Stories of St. Mark Square. Symbol, pride and mirror of the Republic
You may recall that in a previous post, we dealt with the routes through which many ancient marbles reached Venice. In reality, coloured marble has travelled extensively from the classical period untill today, greatly appreciated for its beauty, symbolic meaning,
Each object is a journey. Revived marbles
The walls of Venetian palaces and the museum halls preserve many recognizable traces of the reuse of archaeological materials from the Hellenic Levant. It is the case of two Cretan interstate stelae, now in the National Archaeological Museum of Venice. The
Each object is a journey. The routes of the marbles
The need to procure building materials was innate in the very birth of Venice. Born from the water and stretched out over the sea with a small hinterland, the city did not arise on a previous ancient settlement. It was
Each object is a journey
Wandering pottery Many 18th-century Venetian collectors could exhibit ancient vases from afar in their museums. The large quantity of material that, then, from central-southern Italy poured in large number into the antique market made ceramics very coveted objects also in Veneto.
Stories of St. Mark Square
The Mint of Venice: a prestigious history that is more than a thousand years old Venice was home to one of most productive monetary factories in Europe. Of vital importance for the Republic, it was located, probably from the 12th century,
Stories of St. Mark Square
Pagan deities in the heart of Venice The storytelling in mythological images, in monumental decorative cycles with a complex narrative structure, made its debut in Venetian art during the fourth decade of the 16th century, lagging behind Rome and other Italian
Stories of St. Mark Square
An elephant for Venice Did you know that an elephant, complete with tusks and trunk, makes a fine show of itself in St. Mark Square? It has been there since August 15th, 1505, when the bronze banner holders, artwork by Alessandro
Stories of St. Mark’s Square
About re-uses and ancient inscriptions «The marble columns of the belfry are mixed everywhere, falling, together with the cornices, the attic sculptures, and the heavy roof of the spire. The boulders stood at the corner of the Basilica, and the column,
SUNDAY IN MUSEUM
On Sunday, July 3rd the initiative of the Ministry of Culture is back: “Sunday in museum” with FREE ENTRY in all National Museums. The Archaeological Museum is involved in the initiative BUT…free entry is not exceptional. On the occasion of the
Stories of St. Mark’s Square
A courtyard of antiquities For just over a month, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa has been looking thoughtfully at a large marble iPhone. It happens in the courtyard of the National Archaeological Museum of Venice, where Marc Quinn Stele marks the beginning of the HISTORYNOW
