San Giovanni, Ravello
In the spring of 1931, Escher and his wife travelled together along the Amalfi coast, an area of which they both had fond memories, not least because they met there in 1923. They visited places like Vietri, Puntone, Scala, Positano, Praiano and of course Ravello. Here stood the Albergo dell Toro, the hotel where Maurits and Jetta first set eyes on one another. The town has special significance for them and is given prominence in Escher’s work too. He was particularly affected by the Spanish-Islamic motifs he found in the town, including the ones in the Duomo. He did several drawings and took several photos in Ravello and the town can also be seen in a series of prints that he produced in the early 1930s. One is San Giovanni, Ravello (in Campidoglio), Ravello. A wood engraving from February 1932.
On the print you can see a church which, after some investigative work, turns out to be the San Giovanni dell’Acqua. It is located on a hill west of Ravello, in the hamlet of Campidoglio.
This print is currently on display. It can be viewed in room 2 until the end of September.
