Day 23 - Venezia/Venice
This morning, I decided to get out of town. Took the vaporetto (after a walk to the right dock) out to the island of Torcello. Back in the middle ages, it was a competitor of Venice and had a population around 20,000. But then plagues and Venice proved too much for the island so it declined after AD 1300 or so. Now there's only 80 locals there. A nice quiet place, if you can ignore the occasional clumps of tour groups.
The trip there stopped at the islands of Murano and Burano, homes of famous glass and lace, respectively. I had to change boats at Burano, so I got a chance to walk around for a few seconds. The houses there are quite vividly colored, unlike anything else on my trip so far.
Torcello has a nice cathedral (or at least it used to be a cathedral) with gold mosaics and "no photos." I bought two postcards. One of the Virgin and Bambino from the apse and one of the Hell portion of the Last Judgement on the back wall. The church has a campanile, too, so I climbed up the long ramp (accompanied by a few steps now and then) to the top. Here's another dizzying shot for you, this time looking up.
The view of Venice in the distant distance was a hazy blue.
Here's a shot inside the vaporetto station on Burano. I think the ad in the background is selling clothing, oddly enough.
A vaporetto ride back to Venice, a walk to San Marco, and another vaporetto ride to the island of San Giorgio, and I was at a famous church designed by Palladio, San Giorgio Maggiore. Compared to the mosaics in the other churches of Venice, this church is quite austere. No wonder his contemporaries didn't like it.
I completely forgot that a certain painting I knew was at this church. Anybody recognize this one?
If you said Tintoretto's "Last Supper," you are spot on. It's a huge painting and a good example of chiaroscuro. (-:
And here are the ones that Flickr deleted after I uploaded them yesterday:
I woke up this morning with a mosquito bite on the bottom of my foot. If you ever visit Venice, remember to never open your hotel room's window, no matter how badly your shoes smell. This may look like a city, but it's a swamp! (-:
3 comments:
Hi Sorosoto! Your comments add some nice bits of history to more of your terrific photos. I especially like the reflection and bridge over the water in Torcello, and that Last Supper is quite realistic. Was there more to the painting, or did the artist excommunicate some apostles? : )
~ Mariner7
Your clothing ad reminds me of a commercial I saw in Germany. It depicted two women mud-wrestling (also naked, I think). The ad was for....(drum roll, please)... hiking boots.
Fab pics as usual. :)
-Reni
Venice didn't really meet expectations, no. But it's still a nice city, don't get me wrong.
I photographed only the center third of the picture. There are more apostles to the left and more servants to the right. "Religious understanding of their time"? I really have no idea what you mean by that. Artistically, Tintoretto's is a much more complex painting than da Vinci's. All part of the progression.
Hm. Naked women mud wrestling... Hiking boots. Which brand was that?
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