Saturday, March 31, 2012

Monreale

Exterior - Monreale Cathedral


Interior 


Back



 Lot flees destruction of Sodom with family above
Adam & Eve eat forbidden fruit


Rebecca journeys to meet Isaac



Frieze detail
ceiling 
mosaic detail

more detail
Monreale--Cathedral--built 1174-1185 by William II Norman ruler of Sicily.


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Bosco Falconeria day 3

I am at Bosco Falconeria, in Partinico, Sicily, staying with the Taylor-Simeti family. I am here to work--helping catalog (not by drawing) Mary Taylor Simeti's library of books on Medieval history and her books on Italian cooking. Part of each day I sit at the computer entering data and the rest of the time I draw, make gouache paintings, and explore the Sicilian countryside.






The farm produces olive oil, wine, table grapes, oranges, grapefruits, citrons, avocados (not indigenous), almonds, peaches, apricots, all kinds of greens and more. Now is the time of the citrus, avocados and some greens like fennel and barge (?) and other delicious produce. 

Not on the Ice but in Italy--Rome and Sicily

Pizza in Trastevere  with Tony

Santa Maria Maggiore, Roma 
Santa Prassede, Rome, only chapel in Rome entirely covered with mosaics

more Santa Prassede

Carciofi alla Guidia--  Artichokes from the Jewish ghetto.....mmmmmm...

Teatro Del Valle--where there is an Occupy movement protesting cuts to Italian culture--they want to privatize this public theater and Tony Alotta is part of the occupation

Partinico, Sicily, Bosco Falconeria

orange tree

fresh grapefruits