Old Continental TownsGallichan, Walter M. (Walter Matthew)
History
Old Continental Towns
Gallichan, Walter M. (Walter Matthew)
Cities and towns -- Europe; Europe -- Description and travel
Among the later Venetian painters, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is perhaps
the most remarkable. His conceptions were bizarre, and his fanciful
style is manifest in his picture of the "Way to Calvary," preserved in
Venice. Canaletto may be mentioned as the last of the historic painters
of Venice.
The work of Bellini must on no account be forgotten before we leave the
subject of Venetian art. His "Madonna Enthroned" is in the Academy,
among other of the masterpieces of his brush; and one of his most
exquisite paintings is in the Church of the Friari.
Let us also remember the splendid treasures of the art of Carpaccio, as
seen in the picture of "Saint Ursula" in the Academy, and in the
delightful paintings of San Giorgio, which moved Ruskin to rapture.
The many churches of Venice contain pictures of supreme interest. Most
of them are in a poor light, and can only be examined with difficulty.
San Zanipolo is a church of Gothic design, built by the Dominicans,
abounding in tombs and monuments. San Zaccaria has Bellini's altarpiece
"The Madonna and Child."
Many of the palaces, especially those of the Grand Canal, are
exceedingly beautiful in design, whether the style is Renaissance or
Byzantine-Romanesque. Among the oldest are the Palazzo Venier, the
Palazzo Dona, and the Palazzo Mesto; while for elegance the following
are notable: Dario, the three Foscari palaces, the Pesaro, the Turchi,
and Ca d' Oro, and the Loredan.
Some of these historic houses are associated with men of genius of
modern times. Wagner lived in the Palazzo Vendramin Calergi. In 1818
Byron resided in the Palazzo Mocenigo, and Browning occupied the Palazzo
Rezzonico.
Robert Browning and his wife had a passionate love for Venice. As a
young man the poet visited the city, and returned to England thrilled by
his impressions. Mrs Bridell Fox, his friend, says that: "He used to
illustrate his glowing descriptions of its beauties--the palaces, the
sunsets, the moonrises, by a most original kind of etching. Taking up a
bit of stray notepaper, he would hold it over a lighted candle, moving
the paper about gently till it was cloudily smoked over, and then
utilising the darker smears for clouds, shadows, water, or what not,
would etch with a dry pen the forms of lights on cloud and palace, on
bridge or gondola, on the vague and dreamy surface he had produced."
William Sharp--from whose "Life of Browning" I cull the passage just
quoted--tells us that his friend selected the palace on the Grand Canal
as a corner for his old age. Browning was "never happier, more sanguine,
more joyous than here. He worked for three or four hours each morning,
walked daily for about two hours, crossed occasionally to the Lido with
his sister, and in the evenings visited friends or went to the opera."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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