ITALY CAN ONLY BE A DREAM FOR NOW

Panicale ( Umbria)

I was expecting this news from Brussels yet when it was made official

I was struck by how devastated I felt. The European Union was opening up

to outside nations but  not to the United States.

Our friends in Italy told us about their three month lockdown which was

extreme and enforced. They did not like it, but they complied and now Italy

has very few Covid-19 cases.  Who can blame the EU for not admitting

Americans? I live in New England and in this region of the U.S. where
the cases of Covid -19 have been low and are declining. We

followed the stay at home orders and are wearing masks. Many of the

States in the South and West have had their heads in the sand on 

the seriousness of Covid-19  and are now seeing the cases rise dramatically

in those regions. Please, wear a mask and follow social distancing
measures......it's not that difficult and the results are enormous.

The world is a changed place, Italy, America and 

anywhere you put your finger on a global map,

 due to this pandemic.

 The sun still rises each morning , beyond that no one

knows. All I do know is that James and I will not be returning to Italy as

soon as we'd like.  

We will miss seeing great works of art

in  places such as Florence, Rome, Assisi, Montefalco, Ravenna, and Venice. 

  We will miss eating the foods from

the fields and farms of Umbria and Tuscany and drinking the wines. We will

not be seeing the very same landscapes that Perugino or Raphael looked at and painted.

We will not be sitting in the piazza drinking our morning cappuccino at the bar. We will not 

be having an October lunch in our friends olive grove while the harvest is on 

or eating fresh umbrichelli pasta with truffles being shaved over the top in

a local restaurant.   

But most of all we will miss our friends and all the kind people 

we have gotten to know through the years of spending time at home in Panicale .
To everyone, we will return.

A few memories to hang on to.................

Panicale with Lake Trasimeno

Perugino

Rome rooftops and St. Ivo

Venice

Sardegna 

Umbria landscape

Panicale

I did not include  pictures of everyone and  of  all of our friends but we are dearly

thinking of you all.

abbracci tutti!

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague we are all

suffering through .

THE UNDER PAINTING

( what lies beneath)

Siena Daylilies  (detail)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

I sketched these 'Elizabeth Salter' daylilies from our garden last
season. They are a personal favorite. I'll finish them this summer when
they bloom again.

I have chosen a cityscape of Siena, Italy. In 1347 everything seemed fine,
they had defeated ( for the first time) their traditional enemy, Florence,
and had commenced building what would be the largest
cathedral in Europe. The nave can still be seen ( upper left).
Then, by 1348 the 'Great Mortality' arrived, we know it as the 'Black Death'.
From a population of 40,000 people only 14,000 survived.
As now, population density was a factor and like now
there was no treatment.

LIGHT REFLECTING ON ITSELF

Still Life with Oranges ( study)

James Aponovich

pencil on paper, 4 3/4" x 4"

I've always heard people talking about the 'quality of the light,'

of one place or another. I never quite understood just what they

were talking about. We used to live on the coast of Maine where

I constantly heard about the wonderful light....where?

Now we live smack dab in the middle of Italy, with the

Adriatic Sea on one side and the Tyrrenian Sea on the other.

So, I should get it , right?

Still Life with Bowl of Fruit, Panicale

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 10" x 8"

O.K., one way to paint 'light' is to paint objects in their environment

( i.e. the landscape and sky). Looking up, I must say that the deep 

blue of the Italian sky is amazing. By incorporating Renaissance 'Sfumato'

and aerial perspective ( Hello, Leonardo) and you wind up with the

classic depth of field and light stuff.

That's one way.

UP AGAINST THE WALL

or

'LIGHT BOUNCING BACK AT YOU'

Still Life with Oranges (in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 12" x 10"

A number of years ago, Elizabeth and I were in Rome to see an

exhibit of 19th Century Italian painting at the Cloister of Bramante

just off the Piazza Navona. In the exhibit there was a still life of

oranges against a wall, but man, was it bright! I had to put on

sunglasses to look at it! When I got back to the studio I did a sketch,

in my style (first image) and this is the in progress painting.

