In my novel Venetian Masks, Jeff spends some time sightseeing in Venice. I was lucky enough to spend a week in Venice a couple of years ago. Despite the vast number of tourists, it’s a beautiful city, unlike any other place in the world. It’s full of unique pleasures: getting lost (but never too lost), riding the vaporetto, listening to the gondoliers’ calls.
One place I enjoyed visiting in Venice was the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Because if you are fabulously wealthy and have a lot of amazing artist friends, you can buy a villa on the Grand Canal and fill it with 20th century masterpieces. Jeff visits there too.
One of the pieces of art that catches Jeff’s eye is a statue by Marino Marini, entitled L’angelo della città (The Angel of the City). Interestingly, the piece was meant to reflect the artist’s despair (read here). I think that guy on the horse looks pretty happy, actually.
I’d sort of love to own a sculpture like this. It’d look great in my front yard. My 11-year-old daughter was too embarrassed to even look at it, while my 8-year-old didn’t care because she was too preoccupied with wanting to sit on the throne.
Next week: D-Day