited into anyone’s home for a meal and I was thrilled at the prospect of tasting traditional foods from the Teramo province.

We met M’s, mother, father and brother and had a wonderful lunch. A mixture of Italian and English was spoken at the table as we enjoyed several dishes based on local produce. Everything was fantastic but I think the highlight was a type of vegetarian lasagne that I think was called either a timballo or timpano, but I may have got that wrong.

Getting to know the M’s family was a wonderful experience. As we chatted we discovered that apart from being an excellent cook, his mother is a teacher, who in her spare time is also an artist who paints and has published a book of poetry. That’s impressive.

About a week later two friends of ours from Switzerland were visiting Atri and I tagged along. As we explored the town I was able to impress them with all the information I had picked up the previous week. Grazie M.

Just to show you how good those views from Atri can be, here you can see some photos I took on a relatively clear day in June 2009.

Post from: About Abruzzo

I Just Can’t Stay Away from Atri

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Although they are in Italian I find the use of a dictionary can help me discover new places to visit.

D’Abruzzo: Turismo Cultura Ambiente possibly has the advantage over tesori d’Abruzzo for English speakers as it often has an article summary in English in the sidebars.

To give you an idea of what they cover here is what I discovered in the editions I picked up in May.

In the Primavera 2010 edition of D’Abruzzo: Turismo Cultura Ambiente

• The Trabocchi Coast
• The Protection of the Environment
• Walks in the Abruzzo Countryside
• The restoration  of the cathedral of San Panfilo in Sulmona
• Civita d’Antonio: its association with art school of Kristian Zahrtmann and the formation of Central and Southern Italy’s first tourist board
• Breeding of traditional sheep dogs of Abruzzo

In the aprile-giugno 2010 edition of tesori d’Abruzzo

• Benedictine craftsmanship
• Examples of Romanesque Architecture
• Creativity in Stone
• Festa dei Banderesi at Bucchianico
• The mosaics of Tornareccio

They cost about €5 and I think they are great value considering the amount of material they cover.

Being able to read Italian would allow you to get the most out of these publications. But since each article is accompanied by wonderful photos you can easily get a feel for what they’re writing about.

My only criticism, and it’s a selfish one, is that they are only published every quarter.

I should add that I’ve no association with D’Abruzzo: Turismo Cultura Ambiente or tesori d’Abruzzo; I just think they’re great magazines.

I was going to finish this post with that last sentence. I’d have completed what I set out to do by bringing these magazines to your attention for the second time. (I first wrote about them back in February 2009.)

But then I thought I can’t finish so abruptly.

So I had a quick look through my back catalogue of photos and I’ve selected six street scenes that I’m fairly certain I haven’t published before. Although they were taken in Abruzzo they are so typical they probably could have been taken anywhere in Italy.

I hope you like them.

Post from: About Abruzzo

A Little Bit Of Repetition: Scenes from a Magazine Revisited

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There’s a market there on Sundays. It’s a pretty big one that spreads all through the town.

The buildings to look out for are the castle, Torre Alex and the church of Saints Lucia and Rocco.

There are several festivals through the year and an important one is coming up. Between the 15^th and 17^th August Cepagatti celebrates its patron Saints Rocco and Lucia which includes a medieval re-enactment called Palio dei Saraceni.

Whenever I see palio I think there must be a  competition of sorts between districts, but I’ve no real idea (and I’ve tried to find out) what the Palio dei Saraceni consists of.

I was there at the end of May and it was for three reasons:

• The Sunday Market
• The paintings on the walls that tell the story of Cepagatti
• And the usual reason, I hadn’t explored the town before

The market is possibly the biggest I’ve been to so far in Abruzzo. It might be due to how it’s spread out, but I thought I saw more stalls there than I did in Atri or Sulmona. All the typical goods were on sale along with live rabbits, geese, chicks and even tiny turtles.

I’m not usually a true active participant at markets. I prefer to have a coffee or an aperitivo and watch the world shop to its heart’s content. This time I had one very important item to buy and once I’d got it, I was done. So I left P to rummage and compare and I went on to look at the rest of the town.

I knew there were paintings on the walls of some of the buildings and I wanted to have a good look at them. I hadn’t seen any around the market area but just as I turned a corner I saw this piece of graffiti:

All ospite diciamo:

Benvenuto a Cepagatti…il nostro paese è tuo…

Abbiamo raccontato il passato per capire il presente e guardare ad un future sempre migliore!

I think that’s one of the nicest greetings a guest in a strange town could get. It’s certainly better than something containing the word ultra.

Initially I thought there were only a few scenes depicted but I was wrong. Away from the market in quieter part of the town (only 100m away really) the story of Cepagatti unfolds.

