|
|
|
|
|
'
from its huge neighbor Catania borrows the chief obiects of its ornament.
Bloks of volcanic material are used for the paviment of streets, the
construction of houses, and often also in the exterior decoration of
important building. The idea
of relieving the white stone façades whit ornamental details
wrought in dark lava, when judiciously carried out, is well adapted to the
curious style of architecture know as Sicilian, a composite of three
distinct style - the Bizantin, Arab. And Norman. Despite its originality,
its cleauliness, the city to me has a stinted, formal look, un Da
Catania a Nicolosi, 'starting point for the ascent of Etna' , Jacassy ha
motivo di incontro con altri paesaggi ameni e scene di lavoro agreste che
ritiene importante ritrarre e commentare: 'It
is vine harvest, files of burdened donkeys pass us, prodded on by the
peasants folloving whit swift and swinging strides. These contadini
stare at us infently, yet with faces immobile and so brown and furrowed,
so sharp of contour, that they might have been cut from the dark soil
beneath. Miserable beyond belief, submissive in suffering, they have the
dull gaze of ruminants, the soul asleep, the mind alert only for food and
shelter; and their types, bearing the stamp of their great ancestrores,
the Greeks, somewhat mixed whit traits of former alien oppressors - Arab,
Normans, Spaniards - are the living witnesses in our day of the glory and
vicissitudes of their race throught the ages'. Quindi,
aiutato dalle guide dell'Etna, finalmente il vulcano è sotto la sua
osservazione e disponibile alla sua perlustrazione. Monte Rossi, Valle del
Bove, Casa del Bosco,
i colori , gli umori, gli odori dell'Etna, le tipologie della lava,
anche le dispute con le guide: tutto viene trascritto e costituisce un
documento non certo nuovo per conoscere meglio il vulcano ma poco noto
sicuramente tra i reportage di viaggi sull'Etna e per questo meritevole di
una segnalazione.
Con un'ultima, idilliaca citazione di quanto può dominare Jacassy
dalle altezze dell'Etna: Sky, sea, and land are of the same color, an immensity of indistinct blue, clearer somewhat overhead, darker around and below. The only sensation of being at a great height is the piercing cold that keeps us moving about, stamping our feet on the ice, that resounds sonorrously, as if it were but a thin covering over cavernous depths. A change of color, so gradual that it is more felt than seen, begins. A subdued radiance, opal, dissolving into a suggestion of pink, tinges the east. The details of the crater become more distinct as night recedes to the lowlands. Impalpable grayish light creeps up, invading the heavens, and Aurora's rosy refulgence increases every moment a veiled splendor, a symphony en sourdine of exquisitely delicate tinta, restful and lovely. A like scene must have suggestioned the poet's description of the Elysian Fields.
|
Nel
Giugno del 1892 la rivista americana Scribner's Magazine (vol.XI, n.6)
pubblica un resoconto di viaggio, dal titolo 'An ascent of mount Etna' ,
scritto e illustrato da
picturesque
in the extreme , but it may be that the far from good name Catania bears
in Italy, a name synonymons whit unfair dealing, prejudices me. It is a
fact that reckless speculation, characterized by a deluge of worthless
promissory notes, has within a few years plunged the once flourishing
Catania into a most miserable condition. Not having visited it since the
days of its boom, i was struck by one peasant evidence of the usefulness
of wordly misfortune, which had transformed the boom-period dummies
attired in ultra gaudy finery into sensible folk, oblivious to the
etiquette of italian city manners, and who wore their old clothes and had
worn them so long that shiny seams and scrupulous patches bespoke a
poverty sincere as it was self-respecting'.