Arthur John Strutt (Chelmsford, 12 June 1818 \u2013 Rome, 1888) was an English painter, engraver, traveller,\nwriter and archaeologist. The son of the landscape painter Jacob George Strutt, he travelled through France\nand Switzerland in the company of his father before they both arrived in Italy in 1831 and settled in Rome. He\nremained in Italy for the rest of his life, becoming especially interested in \u201cpicturesque\u201d aspects, particularly\nthose of the Roman countryside, focusing his attention on landscapes and the customs of the inhabitants. In\n1838 he undertook a long journey on foot through Southern Italy, accompanied by his friend William Jackson.
\nThis journey gave rise to A Pedestrian Tour in Calabria and Sicily, a work presented as a collection of letters addressed\nto family members, often written in the evening before going to sleep after exhausting days of walking.
\nThey are true diary-letters, created with the intention of recording the impressions and images gathered along\nthe way.
\nStrutt appears as an essentially visual traveller, devoid of scientific, social, or political interests: what attracted\nhim was the landscape and popular life, observed as combinations of lines and colours.\nIn this context, Calabria and Sicily represented for him the most desired destinations, almost an artistic mecca,\nwhere his sketchbook seemed destined to be filled.
\nHis ability to engage immediately with people and places makes the book particularly valuable, an intense testimony\nto the gaze of a young artist, barely twenty years old, animated by a profound thirst for life, art, and\nadventure. In the spring of 1838 Strutt arrived in Scilla descending along the Calabrian coast.
\nIn the passage, the author describes his first encounter with the town, dwelling on the rocky landscape and on\nseveral scenes of everyday life; references to the classical Scylla inevitably emerge as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe soon arrived at Scilla, famous in classical memory.
\nThe rocks, still jutting out and ever-present, continue their battle with the sea and the \u2018barking waves\u2019.
\nTheir forked peaks present a formidable appearance.
\nThe principal rock, crowned by a fort (once considered important, now reduced to ruins, having been dismantled\nby the French), forms a mighty breakwater protecting the small harbour that shelters fishing boats, speronare,\nand other vessels belonging to the village of Scilla or passing through.
\nThe scene was too picturesque not to tempt my pencil while breakfast was being prepared. Our appetites had\nbeen sufficiently sharpened by the ride to surrender fully to the pleasure of this meal, which consisted of macaroni,\nslices of fried swordfish served with oil and vinegar, salad, giuncata cheese, oranges and almonds: all\nwashed down with a flask of that dark Calabrian wine, whose strength and fragrance gradually increase as\none moves farther south.
\nAfter the two muleteers and the animals had finished their meal, we resumed our journey, and after a halt at\nmidday (to combat thirst and heat with wine cooled by ice, or more precisely by frozen snow, with which every\ninn in these parts is abundantly supplied), we arrived at San Giovanni, situated at that point of the Boot where\nthe Strait is closest to Sicily and directly opposite Messina. This is the place where one generally embarks: with\na favourable wind, the Strait is crossed.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
In his notes there emerges a fascination with the small gestures of daily life: breakfast with macaroni, fried\nswordfish, oranges and almonds, accompanied by the intense aroma of red wine.
\nParticularly curious and evocative is the detail of snow being stored in inns to cool the wine, a testimony to an\nancient practice that characterised the commercial relations between the town of Scilla and the Sicilian shore\nof the Strait.
\nThis snow, coming from the snow pits of Aspromonte, was not merely a means of combating the heat, but\nreflected the importance of Scilla as a centre for the collection, transport and trade of snow destined for Messina\nand Sicily.
\nIn other words, the snow was not used only to cool beverages: it was a valuable commodity, closely linked to\nlocal commerce and traditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Giuseppe Ribuffo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/i>Next page: 98. Archestratus of Gela, Hedypatheia, 330 BC.<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1410","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nArthur John Strutt - Discover Scilla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/arthur-john-strutt-un-viaggio-a-piedi-in-calabria-e-sicilia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arthur John Strutt - Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/arthur-john-strutt-un-viaggio-a-piedi-in-calabria-e-sicilia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T08:42:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/arthur-john-strutt-un-viaggio-a-piedi-in-calabria-e-sicilia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/arthur-john-strutt-un-viaggio-a-piedi-in-calabria-e-sicilia\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arthur John Strutt - 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