Venetian Memory

If you are at Piazza San Marco, and walk towards the Basilica di San Marco, you will be able to turn right towards the Piazzetta San Marco.  On your left, stands the Doge's Palace, and facing you straight ahead is  the column holding the winged sculpture of St. Mark, and beyond that, the Grand Canal.  When you get to the end of the Piazzetta, if you turn left, you will be walking down Riva degli Schiavoni, and towards the famous Danieli Hotel.  But if you turn right, you will be heading towards the Giardini Reali, the tiny, easy-to-miss Royal Gardens.  The street in front of the gardens is referred to as Giardini Ex Reali (outside the Royal Gardens), and it's congested with souvenir vendors and tourists, snapping up t-shirts, key chains, and postcards.  

In this chaotic environment, artists set up their easels and paint, and sell their art, a lot of it pretty bad.  However, there are also some amazing artists that display their works featuring the easy-to-sell Venetian landscapes.  

On our first trip to Venice, I had spotted the work of Ugo Barraco, an artist that works in mixed media.  However, by the time I ran into him on that first trip, I had already filled my suitcase with Venetian lace from Burano, and couldn't imagine how to get an additional purchase past my husband's eagle eyes, so I let it go with a huge sigh.

I searched for Ugo's stall on this second trip, in October of last year, and found it, at last, close to the Fermata di San Marco, but he wasn't there.  Instead, his very competent — and charming, apprentice, Daniele, relieved me of a few hundred euros and sold me an ink and acqua tincta view of a Venetian canal with the requisite gondola.

I liked this one because of the shadows, with the brilliant sun reflected against the buildings at dusk, exactly as I remember seeing it in Venice.  I was originally looking for a horizontal piece, but Daniele pointed out that Venice was a city meant to be painted vertically because of its narrow canals and myriad palaces crowding the very edges of the water.

Daniele rolled it up, and packed it in a very sturdy tube, and I had it framed here in the U.S.  The frame is gilded, and has an arabesque pattern that seems well-suited to the subject.  It's my new pride and joy.