Gloria Salinas’ trip to Italy included a portrait sitting with a renowned Russian artist
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Rome Studies student Gloria Salinas agreed to have her portrait painted by accomplished Russian artists while she was in Italy last fall.
North Lake College student Gloria Salinas worked hard and pinched her pennies in order to participate in the school’s final Rome studies program last semester.
Today, she figures the lean times and $6,000 were well worth her visits to historical sites across the Italian peninsula. She also agreed to have her portrait painted by accomplished Russian artists, so her youthful beauty someday may be on display in a museum in Florence or Moscow or another of the world’s art centers.
Salinas said she was glad to participate in the Rome program before it ended and that she remains drawn to Italy’s “timeless culture. “
Italy is nothing like your art history book or the Travel Channel,” she said. “It is a historically unique civilization.”
Between study sessions, North Lake students traveled the length and breadth of Italy and visited cities on each of the nation’s coasts.
Carlo Bianchini was the North Lake group’s restaurant host at their base in Orvieto, just outside Rome. At the same time, Salinas said, Bianchini also hosted a group of Russia’s fi nest artists.
The juxtaposition of the two groups led to Salinas’ volunteer work as the artists’ model.
Here are excerpts from Salinas’ memories of her stay in Italy:
How did you meet the artists?
The Russian artists were actually
a part of Carlo's non-profi t organization.
Carlo is an antiquities
art dealer. He provided all of our
lunches and dinners for our sevenweek
stay in his beloved town. He
also provided the Russian artists
their lunches and dinners, as well as
all their travel expenses in the different
towns they visited and painted
in Italy.
I am not exactly sure how his organization works. When I spoke with Carlo a bit about it, he said that he pays for them to travel and stay all throughout Italy so they may paint. Then, I believe … he keeps a portion of their portraits, paintings, etc. He will produce a catalog of their work and then perhaps sell them. It was in the middle of the trip, about October, at lunch one day, when … the artists and Carlo … came over and asked me to come into their dining room, and I sat while they adjusted lighting and stared at me for a while. They eventually asked me to come back that evening, after classes and before dinner, to sit for them.
What did you think of the
artists and their work?
I was really anxious to see how
someone else viewed me, and it
was really interesting to watch
them work behind their easels with
so much concentration and talent.
Once the painting was completely
fi nished, I truly enjoyed it and actually
thought the painting looked a
lot like me.
Did he charge you for the
portrait?
I was not charged for the portrait,
and I was not allowed to keep
it. But upon its completion, Carlo
let me select a beautiful necklace
from his wife and daughter's shop,
Dolomitian, for the time I had spent
in his restaurant, between classes
and trips, sitting for the artists.
How long did it take to finish the
portrait? Where did it take place
– outside, in a studio?
I believe I sat with the artists
about four different evenings – not
every day because they were traveling,
and so were we. Also, as I was
taking classes, it was hard to meet
with them every day. It was probably
within a three-week span, in
about four visits. On each visit I
sat in a chair for … three to four
hours, not moving. The painting
took place in their dining room in
the restaurant with a fi replace as the
backdrop.
Give us a summary of your trip.
We saw and did so much in Italy
within our two-month stay that
it all still hasn't caught up with me.
We visited at least 17 different cities
and small towns all throughout
… Italy.
Our schedule was so hectic. It went a little like this: One week (or maybe just four days … sometimes) we would stay in Orvieto and go to classes, take tests, read material, and even take tours of our own town.
Then the weekend would come, and we would be up at 5 a.m. for breakfast, then walk down to the bus and be off by 6 a.m.
We would sometimes take day trips into Rome – which was an hour away for us – or other small, beautiful, surrounding towns, then come back that night and wake up the next morning to do it all over again.
For our northern trip to Venice, Florence, and Sienna, as well as our southern trip to Naples, Pompei, and Capri, we left for the weekend and spent about three nights away in those cities.
What was your best, worst or
most interesting memory
from Rome?
I hate that everything is just that
now – a memory, a past moment in
time. I can't say that I have a worst
memory, but I defi nitely have [so]
many best memories that it’s hard
to choose. Since I have to, the best
would be staring up at Michelangelo's
marble David, located … in
Florence … as I stood amazed … at
this great 18-foot masterpiece.