If I remember correctly it was supposed to have been Napoleon who upon his first view of San Simeone Piccolo quipped, "I've seen churches without domes before, but never a dome without a church."
I think the scaffolding was up around the front of this church for so long that it would have been fairly easy to imagine--or hope--that they were finally getting around to building a church more in keeping with the scale of the dome. No such luck, but it's nice to see the church's old odd proportions revealed once more (even if they do make the dome appear, as always, rather unpleasantly pustular), and to have one less giant billboard on the Grand Canal.
Yay! I honestly never thought I would see this wee church again! Guess where I'll be tomorrow, either before or after worship at the temple Tonolo.
ReplyDeleteI think you should plan to worship at the temple Tonolo before and after visiting San Simeone! You're sure to work up an appetite.
ReplyDeleteWow, what great news! This church has been covered for at least 10 years; I've never seen the portico except in photos! Yes, Napolean is credited with that funny quote. One less ugly billboard is a great thing!
ReplyDeleteTEN years is longer than I imagined! Now you must come and see it in person--and tell me if you notice any change.
DeleteAnd thank you for confirming the Napoleon quotation.
I see that I spelled Napoleon wrong and there's no way to fix it! Alas. I blame my typos on the fact that I'm not a very good typist rather than carelessness. :)
ReplyDeleteI suspect I'm a worse reader than you are a typist, as I didn't even notice the typo when I read your comment. But I like the typo, it seems to link Napoleon and New Orleans & reminds me of Brando going on in A Streetcar Named Desire of "the Napoleonic Code..." (if you'll excuse me for following out a ridiculous association of ideas).
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