We started the day off with a lecture on art history. The apparent difference between the medieval art and the Renaissance art amazed me: while the medieval art focused on serving a purpose of creating religious symbols, the Renaissance art put less emphasis on religious theme and added more perspective and depth to the paintings.
To apply this knowledge of art history to practice,
we made our way to Gallerie dell’Accademia. Right in front of the Accademia
building was Ponte dell’ Accademia, the bridge of Accademia, spanning the Grand
Canal. The view on the bridge was so beautiful that we could not help but stop
for pictures. The gloomy weather added more peacefulness to the scene.
Gallerie dell’ Accademia is a beautiful
museum gallery, containing masterpieces of Venetian painting up to the 18th
century. The piece of art that I enjoyed
the most was The Feast in the House of
Levi by Paolo Veronese. It is a giant painting, covering an entire wall of
the gallery. It was meant to depict the Last Supper, but the title was changed
when the Inquisition questioned Veronese of the figures that did not seem to
belong in the painting that was supposed to serve the spiritual moment of the
Last Supper. I was struck by the grandeur of the architecture described in the
painting, and the figures in action were so much more entertaining compared to
the paintings of the Last Supper done by other artists. While the painting
still has some components in a flat composition, especially the way the tables
are placed and most people facing towards us, we could appreciate the vanishing
point that we enjoyed looking for in various examples of paintings in the
morning lecture. Some of the random figures, such as the cat hiding under the
dining table and the dog watching the cat only added more fun to the painting.
It was very interesting to realize what a piece of painting could hold.
In the evening of the same day, we attended
a concert of Interpreti Veneziani at Chiesa San Vidal. Before the concert, all
of us sat around together for some gelato in Campo San Vidal, and it was the
best gelato I had in Venice! After the gelato, we headed over to Chiesa San
Vidal, and the interior was quite lovely. To be honest, I was worried that I
would not enjoy the concert, as I am not a big fan of classical music. The cozy
atmosphere of the concert hall did feel like a perfect place for a short nap
after a long day, but I was surprised to realize that I was getting immersed in
the symphony. My favorite part of the concert was the double bass solo. It was
so powerful but relaxing at the same time, and my worries about the lack of my
musical knowledge were gone by the end of the concert. When we hurried to San
Marco to catch the vaporetto back to San Servolo, the view was quite amazing –
it was extremely foggy, making the city look more magical and dreamy. I will
never forget the combination of such dreamy atmosphere after the classical
concert.
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