Pianist Singer Dancers and the Parallel Universe Acrylics on Canvas
This is another in the Pianist series. The dancers whirling dervishness calls forth a parallel universe. https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/pianist-singer-ballerina/ evoked that universe, causing the abstract incursion displayed on the rear wall. The additional energy produced by the dancers in this painting brought forth the more intense intrusion of a parallel universe.
Art meets string theory.
Or you can forget all that and just enjoy the contrast between the representative and the abstract, the muted values and the blaring values, the forms and motion, the unusual view from behind the performers.
The Château de Montaigu is located on the outskirts of Nancy, France. It was built starting in1757 by the General Receiver of the Farms of Lorraine. The residence was upgraded and expanded starting in 1850. Edouard Salin, a mining engineer and his wife Suzanne bought the residence in 1918. Afire caused significant damage in 1921. Salin and staff dragged the furniture out of the burning structure. The work they undertook respected the style but used new construction methods and materials such as the steel used in the roof.
The rooms contain furnishings in the style of Louis XV (16th century). There are painted wall coverings as well as painting directly on the plaster. You can visit only the ground floor.
Not Toulouse, not Toulon, just plain Toul: its a moat encircled ancient town located on the Moselle River with impressive late 1700’s stone ramparts, ranging to 5 meters in height. There are two locks within 100 meters of one another protecting the population, connecting the Moselle River and the Canal du Marne au Rhin. Known as Tullum Leucorum by the Romans, Toul did not become part of France in until 1552 after having been a Catholic diocese since the 4th century.
The fortress within the ramparts was last used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Surrender to the Prussians came in less than a day after a 2300 shell bombardment. In WWI it served as a base for the incipient US Air Force. The stone ramparts date from 1698. The area produces the Cote de Toul AOC protected wine, most notably the Gris de Toul.
There’s a cut in the ancient wall that these days allows cars into the old town. Follow the streets around to the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul, built in flamboyant Gothic style. Construction began in the 12th century and completed by 1496, with some later additions. The towers rise to 65 meters/ 213,’ the nave is 100 meters/328′ in length. It has a large cloister. “With a Romanesque plan and Gothic construction, this building is a symbol of the city’s rich episcopal past and an emblem for a whole territory. Remarkable by its dimensions as well as by its beauty, the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne attracts several tens of thousands of visitors every year.” https://toul.fr/cathedrale800ans/
Joan of Arc
Nave of Toul’s Cathedral
The 139 statues of the portico were destroyed during the French Revolution. The roof and the south tower sustained damaged in WW2. They were restored in the 1980s.
It takes a half hour on a fast ferry from Reggio de Calabria to arrive in Messina, crossing the Strait of Messina. The large port is home to numerous ferries, commercial vessels as well as military ships. The city center of the small city of 215,000 is about 12 kilometers from the entrance to the Strait. The lovely City Hall sits along the harbor. The city, wracked by a major earthquake in 1908 leading to a devastating tsunami, backs up against hills to the west.
The Greeks liked this location, settling the area in the 8th BCE. Artifacts in the Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale (the Regional Museum) bear witness, but there is much more. The 1908 earthquake produced such vast devastation that many buildings were not rebuilt. Their decorations, paintings and other valuables were placed in the Museum. Capitols and a wide variety of other carvings sit in a special exhibit. An exuberant hostess showed us around and helped us with their 3-D glasses. These give you a 360 degree perspective, providing context for the objects upon which the presentation focused.
North end of Messina’s harbor
A room of the special exhibit simulates the deafening sounds of the earthquake. Beyond lies a huge collection of religious art with countless figuring staring into the clouds, as was common in that era. There is a collection of the works of Antonello da Messina, a well known painter of the early Renaissance. His works are much above average for the time. There are several Caravaggio paintings. He stopped here on his way to an early death near Napoli from the wounds he suffered in the last of his many street fights.
The comparative few who give previous thought to this small city in southern Italy wonder at its name. “Reggio’ comes from the ancient Greek for ‘region.’ There’s a Reggio elsewhere in Italy so ‘de Calabria’ distinguishes the two.
