Gezicht op Kaap Ponte di Pezzo in Calabrië met vissersboten 1778

Curator: Looking at this serene watercolor by Louis Ducros, dating back to 1778, titled "View of Cape Ponte di Pezzo in Calabria with fishing boats," what immediately strikes you? Editor: The light! It's like looking into a memory, faded and softened. There's something quite poignant in that pale, washed-out effect, almost melancholic. It looks so quiet there, you can hear the gentle waves. Curator: Ducros certainly captured a feeling of stillness. Calabria in the late 18th century would have been quite different from the tourist destination it is today. Paintings and illustrations like this played an important role for people far away, bringing that sense of Southern Italy home. Editor: Home, or to the grand tourists as a memory aid to remember and maybe even enhance their experience? Note that peculiar vessel there, right. I'm seeing almost totemic features; it is like it connects earthly waters and something much higher. The tall mast with the cross. Very spiritual, even naive rendering of the sacred in everyday life. Curator: Interesting. Given the time, and Ducros' patronage, it's not surprising we see this romantic idealization. Remember, the late 1700s was the height of the Grand Tour era. Watercolors were portable, relatively affordable and quickly became de rigueur souvenirs of sophisticated European elites visiting Italy. This image provided wealthy elites from northern countries a tangible claim on this newfound and idyllic "primitive" landscape. Editor: Indeed. And it makes me wonder, how much of what they thought they were experiencing was curated, how much genuine? I find those small fishing vessels particularly fascinating because in contrast with idealized background hills, boats point us to something deeper about culture. They serve as the crucial interface for making a life there. They tie Calabria’s image to work and tradition. Curator: Precisely. We are left wondering if it can be anything other than artful fabrication, because idyllic landscape painting very conveniently skirted over any of those very harsh realities of eighteenth century Italian lives. Still, Ducros had a real impact on popular imagination, both within the artistic community, as his style was hugely influential at that time. Editor: I see his paintings functioning a bit like relics then – objects imbued with this kind of perceived exotic authenticity, no matter if reality and presentation were in conflict. A visual echo from the past… Curator: Yes, it served as a carefully edited vision that those Northern Europeans really wanted to hold as their precious takeaway of Italy. It gave them access to Italian culture.