Let Me Take You Across Venice

Lion of St. Mark

Venezia! Lion of St. Mark, Column of San Marco, Venice, Italy

Lions are scattered about Venice--if not in the flesh, then in countless paintings and sculptures. Mind you, there was a time when the cats of Venice weren't limited to tabbies, as Jan Morris tells us in A Venetian Bestiary:

"From the common cat (felis catus), the Venetians, their horizons enlarged by their imperial and commercial adventures, turned to the lion (leo leo), and were eventually besotted by him. Leo leo turned their heads! They built him onto their corbels, they slipped him into their allegories, they stuck him on gateposts, they made him the corner-stones of bridges. Citizens kept live lions in their gardens, and for a time a State Lion lived in a golden cage in the Piazza; he died, it is said, because licking the bars gave him gilt poisoning, and thereafter captive lions were forbidden for several centuries. When one turned up, though, at the Venetian Carnival of 1762, Pietro Longhi showed him grandly on display, with a little dog on his back, dancing dogs all around him, a monkey on a beam above, a fiddler fiddling, and the strolling Venetians engrossed as ever by his presence."

Why a lion, and not a seagull?

So why does a maritime city like Venice have a lion as its mascot? Wouldn't a seagull, a fish, or a duck from the marshy Venetian Lagoon be a more appropriate symbol?

The answer to that question lies in the Ninth Century, when--according to legend--two or three ambitious Chamber of Commerce types from Venice stole the remains of St. Mark the Apostle from his tomb in Alexandria, Egypt. William Lithgow tells the story in his "Comments on Italy" from The Rare Adventures and Painfull Peregrinations, published in 1614 and quoted in Ian Littlewood's Venice: A Literary Companion:

This Lion is in Verona Piazza delle Erbe

"They placed the corpse in a large basket covered with herbs and swine's flesh which the Musselmans [Muslims] hold in horror, and the bearers were directed to cry Khwazir (pork), to all who should ask questions or approach to search. In this manner they reached the vessel. The body was enveloped in the sails, and suspended to the mainmast till the moment of departure, for it was necessary to conceal this precious booty from those who might come to clear the vessel in the roads. At last the Venetians quitted the shore full of joy. They were hardly in the open sea when a great storm arose. We are assured that S. Mark then appeared to the captain and warned him to strike all his sails immediately, lest the ship, driven before the wind, should be wrecked upon hidden rocks. They owned their safety to this miracle."

After crossing the Mediterranean and cruising up the Adriatic, the graverobbers reached Venice and handed their cargo over to the Doge. The local religious and civic authorities quickly elected St. Mark as Venice's patron saint, and the apostle's traditional symbol--a winged lion--became the logo of the Venetian Republic.

Il Leone di Piazza Sa Marco a VENEZIA

Here a lion, there a lion, everywhere a lion lyin'.

One of the most famous winged lions in Venice is on the Torre dell'Orologio, the clock tower on the Piazza San Marco. Another stands atop a column in the Piazzetta, next to the Doge's Palace. The latter statue was hauled away to Paris by occupying Napoleonic troops in 1797, but it was returned to Venice in 1815.

If you visit the Doge's Palace, be sure to see Capaccio's painting of 1516 that shows a winged lion with a curiously humanoid face. The lion smiles at the observer while standing half on the mainland, half on the lagoon with the Doge's Palace and a fleet of sailing ships in the background.

There are plenty of other lions for leo leo lovers to enjoy. To quote A Venetian Bestiary again, "there are lions in the middle of dreadful meals, lions having their jaws wrenched open, lions with crowns on their heads, lions confronted by dragons, the lion that carries Minerva side-saddle in the public gardens, the eighteenth-century red marble lions of the Piazzetta dei Leoncini which seem specifically designed to let children ride them, the benignly simpering Byzantine lions that sustain the Tree of Life in the cathedral screen at Torcello."