Despite its present day obscurity Reggio de Calabria was home to a perhaps legendary early king named Italus, whence ‘Italia.’ Italia initially referred to the general area surrounding Calabria before becoming the name of the whole peninsula circa third century BCE. This suggests a significant level of influence.
Reggio de Calabria is among the 100 largest cities in Europe, home to 500,000 plus. It was heavily damaged by the 7.1 earthquake of 1908, giving rise to much modernization. I’ll tell you a bit more about that quake in the upcoming post on Messina, whose municipal museum has extensive exhibits on the topic.
Reggio sits near the entrance to the Straights of Messina, across from its buddy city Messina. Reggio was a major stopping point for ships bound for Rome, often carrying wheat from Egypt. Much earlier it was a major city in Magna Grecia, the Greek speaking area which includes today’s southern Italy: Puglia, Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata and Campania.
Reggio de Calabria, view of the Strait
The famous Riace bronzes are in the town’s important Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia. It is protected by an antechamber that seals off the temperature and humidity of the rest of the museum. They are magnificent life size works, with a height of 199 cm/6’6″. Few of these bronze statues remain. These two were found about 200 meters from the shore in nearby Riace either by a diver or four young boys. One of the figures may have been holding a spear and shield, with one sporting a helmet. Restored at the museum over almost a decade after their 1972 discovery and again in 2011, the sculptures date to the 5th century BCE.
One of the Riace bronzes
Reggio de Calabria has a long (1 kilometer) pedestrian zone. It is the main shopping street, running parallel to the coast. Via Garibaldi is lined with magnolia and exotic palm trees. The city is laid out on a steep hill(s) but the pedestrian zone is on the flat. The train station is one level down, just above the sea. Opposite the station it is a tiny shop selling 30 varieties of arancini.
Arancini are the street food of choice for Sicilians. Cooked risotto is formed into various shapes. Then things like mozzarella, fungi (mushrooms), shredded beef and other meats, bits of eggplant and so on are added. The attractive middle aged woman who runs the place across from the station came up with many variations. There was even one with spada – swordfish.
30 varieties of arancini
Once formed into the desired shape, the sticky rice and its other contents are rolled in corn flour, then deep fried. They end up with a nice crunch and an orange color, thus the term ‘arancini’ – oranges. And please try not to refer to the singular in the same manner. If there is only one then the word is orancino.
Back to swordfish. They are in these waters apparently in large numbers judging by their predominance on the menus. There are several variations in their use in the restaurants. Aside from grilled, it is added to various pasta dishes. Pasta Norma is one such. On its own Pasta Norma is a thick short noodle with tomato sauce and grated ricotta salata, a bone dry and very salty version of the otherwise soft, creamy cheese.
Ricotta salata in foreground. Caponata is on most menus
In the old days ricotta was made by reheating the whey and then adding lemon or some other acid causing the milk elements to congeal. Thus the term ‘ricotta,’ re-cooked.’ Dry it out and salt it up and you have ‘ricotta salata.’ It all makes sense once you understand the language a bit.
From Pisa we drove some 500k/300m to the Abruzo region, staying in the tiny town of Caprociano. This town is home to 100 people. It is nestled on a rocky hillside. Our rustic residence was in part dug out of the rock by our host Gaetano, a friendly sixty something jolly good fellow. The pellet stove we used for heat was smoking us out without warming us very well. Our Italian was barely adequate to deal with this issue but his good nature helped get us through. He moved us to his own gorgeous summer house just a two minute walk away.
The area is made for hiking, which is why our travel companions chose the location. Off they went on several occasions, following village to village trails. It was cold and rainy during our short stay but our trekkers did not hold back.
Nearly each little town has a castle, many in ruins but some rebuilt or repaired. We toured the Castello di Pacentro, resting on a steep slope overlooking the valley. I climbed the tower for the fabulous views. It’s a puffer of some 6 stories, its steep stairs posing a challenge for those who never exercise.
