The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-05-07
THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION
Death and Art MingIe i'm Venice
Written for The Times By VIII Duran

T EFT us take this gondolier; he
Il is a looking fellow,
but so are they all. A coin will
make him human.
We wish to glide slowly down the
Grand Canal from the Piazzetta di
San Marco, and feel, as we sit at
peace under the canopy that shields
us from the sun, the history and
beauty of Venice. Think of it; a
city built out in the sea, over two
miles from the mainland; fifteen
thousand homes and palaces, often
Of massive stone, rising bravely
from islands based on piles and
filled at last with earth.
A Champs Elysees" of water, and
as Side-streets, of canals that wend
their way haphazard by dingy
factories, quiet residences. and noble
churches adorned with pictures be-
yond price. Nowhere in the world
is there anything more picturesque
dulOIlB lIlt WOlhS VI lllClls
Across the broadest part of the
Grand Canal is Santa Maria della
Salute, covered with dcmes in the
Byzantine style; within are several
paintings by Titan, and one OF
Tintorettos chefs-d' oeuvres, the
Marriage at Cana"
On your right is a succession Of
great pictures; in one of them the
rulers of Venice lived; in another,
says the gondolier (who knows more
than the truth, Othello loved and
murdered Desdemona. Farther down
on the left is the Academia di
Belle Arti, rich with the works Of
Titan, Tintoretto, Veronese, the
Bellini, and a thousand other
treasures (the drawings Of Leon
ardo, Michelangelo, Durer. -; we
cannot stop there now, but we shall
return.
CTILL on the left is the Palazzo
~ Rezzonico, where Robert Brown
ing died; farther down, the Palazzo
Guistiniani, where Richard Wagner
wrote the second act of Tristan
and Isolde; then the Plazzo Foscari,
home of the famous Doge whose
story is told in one Of Byron'S
dramas. On the right is the Plazzo
Mocenigo, where Byron lived with
his Guiccioli in 1913; a little way
back is the colorful home which
d'Annunzio and Duse once dwelt in,
almost the only spot after the
Royal Gardens that has a bit Of
lawn about it, and a tree or two.
To the left again is the house Of
Goldoni, the Italian Moliere. to the
right the Plazzo Grimani, a master
piece in the style Of the Renais-
sance, by Sanmicheli; and then the
Plazzo Dandolo, built over the place
where one of the greatest Doges
lived. A unique bridge looms up
one of the few that span the Grand
Canal-the famous Ponte di Rialto;
it is full of Italian color, and the
shops that flank its sides make it
doubly picturesque. In the street
nearby Antonio spat upon Shylock's
gaberdine; it is strange how one
thinks Of these scenes from Shake
spearer as reader than history.
On the right is the Ca dOro, or
house of gold, the pride Of the
Venetian Gothic, almost meretri-
cious in it's bright colors and orna-
mented balconies; and then. little
farther down, is the Palazzo Vend-
ranin-C alergi, in which Richard
Wagner died; let d'Annunzio paint
the scene for you in the Flame Of
Life"
Surely this is the most historic
highway in the whole world; little
wonder that a hundred geniuses
chose to do their work here, where
sun and art throw their rival
brilliance upon the waters, and
thought can tune itself to the gentle
splash of prov and oar, and even
the disturbing vigor Of the Italian
speech stirs poetry to passion.
But that is only part. We are
back at the Piazzetta; as we alight
we find ourselves before the two
granite columns on one of which
perches saint of the Bloody Council
of Ten. At our left is the Liberia
Vecchia, or Old Library, designed by
Sansovino, the greatest Venitian
architect.
Farther on from the Canal is the
graceful Campanile, and the Piazza
San Marco, where the pigeons eat
twenty-four hours a day; then
suddenly, like a sunset unheralded