After another wonderful breakfast in Castelraimondo, we
headed towards Recanati to visit Giacomo Leopardi’s home.
Leopardi was born and lived in Recanti, a small town in the
Marche region of Italy. Leopardi’s father was Count Monaldo Leopardi and his mother
was Marquise Adelaide Antici Mattei. The Leopardi family was very well-known in
Recanati due to their nobility and their ownership of the only palazzo on the
town’s main square.
During Leopardi’s childhood, his father was prohibited from
managing his families’ estate because he quickly let the finances go south so,
his mother, Adelaide, took over and set up a strict family regime. Because of
his strict regime Leopardi developed many talents and held the title of “child
prodigy.”
Leopardi is known for writing many poems including that of A
Silvia, The Infinite, Saturday Night in the Village, and To the Moon. The
Infinite highlights his wants and desires to escape Recanati specifically and
travel beyond the horizon that he sees from his window in his study. Many of
his poems are sad and have very depressing tones which can turn away many
readers.
While on the tour we learned many things about the house and
Leopardi including that he passed away at 39 and his current descendants still
live in his house. The first room of the tour was the servant’s room. They
currently have a private library in the house that is available to the public
who are interested in learning more about Leopardi’s life. The second room was
a teacher’s bedroom; it was not uncommon for teachers to live in their
student’s houses and the room holds many records of Leopardi’s coin and medal
collections as well as certificates of his mayor ship. Many people back in the
day thought that Leopardi made poor investments because he put his money
towards books and libraries which were very expensive to purchase and maintain.
Leopardi’s mother eventually took over his finances and reorganized them
however. Leopardi’s libraries were beautiful and he let his family and
eventually the public have access to them. It is such a beautiful thing to let
the public have access to such knowledge and history. This is another example
that I found where Italian history integrates itself into modern society.
There is one window in Leopardi’s libraries that is
particularly special. From this window Leopardi would sit and look at a green
door across the street where we watched a girl named Teresa. He fell in love
with her and was crushed when she died at the age of twenty-one from
tuberculosis. It is said that this is the girl in which he writes his famous
poem Asylivia. I felt so fortunate to be in Leopardi’s house and even more
fortunate for Leopardi’s nephew who donated Leopardi’s manuscripts to the
public. From this generosity and I am able to learn more about a historical and
noble figure.
Leopardi had perfect calligraphy; he studied the poly glot
bible and was not known for being very attractive. He was one of seven children
as well as the oldest. Leopardi prided himself in his knowledge and his
children studied intensively. His children would study with their teachers
behind them and Leopardi in front. Every six months they would be tested on
their knowledge and would pride themselves on what they knew.
The opportunity to study and learn about Leopardi was
amazing and to see how his influence on history has developed into current
Italian culture is beautiful. I find it to be so important that the Leopardi
family still to this day shares their family history and culture and how the
history of their past continues to live on today with his family. Leopardi is
amazing to me in the sense of dedication he had to knowledge and learning, the
way he put his time and use towards his own betterment and the improvement of
his children. I think that society today could take a page from Leopardi’s book
and put more effort into education and learning about the things we’re
passionate about. His use of time and knowledge made me question the U.S.
American school system imp articular and the way that education is presented to
us. Education is not something that we cherish in the states but something that
is seen as a punishment and a task. I believe that we should approach education
with the wonder and amazement about the world that Leopardi held with his own
education.
After the tour, we had a bit of free time so we took off to
explore the city, I was able to sit down with some friends and have a delicious
lunch. We had time to do some shopping and relax among the cobblestone streets
and the beautiful parks. Before we left to Loreto we walked together as a class
to the place where Leopardi wrote The infinite and listened to Kloie read it
aloud. It was a beautiful experience.
On our way home we made a short stop in the small town of
Loretto. I previously knew nothing about Loretto but upon arrival I was
astonished. The architecture was gorgeous and I couldn’t help but take pictures
and stop and stare. We had a chance to go into the Cathedral of Loretto and
when I walked inside it is definitely one of the most beautiful churches and
cathedrals I have been into. After reading a pamphlet about the Cathedral I
learned that they thought that angels brought the crown jewels to Loretto and
that it was a holy place. People from all over come to Loretto to witness the
beauty of the jewels. It is also said that the Cathedral is the place of
conception of Jesus and is considered to be highly holy. Just being in the
church and observing the architecture was amazing and I appreciated it so
much.
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