The Oblivious Barcaruòl
Chance encounters are commonplace in Venice. People live, work, and commute cheek-by-jowl, the city’s close quarters ensuring constant social contact and a decided lack of privacy. This summer, while investigating why a certain composer was imprisoned in a monastery on the Giudecca in 1591 (long story), I happened across a fascinating document. It is a […]
Maria della Laguna
This striking portrait, housed at the Museo Correr, is of Maria Boscola. Mother of five boys, she lived in Marina di Chioggia during the 1700’s, raising produce and rowing it regularly in caorlina (in the days before channel markers, mind you), where it would be sold at the the Rialto markets. The banners she cradles […]