2013
|
Picture
of the Week 2013 |
|
We start this new section
where every week a different picture will be showcased.
Occasionally, there will be a second picture for you to
identify.
|
The answer will be posted
the following week, but if you do not want to wait, you
can always e-mail me at:
sestiere@aloverofvenice.com (your e-mail address will not be published or shared) |
Where are we? For those familiar with Venice's geography, this should be an easy sight to spot. I left the street number for those who have no clue and want to locate it using Venice Connected. I must confess that I've seen this sign a million times but I never noticed, until now, what it depicts. That is also a clue. Answer |
| Thanks to Bettina from
Ontario who sent me the following picture of an interesting
detail of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The dragon looks
almost identical to the one in Corte del Rosario and I
wonder if there is a connection between the two or if it is
just a coincidence. The absence of front legs, the size of
the wings –very small in both cases– and the two tail
rings (details that serve to distinguish between the
many types of European dragons) put these two in the same
species. According to Rizzi, the dragon on Corte del Rosario dates from the 14th cent. and may be a fragment of a relief that also depicted Saint George. The one in Pisa, probably from 1173, doesn't seem to be related to saint George but instead it's confronting a bull and being attacked by a bear. The Latin inscription on the tower reads "This campanile was founded in the month of August A. D. 1174". Since the Pisans computed the beginning of the year on March 25 of the preceding year, the date in fact corresponds to August 1173 of the common era. If anybody has information about these reliefs, please let me know and I will share it with everybody. I believe the relief is on the ground floor (blind arcade) of the tower. |
| Church of Santa Maria del
Giglio also known as Santa Maria Zobenigo, San Marco. This church dedicated to
the Annunciation (giglio means lily, the flower carried by
the Archangel Gabriel when he presented himself to Mary)
has a beautiful main altar with sculptures of Mary and
Gabriel by Heinrich Meyring (17th century) and a
little-noticed balustrade with a marble inlay showing the
"Communion of the
Apostles," by Giovanni Comin.
March 25 is the feast day of the Annunciation. |
| Pardon me... I couldn't help putting these two
photos together so they read "Corte del Papa Argentino." One in Castello, the other near the Lido. I didn't know much about Pope Francis, but the more I read about his life, especially in the Argentine newspapers, the more impressed I am. People, common people, are coming together and sharing their stories of how he touched their lives in wondrous and unexpected ways. After receiving a letter or a phone call from perfect strangers he would immediately and personally call back and address their concerns. Not a small thing when you are an archbishop. His friends gave him a new pair of shoes before he left for Rome because his were too worn out. He loves to walk and to take public transportation, the bus, the subway, the train. He arrived at the conclave walking, not by car. He lived in a small room in Buenos Aires with a wooden bed, an electric heater, and a crucifix he inherited from his grandparents, as his only possessions. He liked to be addressed simply as Jorge (his first name) or father, instead of Monsignor. He asked the people of Argentina, especially politicians, not to travel to Rome for his enthronement, but to donate instead the cost of the trip to the poor. We can only expect good things from him. He is a good man. |
According to Tassini, the name of the bridge and adjacent fondamenta in this corner of Venice near San Giocomo da l'Orio, was spread by the populace ridiculing the weird wig worn by a seller of fodder who had his shop nearby. Parrucca (paruca in Venetian) means wig. |
