A Venetian palace

This shouldn't be too difficult for Venice lovers, especially with the massive help that it is not on the Grand Canal. There is another palazzo with the same name, but that's hardly unusual in Venice. When I say "with the same name", I mean one of this palazzo's names is the same as one of the other palazzo's names. The other name of this palazzo is shared with three other palazzi
This photo was taken in September, 2008.

Chioggia

The sun was shining, what can you do but take a photo? This is another photo taken across the Canale Vena in October 2010.

Last words

I took a couple of close-ups of the name of Alexander Leopardus (Alessandro Leopardi) on the saddle-girth, as you may have seen the statue, but not noticed the name. Just try to imagine what the statue would have looked like when it was gilded. Or should I say, if it was gilded?
If anyone has a photo of the Colleoni symbol, I'd love to see it.

Try to see the bigger picture

Of course, the picture is more or less the same size. But here is the horse, as requested by Speedway. I don't have a photo showing Colleoni's symbol. Sorry, Anonymous.

Just one look

I have 36 images of the Colleoni monument on my computer, though a few may be the same photo in a different album, but just let's say that I have taken a lot of photos of this statue. It is unarguably the finest equestrian statue in the world. Let's not have an argument about that. The more you read about the monument, the more slightly different versions you get. They all seem to agree that Colleoni left money to the Republic for an equestrian statue to be erected in Piazza San Marco, but that the Signoria ordered that it be erected in front of the Scuola di San Marco instead. Where I find disagreement is in the amount of money that was left (amounts varying from 100,000 to nearly 1 million ducats), and the date of Colleoni's death (1471, 1475, 1476, 1484).
Here's a story that some of you may not know (It may not be true, of course. I've only read it in one book.):

Andrea del Verrocchio made a superb model of the horse. The Signoria liked it, but decided to give the work of producing the rider to another sculptor. Verrocchio lost his temper, smashed the head off the horse and left Venice. The Signoria warned him never to set foot in Venice again, at peril of his life. Verrocchio replied by letter that he had no intention of going back to Venice. He pointed out that if the Signoria cut off his head, they could not replace it with another. He, Verocchio, could, on the other hand, easily make another head for the horse and, he added with guile, he could make it even better. The Signoria invited him back to Venice to finish the statue. They even let him sculpt the rider.

Unfortunately, Verrocchio died in 1488 before the statue was finished. Alessandro Leopardi finished the statue and created the pedestal for it, and took the credit for the statue by inscribing his name on the saddle-girth.

The statue, unveiled in 1496, was originally gilded.

Even Ruskin liked it! He wrote,“I do not believe there is a more glorious work of sculpture existing in the world.”

According to Hugh Honour (Companion Guide to Venice), Verrocchio never saw Colleoni.

There is a copy of the head of Colleoni, cast from the statue, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, if you want to see what the head looks like from close up and at eye level.

The statue was restored 2004-2005. Well, restoration was due to begin on 1 January 2004, and due to finish on 31 December 2005, but I was there in May 2006 and it was still under scaffolding and tarpaulins.

Can you tell what's missing?

Another stitch-up of two photos. Obviously, it's the Grand Canal - but where, exactly? The palace on the left is 16th century, and the palace to the right of centre is 15th century with later additions. I retouched the photos to remove some modern intrusions.

Campiello del Remer

If you search through the archives you will see that I posted the two photos that make up this 'panorama' a while ago. It is one of the two campiellos (campielli) with this name in Cannaregio. There are two more, one in San Polo and one in Dorsoduro. This campiello is situated on the bend in the Grand Canal just north of the Rialto Bridge.
According to one site, a 'remer' was a carpenter who specialised in carving forcole. 'Remare', in Italian, means to row .

My new toy

I couldn't wait till tomorrow! I just downloaded a program that stitches overlapping photos together, and used it to make this panorama taken from the roof of the car park, just before the Ponte della Costituzione was opened. As Eric used to say: "You can't see the join!"

Cittadella

This will be the last photo of Cittadella for a while, as I'm sure some of you will be getting Venice withdrawal symptoms. Cittadella does not bear comparison with Padua, Verona, or Vicenza as an excursion from Venice, but it is a charming place. It is interesting to see such an example of an almost complete medieval city wall.

Market Day

This view from the city wall over some of the market stalls allows you to see right across the city to the wall on the other side. The wall is about a mile in circumference, but, when I went, only about half was open to the public. On the frieze of the Duomo it says: DOMUS DEI ET PORTA COELI.

Time-check

Time for another excursion. We are about 60 km from Venice as the crow flies, just over an hour by train. The sun-dial is accurate, except that the clocks had gone forward. This is not the most picturesque shot I took that day, but I thought it was interesting. I hope you think so too. I'll show you some more photos of this town over the next couple of days.

A painter's home

Thanks to the wonder that is the English language, the title can be read in two ways. It shouldn't take you long to find it, even if you cannot read the plaque over the door. What a shame that the sculpture to the left of the door has been allowed to erode to this extent. I think it was a Madonna and Child.

Can you see me?

I'd like to show you something a little out of the ordinary. We are back in Venice, quite near to San Samuele. This is either the home of a narcissist or a shop that sells mirrors.

Somewhere else in Veneto

Last week's vote seemed to be in favour of an occasional diversion outside Venice, so here's a photo taken in July 2009. This bridge is a faithful copy of the original, which was destroyed in the Second World War.

Later that same evening ...

I've seen the bridge and the bridge is long
And they built it high and they built it strong
Strong enough to hold the weight of time
Long enough to leave some of us behind.

The Bridge - Bernie Taupin

It was a beautiful day, two years ago.
[Almost no red in the third photo, but for ...]
I bet, if you haven't been before, you are all booking holidays for next July.

