A Fountain of Beauty in Lucca

I probably have more photos of her than of any other subject in Lucca - photos taken from every angle, in every light, in every season.  She is a fascinating subject and one of Lucca’s most graceful landmarks.  She is The Naiade or Water Nymph.

 The Naiade rests atop one of Lucca’s many fountains, built in the 1800’s to bring fresh water to the city via Nottolini’s aqueduct. 

Some of the fountains are simple utilitarian structures but are few are quite decorative, none more so than the Naiade fountain. 

She was sculpted by Luigi Camolli from a design by Nottolini, one of Lucca’s most famous architects and sculptors.  She turns an ordinary fountain into a work of art.

The fountain itself is a marvel.  At the base is a large bathtub-like marble basin resting on claw feet and decorated with lion’s heads.  Above the large basin is a rectangular marble column with water spigots on 3 sides, each one placed above a small basin.  This is where so many Lucchese come to fill containers with fresh water direct from the hills beyond Lucca.  Locals swear this water is much better, and much more tasty, than either tap or bottled water.  Some even have a preferred spigot, always filling their bottles from one side of the fountain.   More than just a place to get water, this is also a gathering spot and a place for social connections.

 Above the fountain sits the Naiade who is commonly known by a much less proper nickname.  To locals she is “La Pupporona” which loosely translates to “The Busty One”, so called because of her one exposed breast (in Tuscan dialect the word puppora means breast).  That breast so scandalized a long-ago bishop that he tried to have the statue removed.  Fortunately he did not succeed! 

 The Pupporona is elegant, with softly draped folds in her garments, curvy hips, and perfectly coiffed hair.  She is made even more striking by the backdrop offered by the surrounding buildings, including the oche colored Church of San Salvatore (also known as the Church of the Misericordia).  The piazza where she resides is also named Salvatore, but don’t be surprised to hear it called Piazza della Pupporona, such is her fame.    

 Much loved by locals, she is occasionally adorned with a red scarf, a symbol of support for female victims of domestic violence.  Once, back in 2017, she was vandalized when someone drew a mustache on her face during the night.  Che peccato! The damage was quickly repaired.  I don’t believe the culprits were ever caught, but the vandalism caused quite an uproar. 

 On one of my first visits to Lucca I snapped a photo of the Naiade long before I knew the story behind her creation.  I just knew that she was lovely and she quickly became the representative image of Lucca in my memory.  Today, that photo is one I use as the symbol for Two Parts Italy and which accompanies each Monday morning email to subscribers.  It is still one of my all time favorite photos.  Be sure to stop by this small piazza when you visit Lucca. And don’t forget to fill your water bottle!

The statue of the Pupporona at Christmas time

An Artist In Tuscany

Flowers are often a focus of Kat’s work. Bright reds, yellows, purples, and shades of green - all stunning.

Could there be a more perfect place for an artist to live than Tuscany ?  The light is magnificent, the sky a special shade of blue.  The green hills shimmer and flowers appear in waves of color.  There is something in the very air of Tuscany that inspires.  All these magical Tuscan qualities come to life in the brushstrokes on canvas of artist Katerina (Kat) Ring. 

 Originally from California, Kat has lived and studied in many places. All of them have influenced her art – from Coronado Island, to Europe and even a decade of living in Zambia where she was inspired by African wildlife and vistas.  

 Today, Kat lives just outside the Tuscan town of Lucca where she paints local scenes, landscapes, flowers spilling from windows or blooming in fields, and slices of everyday Tuscan life. 

Of course there is Italian magic well beyond the borders of Tuscany, and so Kat often ventures to other areas of Italy, especially to the seaside, capturing the essence of these places in paint.

Lerici, on the Bay of Poets, captured in an oil painting.

 Painting mostly in oils, Kat is an artist “en plein air” – which means you are likely to find her easel set up alongside a rustic building, a sparking bay filled with boats, a field of flowers, an old bridge, or a pretty street.  And she is sure to stop for a field of sunflowers or a tree heavy with ripe figs.  

Kat describes her style like this: She prefers painting-in-place and capturing the sights, scents, light, and feel of a place. Her paintings do not strive to be photographic snapshots. Rather her scenes unfold as she perceives them - the periphery abstract, adding to the total picture but a bit out of focus. Moving toward the central image things become more clear, less abstract, more impressionistic. Finally, there is clarity and detail towards the center as the eye focuses on an object or group of objects.

Windows are always fascinating and this one is captured perfectly.

 Kat’s paintings are compelling for anyone who loves Italy – the use of color, the gorgeous flowers, the windows, the countryside, the sea. They transport the viewer directly into the heart of Italy.  To see more examples of Kat’s work, her portfolio can be found at www.katring.com and on Facebook.

This Tuscan landscape by Kat Ring hangs in my apartment in Italy. It evokes everything I love about the Tuscan countryside

The gallery is open from Sept 1 - Oct 16, lots of lovely works to see.

If you happen to be in Lucca this fall, you’ll find Kat’s “pop up gallery” at the north end of Via Fillungo, near the medieval Porta dei Borghi gate, from September 1st through October 22nd.  Her recent works are on display and she is on hand for questions about the places and scenes in the paintings.

 Contact info: 

Instagram: katringpaints

Website: www. katring.com 

Email: ringkat2@gmail.com

 All images used with permission.

An Italian Decade

August has come and gone, there are only a few weeks of summer left, and I have just arrived back in Lucca after a long visit with family in the US. Today I am feeling nostalgic - it was 10 years ago that I first came to Lucca, intending to have a “once in a lifetime” month of studying Italian here. Little did I know that the adventure would be much bigger than I realized at that time. Once in a lifetime turned quickly turned into once a year, then twice a year, and then, in 2018, a move to Lucca where I now spend the majority of each year. That first excursion to Lucca was a decade ago, my Italian decade. With that in mind, I thought I’d share some of my favorite photo memories from each of the last 10 years in Lucca, beginning with the gardens of Palazzo Pfanner, one of my favorite spots (top photo, from 2012).

2013 - Another garden, the Orto Botanico. I snapped this photo of two friends, some of the dearest people I have ever met, at the end of our garden visit.

2014 - An excursion to Pisa with Lucca Italian School. Those storm clouds !

2015 - One of the many Medieval celebrations in Lucca. I still never miss a chance to see one of these. I’ve gained a new appreciation for men in tights, ancient weaponry, and flag throwing.

2016 - The year I retired and went a little crazy - making three trips to Lucca. Spring (below left) and my favorite view from Lucca’s wall. Fall means beans for soup at Bottega di Prospero, one of Lucca’s oldest markets. Winter brought my first Christmas season in Lucca (made possible by a ridiculously low $400 round trip airfare!).

2017 - Spring in Lucca and another chance to study in the beautiful Liberty Style building that houses Lucca Italian School. The Santa Zita flower market, something to look forward to each spring. My favorite of the many beautiful stands of wisteria that herald spring in Lucca. The Rolling Stones came to Lucca in Fall of 2017, these posters were everywhere! The Volto Santo Procession and a medieval archery competition, both part of the Settembre Lucchese events.

2018 - Summer fun in the piazza. One of Lucca’s outdoor art exhibits. My first home in Lucca - what a thrill to see my own name on the doorbell.

2019 - A cold winter morning. Carnevale in Viareggio. A costumed participant at the Lucca Comics and Games Festival. A cooking class during Olive Oil week at Lucca Italian School.

2020 - Definitely a strange year ! Even the street art reflected the pandemic. Banners promising that all would be ok where everywhere, a sign of community spirit and hope. Christmas decorations were most welcome this year, especially with inspiring words from Dante.

2021 - Magnolias, the first sign of spring in Lucca. A sculpture from Cartasia, the celebration of paper art. Over the summer paintings of Puccini heroines appeared on many of the store shutters in Lucca, a delightful surprise.

2022 - This year marks 10 years of travel to Lucca and the easing of COVID travel rules, double the reason to celebrate. Verde Mura, the spring garden festival returned. My grandkids and daughter came to visit (finally)! The kids explored Lucca with local tour guide Diletta Barbieri. A happy group enjoying lunch after a cooking class at Extra Virgin Cooking. It has been a good year and it isn’t over yet ! Life is good in Lucca.

The Mystery In Italian Details

Italy’s “big picture” is full of things to love - culture, art, architecture, music, food. Everywhere you turn there is something wonderful to be experienced. But sometimes, there is enchantment to be found in the smallest of details and in the little mysteries that no guide book can describe.

