I had two jobs on today’s list – visits to Grand Scuola and the church of San Rocco and the inevitable SIM card nonsense at a Vodaphone shop.
San Pietro
In San Pietro I was waylaid. I stopped at a lithography workshop which had been attracting my attention for several days. The owner is a refugee from clinical medicine who teaches natural printing techniques which haven’t changed since Rembrandt’s day. We hit it off and I spent 3 hours with him sipping muddy coffee, listening to Shostakovitch and discussing the relationships between art, medicine and life. Some local tobacco (Albatross Forte) enhanced the occasion.
The recipe
I left with copies of his linen print recipes and a genuine interest in his world of photo processing techniques. Something to do with my 10,000 photos when I am old and idle.
Scuola San Rocco is a grand place, built to last in the self-satisfied Venetian baroque style.
Tintoretti, Tiziani,Tiepoli and Bellini-i are casually displayed under a vault with decoration reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel. A tiny handful of tourists only.
Bellini Christ
For me the Bellini Christ was the jewel.
The SIM card story isn’t worth telling .