The Ypres born François Roffiaen (1820-1898) was a landscape painter who specialised in Alpine landscapes and its surroundings. En Plein Air he drew his studies in oil, pencil, brush and watercolour. At the age of three he went to live with his uncle, Joseph-Louis-Augustin, who was a bookseller in Namur where François went to Grammar School and the Academy of Painting (1835-1839) followed by the Academy of Brussels under François Bossuet (1789-1889). François completed his studies at the studio of Pierre-Louis Kühnen (1812-1877) in Brussels. Inspired by Alexandre Calame (1810-1864) with whom he spent six months in Geneva in 1864, he fell in love with the Alpine landscape. His international commissions brought him the title Chevalier de l'Ordre de Léopold in 1869.
Introduced in his early childhood to the domain of Natural Sciences by Jules Colbeau (1823-1881), François also acclaimed fame for his achievements in Malacology (Molluscs) as one of the founding members of the Malacological Society of Belgium.
Already during his lifetime paintings by Roffiaen were very much sought after and works by the artist are represented in the collections of musea in Antwerp, Brussels, Ypers, Namur and prominent private-collectors in Buffalo, Chicago, New York, The Hague, London and Cambridge as well as the collections of Queen Victoria (a Birthday present given by her husband Prince Albert) and the Shah of Persia.[1]
The Lake Como Traditional Boat or Lucia has been known since as early as the sixteenth century as a local boat used by fishermen on the Lago di Como (Lake Como) at the foot of the Alps. It's typically flat bottom makes the boat easily suited to drag ashore by the fishermen in order to unload the catch. The semicircular wooden bows which could be covered with a canvas facilitate shelter from bad weather and prevent the fish from a rapid decomposition under the Southern sunlight. The boat could be moved by a small sail or oars. Despite it's original functions, the Lucia lost it's original function and became a pleasure or passenger boat during the nineteenth century.
The Lucia, which originally was named batell (boat), adopted it's name from the famous Italian novel I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) who was a native of Lake Como and lived in Villa del Balbianello. The novel reflects on the human spirit by means of historical and contemporary prose and poetry. Manzoni elaborates on Love by telling the story of two unfortunate lovers Renzo and Lucia who despite their wish to get married are facing many difficulties and setbacks.
In one of the most famous chapters of Italian literature, Lucia has to abandon her home and while sailing with her batell towards Monza, she looks back to the village mountains and thinks over her Farewall to the Mountains. This reflection became so famous and important that the boat on which she meditated was given the name of the character herself: Lucia.
[1] Jan Dewilde, François Roffiaen 182-1898, Schetsen uit de carrière van een landschapsschilder.
Dienst Stedelijke Musea, Iper, 1998.
