Phase Two of Italy’s lockdown has been underway for only about a week as of this writing. So to say that there is nostalgia for the quarantine is a stretch.
And yet there is already a desire to look back at what has transpired over the last few months while the world stopped. An entire season passed by as Italians sheltered in their homes trying to find comfort in the everyday. Honing a skill or adopting a hobby became a means of survival, a way to pass the hours of grief and uncertainty.
Elisa Colarossi, who goes by the handle @romangalgoesaround, has been one of the uplifting Instagram accounts I have followed during the quarantena. For two months, between 18 March and 18 May, Elisa chronicled her time in lockdown with bright watercolor images of her home and the scenes outside her window. She has now compiled those illustrations into a small art book called The Roman Quarantine.
Elisa’s artwork is simple, heartfelt, and intimate. They show moka pots and Roman rooftops; laundry hanging from balconies and stovetops simmering with sugo; and the ochre, pink, and yellow hues of Rome’s cityscape.
Many of Elisa’s quarantine images feature her black cat Stanis. So her new project, as she ventures beyond her front door and out onto the streets of Rome, has Stanis sitting or sunbathing in front of the Colosseum or in the alleys around Trastevere. “Journal of a Cat in Rome” is just getting started. But you can already buy prints of these adorable illustrations, as well as single prints from The Roman Quarantine.
Follow @romangalgoesaround on Instagram to bless your feed with Elisa’s lovely watercolor visions of Rome.
Last updated on October 26th, 2020Post first published on May 28, 2020
