User:James m elderton/Sveva Caetani, Artist

Sveva Caetani (1918 - 1994) was a Canadian artist who lived in Vernon, British Columbia.

She was born in Italy. Her father was Duke Leone Caetani of Sermonetta. Leone was married to Vittoria Colonna, and both the Colonna and Caetani families had popes in their ancestry. But Leone had an affair with Ofelia Fabiani, who gave birth to Sveva.

The family emigrated to Canada in 1921 when Sveva was three. Their arrival in Vernon caused a sensation. This was a small farming town, and nobody knew why this aristocratic Italian family had come here.

Leone enjoyed life in Vernon, and he bought an orchard and a woodlot. But Ofelia hated the town. She refused social contact (apart from two ladies who spoke French) and visitors were turned away.

Sveva was home schooled by English governesses. In her childhood she showed distinct promise as an artist, and her father arranged private art lessons for her. But her mother regarded art as a waste of time, and discouraged her.

Leone died when Sveva was 17, and this was a huge loss to her. Ofelia went into seclusion, taking the daughter with her, and the gates were closed. For twenty-five years Sveva was rarely allowed out of the house, and could not visit the town without a chaperone.

Her freedom came at the age of 43 when her mother died. She went to Victoria University where she obtained a teaching certificate. She was also encouraged to paint.

After returning to Vernon she bacame a prolific painter, and embarked on a 56-part series of paintings called Recapitulation. Using Dante's Inferno as a template, she recapitulated her life through Hell and Purgatory.

She donated the paintings to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and died in Vernon a few years later. Outside Vernon she was almost totally unknown, and it was not until 2008 that her first painting want to Auction. (This was Andromache's Brothers, owned by her long-time friend and artist colleague Joan Heriot.)

On Sveva's death in 1994 her house was bequeathed to the City of Vernon. Her belongings were given to Vernon Museum and Archives. Her sketches and the few paintings she had kept went to Vernon Public Art Gallery. They now own a number of her paintings, as well as being the copyright holder of her work.

Her house, now Caetani House on Pleasant Valley Road, is managed by the Caetani Cultural Society.