The paintings are about 25 years old now and are showing signs of weathering. But as I walked around looking at key events in the history of the town I thought this is a great way to tell a story. Place it in full view, for everyone to see, everyday of the year.

In 1985, Mira Cancelli and her students created these images on the walls of Cepagatti and wrote the text that goes with them, including the greeting I discovered initially.

In 2010 I was delighted to have a chance to see and enjoy them.

Post from: About Abruzzo

Cepagatti’s walls tell its story

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It was chance meeting but it led to a most unexpected afternoon.

Four of us, enough to fill a cinquecento, hoped to spend much of the day outdoors, enjoying the Gran Sasso and the Abruzzo countryside. We never expected that we’d end up inside for most of the afternoon, in a stranger’s house, talking about art, house restoration and Abruzzo.

But the day took an unexpected direction and Paul Critchley helped turn what could have been an ordinary day into a most extraordinary one.

We started with the intention of visiting Rigopiano (PE). It seemed like a good plan when the four of us set out but the higher and higher we went the more cloudy and misty it became. By the time we reached Rigopiano we couldn’t see a thing.

It was time for a change of plan.

Often these changes of plan can involve lunch, but we’d eaten early at one of my favourite restaurants, Il Casolare. We wanted to introduce our friends, J and M to it but on arrival they remembered being there before. The occasion was the harvest festival, Festa della Trebbiatura, which is held at and near Il Casolare near the end of July each year. They had a fantastic time that day, but they couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant until we pulled up outside.

After a sharing large plates of bucatini alla trescatora we set off on what we thought was going to remain a lovely day. We planned to go for a walk and enjoy the views, the wild flowers and the sounds of the country. A perfect pastoral scene that in my mind was crying out for Beethoven’s 6^th.

But as I said as we got higher and closer to our destination we realised it made no sense to stick with the original plan. Abruzzo is funny that way. Sometimes it can be clear skies by the sea and misty in the mountains, you just roll with it.

We’d passed Farindola on our way up and so we decided to head back down to have a look around, grab a coffee and most likely then head home. I’d been to Farindola many times before and it’s a good place to stop on the way to explore higher ground before moving on to Campo Imperatore. Our companions, J and M, who helped make our hired cinquecento very cosy indeed , hadn’t been before.

When we reached Farindola (home of great pecorino cheese and a starting point for many dedicated walkers) we had a quick look around before heading for a coffee. Because the mountains all around were covered in grey mist and cloud the views from Farindola weren’t as spectacular as they usually are.

But then something unexpected happened. So unexpected and surprising that it turned a fairly ordinary trip into something very special.

We met Paul Critchley.

J and M are from England and were speaking their native tongue as Paul, who is also from England, passed by. Soon we were all chatting away, taking coffee together and Paul invited us back to see his house in the heart of Farindola.

This is when things got really interesting.

You see Paul is an artist who has exhibited work in many places including UK, The Netherlands, USA, Spain and Italy. He has been living in Farindola for the last two years with his wife Helen.

They’ve got pretty big house that needs a fair bit of work. No, that doesn’t sound right at all. They’ve got a really big house, with fantastic views that needs so much work that I think it would frighten most normal human beings.

But Paul and Helen don’t appear to be frightened. They have a vision and it may take time but they’re going to get there. They’ve made many rooms comfortable and bit by bit they’ll turn the rest of the house into their dream home, from the terrace above with wonderful 360 degree view of Farindola and its surrounding mountains and valleys, down to the basement and cellars below that were once used to keep animals.

Right now they have a place to live comfortably and Paul has space to pursue his artistic vision. His studio, full of the trappings of a working artist, has space and light that would be the envy of many of his peers. They’d like to turn part of the house into a series of exhibition rooms and they certainly have the space for that.

If the house was a surprise Paul’s art was completely unexpected. On looking at one of Paul’s creations my wife said she experienced a feeling of vertigo. M thought Paul’s representation of an old-style Bakelite phone was in fact a real phone.

I don’t feel comfortable attempting to describe Paul’s work. Perhaps the best thing to do is visit Paul’s website and read how Paul sees it himself.  All I can do is describe how I felt as I moved from room to room. The first piece that I saw involved a pair of eyes looking through a door into a room. Then on closing the “door” on the room a different set of eyes looked out. I loved it. I thought whoever did this has a sense of humour that appeals to me.  On seeing more of his work I realised that Paul’s sense of humour and perhaps slightly skewed view of everyday scenes and objects comes through regularly in his work.

I walked around from room to room looking at Paul’s creations and as I did so my smile got bigger and bigger. As I was enjoying the experience I could hear my friends from other rooms exclaiming “look at the…”, “did you see the…” and “when you close it…”. Every one of us saw something exciting and were thrilled to be given this impromptu private viewing.

Just when I thought I’d been surprised enough Paul showed us the X-ray machine! It came with the house along with surgical instruments and a shelf load of medical files. If you buy a house in Abruzzo the previous owners often do not empty it out before it becomes yours. This can be pain if your plans for your new home don’t align with the previous owner’s vision, but sometimes you get left some unexpected gems. Paul got a 1950’s X-ray machine. He said that he’s been strongly advised not to power it up!

You can find out more about Paul and his work on his website http://paulcritchley.com/. If you’re ever in the Farindola area then give Paul a shout and get him to show you his creations. You’ll not be disappointed. You could very easily find that certain something your favourite room has been missing.

Post from: About Abruzzo

A Chance Meeting with the Artist Paul Critchley in Farindola (PE)

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Sometimes you get a chance to be in the company someone whose art touches you and whose stories of her home are simply inspiring.

Sometimes you meet someone like Mira Cancelli.

Yesterday we got lucky.

We were exploring the Abruzzo town of Pianella (PE) and noticed there was an art exhibition on in Palazzo della Cultura.

The artist is Mira Cancelli and the theme of the exhibition is a tribute to the novel Fontamara by Ignazio Silone.

Intrigued we had a quick look and decided to come back later as there was a crowd already there.

So, after a coffee and little more exploring of Pianella, we went back to find we were now the only visitors. We had three rooms of paintings depicting key scenes from Fontamara all to ourselves. But not only that we met the artist and she gave us her undivided attention.

It was an absolute joy to be given a tour by Mira Cancelli herself.

Mira Cancelli is one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met. Her passion for Pianella, for Fontamara and for her art is infectious. She described many of the works in detail along with delivering passages from Ignazio Silone’s book. When she heard that I’d read it her face lit up.

I’m not going to say that I loved reading Fontamara. But I do recognise that it’s an important book depicting the plight of the Abruzzo peasant farmers during the fascist era. I read it because it was one of the few opportunities that exist to read about Abruzzo in English through the eyes  of one of its own, Ignazio Silone.

I never expected I’d look on my reading of Fontamara as a wonderful experience, but when I was able to contribute to Mira Cancelli’s passionate description of the life of the peasants, the treachery of those in power and the tragedy of Berardo Viola I was thrilled.

We spent an hour with Mira. Not only did she describe her work but she kindly showed us an exhibition upstairs of the history and culture of Pianella and also some modern and abstract art that is also on display.

The photos I took, with Mira’s kind permission, will give you an indication the scope of the exhibition.

I think we’d have continued to chat all day if we weren’t overtaken by il pranzo!

The exhibition continues until 7th April and I definitely recommend visiting. You can read more about the exhibition here (in Italian).

Mira Cancelli has a studio in Cepagatti and has also illustrated works by other artists including Primo Levi and Gabrielle d’Annunzio. She has had exhibitions in Rome, Paris, Tokyo and Dallas to name a few. You can read more about Mira Cancelli here (in Italian).

Post from: About Abruzzo

Fontamara Brought Vividly To Life By Mira Cancelli

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Going to Atri is the obvious first step. But I’d been there at least three times and each time the cathedral was closed for restoration.

This time there were no signs of any work going on but the doors were appeared to be locked. After wandering around the building trying doors without success my wife encouraged me to ask someone.

This was a winning suggestion because it gave me an excuse to try my Italian. Asking about access to the cathedral is only part of the process. My wife knows that I’ll try to turn it into a conversation about what else we should visit, where we should eat and what are the local specialities.

So off I went brimming with enthusiasm to the nearest friendly shop. In my experience they’re all friendly. I picked one that sells ceramics and the woman there greeted me with excellent English! Ah well, I may not have had a chance to practice but she did tell me that the cathedral was open and the side door on the wall facing the shop was the way in.

It didn’t disappoint. It was built on the remains of an earlier Romanesque church. Outside you can see the impressive 56 metre high bell tower. But I’d seen that before. It was what was inside that excited me – the frescoes by the 15th century Abruzzese painter Andrea de Litio.

He is one of the region’s most important painters and the fresco cycle in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Atri is considered his masterpiece. (I understand that an example of his work can be found in the New York Metropolitan Museum.)

It wasn’t possible for me to get close enough to the frescoes to take detailed photographs as they were roped off, but I hope the examples I have in this post give you a feel for the scale of the work and the significance of the cathedral.

After searching a bit I found these detailed photographs of the frescoes that decorate the apse and the columns.

All the frescoes are attributed to Andrea de Litio and all the photographs were taken by Giovanni Lattanzi. If you are interested in Abruzzo and/or photography I recommend having a look at the photographs Giovanni Lattanzi has taken of the many other places worth visiting in the region.

Post from: About Abruzzo

Atri: Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and Andrea de Litio

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