Left -- Return from the Wood; Upper right -- Right -- Life from the Alpine triptych

From the Segantini Museum's web site:
Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) Born in 1858 in Arco (Trient province) on the north side of Lake Garda, the artist attended the Milan Art Academy Brera. He afterwards lived in the Brianza area then moved to Switzerland in 1886. He first settled in Savognin, but from 1894 lived in Maloja and Soglio. Giovanni Segantini died at the age of 41 from peritonitis: he was on the Schafberg above Pontesina, working to finish Nature, the central picture of his Alpine Triptych.

Throughout a large part of Europe, Segantini was, in his lifetime, already recognized as an innovator and prophet and as an important symbolist painter. His early works, produced in Milan and Brianza, still owed something to the traditional style of painting in Lombardy. On moving to the clear atmosphere of the Alps, the artist was able to develop a style which exuded radiance and which at the same time went hand in hand with the evolution of the Divisionism technique and his progression towards Symbolism.
At the end of the 19th Century, Giovanni Segantini executed a planned panorama which conveyed an underlying universal meaning - his impressive Alpine Triptych Life, Nature, Death was one of the last paintings of its kind in that era. The work, a large-dimensional portrayal of the life cycle, was intended for exhibition at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900 and depitcs human existence in harmonious unison with Nature. The landscapes and simple people portrayed are woven into the eternal rhythm of the changing seasons.

Together with Ferdinand Hodler, Giovanni Segantini is considered to be the outstanding painter of the Swiss mountains. He enjoyed international renown during his lifetime; and the place he holds in the history of art is due to the unique combination of his meticulous observation of Nature and his overlaying symbolism. The artist succeeded in depicting alpine scenery in minute detail without extremes of illusionism, producing allegorical paintings of remarkable radiance. If Giovanni Segantini, with his alpine visions, is regarded as one of the leading fin-de-siècle European symbolists, then he can also be considered as an innovative artist, who exerted an important influence on the development of Italian Divisionism. The Divisionism technique - fine parallel brush strokes of pure colour - was his definitive contribution to avantgarde art at the time - and the secret of the brilliant luminosity in his paintings.

Re-creating "Oetzi's" world
The discovery of the mummified body of a Stone Age hunter -- nicknamed "Oetzi" -- almost a decade ago in the Oetztal was a media sensation.  Oetzi, a 4000 BC inhabitant of the Alps was profiled in National Geographic and many other publications.  The discovery also triggered intense archeological research on stone age life and culture in the Alps.

In cooperation with archeologists at the University of Innsbruck, an open-air museum has been established in the Oetztal village of Umhausen, which attempts to re-create a stone age settlement.  In 2000, more than 40,000 visitors toured the open-air museum, taking in the stone ovens, living quarters, canoes, and other artifacts.   Visitors can also participate in a variety of seminars and "hands-on" learning experiences. You can learn more about the Oetzi village, opening hours, programs, etc. at their web site, www.oetzi-dorf.com

Scientists have pinpointed the likely birthplace of Oetzi the famous iceman. The ancient hunter probably spent his childhood in what is now the Italian South Tyrol village of Feldthurns. Evidence suggests his lifelong travels were confined to a 60-kilometre (37-mile) range south-east of where his body was found. The 5,300-year-old frozen mummy emerged from a melting glacier along the mountainous border between Italy and Austria in 1991. Scientists have been carrying out detailed studies of how he lived and died ever since. The latest research, published in the journal Science, looked at isotopes found in the iceman's teeth and bones. They were compared with soil and water samples over a wide area of the Alps.

Isotopic 'fingerprint'
Biominerals from the diet are deposited in the body at different times - in the teeth, for example, during childhood, and in the bones in adult life. This allowed researchers in Australia, the United States and Switzerland to deduce where Oetzi lived at various stages of his life. The team believes his movements were restricted to a few valleys within 60 kilometres south-east of where his body was discovered. He never moved north of this point and probably grew up in the Eisack valley, in the southern Tyrol. Several ancient archaeological sites in and around this region have been identified. The scientists think Feldthurns is the iceman's most likely childhood home: excavations have revealed a standing stone dating back to the Copper Age.

Migration patterns
Later on in life, he moved further north to the mountains of lower Vinschgau, before travelling to the Otz valley where he met his death at the age of 46.         Dr Alexander Halliday of the Department of Earth Sciences at RTH Zurich told BBC News Online: "This is the first time that anyone has made a comprehensive study of the migration of a human in the past. "It looks like he lived much of his life in a different valley from where he was born. "The impression one gets is that the Alpine valleys in that particular area were fairly well-inhabited."
The research is consistent with the iceman spending his childhood in the southern Alpine valleys before migrating further north in adulthood.
Alternatively, he could have spent his summers up in the mountains and moved down to the valleys in the winter. This is a pattern of seasonal migration that started in the Middle Neolithic period and is still practiced today. 

