Vela al Terzo: centuries of sailing the Venetian lagoon
Aug 2, 2010 About Venice, Vita venexiàn
Unless you’re an avid sailing enthusiast, you’ve probably never noticed that the colorful canvases tilting into the summer wind as they criss-cross the Venetian lagoon aren’t shaped like sails you’d see elsewhere (…what a surprise). Look closely – they’re not triangular, not trapezoidal, and not rhombus shaped, but a odd quadrilateral with four unequal sides suspended on a mast one-third of the way from the shortest one — thus the name: Vela al terzo.
And this is how they look when there’s a traditional caorlina underneath, participating in a local regata. The caorlina is one maintained by the associazione Arzanà. If you look closely, you’ll see that the masts and rigging are as traditional as the craft itself.
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Extra, extra: Sior Rioba, to be whole once again.
May 4, 2010 About Venice, Vita venexiàn
The news arrived first the via a message from l’Associazione Olivolo (established to protect Venetian tradition), and seemed nothing short of a miracle: they found it. They found the head of our dear Sior Rioba.
The missing marble mass (along with its good-luck iron nose) was discovered this morning in the Sotoportego di Calle de la Racheta (the underpass that connects the calle with the Fondamenta San Felice) by some ecological workers in the area. They turned it over to the police.
On reading the news, I was ecstatic, beside myself, almost unbelieving. Reading others’ reactions on the Cercasi disparatamente Sior Rioba (Desperately Seeking Sior Rioba) facebook page, I saw they were similar. Relief, celebration, exultation.
The entire city had been so stunned and appalled by this senseless act; residents and social networks mobilized immediately, denouncing the defacement and calling for the Sior to be made whole again. But why the extreme reaction? There are certainly greater tragedies, on much larger scales and at human cost, occurring daily. Why all the fuss?
Perhaps that’s the point. Perhaps in these days of car bombs and national bankruptcies becoming as common as colds, senators comporting themselves as 10-year-olds, the term ‘financially successful’ now established as a synonym for screw-everyone-as-long-as-I-get-mine, a massive spigot belching black crude into an emerald gulf, series of natural disasters each more heartbreaking that the last, and an overall lack of respect for every one and every thing manifest in almost every type of institution from government to religious to business, the recovery of an ancient marble head so pointlessly removed from a statue held dear by locals and travelers alike was so welcome, you might have thought we’d all won the lottery.
Given that to win the lottery you have to enter, and that it’s easy to feel powerless in a world where uncertainty is the norm, I’ll celebrate this small, but precious bit of good news, and hold it very, very close. For in the end our Sior Riobas help us withstand the other muck: they are there, stalwart, impervious, unchanging; completely unperturbed by, say, Goldman Sachs’ uncanny ability to humbly endure a senatorial tongue lashing while simultaneously counting the billions they made off the misfortune they sold.
Hang in there, Sior Rioba. When we heard of your misfortune, a wave of indignation flooded the city as thoroughly as any acqua alta we have ever endured. We will now wait for the news of the grande festa once your head is back atop your rounded shoulders, helping you support your load of precious merchandise, keeping watch over the expansive campo named for you and your brothers.
I, for one, will touch that good-luck nose once it’s back where it belongs. We need all the help we can get.
Siòr Rioba: you don’t deserve this.
May 2, 2010 About Venice, Vita venexiàn
Crossing Campo dei Mori yesterday, on the way home from a magnificent row through the barene north of Burano followed by an abundant fish frittura hosted by the Voga e Para rowing club, I was stopped in my tracks when I glanced up at the familiar Moro merchant with the iron nose eternally perched on the corner of the campo to see that he’d be violently vandalized: someone had removed his entire head.
As reported in yesterday’s Gazzettino:
“The marble head of the statue “Sior [Antonio] Rioba,” a symbol of the long-lived merchant tradition of the Serenissima, was pillaged last night in the Campo dei Mori, Venice. Unknown assailants removed his entire head, cutting it off at the base of the neck.
One of the characteristics of the sculpture is its iron nose; the legend states that touching its face, just like the oldest of three [Mastelli] brothers of this merchant family from the east, will bring good fortune. . . .