Best of all, Venice's lions aren't real--so you can enjoy them without feeling guilty over the fact that the object of your attentions would be happier gnawing on a zebra in the African veldt.

Lion in Piazza San Marco - Venice

New Video on Youtube for Morbideidee.com

Venetian cuisine (from Venice or Veneto)

Venetian cuisine (from Venice or Veneto)

Has a centuries-long history, and it is significantly different from the other cuisines of North Italy as well as neighbouring Austria and Slavic countries, despite having something in common with all these ones.

It may be divided into three main kinds of cuisine, the one in the coastal areas, the one in the plains, and the one in the mountain areas: the second one includes many local cuisines, having each city its own dishes.

The most common dish is polenta, which is cooked in various ways within the local cuisines of Veneto.

Coastal areas serve mainly seafood dishes, and its cuisine is common to Venice's one.

In the plains it is very popular to serve grilled meat (often by a barbecue, and in a mix of pork, beef and chicken meat) together with grilled polenta, potatoes or vegetables.

A very popular dishes is also risotto, rice cooked with many different kinds of food, from vegetables, mushrooms, pumpkin or radicchio to seafood, pork meat or chicken livers.

Bigoli (a typical Venetian fresh pasta, similar to a thicker kind of spaghetti), fettuccine (hand-made noodles), ravioli and the similar tortelli (filled with meat, cheese, vegetables or pumpkin) and gnocchi (potatoes-made fresh pasta), are fresh and often hand-made pasta dishes, served together with meat sauce (ragù) made by beef, horse, chicken or duck, sometime together with mushrooms or peas, or simply with melted butter.

Many kinds of meat such beef, pork, chicken, horse, donkey, rabbit, pheasant, duck or goose are very popular too.

Cuisine from the mountain areas is mainly made of pork or game meat, with polenta, as well as mushrooms or cheeses (made by cow milk), and some dish from Austrian or Tyrolese tradition such as canederli or strudel.

A typical dish is casunziei, hand-made fresh pasta similar to ravioli.

Among the typical seasoning of Venetian cuisine, you can find butter, olive oil, sunflower oil, vinegar, kren, senape, mostarda, salsa verde.

Here it is just some typical dish; you can also visit the page for Venetian language to learn more about writing and pronouncing dishes' names.

Rixi e bixi: a poor but tasty dish consisting of a simple risotto with pancetta and peas cooked in a broth.

A bottle and glass of Prosecco, which can be spumante (the more expensive extra frizzy) or frizzante (the cheaper frizzy).

Sardełe in saor: fired sardines, dipped in partially fried onion in the same oil in which they are fried sardines, raisins and pine nuts (traditionally only by winter to increase the calories), other spices and sprinkled with plenty of vinegar. One leaves everything to marinate at least one night.

Mołeche: small green species crabs (Carcinus maenas), when they arrived at the peak of phase changes and then soft, they are fried. The mołeche are very valuable because the process of changing the water brackish lagoons lasts a few hours, the armor back hard and immediately return to be called maxenete.

Rixoto de gò: rice prepared with goby (of the Gobius ophiocephalus species), also known as gò, typical fish of the Venetian Lagoon.

Pasta e faxioi: bean soup with noodles (typically long pasta rough).

Połenta e schie: small shrimp from the lagoon (gray mud, gray-brown from boiled), fried and perched on a bed of white polenta very soft.

Sepe al nero: cuttlefish cooked with their ink lagoon.

Fegato ała venesiana: a high-class Venetian plate of liver, chopped and cooked together with chopped onions.

Bigołi in salsa: bigoli pasta served with an anchovy and onion sauce.

Among the many Venetian desserts, the most well-known are: the fritołe (or frittelle), the baicołi (or baicoli), xałeti (or zaletti), the pinsa (or pinza), the gałani (or galani), and the fugasa (or focaccia).

