tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36585677847856390052024-03-19T09:47:37.613+01:00Venetian Cat - The Venice BlogCat Bauer's adventures in Venice, Italy - Art, Culture, History, Mystery and More!Cat Bauer in Venice Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18376687575392758300noreply@blogger.comBlogger63813tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3658567784785639005.post-22836251448140198622024-02-27T17:21:00.008+01:002024-02-27T17:38:22.374+01:00The Marvelous Mind of Marcel Duchamp - The Lure of the Copy at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVU1FTPlFTFSc7VJrtNed7ylgCOvZiVY4EGVwvP_HJLEzt49XhlvWUOtFYnIrMSOXOHl2fovmu0V_aY4XWdA1tEm5XoZAO_EIo7-MeCf4ppHS7mCJNL1deAkv3B6oUucgsM7M0XYSrY9PhDmHIj-2EYSf7ND8CV62d4VzQsoMFD1tUQzs5BnLhJUh2gy4/s3071/4_Le%20Roi%20et%20la%20reine%20entour%C3%A9s%20de%20nus%20vites.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2762" data-original-width="3071" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVU1FTPlFTFSc7VJrtNed7ylgCOvZiVY4EGVwvP_HJLEzt49XhlvWUOtFYnIrMSOXOHl2fovmu0V_aY4XWdA1tEm5XoZAO_EIo7-MeCf4ppHS7mCJNL1deAkv3B6oUucgsM7M0XYSrY9PhDmHIj-2EYSf7ND8CV62d4VzQsoMFD1tUQzs5BnLhJUh2gy4/w640-h576/4_Le%20Roi%20et%20la%20reine%20entour%C3%A9s%20de%20nus%20vites.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c46859df-7fff-041f-aad8-d669e42ba2a1" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Le Roi et la reine entourés de nus vites</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The King and Queen Surrounded by Swift Nudes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">), May 1912</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Oil on canvas - 114.6 × 128.9 cm</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Verlag Light'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">© Association Marcel Duchamp, by SIAE 2023</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>(Venice, Italy) Before you enter into <a href="https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/whats-on/exhibitions/marcel-duchamp-and-the-lure-of-the-copy/" target="_blank"><i>Marcel Duchamp and the Lure of the Copy</i></a> at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, take a few minutes to watch the short film playing on a loop outside the main exhibition. <br /><br />"A Conversation with Marcel Duchamp" took place between Duchamp and James Johnson Sweeney, the Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, in 1956 when Duchamp was in his late 60s. They chat about his career, surrounded by Duchamp's artwork at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. <br /></p><p>After his early explosion onto the art scene in 1912, Marcel Duchamp (July 28, 1887 - October 2, 1968) said to himself, "No more painting. You get a job." He became a librarian in Paris so he would have enough time to paint for himself and not have to worry about pleasing other people. He did not want to have to depend on selling his artwork to earn a living. </p><blockquote><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Duchamp: ...You are either a professional painter, or you are not. There are two kinds of artists -- the artist that deals with society, that is integrated in society, and the other artist, a completely freelance artist ...that has no bonds. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Sweeney: The man in society has to make certain compromises to please them and to live. Is that why you took the job?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Duchamp: Exactly. Exactly. I didn't want to depend on my painting for a living...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Sweeney: ...Marcel, when you speak of your disregard for the broad public and say you're painting for yourself, wouldn't you accept that as painting for the ideal public, for a public which </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>should</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> appreciate you if they would only make the effort to?