Albania in the Painting of Edward Lear (1848)

Albanien in der Kunst des Malers Edward Lear (1848)

Pikturat shqiptare të Eduard Lirit (Edward Lear, 1848)

EDL022 - Edward Lear: The khan of Kavaja (Cavailla/Kaváya) in central Albania, 11 October 1848. “Remotely considered, the khan was not a bad khan, but on a near inspection, it proved to be a negative abode, and quite out of the question as a lodging for the night, for there were no walls to the rooms, no ceiling, no floors, no roofs, no windows, no anything, so that I was in despair as to where to go, when a Greek Papas, who had followed us, came up, and in good Italian offered me his house, which I gladly accepted, and after a tour of half the town, we arrived at a galleried picturesque place in a courtyard thronged with geese, and incumbered with barrels. “Camera vostra,” said the priest, showing me into a large and handsome room occupying one wing of the upper floor of the building, and I, with the utmost innocence, supposing that this offer was all hospitality such as one may find in dear old Abruzzi or Calabria, made fifty apologies and agreeable speeches to the reverend man, till I accidentally caught sight of Giorgio’s knocker-like visage writhing itself into amazing contortions in the background, by way of expressing that I was quite wrong, and should have to pay full dearly for my place of refuge. So I settled myself for the night with Papa Andréa, the Ecónomos of Kaváya, taking occasion to sketch his house between falling showers - for there seems no chance of settled weather.” Edward Lear in Albania (London 2008), p. 83-84.