Photo Friday: Santa Maria della Salute

In 1630-31, the plague devastated Venice.  One third of the population -- 95,000 people -- died during the outbreak.   In October, 1630 as the plague had Venice on her knees, the Doge and the Senate vowed to make a holy processional each Saturday for fifteen weeks.  And he also promised to dedicate a church to the Virgin Mary as a plea for her help.  Soon thereafter the plague outbreak broke, and the people of Venice set about to fulfill the promise.

Construction on Santa Maria della Salute -- St. Mary of Health -- took half a century.  The architect, Baldassar Longhena was a young man of 26 when he won the project.  He devoted his entire life to building the church, and lived to see its completion, dying a year later.

Longhena was very lucky because the site the Venetians chose for the church makes Santa Maria della Salute one of Venice's icons.  Why this church out of the hundreds of churches in Venice?  Because the sun sets right behind Santa Maria della Salute making it the subject of hundreds of paintings and photographs.

The light in Venice is different every day.  Situated right on the sea with the Dolomites not far inland, Venice's weather changes frequently.  And the water, always moving, reflects light in so many ways.  Artists never tire of the changing light in Venice.  Claude Monet who spent his whole life exploring light on canvas visited in 1908 and was "gripped by Venice." 

So, how is it that Venetian light changes so much?  Consider Santa Maria della Salute.  All of the following photographs were taken of Santa Maria della Salute as the sun was setting -- one on each of five consecutive evenings.  They were all taken within 30 minutes of each other.  Admittedly they were not taken with exactly the same settings, but even given that, consider how different the quality of light was each evening.

Venetians worship regularly at Santa Maria della Salute, and the church itself is gorgeous on the inside, too.  It continues to be a place for pilgrims as well.  Each November 21 a procession is made to the church where residents give thanks for their health and pray for their well being and that of their family and friends.

And Baldassar Longhena's monument to Mary and a restoration of health serves as both a solemn reminder as well as a gorgeous adornment in the city of Venice.

Salute!

Thanks to those of you who joined me for Photo Friday! Check out more photographs at DeliciousBaby.com.

Must See Museums: The Vitruvian Man in Venice

Leonardo: The Vitruvian Man 
Between Art and Science
October 10, 2009 - January 10, 2010

Wandering the calles and campos of Venice where a good photograph lurks around every corner, I sometimes have trouble dragging myself inside. But on my last trip to Venice, I made a special point to visit the Gallerie dell’Accademia -- or Academy. Why? Because Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” was on display, a rare and extraordinary opportunity. So, off my husband and I went in search of the “Vitruvian Man,” and he did not disappoint.

Currently much of the Academy is under construction, so a few key rooms and pieces I’d been looking forward to seeing were off limits. But, there, in a little alcove off a hallway, was a glass box containing what looked to be an 8.5 x 11” piece of paper. We sat and waited for the room to clear out as a British family crowded up close to the glass case. Mum and Dad tried to convince their preteen son and his younger sister that the drawing was worthy of more than a passing glance, but they weren’t buying it.
But when the family left, there we were... alone with the “Vitruvian Man.” Da Vinci composed the drawing based on proportions described by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect. Like many of his contemporaries, da Vinci was devoted to the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and he applied the principles of shape, proportion, and form in both his artwork and his scientific life.

Standing before the sketch, I had to catch my breath. This image... the male figure within the circle, arms outstretched in two positions, legs at two angles... this image I’d seen thousands of times was there before me. I could see the indentations that da Vinci’s pen had made, pressing into the thick paper. There was his handwriting... the tick marks of his measurements... the work of a mind whose genius and creativity I have difficulty comprehending.

“The Vitruvian Man” is owned by the Galleria dell’Accademia, but like most sketches it is only on view during special exhibitions. In fact, it has been seven years since it was last shown publicly. The exhibit runs through January 10, 2010, and it is worth making a special trip to Venice to see this extraordinary work of art.

The Gypsy’s Essentials

• Location: in Dosoduro on the Grand Canal; just across the Ponte dell’Accademia or off the Accademia vaporetto stop
• Price: € 6,50 with some discounts for students and seniors
• Who will love it?: the Accademia is a very accessible museum for those who aren’t museum-crazy. It is small enough to be manageable, and yet its collection has some fantastic examples of Venetian painting. I especially loved Bellini’s Procession in Piazza San Marco.
• Arrangements: unlike most museums in the world, the Accademia is open on Mondays, a nice plus.
• Hours: Monday (8:15 am to 2:00 pm);  
Tuesday to Sunday (8:15 am to 7:15 pm)
• Notes: while the Accademia is intellectually and emotionally accessible, like most of Venice, it is not handicapped accessible. Viewing the collection requires climbing quite a few stairs.

Gallerie dell’Accademia
San Marco 63
30124 Venice
Tel 041.52.10.577
Fax 041.52.10.547
http://www.polomuseale.venezia.beniculturali.it

Happy Halloween Michelangelo-Style!

Happy Halloween! It's a day of ghosts and goblins... and Michelangelo?  Yep.  Michelangelo!  Read on... and maybe get some costuming inspiration?

The Opening of The Sistine Chapel

"Finally, on October 31, 1512, the chapel’s doors were opened and Romans flocked to see the wonders therein. Michelangelo’s work created an immediate sensation in the city and beyond. In covering the enormous space with a program of panels and tremendous figures, Michelangelo had solved the problem of perspective that faces many muralists. The ceiling is impossible to see all at once, even though it soars sixty feet above the floor. No seat in the chapel has a better view than another—and all views are beautiful.

"Julius II, pleased with Michelangelo’s work as well as with the hubbub it had created, showered the artist with gifts. However, Michelangelo never felt he was fairly compensated for his work, and he complained bitterly. For his part, Julius II, seeking to make his monument even grander, approached the artist about adding gold and ultramarine to the figures. He asked Michelangelo to reassemble the scaffolding and add sparkle because without it, he said, “It will look poor.” Michelangelo, reluctant to incur more expenses and to rebuild the scaffolding, replied, “Those who are depicted there, they were poor too.”

"With Julius II’s death in 1513, Michelangelo could have been forgiven for thinking he would no longer be pestered by the pope about the Sistine Chapel. And, indeed, that was the case for no fewer than twenty-three years. But in 1536, he would be called back to the chapel again, this time to paint the altar wall for a very different kind of pope."

from A Journey into Michelangelo's Rome by Angela K. Nickerson

Happy Halloween!  I hope it is spooky!