travelswithalice

May 28, 2022

Ortigia

We’re on the island of Ortigia in Syracuse where we’re surrounded by remnants of the ancient world, immersed in Greek mythology and lots of seafood, and faced with a losing battle with the formidable forces of pasta and Sicilian sweets.

Temple of Apollo, 6th c. BCE, Doric order.

Lunch in Sicilia in Tavola, 3rd time this week. Fettuccine with anchovies and breadcrumbs, grilled anchovies and sardines.

I’m afraid that if I keep eating so much fish, I’ll start growing gills!

Fountain of Diana with Arethusa and Alpheus on Archimedes Square.

Considering the company it keeps, surrounded by remnants of ancient civilisations, this is not an old monument, 1906-1907. Beautiful nonetheless.

Diana, goddess of the hunt, hides the wood-nymph Arethusa from the amorous river-god Alpheus by covering her in a cloud; whereupon Arethusa starts to melt, eventually turning into water.

The Spring of Arethusa, revered for its association with ancient Greek myths and for the natural colony of papyrus plants that grow in its banks and along the Ciane river.

I’m now convinced, more than ever, that I can no longer put off studying Greek mythology. Seriously.

The air is perfumed by the lavender plant and a small olive tree in a planter by a street corner.

We thought it was the back of the duomo but rounding the corner to the front of the building, we see that it’s a theatre.

San Giovannello, in Piazza del Precursore in Giudecca, the ancient Jewish quarter.

The former Church of San Giovanni Battista used to be the Jewish Synagogue.

I found the structure curiously off-center and hemmed in by adjacent buildings. This was explained to me later when I looked it up online to discover its complicated history as a 14th c. Christian church built on top of a 4th c. early Christian basilica, turned into a Jewish synagogue, then returned as a Christian church, only to be later deconsecrated and eventually turned into an events venue. It’s now used for concerts and cultural events, and as we saw today, also for weddings.

I took a photo of a building abutting it on its left because it looked pretty.

I’m to discover later that it was the house of a relatively unknown Syracuse painter, Mario Minitti, a contemporary and friend of Caravaggio.

Although Minitti’s artistic work is held in high regard in Sicily, he is more famously known as the model for several of Caravaggio’s celebrated paintings including Bacchus, The Lute Player, The Musicians, Boy with a Basket of Fruit, and The Fortune Teller among others.

Of special interest to me is Bacchus which I had recently viewed at the Uffizi in Florence, gloriously exhibited, dramatically lit, hanging all by itself to great effect in a recessed alcove at the end of a long gallery painted a deep scarlet.

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones # May 28, 2022

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