Not so much as seeing through light, but having light

bounce back at you.

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich

all rights reserved

PAINTING IN PERSPECTIVE ( week 8)

P. I. P.

PAINTING IN PERSPECTIVE

STILL LIFE WITH THREE GROUPS OF FLOWERS

James Aponovich

LOST IN SPACE, AGAIN

week 8

So far I have been dealing with the arrangement of things ( composition) on

a flat 2 Dimensional basis. 3 horizontals and 4 verticals. There is another, 

perhaps more important element I must confront....Space, or what

is called Aerial Perspective.

Self Portrait ( in -progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

"Isn't he already dead?"

You see, I paint in a very traditional manner, based on the principles

of the Italian 15th Century...So there's not a large support group

for me... Lone Wolf Club.

Montalcino (Tuscany)

Usually a painter ( particularly a landscape painter), must deal

with Depth of Field in three distinct sections:

Foreground 

Middle Ground

Distant Ground

Panicale ( Umbria)

"Listen Buddy, Between you and me, there ain't much Middle

Ground here."

Typically, Middle Ground is the most challenging because 

it's all about transitions. It bridges what is closest to you ( Foreground),

and what's most distant ( Distant Ground). It's the in between

that is such a headache.

Detail with Lake Trasimeno ( Middle Ground)

The still life is up front and in your face, and what there is of Middle Ground

is minimal.....some peek-a-boo glimpses of the lake and Val di Chiana.

So to create a whole new zone...

I have introduced the Imaginary Space of the Viewer...

sound confusing?

The vase is black glass.....Welcome to my world.

There I am with palette looking at the painting. 

Elizabeth is also in the room, arranging flowers....

Kinda wierd

Still Life with Three Groups of Flowers {in- progress}

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

Next week.....Sweatin' the Details

VENICE :An evening ride on Vaporetto 5.2

VENICE


"It is a city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid
and liquid, at once air and stone."
                                                         - Erica Jong

At first glance, some twenty four years ago, I was enchanted
by this city that seems to float on water.
Descending those steps from the train station down to the Grand Canal I was again mesmerized.
Venice grabbed me and I submitted to it, as did James.

James found Venice to be in constant movement,  as he said, "it is continually swirling."
 The rhyme set in motion by the movement of water, clouds, people and boats.

There are only two ways to view Venice, by boat and by foot.
An evening ride on Vaporetto 5.2 from Zattere to St. Marks
allowed us some memorable views of Venice from the water.

Keep in mind, taking photos from a Vaporetto is not all that easy considering you are on a moving boat and that at least during the day these boats are packed with people. In the evening, after
the day tourists have left the city things are quieter.


(Note: in our experience the Vaporetto # 1 can be like 
mosh pit motoring during the day!)

"There is something so different in Venice from any other place in  the world, that
you leave at once all accustomed habits and everyday sights to enter
an enchanted garden."
                                                           - Mary Shelley

James and I, along with friends Tom and Shannon, disembarked at our destination
St. Marks - San Zaccaria Vaporetto stop. We were meeting up with a small
group for an after hours tour of the Basilica of St. Mark.



It was only 8:30 but the the square was quiet, the crowds had disappeared. The sun was setting, the water shimmered. It was Venice at its finest.

I recommend a private tour of the Basilica of St. Mark. Truly, it is the the only way to visit this slowly sinking wonder and see close up all it's splendor.
 Venice was once a powerhouse of a city, politically, artistically, and financially. It was the link to the East for merchants.
Here, all the riches can be seen. The weight and power of this building can be felt as
you walk through the doors.
The floors, as the water in the canal, undulate beneath your feet. Look up and all is gold.
Mosaics of gold layered in glass cover the domes and ceilings.  It is almost blinding in brilliance.
The craftsmanship and labor stunning not the mention the wealth it
took to complete this majestic building.
Lots of deep pockets!

