Cadence of Colour: Sveva Caetani and Her Mothers, by Devon L. Muhlert
The Caetani family stood on the platform of the Vernon train station in 1921, trailing 30 custom Louis Vuitton trunks. They were outrunning a scandal in Italy to start fresh in a young country, in British Columbia, Canada. They bought a house with cash upon arrival. Little Sveva was only four, and both her father Leone and mother Ofelia doted on her. She had everything a child could want—exquisite toys, custom dresses, a playhouse—but no other children with whom to share. Leone was the Prince of Teano and Duke of Sermoneta in Italy, with vast land holdings, but had to relinquish his titles to a younger brother when he fled from Mussolini’s fascist uprisings. But their troubles were not over, and life in Canada became difficult too. It is to Sveva’s credit that she survived a traumatic adolescence and middle age to become a passionate painter who discovered a happy life filled with a cadence of colour.
The Caetani family stood on the platform of the Vernon train station in 1921, trailing 30 custom Louis Vuitton trunks. They were outrunning a scandal in Italy to start fresh in a young country, in British Columbia, Canada. They bought a house with cash upon arrival. Little Sveva was only four, and both her father Leone and mother Ofelia doted on her. She had everything a child could want—exquisite toys, custom dresses, a playhouse—but no other children with whom to share. Leone was the Prince of Teano and Duke of Sermoneta in Italy, with vast land holdings, but had to relinquish his titles to a younger brother when he fled from Mussolini’s fascist uprisings. But their troubles were not over, and life in Canada became difficult too. It is to Sveva’s credit that she survived a traumatic adolescence and middle age to become a passionate painter who discovered a happy life filled with a cadence of colour.
The Caetani family stood on the platform of the Vernon train station in 1921, trailing 30 custom Louis Vuitton trunks. They were outrunning a scandal in Italy to start fresh in a young country, in British Columbia, Canada. They bought a house with cash upon arrival. Little Sveva was only four, and both her father Leone and mother Ofelia doted on her. She had everything a child could want—exquisite toys, custom dresses, a playhouse—but no other children with whom to share. Leone was the Prince of Teano and Duke of Sermoneta in Italy, with vast land holdings, but had to relinquish his titles to a younger brother when he fled from Mussolini’s fascist uprisings. But their troubles were not over, and life in Canada became difficult too. It is to Sveva’s credit that she survived a traumatic adolescence and middle age to become a passionate painter who discovered a happy life filled with a cadence of colour.
