With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we thought we would ask our Rome-based, American faculty about their plans for the holiday and find out if their celebrations have been influenced by their European residence…
My husband and I have always celebrated Thanksgiving every year, even though for most of the past twenty-five years we have been living in Rome. This year he will make the turkey at our home in Tuscany; we will have a mix of American and Italian guests and one Swiss as well. I am making pumpkin pie ahead of time but we will have our feast on Saturday, as most people have to work on Thursday and Friday. No Black Friday. I hope to sneak out and do some sketching on Sunday. The weather should be good – Happy Thanksgiving!
Nina Eaton, Art Historian
A few days ago I had occasion to meet a family from Miami for several days of sightseeing in Venice and some of the surrounding areas important in the area of architecture and design of Andrea Palladio (1504-1580). Palladian architecture inspired the architecture of the U.S. White House and of many iconic buildings of the early United States in Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts, etc.
When this small family group and I parted, I decided to stay longer in Venice and nearby Vicenza, so I could study (by way of my drawings and note-taking) some of the breathtaking country villas, city palaces and churches designed according to Palladian principles (The two drawings above are just two of the many subjects I sketched with my pencils during this week-long trip)
Come this Thanksgiving, I will ride a 4-hour train to the same area of the Italian Veneto to add more sketches and notes to my artist’s journal, in order to deepen my appreciation of this period of design; and perhaps eventually translate their pencil versions into oil or watercolor paintings in their own right. Some of the most beautiful villas designed by Palladio contain luscious fresco paintings by Veronese and Tiepolo on their walls, so I will also be doing analytical studies of those compositions on-site in Villa Barbaro, Villa Valmerana, and Villa La Rotonda….as I savor a (picnic) turkey sandwich or two, in observance of Thanksgiving Day in Palladian America!
José Grave de Peralta, Drawing Instuctor
Wherever you are and whatever you may be doing, the faculty and staff at Rome Art Program wish you a warm, joyous and peaceful holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving!