In these chilly winter weeks, in the northern hemisphere at least, I thought I would add a romantic glow of brightness and warmth to your day by recalling the Summer romance between one of our favourite painters, John Singer Sargent, and Rosina Ferrara, a beautiful young girl from the Italian island of Capri.
In the summer of 1878, John Singer Sargent ,aged only 22 and already achieving some success at the Paris salon, took a a working holiday on the beautiful island of Capri the Bay of Naples. In those days there were far fewer tourists and many of the visitors were artists, writers and musicians.
.Charlotte Stace, in a fascinating article on the online art magazine dailyart, tells us: “Sargent set out to Capri with the intention of capturing the beauty of this island, steeped in romance. Yet, for this, he needed a model. The community’s priests had warned the local girls of the dangers of modelling for the artists who frequently passed through. However, there was one girl who ignored their warnings. She was called Rosina Ferrara.” She was 17.
Sargent was overwhelmed by her beauty, tall and slim with olive skin and curly black hair. He painted her a dozen times over that Summer. Here is one of the most evocative, A Capriotte. Charlote says: “Sargent painted Ferrara in the middle of an olive grove with her arms wrapped around an olive tree, mimicking its twisted shape. This pose illustrates her connection with the wild and natural beauty of the island, something he found so irresistible about her.”
Rosina can also be seen dancing in a number of paintings, says Charlotte: “In Capri Girl on a Rooftop, she dances to the beat of a local friend’s tambourine.”
Charlotte adds: “She dances for him again in Portrait of Rosina Ferrara where we see her in her local dress, with her hair tumbling down and smiling for the onlooker. Sargent captured her uninhibited, spontaneous movement and fierce spirit brilliantly.”
Undoubtedly, Sargent became obsessed by Rosina and they had a short love affair, but once Summer was over, the rich, well connected American left once more for Paris and the beginning of a glittering career, leaving the young village girl behind. Eventually, in1891, Rosina married another American artist, George Randolph Barse and lived with him in the USA until her death in 1934. You can read Charlotte’s whole story DailyArt magazine by clicking here https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/sargent-ferrara-capri-romance/
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