It’s an unusual itinerary, wandering through the city of Venice in search of fantastic creatures. Venice is a fantastic city. Fantastic in the literal sense of the word. Shady presences and ancestral creatures that reside in our imagination come to life here…
In Venice there are countless votive shrines that embody local religious worship; they express a feeling of piety that originates in the streets and squares and then embraces the whole city. The shrines tell us stories of joy and pain, of labor and hope, and finally they tell us about the daily life of the people that preceded us on these cobblestone alleyways.
At the Museum of Modern Art in Ca’ Pesaro in Venice you can find a very peculiar statue, the Partigiana Veneta (The Partisan) by Leoncillo. In fact there have been three sculptures reminding us of women’s fight against fascism and here you can read their controversial story.
Among the islands in the Venetian lagoon, Burano is known for its colourful houses, the lace tradition and its cookies. But is this all? Here you can read about Burano in a different perspective and found out what it was like a hundred years ago.
On 21st of November Venetians celebrate their most beloved festivity, Santa Maria della Salute. After the dramatic plague in 1630 an extraordinary church was built. Still today the whole city reverts in a very deeply felt pilgrimage to this spectacular dome, crossing the Grand Canal on a pontoon bridge to thank the Virgin Mary for having saved Venice and to pray for anyone to recover health.
Antonio Grimani’s career was controversial. A capable merchant, he obtained a considerable wealth to be then cast aside and be banished from Venice, to turn then powerful again and reach the highest position in political life in Venice as Doge. We can retrace his ups and downs in life in the wonderful painting by Titian and in the palace of the his famous nephew, Patriarch Giovanni Grimani, today a great State museum.
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