If this is Thursday it must be postcard, 680

 

 

 

 

 

 

House of Giulio Romano, Mantua, Lombardy, Italy

[painting by Ettore Roesler Franz]

 

The unused postcard, featuring a painting of the house of Giulio Romano (c. 1499-1546), is identified as a product of Casa Bestettie e Tumminelli, Milano-Roma along the left margin on the reverse.  At the top center on the reverse is “Roma Sparita, Acquarelli di F. Roesler.”  At the bottom of the center line on the reverse is E.V.R., Serie II – N. 34.  At the lower left is “Casa di Giulio Romano. 

 

The watercolor painting is by the Italian painter and photographer, (Ettore) Roesler Franz (1848-1915).  It was part of a series consisting of 120 pictures titled “Roma Sparita” or Vanished Rome, that featured watercolor paintings depicting parts of Rome that were in danger of disappearing.  Today many of these places have vanished or changed making the pictures a valuable historical record.  The paintings were completed between 1878 and 1896.   In 1875 Franz along with Nazzareno Cipriani developed a plan and created what became the Association of Watercolorists and included 8 other artists as founding members.  Among his clients were the Empress Maria Feodorovna, Kings Victor Emmanuel II and Umbert I, and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. 

 

Giulio Romano was born around 1499 and died in 1546.  He was an Italian painter and architect.  He started out as one of Raphael’s assistants, and became an important member of Raphael’s studio.  His drawings are said to be a significant contribution to the spread of 16^th century Italian style art and are treasured by collectors.  However, it is his architectural work that has had more influence.  He designed his own house in 1540 and completed it in 1541-42.  The exterior of the original building was described as having a fantastic façade all worked in colorful stucco.  At the time of the Franz painting on the card in the late 1800s the building had already been remodeled and expanded from six bays to 8 and would have been quite different than it was in the 1500s.  The central hall with its original fireplace and frescoes have been preserved.  The ground floor has shops with the main floor contains what was Romano’s home. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_di_Giulio_Romano

[Note: there is a translation option]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_Romano

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Roesler_Franz

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 679

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alpi Giulie – Julian Alps, Italy and Solvenia

 

Recently I received the postcard shared this week from my friend who lives in Italy.  He had returned from a week-long trekking (hiking) trip in this region and picked up the card to show me what the mountains look like.  On the reverse of the card, at the upper left and in Italian, is: “Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy.  Alpi Giulie – Julische Alpe.  Gruppo del Canin, Val Rio del Lago e Gruppo Montasio.”  The card is an edizioni CARTOLNOVA with the number 2267 at the bottom left margin on the reverse.

 

The Julian Alps are named after Julius Caesar and are a mountain range that stretches from northeastern Italy to Solvenia.  The Western Julian Alps include the Canin Group which is partly located in Solvenia and the Montasio Group found in Italy.  The three highest peaks are:  Jôf di Montasio at 2,755 meters or 9,039 feet high; Jôf di Fuart at 2,666 meters or 8.747 feet high; and,  High Mount Kanin (Canin) is 2,582 meters or 8,471 feet high. 

 

Jôf di Montasio is located in the Province of Udine, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy.  This would not be too far away from where my friend lives.  On the back of the card he in part wrote:  “… spent a week … in a valley in Friuli, north Tarcento.  The landscapes were beautiful… Mainly woods and very steep slopes but wonderful views on the surrounding peaks and valleys…this is the most rainy of the whole of Italy and it was indeed very green.  We saw many beautiful flowers and even some chamois!...A gondola lift took us on top of this historical mount offering jaw-dropping views…”

 

Chamois are not found in the U.S., the closest look-alike might be a prong horn antelope.

 

 Chamois

 

By Giles Laurent - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121240048

 

 Prong Horn Antelope

 

By Yathin S Krishnappa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24551366

 

As always, thank you to M. for sharing the card.

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Alps

https://en.wikipedia.org/Friuli-Venezia_Giulia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamois