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)

EDL030 - Edward Lear: Tragjas (Draghiádhes) south of Vlora in southern Albania, with the Bay of Vlora in the background. 22 October 1848. “Draghiádhes, the door, as it were, of Acroceraunia, stands on a height immediately in front, while the majestic snowy peak of Tchika (the lofty point so conspicuous from Corfu, and on the southern side of which stand the real Khimáriote villages), towers over all the scene, than which one more sublime or more shut out from the world, I do not recollect often to have noticed. At the sea-side I stole time for a short sketch, and then remounting, our party rode on over the sands to nearly the end of the gulf, whence we turned off to the left, and gradually ascended to Draghiádhes… We passed the village of Radima high above us, and after I had contrived to make another sketch, the scene momentarily grew finer as the descending sun flung hues of crimson over the lonely, sparkling town of Draghiádhes, and the bright peaks of the huge Tchika. Presently we came to the oak-clad hills immediately below the town, where narrow winding paths led upwards among great rocks and spreading trees worthy of Salvator Rosa, and not unlike the beautiful serpentara of Olévano. I have never seen more impressively savage scenery since I was in Calabria. Evening, or early morn, are the times to study these wild southern places to advantages; they are then alive with the inhabitants of the town or village gathering to, or issuing from it.” Edward Lear in Albania (London 2008), p. 110-111.