</span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">Duchamp: Yes, indeed. It's only a way of putting myself in the right position for that ideal public. The danger is to please an immediate public, the immediate public that comes around you, and takes you in, and accepts you, and gives you success and everything. Instead of that, if you wait for your public that should come 50 years, 100 years after your death, <i>that's </i>the right public.</span></blockquote>Marcel Duchamp died peacefully on October 2, 1968 at age 81 at his home in Neuilly, France after having dinner with his dear friend, Man Ray, and the art critic, Robert Lebel. <br /><br />It's now been 55 years after the death of Marcel Duchamp. You have until March
18, 2024
to go over to the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal, the home
of another long-time Duchamp friend, Peggy Guggenheim, and see if you are
part
of his right, ideal public. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE-sltrEAGcFEM8WDvAwQMbe_wlrGxHgz1bov4KDjOgTwnin1o48hawYJT4l_6mrgCmYAhNBK3hujJ1tRgH9cdY5n1qJj3XYoYH1wIVQ4zFZN9jMwlohrQ6_16DoYxPY16tVLZMVsywmkdfbkdg3xC3P58ZVG0CZ-7YAj9XDCSU5Yu8RRVtYgtlOPn3M/s3262/DE0AD621-1EB8-480D-98FA-87FC8AC49018.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1578" data-original-width="3262" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE-sltrEAGcFEM8WDvAwQMbe_wlrGxHgz1bov4KDjOgTwnin1o48hawYJT4l_6mrgCmYAhNBK3hujJ1tRgH9cdY5n1qJj3XYoYH1wIVQ4zFZN9jMwlohrQ6_16DoYxPY16tVLZMVsywmkdfbkdg3xC3P58ZVG0CZ-7YAj9XDCSU5Yu8RRVtYgtlOPn3M/w640-h310/DE0AD621-1EB8-480D-98FA-87FC8AC49018.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Box in a Valise</i> by Marcel Duchamp (1935-41)<br />Photo: Cat Bauer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><i><a href="https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/whats-on/exhibitions/marcel-duchamp-and-the-lure-of-the-copy/" target="_blank">Marcel Duchamp - The Lure of the Copy</a></i>,
curated by Paul B. Franklin, art historian and Duchamp expert, is the
first exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection dedicated
exclusively to Marcel Duchamp. Go to the <a href="https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/whats-on/exhibitions/marcel-duchamp-and-the-lure-of-the-copy/" target="_blank">Peggy Guggenheim Collection</a> for more information.<br /><br />Ciao from Venezia,<br />Cat Bauer<br /><a href="https://venetiancat.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog</a><br />Cat Bauer in Venice Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18376687575392758300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3658567784785639005.post-3238063237039593672024-02-20T18:06:00.087+01:002024-02-24T03:33:45.121+01:00Culture of Dust at Palazzo Fortuny - Catalan Photographer Joan Fontcuberta Transforms the Decaying Images of Italian Prince Francesco Chigi into a Cosmic Trip<div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi309Zg_XTWkszZgKoLBmIJYL8RFQ7rLg-GhOf26sqaZJ219cHI_A6LDEn5Qhh_BbyJUjVWBHVQ73qCLN1YyvwBgUpME8yyablLDibDWRZ9wHz3qG7ojCmynKpg6ta8mG_eiiJ9oYEGbLX_7SmMY41XwLaQcncYlQ4IHtnyABfZwapS-KKh2ZTLswq743Q/s3264/06B1A164-8375-48A6-889B-C20449ED5AA8.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photographers photographing the photographer Joan Foncuberta at Palazzo Fortuny Photo: Cat Bauer" border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi309Zg_XTWkszZgKoLBmIJYL8RFQ7rLg-GhOf26sqaZJ219cHI_A6LDEn5Qhh_BbyJUjVWBHVQ73qCLN1YyvwBgUpME8yyablLDibDWRZ9wHz3qG7ojCmynKpg6ta8mG_eiiJ9oYEGbLX_7SmMY41XwLaQcncYlQ4IHtnyABfZwapS-KKh2ZTLswq743Q/w640-h480/06B1A164-8375-48A6-889B-C20449ED5AA8.jpeg" title="Photographers photographing the photographer Joan Foncuberta at Palazzo Fortuny Photo: Cat Bauer" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photographers photographing the photographer Joan Foncuberta at Palazzo Fortuny <br />Inspired by the photographer Prince Francesco Chigi Albani della Rovere<br />Photo: Cat Bauer</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>(Venice, Italy) "What is the most decayed photographic material you have?" asked Joan Fontcuberta (Barcelona, 1955) after he was invited to be an artist in residency at the Central Institute for Cataloging and Documentation (ICCD) in Rome. ("Joan" is the male name "John" in the Catalan language.)