This is a post I started writing before I took most of August off, and, despite my loud protestations about putting away summer ,and its easy-to-wear vestments, the hat, skirt, and sandals in the photo below have been packed away. The linen-cotton blend t-shirt may get another few weeks, might even hang around to slip a sweater over this winter, but even the coneflowers (ecinachaea) and black-eyed susans (rudbeckia) have released most of their petals since I snappped these photos.
Time to click “Publish” on this post, then, before it’s completely stale-dated. I’ve already noticed the season’s activities whirring up momentum. More on Fall’s busy-ness later, but please indulge this one last summertime walk?
Remember a couple of summers ago when I organized a few posts around what I was wearing and what I was listening to while walking in my neighbourhood?
Well, I thought I’d try that again. And if wandering in my neighbourhood takes me, grazie a my earphones, to Italy, allora, così sia. . . So be it. . .
First, I’ll show you what I was wearing for this wandering. . . .
Below, the (messy!) sketched rendition (sans hat, with bike-helmet hair!), taken from my sketch journal. . .
Let me tell you that while I was walking the streets of my neighbourhood, I was virtually wandering the streets of Naples, my imagination guided by Andrea Orlando’s podcast, Le Strade Narrante. More particularly, I was listening to an Episode that took me to Via Francesco di Sanctis (episode 3 in the podcast’s second season) — where we visited La cappella di Sansevero, the chapel of Sansevero. The podcast is in Italian (full disclosure: I need to listen to an episode two or sometimes three times to comprehend it adequately, although I can generally catch the gist first time ’round), but you can learn more about Raimondo di Sangro by visiting the website of the Museo Sansevero.
It’s a story worth discovering, full of myth and superstition and intrigue. Briefly, this is what I learned while walking with Strade Narrante streaming through my hearing aids, augmented somewhat by a modicum of research online. Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, was born in 1710. His mother died when he was very young; his widowed father, had to flee after killing the man who opposed the Duke’s courtship of the man’s daughter. So Raimondo was put in the care of his grandparents, who sent him to study with the Jesuits, in Rome.
At 20, he moved to Naples where his family had a palace, and he set up a workshop for himself (in the basement of his palace) in which to pursue his passion for learning, experimenting, and inventing. He wrote, translated, and printed books, sought out and developed singers who could perform the beautiful choral music he loved. And he more than dabbled in alchemy and Freemasonry and anatomy, putting him on the dangerous side of relations with the church. All this, and the sounds and flashes of light and strange chemical smells (one of his interests was in pyrotechnics) coming from his workshop gave rise to rumours that di Sangro was an Italian Faust, that he’d sold his soul to the devil.
So did it help his reputation that he commissioned marvellous sculptures to inspire devotion in the family chapel which he restored significantly? Perhaps, although the delicate transparency of the veil that covers the supine (corpse of) Christ in Giuseppe Sanmartino’s astonishing sculpture, Il Cristo Velato, was quickly attributed to Di Sangro’s alchemy as much as to Sanmartino’s virtuosity. And after di Sangro’s death, the Church threatened his heirs with excommunication unless they destroyed what was left of his writings (he had, himself, destroyed his scientific archive before he died).
Such an interesting podcast — I mean, who doesn’t like their Art History mixed up with some good 18th-century (Settecento) gossip (pettegolezza, in Italian, what a great word!), especially if it involves alchemy and aspirations of immortality. . .
And the mention, in that podcast, of Giuseppe Sanmartino and his marvellous Cristo Velato reminded me of my first awareness of that sculpture — through a video I watched for an Italian class a year or so ago. In that video, the brilliant young contemporary Italian sculptor Jago (Jacopo Cardillo) explains the significance of three works in Naples’ Sansevero Chapel: La Pudicizia (Modesty), by Antonio Corradini; Il Disinganno (Disillusion), by Francesco Queirolo; and Sanmartino’s Il Cristo Velato (The Veiled Christ) the one to which he devotes most of the video).
Then this past spring, our first day in Rome I spotted signs for an exhibition of Jago’s work and . . . but that’s another post, isn’t it? Coming soon, to a Blog near you . . . For now, I’m going to change into something more appropriate to today’s weather (11C outside right now; high of 18 expected today — something like 51 – 65F?). I’ll be walking to my Italian class for our first meeting since June, really looking forward to greeting old and new classmates, embracing my Saturday morning routine again after a 10-week break.
Yesterday, I’d thought I might wear this
but this morning, I’m not sure that will be quite warm enough without a coat — and I don’t quite want to wear a coat yet!! — so I might wear this new wool sweater dress and wool sweater/jacket instead. . .
You will also notice that I’m sticking to bare legs as long as I can, but I have located my tights and am admitting they might get pulled on underneath a skirt one day soon. . .
