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| The Ospedaletto of the Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti was famous for the concerts given by its gifted (and highly-trained) female orphans: the centerpiece of the Sala della Musica, painted by Jacopo Guarana and Agostino Mengozzi Colonna in 1777, shows the the god Apollo surrounded by idealized representations of the orphans and one male composer/concertmaster with score in hand, while two patrician ladies look on from behind a trompe l'oeil screen at upper right. (In reality, the orphans themselves performed behind an obscuring screen in a room above the entrance to the sala, directly opposite the scene above.) |
Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but not than looking.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Unless you're lucky enough to be in Venice when the Sala della Musica, pictured above, is being used as part of the Venice Biennale, you'll have to make a reservation to gain access to it, along with four other worthy destinations packaged as The Hidden Jewels of Venice (Gioielli Nascosti di Venezia). (The famous Scala Contarini del Bovolo is another highlight.)
But the oval sala alone is well worth the effort.
The quotation from Goethe comes from Roberto Calasso's book on Giambattista Tiepolo entitled Tiepolo Pink (first published in Italian in 2006; in English translation in 2009), which I'd also recommend, though perhaps not to those looking for a general introduction to the artist, as it's a bit of a polemic against previous interpretations of Tiepolo's work and as such might possibly be a bit less compelling to those without an interest in art scholarship or unfamiliar with (or uninterested in Googling), for example, the important 20th-century Italian art critic Roberto Longhi.
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| US edition of Tiepolo Pink, cover design by Peter Mendelsund |
And if you want to get
to know the Giambattista Tiepolo beyond the master colorist, this is
the book for you, as it offers an extensive examination (and full
reproductions) of the 33 cabalistic etchings which comprise the artist's
Capricci and Scherzi di fantasia.
Somehow, I've never (yet) seen that in the flesh. I must remedy that whenever I finally can return to Venice. An informative and interesting post, yet again. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe Scala Contarini del Bovolo is certainly also well worth ascending. I can remember the delight I felt after several years of gazing upwards through the railings, from the alley, to find that it was again open to ascent. Having a good head for heights the view looking directly down was very worthwhile, as well as the rooftop panoramas that spread widely.
I have to admit I haven't yet gone up the Scala, though I've often planned to! There's always something else to see, and living here, I've no good excuse for the many sights I still haven't visited.
DeleteThe small Oratorio dei Crociferi, another "Hidden Jewels of Venice", close to the Ospedaletto and almost in front of the Church of the Gesuiti, also deserves to be visited. Completely different - dark and stark - from the bright Sala della Musica painted by Tiepolo.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reference of the book on Tiepolo. Difficult to feel Tiepolo as a precursor of modernity, Baudelaire's modernity in particular (Baudelaire was a critic of modernity), I think. Modernity seems a vague concept. There are probably several modernities. Phantasmagoria, surely. Pure and gratuitous pleasure of paintings, totally in line with baroque art, surely. Pure power of the mind, surely. Baroque is not a synonym of ancien régime. Picasso is probably also a baroque painter.
I've only seen images of the Oratorio, and indeed it is a place I need to visit.
DeleteYes, "modernity" is a thicket in which it's easy to get lost, and unwilling to really get into it I'm afraid I gave Calasso's points about it short-shrift, as I must admit the very last thing on earth I want to do these days is write a book review. I would (and do) bore even myself.
Of course if one really wants to plunge into a thicket one might start writing about post-modernity! I think I'll stick to posting photos.