It is a whole other world involving mainland peoples escaping invasion by migrating to a safe place, eventually becoming the islands that make up Venice. It involves taming the lagoon and the sea beyond. There are wars and conquerings. Napoleon stakes a brief claim. There was a terrible plague.
There are Doge's ( Duke's) and Christianity. There is so much that I don't know.
The tour was facinating. There are some beautiful frescoes by Titian and Tintoretto. More to come as I learn more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice
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| I was surprised by this sculpture as I had seen it while studying Roman Art History. It is on the edge of the building where St. Mark's and The Doge's Palace come together. It is carved from Porphyry marble that is found in Egypt. I think the guide said it was stolen from Egypt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyry_(geology) The Romans imported this marble and they used it to show wealth. You can see it in the floor in the Pantheon ( in large beautiful circles), and also here in the doge's palace is lozenges on the facade. It depicts the Tetrarchy of 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrarchy |
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| The Bridge of Sighs. I did not understand it until I took my tour. The bridge in question is the covered arched way over the canal in this photo. It leads from the prison to the palace. It afforded the prisoners a quicks glimpse of freedom ( the view looks out to the lagoon and freedom) , and hence, they sighed. You can walk the passage when you tour the palace. |
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| Gloomy weather...the top of St. Mark's |
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| This is one of many boxes whose purpose was a kind of mail box where a person could report a crime of any sort. Each box was for a certain type of crime. This one survives as it is a mask face, but the others were a lion face and they have all disappeared. The Venetians had all kinds of complicated rules in regards to this. |
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