At the moment, the act is theorized as vandalism. During the same night, someone also cracked the plate glass window of the Rioba restaurant. At this time there is nothing to connect the two incidents, but investigators are continuing to probe.
Venice’s mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, said he was ‘really struck and offended by this stupid, ignorant act that this night had mutilated one of Venice’s most important and popular depictions. I hope that the Rioba statue’s head is located quickly, and that it will still be possible to reattach it with as little damage as possible. This night’s vandalism reminds us once again of the fragility of our artistic patrimony, with its constant exposure to the ignorant and the boorish making it so difficult to protect.’”
This is such a heartbreaker. I’d write an entreaty for his return, but I somehow doubt whoever perpetrated this crime reads this silly blog. I’ll just go on hoping they find him.
For a more of photos of the statue before and after its defacement, see the the Facebook group Cercasi Rioba disperatamente (Desperately Seeking Rioba):, and Rioba.it.
Tags: Campo dei Mori, Mastelli brothers, Rioba, vandalism, venice
Cities, Silk, and Samurai: don’t forget the Fortuny
Mar 31, 2010 About Venice, Events & Offerings
Doge’s Palace, La Basilica, the Salute, the Frari: the list of Venice must-sees is far too long for most travelers to take them all in during their allotted sightseeing time. Needless to say, the less-famous, must-see-if-you-can-squeeze-them-in venues are too rarely enjoyed by the one-time visitor; for those who return, or become regular Venice devotees, they eventually begin to dot the sightseeing horizon.
One of these gems is the Museo Fortuny, once home and laboratory to the extraordinary Mariano Fortuny — painter, photographer; textile, lamp, and garment designer. Belonging once to the Pesaro family and donated to the city in 1956 by his wife Henriette, the palace has been transformed into a lean, evocative exhibition space and inviting museum. The permanent collection includes lamps, wall hangings, paintings, furniture, and Fortuny’s own laboratory, maintained in a manner that you expect Fortuny himself to return at any moment and start work on some engaging project.
Now is the perfect time to discover the Fortuny if you haven’t yet got around to it: until July 18th, it’s hosting three exhibits that are not only intriguing in their own right, but are also highly complementary each other. The first is City of Cities, by Francesco Candeloro. Wander through city scapes of multicolored, multidimensional floor and wall installations of plexiglass, laser-cut motifs and UV-printed images; a show designed for the space itself.
The floor above houses Silk and Velvet, an intoxicating showcase of Fortuny’s famously sensuous, finely-pleated (plissé) silk Delphos dresses and accompanying garments — all displayed in the space where they were created. The third exhibit on the top floor is Samurai, a fascinating collection of surprisingly varied, intricately decorated, elaborately crafted armor, helmets, and accessories worn by the powerful Japanese Samarai military, of the Koelliker collection in Milan. Scanning the rows of assembled armor and carved masks, admiring the expert workmanship, you almost expect these warrior figures to leap up, with swords raised high, and charge the crowd.
- Museo Fortuny
- Until July 18th
- €9 includes museum entrance and all exhibitions
- Closed Tuesdays
(And while you’re there, make sure to seek out the open door in the back corner of the second floor…then let us know what you find there. It’s completely unexpected…)
Ciao Ciao Cacciari; Helloooo, Orsoni.
Mar 30, 2010 About Venice
Venice chooses Giorgio Orsoni for its new mayor.
After the endless overdose of campaigning that has become the hallmark of any election, we are delighted to announce we have a winner. Or rather, some winners. Although the Lega Nord party did very well in a number of regions (including the Veneto) that held elections this weekend, it was center-left Democratic Party candidate and attorney Giorgio Orsoni who cruised to a comfortable victory over the center-right Roberto Brunetta to become the new mayor-elect of Venice. He won with 51.03% of the vote.
In fact, Lega Nord candidate for governor of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia had a very strong showing, winning with 60.2% of the vote — even though this popularity wasn’t enough to propel Brunetta, Zaia’s choice for Venice mayor, to a win.
I have a friend who has worked for Orsoni for almost thirty years; she thinks the world of him. What he can accomplish in the midst of a convoluted government with tanti interessi (many “interests”) no one yet knows. A little of that winning smile combined with an attorney temperament, it seems to me, might go a long way.
Sarà da vedere, we shall see!
