Professor Butter Beard and John Singer Sargent’s Summer in Capri
“There is an isle, kissed by a smiling sea,
Where all sweet confluents meet: a thing of heaven,
A spent aërolite, that well may be
The missing sister of the starry Seven.
Celestial beauty nestles at its knee,
And in its lap is naught of earthly leaven.
’Tis girt and crowned with loveliness; its year,
Eternal summer; winter comes not near.”
- Alfred Austin, describing Capri in his “Rome, or death,” 1873
Early February is when I crave the sun. Now, keep in mind, this is coming from the hobbit whose skin burns when I take out the garbage to the bins. No, during this mid-winter, the sun I crave is the one that awakens my herb garden, snowdrops and daffodils with its warmth. The sun that makes Nellie giggle as she chases a newly born fawn across the meadow at the doorway of the woods. The sun that encourages long walks on an island beach, toes in the sand, and the rhythm of energetic and hypnotic waves crashing against the shore. And the sun that perhaps even encourages an early summer sunrise romance.
This was the case in the 1870’s when the American painter John Singer Sargent visited the Italian island of Capri while on a summer “working holiday.” Well-known for its electric blue seas, tall limestone cliffs, and white beachside villas, Capri provided a breathtaking location for Sargent’s surprise romance with Rosina Ferrara. The island was the backdrop for their delicious love story, as Ferrara became Sargent’s sunlit muse.
A popular portraitist and landscape painter, John Singer Sargent was born in Florence to wealthy American parents. In 1854, his parents left America after the painful death of one of his sisters. They moved to Florence for some escapism and time to mourn, though had every intention of returning home. Yet, falling in love with life abroad, they remained nomads for the rest of their lives. This had a lasting effect on the young artist, born two years later, who continued to travel between America and Europe for most of his life.
By 1878, at the young age of twenty-two, Sargent had already completed his studies in Paris with Carolus Duran. In the summer of that year, he decided to take a much-needed break from the confines of the city and let his soul expand and explore. Capri is a small, idyllic island located just off the coast of Sorrento, in the southern part of the Gulf of Naples. Typical of the Mediterranean, it is characterized by olive trees, vineyards and fishing harbors which nestle within small, rocky bays. Staying in the small village of Anacapri, Sargent surrounded himself with other artists who had sought solace in the island’s summer heat and natural beauty.
“Sargent set out to Capri with the intention of capturing the beauty of this island, steeped in romance,” writes Charlotte Stace. “Yet, for this, he needed a model. The community’s priests had warned the local girls of the dangers of modeling for the artists who frequently passed through. However, there was one girl who ignored their warnings. She was called Rosina Ferrara.”
Born into a local working-class family, Ferrara was seventeen years old when Sargent arrived on Capri. The young artist’s trip to the island arose from the need to develop his portraiture skills. For this purpose, Ferrara was the perfect model: tall and slim, with dark olive skin and curly dark hair. He was overcome by her natural beauty and soulful being, and she easily blossomed into his holiday muse. Over the course of that summer, he painted around a dozen works featuring her within the mesmerizing dreamscapes of Capri.
“Sargent captured her uninhibited, spontaneous movement and fierce spirit brilliantly,” continues Stace, “perfectly depicting Ferrara’s beauty, grace and poise.” His sumptuous paintings lead us to believe that he had somewhat of an obsession with his exotic muse but, although they had a love affair that summer, it was short-lived. Once summer had come to a close, Sargent packed his bags and returned to Paris. His skills as an artist had greatly improved and an inevitable success and fame awaited him there.
Yet, you may ask, what became of Rosina Ferrara, the local girl from Capri? According to Stace, following her brief romance with Sargent in 1878, she continued to model for artists who came to the island. In 1883 she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, the father of whom is unknown. Then, in 1891 she married the American muralist George Randolph Barse, a respectable man of high social standing in America. He took Ferrara to live in Westchester County, just north of New York City where she lived out the rest of her days with him. She died of pneumonia in 1934 leaving behind a devastated Barse. He was so shaken by his loss that he committed suicide just three years later.
But that summer on the island paradise will live forever in Sargent’s paintings. The sun that inspired the young romantic artist, now inspires me in my midwinter morning kitchen. I tried to capture the warmth and sound of the waves in this toasted almond flour “torta” filled with the zest of sun-ripe lemons, the sweetness of white chocolate and the island earthiness of fresh thyme leaves. One taste, and I am transported and hypnotized by the islands waves, listening again to the words of Alfred Austin as he further describes the enchantment of Capri:
“And flowers of every hue and breath abound,
Charming the sense; the burning cactus glows,
Like daisies elsewhere dappling all the ground,
And in each cleft the berried myrtle blows.
The playful lizard glides and darts around,
The elfin fireflies flicker o’er the rows
Of ripened grain. Alien to pain and wrong,
Men fill the days with dance, the nights with song.”
Torta Caprese al Limone
Inspired by Michel’angelo Capri
One 12” torte (cake)
3 cups almond flour
10 ounces white chocolate
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
21 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/3 cup), room temperature
½ tsp fine sea salt
8 large eggs, separated
4 large lemons
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. On a parchment-lined sheet pan, lightly toast the almond flour for 8-10 minutes, just until aromatic and slightly browned. Set aside to cool.
2) Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3) Butter and flour a 12” springform pan and line with a parchment circle.
4) Melt the white chocolate in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
5) Using a standing mixer, whisk the egg whites to firm peaks. Spoon the whipped whites into another bowl.
6) Reuse the standing mixer but use with the paddle attachment. Mix the sugar, zest of the 4 lemons, the thyme leaves and the salt until the sugar appears wet and is aromatic with lemon. Add the butter, then cream together until smooth and creamy.
7) Add the egg yolks and mix on high speed for 3 minutes. Add the toasted almond flour and mix on medium speed for another 2 minutes.
8) Add the white chocolate to the batter and mix on medium for another 4 minutes.
9) Remove the bowl from the standing mixer and gently fold in the whipped whites with a spatula. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out clean.
10) Let the cake cool in the tin. The cake is best baked the day before serving. It will develop a deeper flavor by standing overnight.
