Alpi e santuari

For many summers, Samuel Butler set off to walk across the Alpine valleys and foothills between Canton Ticino, Piemonte and the Lombard lakes. His itineraries sought not that Italy of the Grand Tour, but rather those marginal territories made up of villages, paths, churches and sanctuaries, of which he was the first in the world to acknowledge the artistic and cultural value of a popular heritage largely unknown at the time: that of the Sacri Monti. A careful and cordial traveller, he observed the everyday customs of Alpine culture with a curious gaze, moving among the people like an anthropologist avant le mot. His interests ranged from art to music, transforming a collection of notes into a travel notebook, exploring narrative as well as audio and visual aspects. This edition of Alpi e santuari features a previously unpublished translation by Maria Luisa Agosti Castellani – whose figure is explored by Teresa Franco – a critical text by Matteo Terzaghi and a visual contribution by Emi Ligabue, created on the basis of Butler’s own drawings.