Italian Backgrounds

In Italian Backgrounds, Wharton hikes Volterra, sails to Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore to take in an incredible baroque water theatre and visits the convent of Saint Paul in Parma to see Correggio’s frescoes. Her descriptions are so detailed, informed and analytical that her appreciation of Italian culture, history and art are evident. Also evident is her desire to educate her readers as to the importance of such details to travelers. Wharton includes readers in her travel dilemmas: should she continue to travel in the Swiss Alps or to go to the cities where there is art and architecture? She describes the geography she sees in terms of painter’s landscapes. She sees a meadow as a perfect place for one of “Bonifazio’s sumptuous picnics” while one drive looks out on a “pastoral of Giorgione’s.” She provides a historical, spiritual and artistic view of hermits and their hermitages. Some of the sights Wharton took in no longer exist, at least as they were when she visited. The Farnesse Theatre was bombed during WWII. Its present restoration does not do the original justice, even though it was in disrepair when Wharton saw it. Wharton’s tours of Italy, taken almost yearly during the span of her marriage, probably contributed to her creation of The Decoration of Houses with architect Ogden Codman, as she dedicates a whole chapter to the pleasing qualities of the Baroque architectural style. Many traditional Baroque elements were a critical part of the curriculum of the École des Beaux-Arts. The Beaux-Arts style was the emphasis Codman was known to place on his interior designs and decors.