WHAT A TRIP: DISCOVERING ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CERAMICS IN ABRUZZO
Who:
Students of Maestro Roberto Paolinelli at Casa Italiana School
Where, when, why:
For more than a decade, Maestro Roberto has been teaching Italian Renaissance Castelli-style ceramic painting at Casa Italiana in Washington, DC. For a million different reasons, before 2015 it was not possible for Maestro Roberto to accompany a student group to Italy. This year he agreed to accompany students to his hometown of Pescara, region of Abruzzo, where he was a professional artist and gallerist until his retirement to Northern Virginia. Roberto, along with his brother, artist Albano Paolinelli, guided students to ceramics museums and artists’ workshops throughout the provinces of Pescara and Chieti in Abruzzo.
Highlights and high points:
The visits to four ceramic collections were one of the main highlights of the trip, not just the collections themselves but the enthusiastic and knowledgeable curators. As it turned out, each museum opened just for our group. This was due to scheduling, as three of the museums are in very small towns and usually only open on Saturday and Sunday, but since we needed to visit on Thursday or Friday they made an exception. The welcome at each of these places could not have been warmer or more enthusiastic. We started with the Acerbo Museum in Loreto Apurtino.
The displays were breath-taking examples of the work of Francisco Grue, considered by many to be the all-time master of the Castelli-style of painting. Next we visited another ceramic center, the village of Rapino. There we were met at the museum by a resident and enthusiastic guide, Antonella. This museum also has a school which offers ceramic workshops throughout the year. Our next museum stop was in Castelli where the collection holds not only wonderful examples of traditional Castelli ceramics, but also some of the original ceiling tiles from the Church of San Donato.
Our final museum visit was to the Paparella Treccia-Devlet Museum in Pescara which was closed due to a change in special exhibitions. The museum agreed to open specially on Saturday morning for our group to visit. It is housed in a lovely preserved Palazzo in downtown Pescara. It has a wide-ranging collection of Castelli ceramics. Another highlight was the visit to the ceramic studios of working artists. While visiting both Castelli and Rapino it was obvious due to empty shops that such studios are in decline - the ones we visited had extremely talented working artists. Highlights included Antonio Di Simone in Castelli and Giovannina Tosca in Rapino; she has a Facebook page with lots of images of her work.
How unexpected:
Many students previously and regularly traveled to Italy’s historic tourist destinations, always finding young people who spoke English. Not in Abruzzo and not in Pescara where Italians spend seaside holidays. How refreshing to spend a week where English wasn’t spoken ubiquitously. At one highly recommended seafood restaurant, the 20s-something staff brought out their tablets to provide Google translations of their fresh daily menu.
Fondest memento or memory:
There were many wonderful moments, so it is hard to select just one. One fond memory is our visit to the Castelli Bottega, or Studio of Antonio Di Simone, who has spent a lifetime practicing and mastering Castelli ceramics; during our tour of his workshop, he showed us ceramic moulds from his grandfather’s time (the 1870s); the Church of San Donato in Castelli; and the meal we shared in the home of Albano and Gabriella Paolinelli where we were fed delicious local dishes and showered with warm hospitality.
Want to take a class?
For information on the ceramic classes taught at Casa Italiana, see their website at: http://www.casaitalianaschool.org/ or call the school at (202) 638-1348.