Yet again, the song does not quite fit, as the bridge is not high, not high at all. But two out of three ain't bad.

Two years ago today

Most of your books will probably say that a 'bridge of boats' is built across the Giudecca Canal for the Festa del Redentore. As you can perhaps see from the photo, the bridge is built on pontoons, not boats. This misunderstanding may have arisen from using a rather too literal translation from the Italian for a pontoon-bridge, 'ponte di barche'. The Italians have a word for pontoon - 'pontone' - but choose not to use it when talking about a pontoon-bridge.

In 1576, the plague claimed over 50,000 lives in Venice, almost a third of the population. [The present population is less than 60,000.] Titian was one of the victims. On the third Sunday of July the following year, it was decreed that the plague was over. The Festa del Redentore has been celebrated on the third Sunday of July ever since.

This must be some sort of joke!

This flagpole pedestal commemorates the “Beffa di Buccari” (beffa = practical joke, mockery). On February 10, 1918, a small group of 30 men, including Gabrielle d’Annunzio, slipped by night into the harbour of Buccari and fired six torpedoes at Austrian ships at anchor. The results of the raid depend on which source you believe. I have found that either three ships were torpedoed, or one was sunk or none was sunk. This was either because five torpedoes were stopped by anti-torpedo nets, or because they were faulty. The Italians left messages in bottles, boasting that “the seamen of Italy laugh at every sort of obstacle and are always ready to risk the unriskable.” Although the success of the venture was doubtful, it was a morale booster for the Italians.

The pedestal stands in front of a church which will be the centre of events this weekend.

The Campanile of Sant'Andrea, Chioggia

That first photo taken in Chioggia that I posted was my favourite, and perhaps my best, so I've made a rod for my own back in trying to "follow that!"
The church of Sant'Andrea is of ancient foundation, but it was last rebuilt in 1734. The campanile is 13th century. The clock, designed by Giovanni Dondi, is [arguably] the second oldest in the world, being only a few months younger than Salisbury's. Recent studies have shown that it pre-dates Salisbury's. These two contradictory statements are to be found on the same Wiki page, which also gives a different date for the rebuilding of the church and for the age of the tower, but I prefer to believe the leaflet put out by the Chioggia Tourist Office and my Blue Guide.

Something fishy

There's no point in asking what we are looking at - it's the Fish Market, Pescheria (Italian) or Pescaria (Venetian), built in 1907 by Domenico Rupolo and Cesare Laurenti. But you might like to try to name the four campanili that are easily visible. There's another one that is discernible, just left of the tall one on the right.

Back to Venice

Thanks for the response to Chioggia; I'll slip some more photos in now and again. But here's a beautiful Venetian bridge to look at. It has quite a beautiful name, too.

Any objections?

I haven't run out of photos of Venice, but I wonder how you feel about a photo taken in Chioggia? If you've never been there, perhaps this will make you feel like paying a visit. Please say if you'd rather I stick to Venice, though if Pierre can get away with posting photos taken in America ...

I thought I saw a pussy-cat

Deliver the letter,
The sooner the better
Please, Mr Postman - William Garrett, Georgia Dobbins, Brian Holland

I just love those lines. So clever when pronounced 'Deliver de letter, de sooner de better'.

Can you see a pussy-cat's face up there? A highwayman pussy-cat perhaps?
Yes, it's the door to the home of a famous Venetian. I have been on the other side of the door, but it was too dark to take a photo.

A secluded spot

This capitello, or shrine, is at the end of a street in Dorsoduro. It's showing some signs of neglect, which adds to its charm. There are about 500 capitelli in Venice.

A sign of the times

This photo is perhaps not as 'scenic' as some, but I thought it might interest some of our readers. I had seen a photo in the National Geographic Traveler guide to Venice of Vitale Rossi, and his wife, Anna. The caption said that he was "the last luganegher, or prosciutto maker, in Venice." So I had to find the shop, which the book said was in Dorsoduro, and here it is. I learned that Vitale had died, but Anna lived just round the corner from the shop.
My understanding is that 'luganegher' means sausage-maker, but an on-line Venetian dictionary says it means a delicatessen shopkeeper.

There's never a fiddler around when you need one!

When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face,
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space.
On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
And there the world below can't bother me.

Up on the Roof - Gerry Goffin, Carole King

This is perhaps an unusual angle on a familiar church. We've all walked past it, I'm sure. This photo was taken from the roof of a hotel. It's amazing where hotel staff will let you go. All you have to do is ask.

Independence Day - A Postcard for you...

As announced before, a postcard for you, my dear visitors and friends. And a special dedication to our friend Bert who is kind enough to delight us with his beautiful images and great knowledge of Venice.
My American visitors will certainly know at first sight where I was this year for Independance Day...

You never miss the water till the well runs dry

Or, in the words of Joni Mitchell, You don't know what you've got till it's gone. Let's hope we never have to say that about Venice.

Here's another scene that you should be able to find fairly easily from that partially hidden nizioletto. If you'd like another clue, it's very near to the narrowest street in Venice.
This is one of the nicest well-heads in Venice, in my opinion. I was fortunate enough to be there when the leaves were just changing from green to red.

Serendipity

Once you have identified the campanile (and it's not San Stefano's), it should not be too hard to find this rio, which was remarkably peaceful for a Saturday afternoon last September. Alternatively, you could google the name of the osteria on the awning on the right.
I was delighted to find that the far end of this rio was a location from Brideshead Revisited (TV series) that I had been looking for for quite some time.

In the Ghetto

Venice is a very safe city. You can wander about at night without fear. It is a great time to take photographs, as there are few people about and the canals are quiet.

It will all come out in the wash

An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country.

Sir Henry Wotton

It's Friday, so here's an easy one. This was the Austrian embassy in the 18th century.