TIRAMISU'

JAMIE OLIVER in VENICE Part 1

JAMIE OLIVER in VENICE Part 2

JAMIE OLIVER in VENICE Part 3

JAMIE OLIVER in VENICE Part 4

Creamed cod venetian

Creamed cod venetian

Baccalà mantecato alla veneziana

INGREDIENTS:

• 1000 g dried cod soaked
• 250 g olive oil
• 100 g milk
• parsley
• garlic
• salt
• pepper

Put the cod, covered with water in a saucepan.

Put the fire, you get a boil, skim, and then turn left for about 20 'with a lid.

Check it's tender and, if not, boil for another 10 'then the fish perfectly cleaned from skin and bones.

Put it in a heavy saucepan and knead it vigorously with a wooden spoon, slowly joining, wire, hot milk and oil.

Work long until the cod will be completely exhausted, turned white and fluffy as a cream.

This work can be done with an immersion blender or jar.

Taste, season with salt and pepper, completing all the leaves of a sprig of parsley, chopped fine together with a clove of garlic.

Serve cold, accompanied with toasted polenta or white surface, roasted on the grill.

I have found this nice video:

(Only in Italian sorry)

Popular Venetian Mask

Venetian masks are a centuries-old tradition of Venice, Italy.

The masks are typically worn during the Carnevale (Carnival of Venice), but have been used on many other occasions in the past, usually as a device for hiding the wearer's identity and social status.

The mask would permit the wearer to act more freely in cases where he or she wanted to interact with other members of the society outside the bounds of identity and everyday convention.

It was thus useful for a variety of purposes, some of them illicit or criminal, others just personal, such as romantic encounters.

Venetian masks are characterised by their ornate design, featuring bright colours such as gold or silver and the use of complex decorations in the baroque style.

Many designs of Venetian masks stem from Commedia dell'arte. They can be full-face masks (e.g. the bauta) or eye masks (e.g. the Columbina).

Near the end of the Republic, the wearing of masks in daily life was severely restricted.

By the 18th century, it was limited only to about three months from December 26.

The masks were traditionally worn with decorative beads matching in colour.

Types of masks

BAUTA (Baùta):

Bauta (sometimes referred as baùtta) is a mask which covers the whole face, this was a traditional piece of art, with a stubborn chin line, no mouth, and lots of gilding.

The mask has a square jaw line often pointed and tilted upwards to enable the wearer to talk, eat and drink easily without having to remove the mask thereby preserving their anonymity.

The Bauta was often accompanied by a red cape and a tricorn.

In 18th century, the Bauta had become a standardized society mask and disguise regulated by the Venetian government.

It was obligatory to wear it at certain political decision-making events when all citizens were required to act anonymously as peers.

Only citizens had the right to use the Bauta.

Its role was similar to the anonymizing processes invented to guarantee general, direct, free, equal and secret ballots in modern democracies.

It was not allowed to wear weapons along with the mask, and police had the right to enforce this ruling.

COLUMBINA:

The Columbina (also known as Columbine and Columbino) is a half mask often highly decorated with gold, silver, crystals and feathers.

It is held up to the face by a baton or tied with ribbon as with most other Venetian masks.

The columbine was popularised by an early actress in the Commedia dell'arte of the same name.

It is said it was designed for her because she did not wish to have her beautiful face covered completely.

MEDICO DELLA PESTE (The Plague Doctor):

A "plague doctor" mask

The Medico Della Peste with its long beak is one of the most bizarre and recognisable of the Venetian masks.

The striking design has a macabre history originating from 16th century French physician Charles de Lorme who adopted the mask together with other peculiar sanitary precautions while treating plague victims.

The mask is white consisting of a hollow beak and round eye holes covered with crystal discs creating a bespectacled effect.

Today, the masks are often more decorative.

The doctors who followed de Lorme's example wore the usual black hat and long black cloak as well as the mask, white gloves and a stick (to move patients without having to come into physical contact).

They hoped these precautions would prevent them contracting the disease.

Those who wear the 'plague doctor' mask often wear the associated clothing of the beak doctor costume.

The popularity of the Medico della Peste among carnivale celebrants can be seen as a memento mori.

MORETTA:

Popular in Venice as it brought out the beauty of feminine features such as the female head, body and mind.

The mask was held in place by the wearer biting on a button or bit and was finished off with a veil.

Servetta Muta translates as 'mute maid servant'. This mask has not been widely worn since 1760.

VOLTO (LARVA):

The larva, also called the volto mask, is mainly white, and typically Venetian.

It is worn with a tricorn and cloak.

It is thought the word "larva" comes from the Latin meaning "mask" or "ghost".

Like the bauta, the shape of the mask allowed the wearer to breathe, drink, and speak easily without having to remove the mask.

These masks were made of fine wax cloth and so were light and comfortable to wear, making them ideal for a night of socializing and dancing.

PANTALONE:

Pantalone spoke only Venetian, his ‘name’ either came from St. Pantaleone who was one of the most venerated saints in town, or from the word piantaleoni (plant lions) which was the nickname for the merchants who were trading on behalf of the Republic of Venice.

The mask symbolizes an old, often rich or even a ruined old merchant but always a businessman, naturally without scruples.

Typically he also wore a beret, a red jacket, baggy short white trousers, those funny pantyhose that men wore, and a belt from which both sword and money bag hung.

The mask usually had a hooked nose, marked eyebrows & a funny sharp short beard.

Today, it’s open to interpretation like anything else.

ARLECCHINO:

This is a fun loving character as all harlequins are so if you’re planning to have fun, I guess the harlequin mask is for you; originally he used to wear a black face mask and soft hat and a costume similar to the typical colourful harlequin costume that we all know today.

Nowadays anything goes and at Carnevale you’ll see the most breathtaking harlequin masks.

In popular culture:

Venetian masks feature prominently in the film Eyes Wide Shut.

In the film, the main character (played by Tom Cruise) infiltrates a masked ball where high ranking individuals engage in secret orgies and masonic rituals.

Stores that supplied the masks include both Ca’ Macana and Il Canovaccio in Venice.

The latter displays the original mask worn in the film by Tom Cruise on their website.

NECKLACE Heart with SILVER in Murano glass GOLD

NECKLACE Heart with SILVER in Murano glass

>> Description Description: This auction is referred for 1 glass NECKLACE Heart decorated with silver leaf and original Murrina Millefiori, hand made in Italy this is ORIGINAL 10% MURANO GLASS JEWELLERY, delivered in elegant gift box, ideal for use gift. Direct from Venice Italy. Size: One size Rating: Original Murano 100% from Italy Code: cuore We are direct from Venice-Italy and this offer is for a spettacular hand made object. This product is subjected to a rigorous quality screening process. Small flaws are synonymous with the uniqueness of handicraft manufacturing. Directly from Venice we brig into your home the magic, the unique forms and colors of Venice. >> Payment & Shipping FOR PAYMENT: paypal, bank transfer, no cheque. PURCHASE'S INFORMATIONS: Dear buyer, you can partecipate to more auctions, at the end of all your purchases (cumulative in about 10 days) you can ask us the total and data for make payment. Fast shipment ad easy comunication with the customer in order to resolve any problem. SHIPPING: The shipping will be make in only one time for all your objects. The items generally arrive to destination afther 8-14 work days we have received payment.To calculate your shipping discount and handling charges email us. INSURANCE: We offer you a super packaging so as to avoid any type of damage. Any way you have possibility to open our personal insurance the cost of it is only 3,00 euro, indifferently of the number and the value of the objects. >> Returns & Refunds REFUND: Please e-mail us first then return the package within 15 days. Return shipping fee must be payed by buyer. Remember to check out My Other Items to take advantage of combine shipping! Click Photos for larger image IMPORTANT: This listing is valid for only one. For multiple purchases, the 'item will arrive automatically in mixed colors. The picture as an object Handmade is indicative, sometimes it might be slightly different.

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