Bamboo Sticks For Arch

cycle PETRA

Italo Squitieri

In April of 1931 I went to the Middle East and I stayed there until the ' October 1936. I made long stops in Lebanon, Beirut, Saida and Baalbek. In Iraq: Baghdad and Nineveh. In Syria: Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia. Finally, wherever there were vestiges of civilization buried as Palmyra, Antioch and the great, unforgettable Jerash, Jordan: all a triumph of Roman architecture.

And it was that I met in Jerash Marilor Appelt, intelligent German archaeologist, who spoke to me widely Petra, its history, its mysterious charm.

As soon as I went there I had a chance! At the time of the Nabataeans Petra had not yet become a tourist destination, so get there was an undertaking very difficult.

joining a camel caravan of merchants direct to Aqaba, we got along miles and miles of desert, under a merciless sun, with overnight stops in some oases.

From my traveling companions, I spoke only Arabic, I knew very little about Petra, but luckily for me, the long conversations with my German friend had prepared me with enough impact that unique piece Earth.

When the massif of Petra appeared to me, about ten miles away, against the light, seemed like a great cake resting on the horizontal line of the desert.

Some scientists have suggested a huge meteor broke off from a star and conficcatosi in the desert, billions of years ago.

now halfway through, I left the caravan that went another way.

All the emotions experienced in twenty-two days I spent poking around from top to bottom Petra, which adds to its grandeur, its size, are fixed in my memory.

During that journey I performed a large number of drawings and paintings inspired by the mystery of Petra, I've never exposed for sale in numerous exhibitions held in Italy and then abroad. I have always cherished. But when, on a second trip, I saw Petra so different from what it was, attracts millions of tourists who sbracati sit in cafes and shops that have sprung up, I felt the need to evoke my Petra, using those old drawings and 'span the years 1985-1990, I realized the CYCLE OF PETRA.

some of the 17 canvases: