873 The Gift of Silence

My husband and I recently traveled to Italy for a long-anticipated visit to four cities, the first being Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast.  Due to long travel delays, we arrived very late at night, and upon awakening in the morning, we were delighted to see such a breathtaking sight of the sea outside our window.  Located high up on a cliff, our hotel was a beautiful blend of old and new with the most elegant blue and white tiles of different patterns throughout, and furniture modeled after mid-century modern, also in blue.  I was in heaven.  The grounds were exquisitely designed with 70 different varieties of plantings from all over the world.

Located next to the hotel and its grounds was an old, seemingly abandoned building with all the weathered paint and texture that delivers to me that compulsive surge of desire to paint.  I photographed it from several angles during those golden moments when the light is just so perfect.  During the visit, I was unable to get information about the domed building, but finally received an email response from the hotel with explanation.

In 1597, this building was constructed by the Jesuits as a convent in what was then a rural area with orchards and citrus grove sloping toward the sea.  "According to legend, the gods had given custody of the secret garden to the nymph Colomeide that to all those who would have entered into that magical place, she would have given the gift of silence."  In 1777 the building was converted into a hotel, now called the Grand Hotel Cocumella and is the most ancient destination of recreation and rest in the Sorrento peninsula.  I wish I had known this information when we were there.  I would have looked closer to see the hotel and would have entered the grounds, which are bordered by a tall stone wall.

Throughout Italy I took well over 1,000 photos of unimportant buildings and windows with weathered paint that I find so charming.  I took a few hundred of the historical sites.  I suspect you will see more paintings of the old buildings/windows than you will of the Colosseum.

"873 The Gift of Silence"
acrylic - 12x12 in

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/873-the-gift-of-silence/629117

This painting has sold.