Pacentro, pen and ink, 21 x 39cm/8.3×11.7″
We arranged for a wine tasting in tiny Vitorrito. Mariapaola greeted us at their winery. See http://www.vinidicato.it. This is a father/daughter operation making about 6000 bottles a year of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo without pesticides or fertilizers. The main grape is Montepulciano. One bottle she served was the typical mildly tannic red you find everywhere. Another was slightly carbonic, giving a slight fizz. They make a golden hued white from another grape.
Mariapaola showed us their small bottle filler and sealer. They can do four bottles at a time. There is also a corker. They put the labels on by hand. The newspaper Correre della Sera’s book “One Hundred best Italian Wines” names this winery as number 91 of 100, amazing considering its size and the thousands of wineries there are to choose between.
Snow covered Apennines seen from near the winery
In addition to homemade bread sticks and two homemade sausages (salchichas seches, dry sausages), MariaPaoloa then brought out cake and other sweets. We left some uneaten and she worried aloud in her charming manner if we did not like them.
Mariapaola serves bread sticks and crackers
Another day we went to Pescara, a beach town noted for seafood. For 150 euros for four we enjoyed fine dining and two bottles of wine in an attractive setting. The menu of the day was 25 euros (beverages not included). I had a seafood soup with some thick pasta and lots of shrimp and clams for a mere 13 euros.
Abruzo runs from this mountainous area down to the coast. It lies roughly in the center of the country but strangely considered culturally part of the south. Historically it’s been highly agricultural but from the early 50’s to the mid-90’s, it’s become more industrial. Mechanic engineering, transportation equipment, telecommunications and tourism have become important to its economy. There are boar running around the mountains, hawks and other wildlife.
In the center of town we found the city’s main plaza, a large one flanked by majestic Medici era architecture. But the city goes back much further, to the Etruscans circa 800 BCE. Excavations in the 1980’s and 90’s proved its Etruscan origins, around the 5th century BCE. The city is close to the coast and was once a maritime power. It is split by the Arno River, which nearly topped it’s tall banks here and in Firenze (Florence) just a few weeks ago from the mountain rains to the east. The historical center would have been disastrously flooded.
Pisa was at its height from the 11th century until the 17th as one of the major maritime republics of Italy. The city’s port still provides significant employment as does tourism and the major universities and schools. The University of Pisa dates to the 12th century. The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (high school teacher training), founded by Napoleon in 1810, is in the main plaza.
At night the old town streets are abuzz. It seems like most of the city’s 35,000 students are talking at the same time, clustered around bars drinking beer, wine and Aperol. It’s late March so the weather is more encouraging, with temps in the 10-20c (50-68f). The churches are still quite cold and damp.
The lively night life in il Borgo, the historical center of Pisa
It appears that Pisans seem to have a distinct preference for spaghetti, as opposed to say linguine or orecchiette in Puglia, as each of the restaurants we visited served only spaghetti (aside from lasagna) with the sauces on offer. I found a rice pie in one of the bakeries. I was hoping to try “cecina,” a flatbread made with garbanzo bean flour.
Statue to Cosomo Medici
The statue to Cosomo Medici was commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinando I in 1596. Pietro Francavilla sculpted the piece in the elegant Late Mannerist style. The building behind is the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, with only 600 students enrolled. It’s primary purpose is the training of high school teachers. The decor is painted onto what I believe is concrete or something similar.
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina. The wall on the left is the river’s retaining wall.
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina is a lovely and small Gothic church on the southern bank of the Arno. The Gualandi family built it in the 1200s, naming it Santa Maria di Pontenovo. It was moved to its current location to better protect it from flood waters. “Della Spina” refers to a thorn from the crown of thorns, no longer in the church. It is in the Chiesa di Santa Chiara on Via Roma. Pontenuovo collapsed in the 15th c, never rebuilt. It was closed when we were there. Too bad. There is a famous Gothic sculpture Madonna of the Rose by the Pisano brothers.
