Carnavale di Venezia, Sabato 15 Febbraio

While the Carnaval in Quebec and in Ottawa end this weekend the celebrated Carnaval of Venice starts with a wonderful water parade on the Grand Canal.

The theme this year is ''La natura fantastica'' in celebration of a fairy like carnival, of the wondrous, the dreamy, the fantastic. Every day special events will be held throughout the city and of course beautiful costumes and masks will be on display everywhere.

From the 22 February to March 4, there will be a competition on the most beautiful mask, they have to follow the theme of this year Carnavale and be made by hand and hand painted also, really works of art.

Some of the highlights are:

16 February, Corteo Acqueo, Canal Grande, Cannaregio (a great decorated gondola parade on the Gran Canal) quite beautiful.

2 March at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta will be held the Gala dinner and Mask Ball of the Carnavale. This is a prestigious event and tickets for this night is difficult to obtain. The dress code is an elaborate costume and mask, you cannot enter otherwise. It starts at 23:30 and tickets per person are 640 Euros. The elaborate dinner and lavish entertainment are held in the great baroque salon of the Palace.




There lots of other events which are free and can be enjoyed throughout the City.

22 Feb Festa dell Marie (which is a parade of beauties in period costume on San Marc Square)

23 Feb. Il volo dell'Angelo ( the flight of the angel from the top of the bell Tower of St-Marc into the Square below)

4 March, Svolo del Leon, award given to the most beautiful Maria of the Carnavale.

There are also fireworks and good food and so many fun things to do, if you are in period costume and walk around the city it really is like a dream. Well worth doing once in a lifetime.

The Carnavale ends on Mardi Gras with a silent candle light parade of gondolas to mark the end of the festivities and the beginning of Lent.

I found $90 million dollars in the basement!!!

Well I did not personally find the $90 millions but Stephen Gritt who is a curator at the National Gallery of Canada sure did. He went to the basement of the National Gallery where many art works are stored. He wanted to see a painting of a Venetian nobleman Daniele Matteo Alvise Barbaro (1514-1570). This portrait was acquired by the National Gallery in 1928 for the sum of 10,000 British Pounds Sterling. However it had been deemed many decades ago by experts to be a copy of the original which hangs in the Prado Museum in Madrid and is owned by the King of Spain. So the portrait just sat in the basement and was forgotten, dirty and in poor condition. At one time it was almost discarded since the National Gallery is not interested in mere copies. However Gritt was not satisfied, he thought let's investigate this matter again, maybe the experts of long ago made a mistake. Today's technology can often reveal surprising details which would have gone unnoticed in the past.

So Gritt submitted the painting to X-Ray examination and it revealed many layers, the painter Titian had made many changes and corrections while creating the portrait, first it was with a simple drawing line outlining the figure then much work was done on the nose of the subject, Barbaro had a peculiar nose, and so on. If this was a mere copy by the students or assistants of the master painter no one would have bothered with correction, they would have simply copied the original. Titian was known for being self-critical and a perfectionist and would often keep a painting for years until he was satisfied with the finish product.

Daniele Barbaro by Titian

Gritt then contacted the Prado Museum in Madrid and asked for their help, could they examine their painting of Barbaro. It turned out that what had been thought to be an original was in fact a simple copy, so the Prado has the copy and we in Ottawa have the original portrait painted by the Titian. What a find! Estimates at this time are based on current market value at $90 million dollars.

Needless to say that the staff of the National Gallery of Canada are overjoyed with this news, a great addition to the collection.

Who was Daniele Barbaro? He lived at the time of the Renaissance in the Veneto, was a graduate of the University of Padua, he is thought to have designed the beautiful botanical garden of the University. He has a writer and diplomat, sent to the Court of Elizabeth I by the Republic of Venice. He was a man of science, he became a Cardinal and he was known for his many scholarly papers, he translated from Latin to Italian, the 10 volumes of the works of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (70BC- 15AD) on architecture. Vitruvius lived at the time of Emperor Augustus in the first century and his work was much appreciated.

As for Tiziano Vecelli aka the Titian (1488-1576) he is known as one of the greatest painter of the Renaissance able to paint portraits, landscapes, mythological or religious themes with ease.
His style influenced not only Italian painters of his time, he also had a profound influence on painters in the Western World.

So it only goes to show that you may have a treasure in your basement without knowing it. 

Venice

A wonderful little clip on Venice and how it works. A city we have visited many times and simply love. We walked all over it, did a 3 day cruise of the greater lagoon and many islands where no one ever goes unless you are a native. Visited the beautiful cemetery where I am to be buried, I think that the dead in that place are happy.  Have eaten in wonderful restaurants known only to Venetians. I find that Venice is beautiful before 10 in the morning and after 4 in the afternoon when all the day trippers are gone. What to do between 10am and 4pm, easy, go into the neighbourhoods not frequented by the hordes and discover the peace of the city, walk in the deserted alleyways, go to one of the many churches and look around, appreciate the silence.