I am still amazed that after 3+ years of living in Lucca, I continue to find new small details to appreciate. The iron fixture near my apartment door that I noticed for the first time in April, the decorative brick arch just down the street, a small fountain tucked away in a rarely visited courtyard. Lucca presents a never ending series of discoveries!

Sometimes those little details are just noted in passing. Other times, a bit of mystery draws me back again and again, examining details, feeling intrigued, painting imaginary explanations in my mind. Often this occurs with some of Lucca’s many ruins and abandoned places. How I wish I could explore all the abandoned and locked churches, those ruined buildings with their encroaching vines and empty windows, the slowly decaying wooden doors.

Behind my apartment building lies one of those abandoned places. The mystery is why this one spot - a garage - lies abandoned. It is surrounded on all sides by restored buildings, in fact the rest of the attached building is painted a sunny yellow and is full of apartments, flower boxes, and pretty doors. A simple line of color separates the two spaces.

So why is this place, a garage with old wooden doors, chained shut and abandoned? And is the window above a sign that there might have once been a living space up there? Was it perhaps the home of a carriage driver for one of the surrounding palazzi? A rough apartment for a not-so-favorite relative? A storage space, hay for the horses? Who knows? Certainly not I. But I often find myself stopping to look at it, as if someday I expect the answer to come to me.

There is beauty in this abandoned structure, especially in the small details. My camera loves this space with its rusting bolts, peeling paint, and crumbling wood. I think I will be disappointed if ever anyone comes along and restores it. It is perfect just as it is, mysterious and aged.

A Historic Garden In Collodi, Italy

Collodi is a fairy tale place. It is not the Tuscany of rolling hills, carefully tended vines and olive trees that most people picture when they think of this region. Instead, the small village of Collodi seems to climb straight up a mountainside in the middle of a forest, hanging precariously on the slope. At the top is the medieval fortress La Rocca and a small church. At the bottom is the Villa Garzoni, built on the ruins of a Medieval Castle. An imposing structure, with its yellow color and 100 windows, the villa sits at the entrance to the town of Collodi. The villa itself is not open to the public, nor is the colorful Palazzina d’Estate (Summer Palace) which sits directly behind it. The only part of either that it is possible to enter is the Palazzina’s chapel, pictured below.

And then of course there is Pinocchio. Carlo Lorenzini, the author of Pinocchio, used the pen name Collodi as an homage to this village where his mother once worked. Many families come to Collodi to visit the Parco di Pinocchio (Pinocchio Park), a children’s adventure theme park based on the storybook character. But it was not the Pinocchio story that drew me to Collodi. Instead, I went with friends who were in Italy to visit classic gardens. The historic Giardino Garzoni, dating from the mid-1600’s and completed by the Lucchese architect Ottaviano Diodati in the 17th century, was on their “must see” list. I was delighted to join them for a day of visiting gardens near my home in Lucca.

Looking down on the lowest part of the garden, from an upper terrace

The Garzoni garden is a wonder, with something enchanting to see at every turn as it climbs the steep slope beside the villa. Like many Italian Renaissance gardens there is amazing architectural detail including a dramatic twin staircase (which contains a hidden grotto)

The twin staircases to the upper terraces

Water also plays a starring role in the garden, with a series of fountains and cascades of water tumbling down the slope. Tucked under the stairs is the Grotto of Neptune, another watery feature.

Two round pools lie at the bottom of the garden, just below a parterre full of greenery and flowers. Above that lies the staircase which begins the upward climb through several levels of terrace.

Keep climbing to the water stairs which flank the cascade that runs down to the lower garden. At the top of the climb lies a pool with a statue of Fame, who blows jets of water from a horn in dramatic fashion.

From the top of the water stairs lies a path, lined with camellias, which leads to the villa and the summer palace. This path too is lined with statues and interesting architectural details.

The fantastical nature of the garden reveals itself in places like in Neptune’s grotto, secret pathways and hidden spots, a labyrinth, and statues of mythical creatures and assorted ancient gods, goddesses, and legendary figures.

A visit to the gardens of Villa Garzoni provides a glimpse into leisure activities of a powerful family during the Renaissance. It is one of the finest examples of an Italian Renaissance garden and a lovely destination for anyone interested in classic gardens. A perfect way to spend a spring morning in the Tuscan countryside.