Today did not go as planned at all. We were ready to leave earlier than usual, with our coats and shoes on ready to walk out of the door when I got a message from EasyJet to say our flight on Friday had been cancelled due to industrial action! So we took our coats off again and I sat down at the iPad to work out what to do.
I was fortunately able to book an alternative flight on Friday, though it is in the early morning so we will need to be on the 6am boat to the airport, which will be a severe shock to the system. It means getting up about 4.30, which we will not enjoy!
So I had to go through the whole procedure of re-booking the flights, checking in, selecting the seats and getting the boarding passes. Of course we have no printer so it will all need to be on the phone.
That took some time, but we were eventually off and on our way to the Scuola San Giorgio.We followed the Apple Maps GPS religiously, and it took us to - nowhere! I’d have done better to use a paper map! For some reason, I later found that Apple Maps thinks it is in an entirely different place, on the wrong side of a completely different canal! We walked round for ages since the satellite kept losing us and thinking we were somewhere quite different, and eventually we gave up! Later, when I was sitting having lunch, I used the paper map which was when I realised that where Apple Maps thought it was, wasn’t where it actually was. Next time I’ll use a paper map! Google maps managed a bit better, though looking at the paper map, I’m not sure that’s completely accurate either.
We walked back to the vaporetto stop and caught a number 2 for St Basilio, then, since all the churches were closed for lunch, we stopped for lunch as well. Then we walked to the church of San Sabastiano where we intended to look at a lot of paintings by Veronese.
The site of the church was originally a hospice, founded in 1393. A neighbouring oratory was converted into a church dedicated to St Sebastian in 1468. Restructuring and enlargement started in 1506, and the church was reconsecrated in the mid 1500s. It has a very plain facade outside, but it’s anything but plain inside.
Veronese spend 3 periods between 1555 and 1570 decorating the inside. This is the altar, with Veronese’s last painting which is The Virgin in Glory with St Sebastian and other saints.
I’m not sure who the other saints are.
It’s not the altar which draws your eye when you first go in though, it’s the coffered ceiling, with paintings illustrating The Book of Esther.
It’s not a good photograph I’m afraid, but ceilings are hard to photograph.
The altars in the side aisles have some interesting pictures. There is a St Nicholas by Titian but it’s rather dark. This crucifixion looks to have been recently cleaned.
Nearby is a rather happier one, of the Holy Family, with a surround of coloured marble inlays.
The sacristy walls and ceilings are completely covered with paintings, but it isn’t clear who they are painted by. They are also not supposed to be photographed. Some are by Veronese, but there are others by Tintoretto and Bonifacio de Pitati, someone else of whom I had never previously heard. I don’t know who painted the Nativity in my photo below but Paul and I both liked it, so I sneaked a quick photo.
Appropriately enough, Veronese is buried in San Sebastiano, near the organ whose doors he painted. I did photograph the doors, but you can’t really see them because of the reflections.
Not far away is the church of Angelo San Raffaele, which is one of the oldest churches in Venice. It suffered fires and had to be rebuilt in the 9th and 12th centuries, and finally in the 17th century. It’s another place where you aren’t supposed to take photographs, but the guardian was busy so I sneaked a couple.
The main attraction in this church is the series of panel paintings on the organ balustrade. They were painted in 1749 by Antonio Guardi, brother of the more famous Francesco, and tell the tale of the blind prophet Tobias, cured by the archangel Raphael, after whom the church is named.
I’m afraid you can’t really see the details in this photo, you would need to photograph each panel separately. What you might perhaps see is the head of the organist who was practising a new piece as we walked round.
This is a photo of the altar, taken from the side to show the painting.
I really can’t remember who painted it, but you can clearly see the Angel. I has assumed that the other figure was Tobias, but perhaps it isn’t. In another part of the church is a sculpture of the Angel and a boy with a fish, because St Raphael is the patron saint of fishermen.
A short walk from this church is the next one we visited, San Nicolo dei Mendicoli. It was originally built in the 12th century, though it has been remodelled over the centuries. The interior is richly embellished with 16th century gilded wood statues.
I’m afraid you can’t see it in my photo, but it’s another church with a decorated coffered ceilings, mostly decorated by pupils of Veronese.
We made our way back to the vaporetto stop and caught a number 2 round to Rialto as Paul wanted to see the Palazzo Contarini Bovolo, which is near there.
I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the Rialto bridge, though we didn’t try to fight our way across it this time.
After a fair amount of wandering, we finally found the Palazzo, which is best known for its external staircase.
In the Venetian dialect, bovolo means ‘snail shell’.
We had hoped to go inside as there are some paintings by Tintoretto, but it was shut. It is advertised as being open until 6, but you can’t get in after about 5 because the guardian wants to lock up at 6 and go home.
So we made our way back to the vaporetto stop to take the number 1 back to Arsenale and walk back to the flat.
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