<br /><br />Since the late 19th century, the ICCD institute has been the National
Photographic Cabinet that protects and catalogues the cultural heritage of Italy -- the ICCD is part of the Italian Minister of Culture. <br /><br />So, as preservationists, it created a bit of embarrassment for the ICCD to confess that it did, indeed, have photographic materials that were in poor condition. But they had a good reason. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QNEzZhzMCJtwkC8qzYX3fzrhC_CiRyCM_wOEPIaOpHFdbZeLbQmPaarVsMBQxB-AqvmYeHCKwgrCZ5nAM9ksENk2vlbWHDjdoPkaXQeOckemy0nGOdBy-gIeBsF0v1PG147zdMlfCZXY-Hxo-i_PqxzX90Oru4tAF9BMh7e_-5YqLcgNZ3BVLN5PtU0/s640/Trauma1%20by%20Joan%20Fontcuberta%20photo%20by%20Cat%20Bauer.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="640" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QNEzZhzMCJtwkC8qzYX3fzrhC_CiRyCM_wOEPIaOpHFdbZeLbQmPaarVsMBQxB-AqvmYeHCKwgrCZ5nAM9ksENk2vlbWHDjdoPkaXQeOckemy0nGOdBy-gIeBsF0v1PG147zdMlfCZXY-Hxo-i_PqxzX90Oru4tAF9BMh7e_-5YqLcgNZ3BVLN5PtU0/w640-h430/Trauma1%20by%20Joan%20Fontcuberta%20photo%20by%20Cat%20Bauer.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Trauma</i> by Joan Fontcuberta - photo of image: Cat Bauer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What the ICCD had were extremely damaged glass negatives from the Fondo Chigi taken by Prince Francesco Chigi Albani della Rovere (1881, Rome - 1953, Rome), a member of one of the most powerful Italian families in history. The illustrious Chigi Family from Sienna, ennobled in 1377, is rich with prominent members, from bankers to cardinals -- Fabio Chigi became Pope Alexander VII in 1655.</p>Even though Prince Francesco Chigi came from a wealthy family whose tradition was banking, he was a high school dropout. The youngest of five
siblings, he was passionate about nature and the wildlife that populated
his Roman villa, birds in particular. </div><div><br />Francesco was also
passionate about the new medium of photography. How could he capture nature? How could he freeze the vibrant reality he saw twirling around him into photos? <br /><br />He had the resources to
invest in the costly equipment he needed to experiment. He documented his family
life and residences, his countryside, his gardens, and his forests, as
well as his travels. <br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJz7TUKbhWCjAv_kIyLU6flpx2J0NGLsjEc7q_WiwNr_92Z83FMezQ6K_ZDD5o6NPZ6qIsGq2WfWurO4RwmFCjEernomTGz9qWP_qb2l-wZV4dr5AGQOh-myF4ic605zRs93Ek88lZhyphenhyphenhj92P7c19ySJMwagrsy2RgjRIcl2djbPhIme75d-GIGr1g60/s639/Trauma2%20by%20Joan%20Fontcuberta%20photo%20by%20Cat%20Bauer.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="639" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJz7TUKbhWCjAv_kIyLU6flpx2J0NGLsjEc7q_WiwNr_92Z83FMezQ6K_ZDD5o6NPZ6qIsGq2WfWurO4RwmFCjEernomTGz9qWP_qb2l-wZV4dr5AGQOh-myF4ic605zRs93Ek88lZhyphenhyphenhj92P7c19ySJMwagrsy2RgjRIcl2djbPhIme75d-GIGr1g60/w640-h440/Trauma2%20by%20Joan%20Fontcuberta%20photo%20by%20Cat%20Bauer.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Trauma</i> by Joan Fontcuberta - photo of image: Cat Bauer</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span><br /></div><div>Years after Franceso’s death, in 1970, his son, Mario Chigi, donated his
father’s photographic heritage to the National Photographic Cabinet.
The collection contained about 6,000 units, mostly negatives on glass,
of landscapes and panoramas, family portraits, mountains and lakes,
villas and travels. <br /><br />And birds. Lots of birds. <br /><br />After being neglected and stored
in unsuitable locations, much of the aging collection was damaged. <br /><br />By
the time Joan Fontcuberta came on the scene, many of the negatives were
almost unrecognizable. This suited him perfectly. "This work is about
infection," said Fontcuberta. Damaged by bacteria and other elements
over the decades, the photographs were
aging and returning to dust. Like humans.<br /><br />Fontcuberta transformed 12 of the "suffering photographs" into new works
of art, all entitled "Trauma." Displayed in light boxes inside the dark, vast
ground floor of Palazzo Fortuny are riveting images, part Chigi, part Fontcuberta, that seem to come from the cosmos. <br /><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRgP8jGCOIPErt0-NSg_4IH_qmDxf50_NRTuHq4jIZMuMOqrQ96h83e4habQid-JI-d1JUfaAl3plBAnRO6mRRFqtyLenfLu2GJSuzWnVMDjPQcngm3ga7uxfAVfHT4GANoWzpnFsAJi6ATaBg920WOiyOmkDPFMQ2hLI-5yeuNvqAa3DevIQ_Vtp9vo/s3264/A6EE8715-BF8C-4EE7-A4DC-7517320E1FA7.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRgP8jGCOIPErt0-NSg_4IH_qmDxf50_NRTuHq4jIZMuMOqrQ96h83e4habQid-JI-d1JUfaAl3plBAnRO6mRRFqtyLenfLu2GJSuzWnVMDjPQcngm3ga7uxfAVfHT4GANoWzpnFsAJi6ATaBg920WOiyOmkDPFMQ2hLI-5yeuNvqAa3DevIQ_Vtp9vo/w640-h480/A6EE8715-BF8C-4EE7-A4DC-7517320E1FA7.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/" target="_blank">Joan Fontcuberta. Cultura di polvere</a> </i>at Palazzo Fortuny - Photo: Cat Bauer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In the catalogue, David Campany explains:<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The promise of photography, born at the onset of a rapidly changing modern world, was immortality in the form of the frozen image that would last forever and lend itself to the mastery of history and of progress. <br /><br />But it was a promise that could not be kept. <br /><br />It is a cruel if poetic irony that photography, a medium tasked so often with the fixing of appearances and the preservation of history, should turn out to be so materially susceptible. <br /><br />And, it is perhaps more ironic still that this medium which finds the visual effects of time -- decay, deterioration, mold, putrescence, entropy -- to be so photogenic, should inevitably itself succumb to these effects.<br /><br />If photographs preserve anything of what they represent, it is only for a short time, and only if the photographs themselves are preserved. <br /><br />Photography seemed at first impervious and absolute, but it turned out to be human after all: bold, vivacious and unmarked for a while, but eventually frail, decrepit and headed for the grave. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLEEOR3P-BrZueem9VPVt2UjGF-PPxDVD8zTPHHKLSKB6N6dowc0XCifUOFmG6Fh2OOb-nLdamfDjon1YS9sOrgsBGU4_9onlLi6YFFNFvlRxrqL_KoQliq7SVwu_lZ9Xd6YKjhyphenhyphenB0zs5WTn89OcL-bQQgFzbK4mQ5WEDpHRkMiCwREq2qbMATNl1i3o/s2976/66C8E6C9-6677-488B-9872-6BA9CA6582C0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1439" data-original-width="2976" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLEEOR3P-BrZueem9VPVt2UjGF-PPxDVD8zTPHHKLSKB6N6dowc0XCifUOFmG6Fh2OOb-nLdamfDjon1YS9sOrgsBGU4_9onlLi6YFFNFvlRxrqL_KoQliq7SVwu_lZ9Xd6YKjhyphenhyphenB0zs5WTn89OcL-bQQgFzbK4mQ5WEDpHRkMiCwREq2qbMATNl1i3o/w640-h310/66C8E6C9-6677-488B-9872-6BA9CA6582C0.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prince Francesco Chigi original slide - Photo: Cat Bauer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></span></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p>Joan Fontcuberta has taken Francesco Chigi's outcast and unrecoupable photographs and resurrected them from the dust, thrusting them back into the cosmos. He has transformed them into new life forms. It's like he has saved their souls.<br /><br />Be sure to wander into the back room to read the catalogue and gaze at some of the original slides that have been eaten by time.<br /></p><div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;">Joan Fontcuberta. Cultura di polvere<br /><br /> <a href="https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/it/mostre/mostre-in-corso/joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19414/mostra-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/">https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/it/mostre/mostre-in-corso/joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19414/mostra-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/</a></div><div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;">ontcuberta. Cultura di polvere