Venice at times whispers and yet often roars.
Listen and let it wrap itself around you.


When visiting Venice do plan an evening / sunset Vaporetto ride,
to exeprience a 'different' Venice and for the romance.
You might feel as you are playing a role in a foreign film!

PANICALE (Spring)

Panicale (Spring)

James Aponovich

oil on panel,  20" x 16"

April is the cruelest month

                        - T.S. Eliot

For most of the year, we live in New England where Spring is defined by mud and black fly season, and the skiing is lousy. Cold, damp and dank. But in central Italy, by early March the fields are turning emerald green and the trees bud out. Although the typical Italian won't shed their parkas until June, the winds start to shift from the south bringing the smell of the Sahara. Life is good.

Benozzo Gozzoli

Journey of the Magi (detail)

fresco, 1459

In 1459 Benozzo Gozzoli landed a commission to paint the private chapel for the Medici Palazzo in Florence. It was a huge gig. The theme is the Journey of the Magi and the landscape is indeed magical.

This painting of Panicale was underpainted in earth tones during the spring of 2014 from the terrace of the ' Pink Palace'. At the time the house across the street was occupied by a man we were told was also the dogcatcher? It once had a beautiful garden tended by the man's wife, but tragically she died and the garden went to seed. Fortunately, an American has just purchased the property, so I have painted a fresh start. May she transform it once again.

I have signed the painting with my oft repeated peeled orange and it shows a woman giving one of Panicale's many dogs a bowl of water.

RAVENNA , MOVING ON TO PADUA

After drinking in the mosaics of Ravenna ( and some local wine) we set our sights on

 Padua ( Padova), a city just north of Venice and about a two hour drive up the coast.

But before we shove off there is one more person we must visit in Ravenna....

DANTE'S TOMB

Dante Alighieri was about as Florentine as you can get. He is what you might refer to as a Medieval Romantic. Example: One day he just caught a glimpse of the beautiful Beatrice as she walked along the Arno and he was smitten for life. One glance!

Why mess up a good thing with familiarity. Anyway, he ran afoul of the higher-ups of Florence so they threw him out of town...ejected...exile...the worst punishment. Dante spent his exile in Ravenna until he died of Malaria. And guess what? The City of Florence wants him back! After all, now he's the hometown hero. Ravenna's response?...a flick of the hand under the chin...."Basta!" You didn't want him then and he ain't moving' now!

So, what does Dante have to do with Padua? Well, it seems plenty.

THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL

As the story goes, Reginaldo degli Srovegni was an important Paduan Financier in the 13th Century. He made his fortune as a Usurer, a lender of money who extracted large interest payments from his clients. Nothing like making yourself rich on the misery of others. However, according to the Medieval Code, Usurey was a sin, a big sin. Dante, in The Inferno, being a guy who liked to put people in their place, placed old Reginaldo in the inner ring or the Seventh Circle of Hell where the violent are eternally punished by fire. Users were considered violent because as Virgil explains in Canto XI:

"Usurers sin against Art

and 

Art is the grandchild of God.: 

The tomb of Enrico degli Scrovegni

THE APPLE DOES NOT FALL FAR FROM THE TREE

Eternal damnation is a long stretch to serve and it just so happens that Reginaldo's son, Enrico picked up Dad's dirty business and figured he needed a couple of 'get out of jail free' cards real fast. So, to save his and pop's eternal souls he built a Chapel and to cover all the bases he dedicated it to the lives of Mary and Jesus. To decorate the Chapel walls he hired the top gun painter out of Florence....

his name was....

GIOTTO

THE BEST MONEY CAN BUY

Scrovegni spared no expense, a lot was riding on this. Giotto was on top of his game and came with a large contract. The dominate blue is crushed lapis lazuli, a semi- precious stone from Persia. The reds were Vermillion and Dragonsblood ( try buying that at your local art store). Everything was top drawer. At one end of the Chapel rests the Scrovegni Tomb with sculptures by Andrea Pisano, from Pisa.

