Venice - July 24 to July 26.

July 24.  The apartment is fine and our landlord put in a new router.  Bruce took a long , early morning walk from our apartment to the bus station, by vaporetto to Bastio, then up past the Coop (supermarket).  

Our place is a few yards down to the right, across the alley from the Hotel Dallamorra.   Note how clean the street is.  The tied-up plastic bags are out for garbage collection -- a daily event with special days for recyclable categories.  Below, also, is a garbage barge.

Package deliveries.  

 

 

Most of this is done by the time the tourists come out.  The  neighborhood is very beautiful, but  we are getting a lot of mosquito bites.

Today we saw the St. Rocco complex.  The Scuola charges 10 euros, but the restoration of the decorations funded with our admissions is glorious.  We learn that the Tintoretto paintings were not nearly as dark as they are now.

Here’s what it looked like:

All the painting is by Tintoretto.  It always adds a lot to see the entirety of a integrated program in situ.
 
July 25.  Friday.

We went San Marco square, visited the basilica, and did some shopping. The Basilica remains marvelous.  Sadly, the crowds require a set route that prevents one from seeing the church from the back of the nave.  Much of the floor is covered, but its glory is still obvious.  We were able to purchase a replacement for our badly damaged poster of the floor.  It is only sold at the San Marco gift shop and, apparently, is not available online.

 We chanced upon the old Olivetti showroom and store, which is now a small museum showing modern Italian artists and designers.  It was designed by Carlo Scarpa in the late 50s.  

 

 

 

This site has a lot of pictures:

http://www.archdaily.com/155074/ad-classics-olivetti-showroom-carlos-scarpa/

 

 

We sat down at the Florian, but balked at the 24 euro music fee.  So we had a drink on the North side of the Square, facing the Florian.  The crowds had thinned and it was still pleasant to sit on the piazza for a Prosecco. 

 

Dinner at da Silvio.  A large garden setting.  Branzino (sea bass) in salt case; veal with artichokes; grilled veggies; a rose from Trentino.  Good meal.  Poor service.

 

Saturday, July 26.

 

This morning, the Accademia, which is the main picture gallery for the older stuff.  It is housed in a recycled scuola.  This this the big entry room.  Note the floors.

 

 

Here's a detail of a larger work by Venetian painter Marco Basaiti, around 1510.  This is pretty much out of the Renaissance textbook, a showpiece of colors and perspective:



We "did" the Franciscan Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari this afternoon.  [Insert superlative.]

It is perhaps most famous for Titian's Assumption of the Virgin:

Or this Madonna by Giovanni Bellini (detail):

We were delighted with the carving of the choir:

 Each stall is decorated with a carving and marquetry (close image not locatable).

Dinner across the street at Garofolo.  Bruce pleased with fish soup; L had indifferent pesto spaghetti.
Tsk.


 

 

Downsteam to Venice

Wed., July 23.

We awoke to alarm clocks so as to be packed and make our boat.  

We took a cruise from Padua to Venice along La Brenta, a seriously canalized river. That means it has been straightened and locks built. This was the old trade route between the cities.  The drop form Padua is 10 meters in 4 locks.  La Brenta Riviera is where the patricians of Venice had their summer villas.

We stopped at several villas along the way.

The Villa Pisani is by far the largest:

Napoleon purchased it in 1807.  He used it for 2 nights and slept here:

Villa Foscari, near where the Brenta empties into the Venetian Lagoon, is considered by many to be Andrea Palladio’s most perfect design.

We arrived in Venice as it is meant to be - by water.

 

 

After a Prosecco, se dragged our suitcases over two bridges to get to the right San Zaccaria vaporetto stop.  Then, after the really crowded ride to St Toma, we dragged them over two more bridges to our flat.  It is a nice flat with a private garden.  Our landlord gave us instructions and restaurant and site suggestions.  

We went around the corner to Osteria ae Cravat (yes, decorated with ties) for dinner  Bruce had pasta with a bacon, tomato, pepper sauce; Leslie had fegata, liver and onions.  Lovely.

Padua -- July 20-22, 2014

Monday, July 21

   Padua is definitely not a tourist theme park.  It is about twice the size of Ravenna.  The buildings range in age, including some taller glass-shrouded structures.  

   We are staying at the Hotel Grand’Italia.  At 61 Euros, it is about ⅓ the cost of the Albergo Capello.  The breakfast is better and the room is fine.  It is a short walk across the street from the train station -- not the most attractive part of town.

     We start this morning with the premier site, the Scrovegni Chapel.  Enrico Scrovegni was a successful (and, happily, tasteful) usurer who built this place to save his soul (and the soul of his father).  The entire interior is frescoed by Giotto; indeed, Giotto may have designed the building to contain his programmatic design.

     The place was in pretty bad shape and restoration -- recently completed -- began about 20 years ago.  Today, groups of no more than 25 are collected in an air conditioned holding room.  After 10 minutes, the previous group marches out and your group gets 20 minutes in side.  It is the same sort of regime as da Vinci’s last supper in Milan.  Giotto’s mineral pigments have probably kept their original color and the effect is stuning. At the altar are a group of 3 graceful statues  (Madonna and child and two angels or deacons) by Giovanni Pisano.  The experience is moving, even if one doesn’t share the narrative.

 

     

The Giotto frescoes cover the family history of Jesus, starting with Joachim and Anna, parents of Mary. That brings us to the immaculate conception.  That doctrine is that at the moment of her conception, God granted grace to Mary.  That is, she was exempted from original sin.  This grace made her a suitable mother for Jesus.  Mary was conceived in the normal way, that is through the sexual activity of her parents.  This doctrine was pronounced by Pope Pious IX in 1854. This leads to another doctrine, that of the virgin birth.  That doctrine states that Mary was and remained a virgin.  Jesus was made incarnate in her womb by the Holy Spirit. This doctrine dates from the Lateran Council of 649.

The frescoes are the standard scenes we see of the lives of Mary and Jesus, plus some we were unfamiliar with from the lives of Joachim and Anna.   They apparently represent a sacred poem by Dante. They were magnificent and worth another trip, we hope.  No pictures were allowed, of course.

We were particularly intrigued by the representation of hell, specifically Satan.

Is this the origin of the satan image we have been seeing around Italy?    Dante's words in the Inferno invented these descriptions, so it seems likely.  Giotto knew Dante.

    Next is the Basilica of St. Anthony.  The center of the building is a row of domed and steepled bays.  

     This aerial view, courtesy of the ‘net, makes the design more comprehensible.

   

    

    This is a serious pilgrimage destination.  The Tomb of St. Anthony is very opulent, with beautiful full relief marble panels depicting scenes from the Saint’s life.  

   

Saint Anthony is the patron saint of Padua.  He was a Franciscan of the early 2nd century (contemporary of Francis) renowned for his preaching and knowledge of scripture and for his miracles. He was canonized within a year of his death. He was recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1946. That honor reflects his contributions to theology.

St. Anthony was an incredibly popular orator.  The Treasury has reliquaries with his incorruptible tongue and voice parts.  

     

We usually find modern parts of old churches to be jarring.  An exception is the Chapel of the Sacrament installed 1927-36.

    About half of the interior of the church is reserved for services.  This leaves a large grouping of Donatello works near the altar beyond viewing.  Frustrating.

Leslie wondered why St Anthony is portrayed carrying the baby Jesus. Some iconography was needed to distinguish the Franciscan saints.  One motif for Anthony showed him meditating on a book with a picture of the baby Jesus.  In time, Jesus became bigger and the book disappeared.  

    Nearby are the Oratorio of San Giorgio and the Scuola of Anthony.

   We discovered that Padua has a large memorial to the victims of 9/11:

Dinner at Shanghai.  Glass floor; funny door, popular.  Potstickers; beef with walnuts; duck with hoisin; black sesame dumplings.

Leslie’s Biscottino Portafortuna said she is a persona instruita.

Tuesday, July 22

We returned to the Scrovegni Chapel.  The Eremitani Civic Museum had nothing special.  The Eremitani Church next door was badly damaged in WWII.  The restoration of the Andrea Montaigne frescoes leaves a lot to the imagination.  The restoration of the elaborate wooden ceiling is more successful:

We have lunch at the piazza in front of the Palazzo della Ragione.  Very pleasant.

Like Bologna, Padua is a university town.  In fact, the University of Padua was founded in 1221 by professors and students of the Bologna law faculty.  A glance at the cake at the party next to our table showed “dottoressa,”  suggesting that the laurels denote a newly acquired doctorate. (see Bologna)

The Duomo Baptistry ...

is known for its Lombard architecture and elaborate interior.  The walls are frescoed with the lives of Jesus and John the Baptist by Giusto de’ Menabuoi around 1375.  Paradise is in the dome:

Dinner was a surprise treat.  The place recommended to us by a lady we met at a tram stop was closed for a holiday.  The enoteca where we sampled some wines (precariously stacked on thin composite boards) ....

 recommended  Padavanino.  It was a cut or two above our usual trattoria fare.  Leslie had a ravioli with foie gras and Bruce had the mixed fried fish  The bread may be the best we have had in Italy.

 

Tiramisu and crema catallana for dessert.  Sidama coffee from Ethiopia.   Leslie’s chamomile tea had honey and vanilla -- the only disappointment.