One strong memory of Venice which has stayed with me all these many years is the toll of the bells of the many churches which ring the hour in every neighbourhood. At midnight all the smaller churches will toll the 12 strokes of midnight and when the last one has finished, suddenly the bells of the San Marco Basilica at the top of the Campanile will strike 12, if you are at that moment in the deserted Piazza San Marco at that hour, the silence is broken by the giant bells, it is chilling, grave, you are the witness to a ceremonial repeated every night for centuries, it catches your attention and it is magical.




Venice Backstage. How does Venice work? from Insula spa on Vimeo.

Fernando Martin de Bulhöes AKA St-Anthony of Padua

On Saturday afternoon I went to visit the Basilica of the Saint as it is known in Padua, with its many domes and cone like central dome with the giant gold statue of the Archangel Gabriel trumpeting into space. St-Anthony was Portuguese from Lisbon and was well educated, he came from an affluent family. His name at birth was Fernando Martin, he took the name Antonio upon ordination. 

Early morning light around 8am in Padua.


The basilica is part of a Franciscan Abbey and cloister. There is also a Chapel to St-George which is the funerary chapel to Raimondo Lupi whose family were Knights of St-George, next to it is the Scuola or Confraternity of St-Anthony, it is an order somewhat like the Knights of Columbus but more along the lines of the Rotary Club, a typical Italian concept.

As an aside, when you have a Franciscan Abbey, the Benedictine monks are never far. They have in Padua, an equally large basilica and cloister, the tomb of St-Justine and St-Luke the Evangelist with a beautiful Icon of the Madonna of Constantinople and the tomb of St-Mathias. It is sort of a rivalry between the two monk orders. 

So there I was visiting the Basilica of the Saint, while I visited, I noticed how this building resembles the Agia Sophia in Istanbul, in its architecture, it has a balcony level just under the domes with passageways between the arches, the height is dizzying. The floor is inlaid coloured marble each of the massive columns is surrounded with either an altar or a funeral monument to some noble person of the area. Side chapels are also ornate. The chapel dedicated to St-Anthony (1195-1231) is all in white marble and occupies a very large area to the left of the central main Altar, the visitors can walk around the altar, at the back is the tomb of St-Anthony marked by a large green marble slab that has been polished by the thousands of hands of the faithful who will touch it as they walk around. The walls of the shrine are sculpted marble scenes of the life of the Saint who died of dropsy at the age of 36 in Arcella near Verona. The main Altar of the church is also spectacular surrounded on 3 sides by sculpted walls of red granite in the style of the Ara Pacis of Augustus in Rome. At the very back of the church is the room of relics of the Saint, containing his original pine wood coffin with the original small tombstone, some of his priestly vestments and his cassock in which he was buried are on display. It has that pagan look about it the Catholic Church is so good at. 

The chapel to Saint Anthony all white marble, he is entombed behind the altar. Very far from what St-Anthony would have wanted for himself.

In the Basilica religious services are continuous with a 5 minute interval between masses to allow one group of faithful to leave while another group comes in, the services are packed. Organ music is continuous from service to service and this goes on from early morning to evening, with bells ringing etc. Given the enormous size of the Basilica it is very impressive to see so many people present and the continuous flow of the faithful and pilgrims, St-Anthony remains very popular. I have seen lots of Cathedrals, Basilicas and churches of all styles and am not a religious person but this sight really overwhelmed me.

St-Anthony of Padua, is my mother’s favorite Saint with Saint Francis of Assisi and she mentioned St-Anthony a lot usually referring to the little bread of the poor he is associated with. It remains one of my early childhood memories, les petits pains de Saint-Antoine. I was thinking of her while visiting and think that she would have liked to have seen his church in Padua. We returned on Sunday morning for a walk through again and I was as impressed with it if not more so.  We also visited Assisi this year but it is completely different and I did not have the same feeling at seeing St-Francis tomb, the setting is very different, though the two men lived at the same period and knew of each other since St-Anthony was also a Franciscan. Strange what will strike you sometimes.    

From Rome to Padua

Friday afternoon we left Rome Termini on the Silver Arrow high speed train built by Canada's Bombardier to Padua in the Veneto Province, this use to be the Republic of Venice until 1797 when that Corsican fellow Napoleon Bonaparte arrived with his French army.

A very nice comfortable ride on the train which stops in Florence and Bologna on its way to Padua. Padua in the Veneto is a renowned university city since 1244, a city of great men like Galileo and the poet Petrach, of great artists like Giotto and of course St-Anthony who despite being closely associated with Padua is in fact Portuguese from Lisbon and ended up in Padua by accident. Our hotel is steps away from the Papal Basilica where he is buried, a centre of high Christian pilgrimage. Padua being very close to Venice, its only 30 minutes away by train is a very nice stop on our way to Austria.  We could easily spend several days here, there is so much art and good food and beautiful things and because it is a University town, lots of good looking men, it deserves the mention Padova Citta d'Arte.

Our hotel is well located, Hotel Belludi is nice, clean and the staff are very kind and helpful. Our shower head in the bathroom did not work properly, they moved us to a far better room and gave us a bottle of Proseco as way of apology.

