This place is symbolic of Iblean rural holiday villas of the XVIIIth-century. It lies along the old Modica-Pozzallo state road deep in the countryside, nestled on the side of a hill that slopes gently towards the coast.
From the outside, Villa Rizzone appears a tall building, suspended between an oasis of greenery that courts it and the seductive blue of the sea. The leaden grey light of a rainy afternoon welcomes us a little cooly, while we look for signs of the charm that led the Taviani brothers and Franco Zeffirelli to shoot films here that have gone on to become famous, ‘Kaos’ (1984) and ‘Storia di una Capinera’ (Sparrow, 1993). We follow the owner, our very kind guide, and, little by little, we see beyond the understated main façade. The XVIth- century portal in the courtyard, the stucco altar of Saint Antony, an XVIIIth-century gesso of the small family church and then the lions that form a really unusual sculptural group on the top of the villa. The undulating arches that flow one after another on the ground floor; the simple yet beautiful terrace with views towards the Mediterranean sea.
We head to the central arch, towards what appears to be the entrance door. “No, this way,” beckons our host and so we discover that behind the symmetrical, solid and plain façade, is an airy and imaginative interior, which is playful and triumphant with joy. The entrance hall with a barrel vault is immersed in darkness. Unexpectedly, out of the pitch dark, we see a beautiful split staircase, which divides to rejoin at the top, where suddenly it’s light. The soft colours of the frescoed hallway with its immense windows acts as a fragile membrane between the us and the sky. We see birds all around as if in a splendid aviary, carefully created by the expert hands of painters unknown. We then understand why this villa is has been chosen to form part of cinematographic fiction, almost acting as a counterbalance, becoming a metaphor for a spiritual dimension, for an existential condition.
And of Pirandello who “meets” his mother and a young woman vanquished by love. Because it’s there, in the loggia enclosed by vast windows, in the beautiful gallery, as well as in the superb interiors that there is still an old-fashioned atmosphere; that all the sensations of what has gone before return to the screen, even if only for a moment,.
We learn that that the villa’s curious asymmetry — the entrance door is off-centre in respect to the main axis of the building — is involuntary. This is only half of a grandiose building whose transformation began in the first half of the XVIIIth century, beginning with some pre-existing rural houses, was never completed. Yet this does not mean it loses any of its elegance or its value as the summer residence of a family that has been part of the history of Modica and the entire Iblean province. In fact, the Honourable Senator Corrado Rizzone (1800…- 1934), great-uncle of the current owner, Dr. Paolo Rizzone, once lived there. The villa was also a centre for socialites drawn to its salons and lounges, dining room and frescoes. Its charm has not been ravaged by time, and is all the more intriguing because of the exotic names of some its rooms, such as the ‘Turkish parlour’, so-called because of the oriental furniture that once embellished it. Yet the frescoed ceiling remains with portraits depicting Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi and those who did not abandon their ideas and their emblems even on ‘holiday’.
Giovedì 30 Gennaio 1997, La Sicilia.
Tullia Giardina
Trad. Carol King