Before I go walking (listening to another podcast, muttering Italian phrases to myself all the way in preparation), let me tell you what I will tell my classmates this morning: I will be in Napoli / Naples in November! We had a few hours in Naples six years ago — not enough! — and listening to Orlando’s podcasts inspired me to add the city to the itinerary of a trip organized around a certain Ragazzina’s mid-term break. Meanwhile, I’m curious to know if any of you have visited Sansevero and, especially, if you managed to see those three marvellous sculptures.
But now, I’ve meandered my way to the end of a post that’s been two months in the making (and I don’t think it’s any better for the fermenting! Yikes!). Time to get dressed and out the door, and I’ll look forward to reading any comments you care to leave — on my neighbourhood flânerie, my change in wardrobe, your change in wardrobe, Winter changing to Spring if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere; on Summer gardens putting on their Fall colours; on sculpture, murals, long walks with earbuds. . . Mic’s all yours.
xo,
f
What a lovely hotchpotch of a post Frances . My mind is all over the place with it . Very clever . Honesty fascinated me as a child & I can easily recall the feeling of rubbing those papery seed pods to release the seeds . I don’t think I can give you any advice on Naples , our stay there was fifty years ago & I imagine it has been tidied up somewhat . Pompeii was wonderful & more has been excavated since then but it was Herculaneum we enjoyed more – Smaller , quieter & easier to get to grips with .
I like your new outfit .
Author
Thanks, Wendy! I’m pleased you enjoyed it!
You saw so much of the world in the 70s! (and since, of course, but I’m most impressed by your memories of a time before we’d all become more homogeneous).
We visited Herculaneum 5 or 6 years ago, and I found it a manageable scale, not too touristed, and laid out all the wonders (and horrors) I could have wanted. Probably won’t search out Pompeii. . .
So interesting! I was maybe in Sansevero Chapel,but it was almost 50 years (yikes!) ago and I don’t remember
I’m home,from the sea to the pouring rain,from water to water but topsy-turvy! From 26 to 12°C ,from bikini to sweaters and rain coats,all in a day!
Perfect day for a book and a coffee!
How lovely to meet your classmates again ! How brave to rock a ( beautiful) dress without tights-I’m freezing right now
Dottoressa
Author
Oh dear! 26 to 12C — you need a few cozy days to adjust! We have a week of sunshine at 20C ahead, but the night-time temperatures are dipping to 10, so I will be wearing those tights soon! 😉
I enjoyed your post, it was like listening to a friend chat over coffee. My girlfriend is in Italy right now, heading to Naples, I will recommend the chapel and sculptures for her to see. I have never been to Naples, sigh!
It has turned cooler here too in the Interior, high of only 18 today. My sweaters are being pulled from draws, and I feel the urge to knit a new one. I love fall, but hate that it is precursor of winter my least favourite season. Thank you for your thoughtful posts, I do so enjoy reading them.
Author
Oh, I’m so pleased to read this — I like imagining us chatting as friends over coffee.
Hope your friend sees those sculptures, although I know we all have different priorities. I’m curious as to what she’ll tell you about the city.
Stay cozy! I’m currently knitting a sweater so I’ll imagine you’re starting one as we visit over coffee (I’ll probably pour myself tea 😉
Heading to a high of 22C today, but we’re apparently in for a wetter and cooler than usual summer for the 3rd year in a row, thanks to a return of La Niña. Still, my garden is full of blue bells planted by a previous owner many years ago (we’ve been year 20 years) and the hydrangeas (my addition) are looking very promising. Lunaria are new to me and look delightful. It’s hard to comprehend how quickly your weather goes from warm to cold. Longer segues are more usual here and I think they’re easier to cope with. You look lovely in your walking outfits and I admire the combination of warm layers and bare legs. Your neighbourhood holds many delights – I love the sentiment about ancestors and dancing on that mural and thanks for sharing your Neapolitan flavoured podcast. I’m excited to be visiting Italy again with you soon. Ciao Bella (the extent of my Italian) x
Author
Those siblings — La Niña and Il Niño — really cause problems, don’t they?! 😉
Your garden sounds sweet and spring-like. Were you to add lunaria, you’d want to do so with care as some will find it far too weedy / scrubby for a cultivated garden. Easy enough to pull up, though, and the seedheads are, as I wrote, fascinating to children as well as novel additions to dried flower arrangements.
I enjoyed your post as usual, so many facets. Remembering my brief time in Naples well over 30 years ago, I was happy to get there to see where my grandmother had begun her life so long ago. Here the weather is just beginning to change, the humidity has gone and the days are a little cooler. I am surprised that things still look so green because it has been so dry this summer. Any rain we do get is such a gift. Love the red sandals!
Author
Thanks, Darby!
