Calla Lilies : Lake Trasimeno
James Aponovich
Oil on canvas
Panicale is in Umbria, Italy. It sits on the side of Mount Petravella overlooking Italy's third largest lake, Lago Trasimeno. From Piazza Masolino one can easily see the lake as well as the Tuscan towns of Cortona and Montepulciano. Although Panicale has been inhabited since the Etruscans, it is basically a Medieval hill town. My wife Elizabeth and I found Panicale ten years ago , on a tip from our curator friend Kurt, while searching Umbria for paintings by the Renaissance Master, Pietro Perugino, and we haven't left yet.
The Vision of St. Bernard
Pietro Perugino
wood panel
(originally in Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy)
collection of Alte Pinakohek, Munich
During our first visit we noticed that the sun rose at the same time as it does at home in New Hampshire, and looking at both places on a map, we realized that they lie on the same latitude, the 43rd Parallel, although an ocean apart. Perhaps it is the light, so like our own, that makes us feel at home in this small town so far away.
SATURATED LIGHT
Umbrian Sunset
People always marvel at the light in Italy. The 19th Century Romantics said Italy's light contains an ethereal nature reflecting the numinous, maybe so, but practically speaking, Italy is a narrow peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean Sea with water on three sides. One is never more than a three hour drive to the sea. Could it be that the sun light bouncing off the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas saturates the whole countryside with a particular radiance? Or is it something else?........
Like being in Italy.
"OUR TOWN"
-Thornton Wilder
Mount Monadnock
James Aponovich
Oil on canvas
Peterborough is a small country town nestled in the Contoocook River valley, in the higher elevations of south western New Hampshire. It lies in geographical center of New England. It is often referred to as Currier and Ives Country due to its historical charm, and one mountain, Mount Monadnock dominates the area. The ancient Abenakis named it Monadnock, "the mountain that stands alone." It was the spiritual guardian mountain of the east. We live within sight of this beautiful and powerful symbol.
So begins the story.
The Vision of St. Bernard
Pietro Perugino
wood panel
(originally in Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy)
collection of Alte Pinakohek, Munich
During our first visit we noticed that the sun rose at the same time as it does at home in New Hampshire, and looking at both places on a map, we realized that they lie on the same latitude, the 43rd Parallel, although an ocean apart. Perhaps it is the light, so like our own, that makes us feel at home in this small town so far away.
SATURATED LIGHT
Umbrian Sunset
People always marvel at the light in Italy. The 19th Century Romantics said Italy's light contains an ethereal nature reflecting the numinous, maybe so, but practically speaking, Italy is a narrow peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean Sea with water on three sides. One is never more than a three hour drive to the sea. Could it be that the sun light bouncing off the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas saturates the whole countryside with a particular radiance? Or is it something else?........
Like being in Italy.
"OUR TOWN"
-Thornton Wilder
Mount Monadnock
James Aponovich
Oil on canvas
Peterborough is a small country town nestled in the Contoocook River valley, in the higher elevations of south western New Hampshire. It lies in geographical center of New England. It is often referred to as Currier and Ives Country due to its historical charm, and one mountain, Mount Monadnock dominates the area. The ancient Abenakis named it Monadnock, "the mountain that stands alone." It was the spiritual guardian mountain of the east. We live within sight of this beautiful and powerful symbol.
So begins the story.
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