August Kopisch
The discovery of the Blue Grotto Chronicle of the birth of the myth of Capri
preface by Francesco Durante
August Kopisch
The discovery of the Blue Grotto Original title: Entdeckuung der Blauen Grotte auf der Insel Capri Translation from italian by Veronica Galbiati (from a translation by Alberto Geremicca) ISBN 9788874211807 © Edizioni Intra Moenia 2016 Il Distico Srl Via Costantinopoli 94, 80138 – Napoli www.intramoenia.it – info@intramoenia.it Graphic design and e layout: Giuseppe Madonna Cover: Jakob Alt, Die Blaue Grotte auf der Insel Capri, 1835-36
The discovery of the Blue Grotto
Ernst Fries, Die Blaue Grotte von Capri
This is the first drawing of the Blue Grotto, made on 18 August 1826 by Ernst Fries, the friend of Kopisch who accompanied him during the “discovery� of the cave.
It was the summer of 1826 when my friend Ernesto Fries and I debarked in the beautiful bay of Northern Capri marina. The sun was descending towards the distant Ischia as we jumped onto the resounding sand. Capri was the first island I set foot on, and I shall never forget the impression. One of my most cherished desires was now appeased: I could hear the clamour of the sea against all those amazing cliffs that had already almost magically occupied my thoughts since Naples. Each refracting wave sung of my separation from the continent, of my being on a rock inhabited by simple people, fishermen and gardeners, where the sound of the horses eagerly pawing the ground and the rolling of the wheels were still unknown. Already from a distance, the islet with its cliffs, caves and hanging gardens, its ancient ruins, new cities and staircases scultped in the rock, left in me the impression of a very pecu17
liar world, full of wonder, encircled by horrid and lovely legends. Now that time chased to be strictly delimited, I could hope of exploring that world and its borders, and this thought made me indescribably happy. On our arrival folks from both villages crowded on the beach: men and youth, women and girls, all recalling to mind the beauty of the Ancient Greeks. They took over the cargo from the merchant ship on which we had travelled, and with particular ease they carried it partly to Anacapri, on the staircase sculpted in the rock, and partly to Capri, on a gentler slope. A swift boy grabbed our luggage, and we followed him slowly in a queue towards the latter. We found ourselves, at first, in what could have been the set of an enormous theatre sculpted in the rock: in the foreground, a row of white houses with flattened roofs; above, an half circle of vineyards that, terrace after terrace, raised up and outwards to the magnificently ascending walls of the cliffs, and the city above, that demarcated the boundary of our gaze. Our path meandered next to those terraces. We could see the steep slopes covered in myrtle 18
and bay tree shrubs, and occasionally encountered mastic and even palm trees. Birds flew about above us while cicadas sang their monotonous tune in the olive trees. The route was long, the evening gentle. All the things I had read about appeared now in front of my very recollections, mixing with the captivation of the present moment. If we turned around, we could see the distant twinkling of the enchanting Gulf of Naples, Ischia, Procida and the Pontine islands. Gazing and often lingering on the view, we finally arrived at the island’s saddle, and through a towered door we entered the small city of Capri, almost oriental-looking in its architecture. The boy who carried our luggage led us past the church, in pretty white inn of don Giuseppe Pagano, where we received the warmest of welcome in exchange of a modest reward. Our guest, a small, friendly middle-aged, guided us, staircase after staircase, around his playfully built home; and as I paused before a small collection of old books he told me he collected them in Naples, when he was a student, 19
Antonino Leto, Marina Grande a Capri, 1887
while at the same time he introduced me to the local notary. I was very happy to discover that he was an educated individual with a library full of Italian and Latin books, mostly about Capri. And as soon as he realised how deeply I wanted to know the island, with great pleasure he gathered all the volumes he thought that could help me in this venture, and promised me to bring me even more of them the following day. He also joined us in our dinner, which consisted in all sorts of sea animals, some of which where still unknown to me, and we soon became good friends. After eating and drinking, the entire family of the notary climbed on the roof with us, and there we sat and chatted pleasantly, all the while enjoying the beautiful view of the island in the starlight. In the clear night, Don Pagano pointed our gaze towards every detail he considered worthy of attention, recounting us all that he knew about them: our eyes struggled to follow him in the mystical obscurity, and the harder it was to make them out, the tenser our curiosity 21