Venice-Last Day-Art & Night Shots

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Here are some photos from my last day in Venice, Italy and of my vacation. Such a beautiful city. It was a bit chilly today, though, because the sun never came out. As a result, I didn't have a great sky to work with for photos but my day was going to be spent mainly indoors so it was ok.

I started out by walking over to the Ca d' Oro which is a former private art collection of Baron Giogio Franchetti. The collection is mainly made up of items from churches and covenants which were closed during the Napoleonic and Austrian occupations of Venice. According to the materials we were provided, for economic reasons the French government closed or ousted the churches and used buildings for other things. The works of art inside were then sold or placed in storage and eventually made their way to this collection. The collection is mainly from the 14th-16th centuries and is a mix of bronzes, paintings, frescoes and sculptures. The building is the former home of the Baron which he donated to the city. As I toured, I realized that so many of the pieces that I have found to like on this trip were landscape works of Amsterdam artists. I really regret now when I was in Amsterdam last year not going to those museums. There is also a balcony on the home which is on the Grand Canal and provides some great views.

After checking out this collection, I grabbed the waterbus to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Ms. Guggenheim was an American heiress who helped advance the modern art movement. She has a number of prized pieces and the Collection is located in her former home located on the Grand Canal. (She passed away in 1979.) It was a beautiful home and makes for an interesting collection. The collection has several Jackson Pollack's, a Dali and a Picasso as well as other artists of whom I am not familiar being the art novice that I am. It was a very popular attraction with several people viewing the collection while I was there.

Afterwards, I headed down to the bottom of the left bank and toured the Santa Maria del Salute church. It's a very large church with a dome, however, the church itself is not that big inside. The attached buildings and dome are what make it look so big. They do allow pictures inside and it has several altars and red fabrics on the columns. Pretty building but it is having some work done so lots of scaffolding up.

In the evening, I went out for some night phots. Actually, when I went out at night, it was much warmer than during the day! The city is so pretty at night.

Also...when flying to Amsterdam for my plane switch to the states, we crossed the very pretty and snow capped mountains.

That's it for my Italian vacation! It was a great time and I saw so much. It was wonderful to finally see so many of the things I had been reading about for years. Such wonderful history.

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Photos

Guggenheim Museum
View from the terrace

Comments

[nakit]

www.blogoye.org/nakit
this is very good... I love Italy, and specialy Roma.

[alpinemel]

meloncoly
Enjoyed visiting Itlay with you through your blog. The photos of the alps have made me a little homesick for them...as christmas time holds such beautiful memories. :)