i’ve been to Venice, Italy some years ago but i think that i would probably not go back to this beautiful but over-crowded city for a while – as usual i like it better when it’s empty of the unwashed masses. Venice has been home to the great Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto (cinquecento Venice) and Casanova…
i was moved by Venice and its 120 islands on the Adriatic sea but i loved it most at 5:30 in the morning. after years i still like these pictures i took one foggy morning when everybody was asleep.
“I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, a palace and prison on each hand” Lord Byron
i never particularly liked Turner – i didn’t know him much and i found it exasperating that 10 of his paintings were hung side by side in a museum in london (all yellow seas) – it all changed the day that i bought (in 2004) a book called Turner and Venice. i was humbled by the beauty of his paintings (all blue skies) and sketches. i’ve been watching Simon Schama‘s “Power of Art” on pbs and he talks about Turner in one of the eight episodes (among other giants like Picasso, Rembrandt, David and Rothko).
i would love to go back to Venice one day when it snows and everybody else is at Disneyland.
Just wonderful. Your website is such an inspiration and breath of fresh air.
I love Byron’s work on the city through the eyes of Casanova. Venice is obviously the city of Romance and mystery due to its juxtaposition of modernity with the waters of the Adriatic sea; but had it not been for Byron’s portrayal of Casanova’s many a trysts, and people’s fascination by Casanova (who actually is Byron himself in character), the city would not have had the worldwide reflexive association with romance that it now enjoys. Beautiful city; but highly stinky!!!!
Great pictures! To wake up that early to capture the best light and the empty streets takes dedication!
Many thanks for the beautiful paintings of Venice. They indeed challenge the beauty of Venice. You have a phantastic web site.
When I am in Venice, I feel like I am in a “harem” with thousands of beautiful women.
The shear beauty of Venice’s architecture blinds
me. Afer three days in Venice I seek a refuge to rest for a few days and then return to Venice
for a new indulgement in her beauty.
—
To refresh the subject: Have you read my book
THE SECOND VENICE – ISBN 1598000888
http://www.outskirtspress.com/thesecondvenice
To counterbalance the sadness of Venice’s slow
disappearance into history I have written this humorous fantasy. It was No.1 among top rated books in ITALY MAGAZINE for months leaving Juvenal’s Satires as No. 2
http://www.veniceword.com gave it a place on its “History of Venice” page. The book received many fine reviews in http://www.newsblaze.com ,
http://www.newsitaliapress.com , http://www.italianamericanpress.com, http://www.the.sop.org
http://www.compulsivereader.com
—
sold on major internet bookshops and via bookstores.
Have a look! It may entertain you and forget your tiredness after your visit to Venice.
Best regards
Architect Askin Ozcan
Author of THE SECOND VENICE
Michele:
Your posting are a feast for both the eyes and the mind. Thank you.
Les aquarelles de Turner sont superbes mais je me demande quelle est la raison de choix d’une apparence fantomatique.
Another great post. I can not wait for the next installment. Who knew you could find such soulful inspiration in a neon/concrete wasteland like Los Angeles.
Creating a sacred space is one of the most beautiful gifts one can give himself, having trust in one’s passion as its essence
..and sharing out of modesty opens the doors for ones who have the aptitude to immerse themselves in it and quench their thirst.
Driving to Venice from the Medici’s Florence during a rainy afternoon filled my senses with the fresh smell of dew,
washed the grey off my hungry eyes and revealed other colors that share themselves when you are passing through their narrow alleys at night, and gaze at the slow dance of the gondolas in the early morning.
Turner’s blue though providing a vignette of the canals, as they were called in the old days provided a glimpse of a beautiful Venice in which the lions of civil and military flew high and were the guardians of people against the Franks…centuries have passed tinted by many grades of yellows and blues…Yet you became the guardian when all were asleep and opened the window to…
“i would love to go back to Venice one day when it snows and everybody else is at Disneyland”
This probably says it all and could apply to most “tourist attractions” around the world. People can be beautiful on an individual basis but there is no such thing as a beautiful crowd. My quote!
The photos are great…try to make them your memories….