The other end depicts Giotto's The Last Judgement

which Michelangelo surely saw before he painted his in The Sistine Chapel in Rome

The walls are arranged on three themes: The Lives of Joachim and Anna.

A most sweet kiss under the original Golden Arch. Giotto was really the first artist to embrace tactile humanity into his paintings.

A domestic scene of the birth of Mary.

Jesus: not such a sweet kiss.

Once again we leave under a star studded lapis lazuli sky. and without a doubt, this is one of the highest levels of artistic achievement in all the Western Civilization .

It was an honor to be there.

For further information and reservations:

Scrovegni Chapel

Padua, Italy


Photos courtesy of Stew Vreeland
Mille grazie, Stew!

RAVENNA

KATIA:   "Dove vuoi andare oggi, James?"  ( Where do you go today, James?)

JAMES:  " Ravenna"

KATIA:   "Dove? "  (where?)

JAMES:    "RAVENNA"

KATIA:    "No lo so, non capisco" ( I don't know. I don't understand)

JAMES:    One more time..."R A V E N N A!"

KATIA:    "Ahhh!", "You mean, Ra  van na."  ( Rah  vayn  na )  don't forget to roll the 'r'.

JAMES:    " Yes, there too!"

IN ORDER TO GET THERE

 YOU HAVE TO GO THERE

When the crowds of Rome and Florence get to you and the physical challenge of walking six miles a day on worn and uneven cobbles break your knees and you are up to your neck in the Renaissance and Baroque and you have "done" it what seems like a million times, then it is time to refresh yourself and head to the Adriatic to the jewel that is Ravenna.


Ravenna is not on the way to somewhere else. It is a destination and expect an overnight. Ravenna sits on what was an old Roman Naval Port on Italy's Adriatic shore. The sea has receded  a bit so now the town is slightly inland. Ravenna is now known for it's amazing collection of glorious mosaics.


A BIT O' HISTORY OR GETTING OUT OF DODGE

Remember when Rome was coming apart, the orgies were over, the aqueducts destroyed, the population decimated by disease...well, it became clear that the only option left was to get out of town and head east to Constantinople ( named for the Emperor Constantine, now Istanbul). As an interim  stop along the way Ravenna became the new 'Eastern" Capitol of the Roman Empire. There, the now Christian Emperors built Churches, Baptistries and Tombs. To decorate these buildings they brought in artists trained in mosaics, creating images using tiny pieces of  colored glass. Think of covering the hull of a cruise ship with stamps...in other words, it took a lot of glass pieces ( tessera) to make a picture.



SANT' APOLLONARE IN CLASSE

Since we were coming up from Umbria, our first stop was the church of Sant' Apollinare in Classe on the outskirts of town. As an introduction, it did not disappoint.

FESTA DI CAPPELLACCI
( the original  bad cheese hats)

After arriving in town we were greeted in the Piazza Popolo with the Festival of the local pasta, Cappellacci ( little  bad hats), egg pasta bundles stuffed with cheese. All the restaurants in town were there for a Cappellacci Smack Down. After eating more than we needed to it was time to move on, but not before coffee.

SAN VITALE

( the real big cheese)

What can I say, simply amazing!

Empress Theodora was a beautiful actress who married well.

The first beardless depiction of Christ.

"It was at times like being in an M.C. Escher print."
                                    - Paul Turina

MAUSOLEUM  of GALLA PLACIDIA

"The best is yet to come."
                             -Elida Wassman

Elida led us to the last building of the day as I was well past my 35 minutes of art tolerance. Galla Placidia was in her day the most powerful person in the Empire, but, she ain't here, she is in Rome. It don't matter.


THIS PLACE IS HOT

As alabaster ages it develops a beautiful golden hue.

St. Lawrence shown here with his implement of  martyrdom, the grill.

As we leave we look up to those stars that have been shining in Ravenna for fifteen hundred years...
Buonanotte Ravenna.


Next stop - Padua and the Blue Scrovegni Chapel of Giotto.