Volterra; a.k.a. Volterra, The Town in the Clouds

 

John Taylor Arms

  1887 - 1953 (biography)

1927  

etching 

7 15/16 x 8 1/8" platemark 

pencil signed, lower right 

100 

dated 1927 after the signature; plate inscribed: Arms 1927 / Volterra / The Town in the Clouds; pencil titled in unknown hand along lower sheet edge 

Fletcher 196; Italian series #12; Arms 198; LOC 517 

light tan laid 

i/i 

artist 

24607 

$400.00 

John Taylor Arms depicts the ancient town of Volterra from below, a winding dirt road leading the eye upward to the bell tower of the Palazzo dei Priori and the dome of the Duomo. Between the walled town and the viewer, a series of dramatic folds in the landscape are draped in the rows of orchards and vineyards, divided by walls of Italian cypress.

The fortified town of Volterra rests on a hilltop in Pisa province, Tuscany, with roots dating to the Bronze Age. Considered the oldest and most significant seat of power of the Etruscan League of Cities, it boasts a rich history of Etruscan, Roman, and Italian rule maintained by the local municipality. It is one of the highest peaks on the tableland on which it sits, and commands a 360 degree view that made it ideal for the Etruscan trade and for battle preparedness. Its preserved walls and gates partially date to the 4th century BC and much of the architecture remains as it has for hundreds of years. It owes much of its existence to its alabaster trade, due to the deposits of the translucent stone throughout the region - hence the town’s nickname, the Alabaster City.