Must have been so satisfying to see your grandmother’s birthplace (you travelled there with your mother, didn’t you, or am I remembering incorrectly?)
Those red sandals are especially good for beach days as they can go right in the water. Not sure how SaltWater Sandals makes the leather “water-friendly” but I love the convenience, especially for biking to a rocky or muddy beach 😉
I have enjoyed your posts but never commented. As you love to travel and appreciate graphics and art I think you would enjoy a book I just read. Border Crossings by Emma Fick. An entirely hand written and illustrated book about her journey on the Trans- Siberian Railway. Interesting and delightful nonfiction.
Author
Thank you! (and welcome to the ongoing conversation here ;-)) I looked up some images and reviews of this and it does look delightful. Our library has a copy and I’ve put it on hold.
What a lovely post about so many things! Clothes, stories, murals, fall plants. I feel that I’ve traveled around your neighborhood and shared headphones with you.
It has cooled down here in MA (US), but not enough for me to give up my sandals. I have long pants and a long sleeve tee on today. I have been thinking about fall shirts and moving into them. I won’t put my summer clothes away for a little longer, but I will wear fewer of the items now. It was very hot yesterday and I needed shorts and a short sleeve tee shirt.
I would love to travel back to Naples. I was there briefly in 2018. We toured Pompeii (on an extremely hot day, but worth it) and the Archeological Museum. I recommend both. Wish I’d known about the chapel and I hope that I get there again, so that I can see it. We had pizza for dinner. Pizza is so good there.
If you have the chance to see Stanley Tucci’s first Italy series, there is an episode that takes place in Naples. It is worth catching.
Paper money plants were a big part of my childhood. I’ve been taking photos of the remaining flowering plants and today I took my first photo of a tree with reddening leaves. So much to appreciate at the moment.
Author
Thanks, Dottie! I’m so pleased you enjoyed it.
Oh, that pizza in Napoli! I’m really looking forward to eating that again. I don’t (so far) have access to that Stanley Tucci series, but maybe someday — I’ve heard that it’s good.
What a lovely post and so very much the you I have come to know through your blog: art, languages, fun outfits and great story telling. I have visited Italy only once but your posts always have me hoping to go again, soon. Still hot here in the south, headed up to the 90’s F (32 C) for the solstice but a cold, errr, cooler front is coming through on Thursday.
Author
Thanks, Beverly. The post is pretty inclusive of a range of my interests, and I’m pleased to know that works for some readers — I appreciate the encouragement.
Yikes, really? 32 / 90s for solstice?! I couldn’t do it! Hope you enjoy the cooler front this week!
I love that you said “black-eyed susans.” That’s what we always called them growing up. But Stu, and his fellow Ontarians call them brown-eyed susans. Like sofa and couch or Chesterfield, I guess.
I’m wondering if on your “walk with earbuds” you sometimes become disoriented… of the “where the heck am I?” variety when sudden consciousness brings you back from your podcast? I can imagine taking numerous wrong turns. Luckily when I walk with my audiobook I choose a route with no turns. Although I have walked further than I intended … and suddenly thought “where the heck am I?”Ha.
Currently I’m not walking or pedalling or cycling… only nursing my back and hoping to get my exercise routine back on track soon. Plus we had to cancel our camping trip and I am sulking…. a little.
On the positive side, I just started Frances Liardet’s new book Think of Me and am really enjoying it. I read We Must be Brave a year or so ago and loved it. Her titles sound unrelentingly sentimental but her books are not. Plus I see that Less Is Lost has just been delivered to my Kindle. I preordered it ages ago when I saw Andrew Sean Greer has a sequel to his wonderful book Less.
And… and…. have you seen that Kate Atkinson has a new book coming in a month or so? Yah! Lots of good stuff to anticipate so I should just cease the sulking. xox
Author
Ah,Chesterfields. . . I miss them. We’ve had leather loveseats for decades now so have been mostly able to ignore the widespread transformation of Chesterfields into sofas and couches. . . But occasionally I can raise a host’s eyebrows when I refer to theirs. . . 😉
I’m much more likely to find myself on a route I hadn’t planned when I’m driving (which I only do a few times a month now anyway) — my “automatic pilot” takes over and I’ve defaulted to Kingsway when I should have stayed on Main . . . Walking in my urban neighbourhood with podcasts streaming through my hearing aids, I have to take a bit more care. And sometimes if I’m walking through an area with too much traffic, I’ll turn the podcast off for a block or two.
SO sorry about your back and especially about the cancelled camping trip. Plus why do our aging bodies have to act up just when we really want their cooperation in something we’ve anticipated so fervently?!
I saw that about Kate Atkinson’s new book! Yes! Very good news indeed (but you have my permission to continue sulking just as long as you need)