 

 

 

Ravenna

Thursday, July 17

     The train was a bit late.  We had to drag our stuff down a flight of stairs.  We took a taxi to the Albergo Capello Hotel.  We clean up and nap in our very nice room…

and go to C'a de Ven for dinner.  This was the only restaurant endorsed by the Michelin Green Guide.   A mixed experience: huge amounts of nicely roasted meats, and a very good selection of local wines.  The proprietors of the vineyards each had a page with their pictures in the menu.  Bruce had a platter of chicken and rabbit.  Leslie had great sausage.  Both dishes served with some very good potatoes.  On the minus side, it was indoors, crowded, and very noisy.

Ravenna turns out to be a well-programmed tourist town.  The streets connecting the ancient buildings have only limited vehicle access (albeit unlimited bicycles).  These streets are kept very clean.  There are no garbage collection bins in sight, something not even Florence can claim.  (They must be somewhere as the city is clean.)

    Emperor Honorius abandoned Rome in 404.  At that time he made Ravenna the capital of the Roman Empire.  (Galla Placidia, sister of Honorius governed for a while.).  Then came the barbarians, including the Ostrogoth Theodoric (493-526). Ravenna traded with and then became ruled by Byzantium under Justinian (482-565).  All these influences are evident in Ravenna where the exciting art form is the mosaic.  Dante called Ravenna a "symphony of color" (citation unknown).  

Ravenna is near the sea and there are many Italian families on holiday.  This night, perhaps 1000 people turned up on the main square to watch Snow White.

Friday, July 18

A busy, hot day.  Ravenna is all about its glorious late Roman to Early Byzantine mosaics:

The National Museum visit was not rewarding.  

But the Basilica San Vitale (we met San Vitale earlier in Bologna where he shares a basilica in the San Stefano complex with Agricola; he is an early martyr) exceeds all expectations:

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia:

The Arian Bapistry.   

Arianism (attributed to Arius 259-336)  teaches that God the son is subordinate to God the father and therefore a different entity.  This teaching denies the unity of the trinity which underlies pretty much all Christian doctrine. Arius was condemned by the council of Nicaea in 325, exonerated and recondemned in 381.  It took 1000 years or so to put an end to the “Arian heresy.”    In the mid 6th century under Justinian, the baptistery became an orthodox Catholic church.

The depiction of Jesus, totally naked and beardless, is unusual.  It’s connection to Arian

doctrine, if any, is not clear to us (cf, Neonian Bapistery, tomorrow).

.  

Basilica di San Appolinaire Nuovo:

Almost parenthetically, Dante’s tomb is in Ravenna:

In the park next door is a mound showing where he was buried temporarlily when the Florentines tried to reclainm him.

We lucked out at dinner.  Bella Venezia.  Roast beef, in very thin slices, one wth balsamic  and  the other with rosemary and pancetta.  Lemon cake and affogato.  

Saturday July 19

Another very hot day.

We took the public bus a few miles south to Casse to see the original Basilica di San Appolinaire.  More fine mosiacs.  Plus some old tombs.

Apolonaris (Apolonaire) was the first bishop of Ravenna.  He was said to be a disciple of Saint Peter and an early martyr.  At the time of the banishment of Christians under Vespasian he was beaten by a mob and died from his injuries.  Currently, his cult is limited to those places which have an existing relationship with him, like Ravenna. This seems to be a demotion from fully recognized saint.  

It is unclear to us where the remains of Apolonaris are.  The new (Nuovo) church was built to house them because the old one (Classe) was subject to pirate raids.  But there is a tomb at Classe.

Neonian Baptistery

Notice the similarity to the Arian Bapistery, particularly in the representation of Christ, although he has a beard.  Is it theological or aesthetic?  This was commissioned by Bishop Neonius, 450-475.

We visited the Museo Arcivescovile.  Not a large museum but a couple of interesting pieces, including an ivory bishop’s throne and a thing for calculating the date of Easter.

Also in the museum is the Cappella di San Andrea with more glorious mosaics.  Yes, it is familiar.

Our last mosaics were at the  domus dei tappeti di pietra, the recently recovered floors of a house, secular mosaics.   

At 5:30, Bruce walked over to the Theodoric Tomb.  A pretty good hike across the tracks.  

This monument has sunk about 2 meters into the ground, something not uncommon among Ravenna buildings.  The soft ground leads to leaning, as with the Pisa campanille.  In fact, there are leaning towers all over Italy.  This one is near our hotel in Ravenna:

And the Bologna tower is almost as famous as Pisa:

The locals are sentimentally proud of the image.  Old souvenir prints may have exaggerated the tilt:

We went back to Bella Venezia for dinner.  We splurged (well, for us a splurge) on a bottle of C’a Viola Dolcetto d’Alba 2011 D.O.C. Barturot.  L had gnochettii con pomodoro e basilico; B tried spaghetti alla carbonara.  We shared crema catana for desert.  Excllent

 

Sunday, July 20

We dragged or suitcases down the street to the train station.  After two trains, we are now in Padua (Padova).