At least my ninth visit to Venice but my first in January. Among the advantages at this time of year are clear skies and a low sun, creating a coruscating light show on the canals, and the absence of crowds.
One thing never changes; many rooms in the Accademia are closed for restoration. This is really a blessing as there is quite enough to see. We started with early Renaissance altar pieces and then chronologically saw work by Venice’s greatest artists ending with Guardi and Canaletto. As a bonus there are some recently restored panels by Hieronymus Bosch. It is too much to absorb in one visit.
I wish I could remember my emotions when I first saw San Marco in 1971. I am re-reading Hugh Honour’s, The Companion Guide to Venice, in which he quotes Ruskin’s description:
“A multitude of pillars and white domes, clustered into a long low pyramid of coloured light; a treasure heap, it seems, partly of gold, and partly of opal and mother of pearl, hollowed beneath into five great vaulted porches, ceiled with fair mosaic, and beset with sculpture of alabaster, clear as amber and delicate as ivory.”
But Mark Twain thought it looked “like a vast and warty bug taking a meditative walk”.