Last night we arrived at 8pm just in time for dinner and the hotel reception made reservations at a wonderful restaurant on the Prato, the menu was great, sort of new Italian cuisine, very well thought out dishes, good balance, beautifully presented. The wines are matched with the dishes. I had Tornedos Rossini, I have not seen this on a restaurant menu in 35 years, it was so good, the filet cooked the way I like it and it is topped with a slice of Foie Gras and shavings of truffles, I thought I was in Paradise.

Today we went walking around this beautiful city, we had a special reservation this morning to visit the  Scrovegni Family Chapel in the Roman Arena. The Scrovegni became very rich by lending money at usury rates, this of course is a major sin and those practicing it will burn in hell fire. So Enrico Scrovegni decided that he needed to atone for the sins of his father Reginaldo who had just died, wanting to save him from eternal damnation and save also himself since he too practice usury. It is interesting to note that Reginaldo Scrovegni appears in Dante's Inferno as one of the damned. So Enrico prayed the Virgin Mary and promised to build a chapel to her and get the painter Giotto, who was now accredited to the Pope as official painter to the Holy See, to decorate the Chapel, the work was completed in 1305, it is truly magnificent. The story does not tell if God forgave them their sins of usury.

The Chapel remained in the Scrovegni family until 1821 when it was purchased by the City of Padua. The chapel was in poor shape by then but worse was to come, the building was attached to the Scrovegni family palace and it was demolished in 1824, then the stucco covering the outside walls of the chapel was removed exposing for the first time the brick to the elements, the chapel is built in a former Roman arena from antiquity and the ground is water logged.  You can well imagine that in no time at all the frescoes covering the entire walls and ceiling started to show signs of mildew in the form of mushroom growth. Then in 1944 Padova was badly bombed by the allies, the surrounding buildings were heavely damaged and the chapel itself suffered from the tremor of the explosions.

In the last 50 years the Italian State and the City of Padua have spent millions of Euros to restore and save the building and the frescoes of Giotto, it was well worth it. You can see artwork 700 years old from the master who introduced to the western world modern painting concepts. In order to view the inside of the chapel you must reserve in advance and obtain tickets, it is a small space. Once you arrive at the site you will be brought inside a special room and watch a short film presentation, after 15 minutes in this room, a special door will open unto a corridor which use to be attached to the long gone palace and you can walk into the chapel with the guards. The reason why you spend 15 minutes in the temperature control room is in order to reduce the level of humidity from the outside and balance it with the levels found inside the chapel so the fragile frescoes are not damaged. No photos allowed and you can only spend 15 minutes admiring the artwork, a bell will sound and you must leave.  If you come to Padua, I highly recommend visiting the Scrovegni Family Chapel.

We then went for a coffee at Caffe Cavour on Piazza Cavour, again a great place for coffee but also for lunch, the menu looked great and had some really interesting Northern Italian dishes. So we decided that we would come back for lunch. We then went to visit the Baptistry of the Cathedral of Padua. The Baptistry is a round building and it is located next to the Cathedral as was the tradition in earlier Christian times to have such buildings outside a church where the person wishing to enter the Christian assembly would be first welcomed through baptism and later would come to the church proper by way of first communion and confirmation.

The round Baptistry next to the unfinished facade of the Cathedral of Padua.

The painter who decorated the baptistry is one Giusto De' Menabuoi, it is done in a Byzantine Venitian Style, absolutely stunning. At the very top of the dome is this huge Christ done in Byzantine fashion as master of the universe, solemn and majestic, surrounded by circles of angels and saints, below him stands the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. The surrounding walls are covered with all the stories of the Old Testament, truly impressive. There is also another fresco where Christ sitting creates the world, here the universe is represented with all the signs of the zodiac and the earth is shown as it was then known. What I found different about this fresco, is that usually in Rome it is God the Father who occupies that role and not God the Son. But here De' Menabuoi simply works on the Christian concept that Father and Son are one and the same. The baptistry was built in 1100 built and painted by Giusto De' Menabuoi in 1370.

The wood horse in the Great Hall in the Palazzo della Ragione

We then returned to Caffe Cavour for lunch and had a cream soup of Anise and brocoli topped with grated Parmesan cheese, the main course was a paper thin omelette stuffed with shavings of zucchini and  Asiago cheese on a bed of arrugola salad. It was soooooo good.

After lunch we walked some more toward the Palazzo della Ragione (Reason) also known as City Hall, strange that the concept of reason would be associated with municipal administration, it was also used as a Hall of Justice, built around 1218, the ground floor has been a daily market place for the last 800 years and today the shoppers were there in large numbers. The great room on the second floor (218 meters long) has a fantastic wood beam ceiling that soars high above you and the walls are decorated with frescoes and various themes.  At one end of the room stands this enormous statue of a wood horse. The horse is so big 4 men can sit in its belly. It was built for a party by the Capodilista Family in 1466 and paraded through town,when the party was over the horse was returned to the Palace of the Capodilista and it was used in future years when plays on the siege of Troy were performed. Finally in 1837 the family gave it to the City and it is now in the great hall.

The many domes of the Basilica del Santo, (St-Anthony of Padua)

After all this walking we decided to head back to the hotel while passing in front of the Basilica of the Saint, I decided to enter, Will went on to the hotel. But that story is for another entry.