RENOIR IN CAPISTRANO

     In his book, Renoir, my Father, the great French artist's  son describes his father's trip to Calabria and his stay at the home of a Calabrian Priest he had met while in Naples. The book then adds that Renoir painted some frescos in the priest's church as a token of appreciation for the priest's kindness.

     In the sixties, a local artist by the name of Franco Natale started postulating that the town mentioned in the book was in fact Capistrano and that the frescos where the ones on the walls of our church.

     To test his views, he called upon the Ministry of the Arts to come and render a verdict. I, Mike, personally remember the day when two authoritative types came to town and entered the church with Franco and the priest, Don Nicolino Manfrida, to render a judgment.

     Years went by; more research was made; more art critics came and looked at the works and the verdict of most thus far has been that it is is highly probable that  the "Baptism of Jesus" fresco behind the baptistery is  Renoir's work (You may see this work in the set of pictures on the church. It is the third last picture. Click here). Others are now suggesting that he painted other frescos as well.

In this section we will offer material on the subject. We expect that all or most of it will be in Italian, thus we suggest that you rely on "Google Translator" for an approximate translation.

RENOIR IN CAPISTRANO (CENTRAL PAGE)