Rural Architecture in the Paznauntal in the Tirol    In 1943, Hermann Zangerl, a native of the Paznaun Valley in Austria, published an illustrated guide to his 'home' valley. Forty years earlier, In 1903, he had left the valley to study architecture, ultimately establishing a practice in Winterthur, Switzerland. During the intervening years, he often returned, with his son Rainer, to the family farmstead for summer vacations. As such, he brought to his observations of life in the valley both the insight of a native and the broader perspective of an outsider with a particular interest in building structures and interior design. Paznauner farm buildings typically consist of a house, a stable, and a storage building for animal feed, as well as small accessory buildings. Whereas the Raeto-romans combined these buildings under one roof, which is characteristic in the upper valley, the Walser very often separated the dwelling and the stable because of the very great fire hazard of wood construction. This is the pattern one sees in the lower valley. Many farms also have food storage sheds, often far distant from the farmstead, even sometimes way up in the mountain areas where the wild hay is harvested and stored. For sheep, goats, and other small farm animals, small stables have been erected in many places, especially in the lower Paznaun. The bake oven, which was essential in earlier times, is either built onto the house or more often is at some distance from it because of the fire hazard. A wood-storage shed, the water trough, perhaps an apiary, and ever-present vegetable garden complete the complex. Where the dwelling and stable are combined, one finds a great variety of arrangements. If the house stands on the mountain slope, the stable is often built against the mountainside with an elevated roof-line. We also find houses and stables built together side-by-side with two roof-lines.    The most typical layout in farm houses includes four rooms on the ground level: A large main corridor, with an entrance to the living room and the kitchen and a stairway to the upper floor, and sometimes a side chamber. There are, of course many variations. The cellar is usually below the living room, with an entrance from the kitchen, which is sometimes few steps below the main corridor. In earlier times the cellar was used not only for the preservation of food, but also as a weaving chamber. Cellar entrances from the outside are found only in the upper Paznaun. On the upper floor one finds a vestibule, called the "Diele, " as well as the bedrooms. Outhouses are typically attached to the dwelling, but where all the structures are under one roof, they are likely to be built into the wood shed or feed house.    We also find at some distance from the house and stable, small underground, vaulted cellars which are used for the preserving root crops and which, during the winter, provided protection against avalanche danger. Such underground structures can still be found in Unterwald and Patrich.    An authentic farm house interior dating from the second half of the 19th century is now very rare. Antique dealers, the influence of tourism, and the preference for "modern" furnishings have taken their toll. In the lower Paznaun, particularly in the remote mountain settlements, traditional home interiors still exist. Even though Paznaun farm houses appear modest from the outside, the interiors are not only practical, but also comfortable. We shall try to reconstruct the interior of such a farm house. Since most of the buildings were constructed of wood, except for the kitchen, wood paneling of the walls and ceilings in the living room and bedrooms was a "given." For this purpose, nicely scented pine wood was used in the living room, which over the years became exposed to smoke, and thereby became a warm, deep-brown color. Whereas the paneling of the walls was simple, the ceilings and in particular the doors were often more richly decorated, with styles ranging from Renaissance to Empire. Often the paneling was painted in blue and red.  The windows were usually four-paned, each with a small Luftungsschieberli (a sliding glass for ventilation).    In the living room (Stube), there was a masonry oven, used for heating rather than bread-baking, standing on a nicely carved wooden base in corner. Green, glazed tiles were sometimes employed to improve the heating effect. The oven was always surrounded by a bench, which extended to the entire living room along the walls. For the hanging of clothes, the oven was surrounded by a wooden rods, called "Ofenstang," with turned or carved corner timbers, and horizontal members. This gave to the complete furnace structure a somewhat heavy appearance and formed a major component of the living room. Directly behind or above the oven there was a small opening in the ceiling for the transmission of warmth from the living room to the bedroom above. A slate table was placed in another corner of the Stube. The style of the chairs matched the table and often had turned feet and carved backrest. Since tallow was still used for illumination in the 19th century, the hand-forged iron tallow lamp was supplied with a wooden-carved crane which at night could be turned around over the table. In the Paznaun, most people had song birds. The pretty bird cages, called "Vogelkrippen" were not only displayed inside the Stube, but also on the exterior wall of the house, with a small passageway between. A shelf to display multi-colored painted dishes was usually attached to the wall next to the living room door. Completing the decoration of the Stube were a figure of the Holy Ghost in the form of a multi-colored pigeon with extended wings attached to the ceiling over the table, flowered curtains, window boxes, a beautiful crucifix in the Herrgottswinkel, a few good old engravings of the saints, a tin holy water container, and a Black Forest clock.    The bedrooms had a simpler appearance with Fichtenholz paneling. The furniture was also made of Fichtenholz and was painted in many colors. Particularly noteworthy were the two-doored wardrobes, with their built-in secret compartments. Until the first half of the19th century, furniture makers in the valley built these wardrobes in a baroque style. Painted in red, blue, and white, these wardrobes were also decorated with flowers and comical scenes. The name of the bride and the year of marriage were never absent. Bed frames were matched to these wardrobes, with nicely handwoven bedding. In the fancier farm houses there were always chests for storing linen, grain, etc. Through the 17th century, these chests were made in the style of the Renaissance and were unpainted. Later, they were colorfully painted in a baroque style. On the ground floor, a side chamber, also called the accessory living room, served as a sleeping room and now and then also as a second living room or weaving room. Heat was provided by the oven in the living room. The furnishing of this room depended on its use.    The kitchen didn't always make a "friendly" impression because it was covered with soot from the open stove fire and was poorly illuminated. Besides the cooking stove, there was a copper kettle with a carved wooden cover which was used for laundering. On the ceiling there was a smoking device for meat and sausages. There might also have been a hutch, a board for hanging the wooden spoons, a copper water container, copper and brass pans with patterned handles, and an array of small kitchen gadgets. For illumination at night, there was a tallow lamp in a wrought iron holder, which stood in a small niche in the wall near the stove. Even though farm kitchens were smoky from the cooking of food for both people and animals, it was kept extremely clean. In this regard, the farm wives, despite a heavy workload, were exemplary.    From the kitchen we go into the cellar. A great many things were stored in the cellar: Potatoes, milk, butter, cheese, sauerkraut, and much more. Also sometimes there was a handloom stored there. The utensils for milk processing were made of wood, the so-called Schaffler. In earlier times, these utensils were decorated with carvings, beautiful examples of which can sill be seen. The main corridor in many old farmhouses contained a small house "museum"---here a multitude of useful farm implements and gadgets were displayed (chopping block, anvils, scythes, etc.).