Exhibition
Exhibition
Joan Fontcuberta. Cultura di polvere<br /><br /> <a href="https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/">https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/</a></div><div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;">Joan Fontcuberta. Cultura di polvere<br /><br /> <a href="https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/">https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere</a></div><p><i><a href="https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/" target="_blank">Joan Fontcuberta. Cultura di polvere</a></i>, curated by Francesca Fabiani, has been extended until March 25, Venice's birthday, so you have more time to see the other-worldly images for yourself. Go to <a href="https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/mostre-in-corso-en/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/2024/01/19430/exhibition-joan-fontcuberta-cultura-di-polvere/" target="_blank">Palazzo Fortuny</a> for more information. </p><p>Ciao from Venezia,<br />Cat Bauer<br /><a href="https://venetiancat.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog</a><br /></p></div></div>Cat Bauer in Venice Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18376687575392758300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3658567784785639005.post-84299790329550692802024-01-01T19:38:00.008+01:002024-01-09T16:15:49.165+01:00Comfort & Joy from the Powerful Lion of Venice - Here’s to a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year - 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwx9RS_4_e6gg_khLal7EklhAi2fPM_yy1eCR-NoD9FgPhf9y6kp81tCxAU2YhBn_RkUuRtFhhy4apikV5DoVwLh6ZS71S0dDb8IAuhx7be3V3I5TcYbqeqpAs7xyhMBEf07q_cuIzPF9sPNMEieiYuGPdNGr1kraAKJCyWEsqvaba-L52L0_Bwq8Vrc/s2784/097F20BE-8F43-4725-BB3E-881A747A4B65.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2180" data-original-width="2784" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwx9RS_4_e6gg_khLal7EklhAi2fPM_yy1eCR-NoD9FgPhf9y6kp81tCxAU2YhBn_RkUuRtFhhy4apikV5DoVwLh6ZS71S0dDb8IAuhx7be3V3I5TcYbqeqpAs7xyhMBEf07q_cuIzPF9sPNMEieiYuGPdNGr1kraAKJCyWEsqvaba-L52L0_Bwq8Vrc/w640-h502/097F20BE-8F43-4725-BB3E-881A747A4B65.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winged Lion of Venice in Piazza San Marco - Photo: Cat Bauer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>(Venice, Italy) The mysterious winged Lion of Venice on the top of the column next to Palazzo Ducale in Piazza San Marco is a symbol of Venice's patron saint, Mark the Evangelist. It a testament to the strength of Venice's ability to adapt and survive. <br /><br />The Lion of Venice came to the Venetian Republic from the world of Byzantium in the 12th century. But the core of the ancient bronze sculpture is much older, dating back to around 300 BC, before Christianity even existed. In the 1980s, restorers decided most of its body is about 2,300 years old. Its origins are cloaked in mystery. <br /><br />It is believed by some that the Lion of Venice started life as a mythical griffin, a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, combining the king of the beasts and the king of the birds into one powerful image. It was probably a monument to the god Santa(s), or Sandon, worshiped in the city of Tarsus, which was in the province of Cilicia, in what is now Turkey, where Mark Antony and Cleopatra first met, and where Saint Paul was born. The god Sandon was so powerful that he was worshiped from the 18th century BC to the first century AD. <br /><br />During the Roman Empire <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Tarsus/" target="_blank">Tarsus </a>was a "luxurious port city of great wealth and opulence" which became part of the Byzantine Empire until it fell. Luckily someone snatched the lion and brought it to Venice sometime in the 12th century, saving it from the clutches of the Ottoman Empire -- the precise history is as foggy as the mist on a Venetian day in winter.