|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The hill town of Resuttano is situated in the northern part of the province of Caltanissetta. It is the birthplace of both my maternal grandparents. They immigrated when they were teenagers in the late 19th century. They were introduced to each other in New York City, married and never returned to Sicily. In 1998 Maria and Bartolo were long gone, when I first found my way to Resuttano. My husband and I traveled the autostrado from Palermo and drove south to the interior of the island and the Madonie Mountains. The beautiful landscape consisted of olive trees, orchards of fruit and grape vines. We could see plants of cauliflower, artichokes and the abundance of cactus. These were patches of color against the sun-baked, often rocky hills and dark brown newly plowed fields. I remembered learning how fields of wheat made Sicily the bread-basket of the Roman Empire. |
|
|
|
|
|
This Chiesa Madre, shown on left, is on a small piazza in Resuttano.
Nearby
we were able to locate my mother's first cousin Antonino. It was a joy to meet
and visit with him and his family. Since 1914, four generations of Inzinna family have been photographers.
|
The above watercolor was painted on site from our lodgings at the La Rocca of il Castello, an
agriturismo working farm. The half pensione provided us with meals wonderfully prepared by Mrs. La Rocca. The wine, olives, artichokes, strattu,
(dried tomatoes) olive oil and almonds, served to us, were all products of the farm. In addition to the spectacular view of the mountains, one is able to experience the farm's groves of olive trees, vineyards and swim in a beautiful swimming pool. The resident rooster will wake you to begin your day.
On our second visit to Resuttano we stayed at the "Il Feudo Tudia," an "agriturismo" which is a partially restored feudal estate. This is a large enterprise. The estate produces their own wine, has olive and almond trees. The meals were unbelievably huge.
I painted the above two images on location.
|
|
|
|
Landscapes of Sicily