<br /><br />Then Napoleon came along and grabbed the Lion of Venice, using it to decorate the top of the Fontaine des Invalides in Paris. When the Austrians gained dominion over Venice, they and some influential Venetians brought the lion back home to the lagoon. The lion was smashed and damaged both on its way to Paris, and on its way back to Venice. After being repaired by Barolomeo Ferrari, it was perched back on its column on April 13, 1816. <br /><br /><div class="item-authors" data-v-4feba758="" data-v-9bd27132=""><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6Wg0FpPhueKRHYcSP69cFQcYiy9qWD3LqC029PGg0t7Llj8UBClPweKyuP0-9GUYjAV9mO9BX2DAplWEHQUb0SWm1CwjAP-YQ6sYfUR9Lp9jfGZpX4VfhnF_v3qPPFmSWEyyUHqfo2Kq6BNRoTXG8T6Nj5m6qlgF9aOPNyBj3SI8Y-DRQkWKt3SkLOc/s3251/Lion_of_Venice_on_column_in_Piazzetta_Venice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3251" data-original-width="2247" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6Wg0FpPhueKRHYcSP69cFQcYiy9qWD3LqC029PGg0t7Llj8UBClPweKyuP0-9GUYjAV9mO9BX2DAplWEHQUb0SWm1CwjAP-YQ6sYfUR9Lp9jfGZpX4VfhnF_v3qPPFmSWEyyUHqfo2Kq6BNRoTXG8T6Nj5m6qlgF9aOPNyBj3SI8Y-DRQkWKt3SkLOc/w442-h640/Lion_of_Venice_on_column_in_Piazzetta_Venice.jpg" width="442" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lion of St Mark on top of a column in the Piazzetta in Venice, seen from the Doges Palace<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lion_of_Venice_on_column_in_Piazzetta_Venice.jpg" target="_blank">Author: Peter J.StB.Green</a></td></tr></tbody></table>I finally found a scholar who sums up perfectly the feeling I am trying
to capture about the Lion of Venice. Thank you Garry Wills! Wills says
it started life not as a griffin, but as a winged lion with horns. Here
is an excerpt:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41213485" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"The Lions of Venice"</span></b></a><br />GARRY WILLS</div><div class="header-metadata__source-info" data-v-4feba758=""><div data-qa="journal" data-v-4feba758=""><cite data-v-4feba758="">The American Scholar</cite><span class="src" data-qa="item-src-info" data-v-4feba758="">, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Spring 1999), pp. 45-49 (5 pages)</span></div></div><b><span><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">...Seen up close, its face looks partly simian, partly devilish, partly</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">human - an effect created in part by the placement of its ears on the sides</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">of its head, not on top. Was it intended by its creators to be a lion?</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Restorers at work on it in the 1980s concluded that it was. Studying many</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Near Eastern parallels, they found the closest to be the winged and horned</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">lions that carry a standing statue of Sandon, the tutelary god of Tarsus in</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Cilicia. When that region became Christian, the lion was shorn of its horns</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">and wings, which removed its pagan onus. It must, even in this early period,</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">have acquired some sacred meaning, since ancient bronze statues of this size</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">were almost always melted down for the reuse of their </span><span style="font-size: large;">metal....</span></blockquote></span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><blockquote>...The lion has suffered through all the city's vicissitudes over eight centuries of fame and shame, of downfall and recovery. Its silhouette, at dawn or dusk, in mist or glare, gives Venice comfort. Its eerie grin hides a thousand secrets, carried here from its bizarre beginnings and kept faithfully above the city whose identity it guards.</blockquote></span></b>No matter what challenges the New Year will bring, and it appears there are many looming on the horizon, Venice remains under the powerful protection of the mysterious ancient Lion of Venice.<br /><br />Happy New Year from Venezia,<br />Cat Bauer<br /><a href="https://venetiancat.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog</a><br />Cat Bauer in Venice Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18376687575392758300noreply@blogger.com0