Venice Fellowship - Day 16
The Doge's Palace
I took a walk to the Palazzo Ducale / Doge's Palace, which was once the seat of government in the Republic of Venice.
Tinteretto
There was another part of the Tinteretto exhibition which is dotted around the city, celebrating 500 years of his life and works. Strolling through the palace's old rooms, faced with Tinteretto's paintings, studies of marble statues, his drafts and sketches, I was in utter awe at the incredible dexterity of his practice. It seemed that he was incredibly forward thinking for his time and actually shocked many of his patrons with the way that he painted. He was also incredibly thrifty in that he would use canvas pieces just sewn together to create larger sheets, and would plan the seams to be placed in areas that wouldn't be noticed in the final painting. As a son from a family in the fabric dyeing trade, he had a head start on understanding colour palettes and making pigments, which is one of the things that led to such a rich colour range in his work. One thing that I did take away from this exhibition was the studies he would do of statues and miniatures, often changing the angles and lighting to create interesting tonal effects to draw from - this is something I would love to try in the absence of a life model.
There was another part of the Tinteretto exhibition which is dotted around the city, celebrating 500 years of his life and works. Strolling through the palace's old rooms, faced with Tinteretto's paintings, studies of marble statues, his drafts and sketches, I was in utter awe at the incredible dexterity of his practice. It seemed that he was incredibly forward thinking for his time and actually shocked many of his patrons with the way that he painted. He was also incredibly thrifty in that he would use canvas pieces just sewn together to create larger sheets, and would plan the seams to be placed in areas that wouldn't be noticed in the final painting. As a son from a family in the fabric dyeing trade, he had a head start on understanding colour palettes and making pigments, which is one of the things that led to such a rich colour range in his work. One thing that I did take away from this exhibition was the studies he would do of statues and miniatures, often changing the angles and lighting to create interesting tonal effects to draw from - this is something I would love to try in the absence of a life model.
The Research Project
My plan for visiting the Palace was to keep the briefs Island and Freespace in mind, but particularly Freespace, as restriction and lines and barriers relates to my own work. I was also thinking about voice and individuality, the way that occurrences can effect a person.
Almost immediately in the Palazzo I found myself staring at what looked like a strange hag-like face sculpted within the stone of the wall, its face scrunched into an angry grimace, its mouth gaping as if in a toothless snarl. Beneath it were some words:
DENOTIE SECRETE
CONTRO CHI OCCVLTERA
GRATIE ET OFFICII I
COLLVDERA PER NANSCON
DER LA VERAM
REN DITA D ESSI
I later found out that people could write down misdeeds and illegal acts on paper and post it Golem-style into the mouth of the lion creature, and it would slide down into a box to be investigated by the government officials.
This was such a surprise to me but a perfect find for my research. Knowing that people would turn eachother in anonymously to the government for whatever act they felt could be investigated is such an interesting and heartbreaking thing to find out, and it relates so much to Freespace. In a Republic, a seperate "Free" trading city to the rest of the Italian Monarchy, people still had to live in fear of being turned in to the Government at the Palazzo Ducale.
My plan for visiting the Palace was to keep the briefs Island and Freespace in mind, but particularly Freespace, as restriction and lines and barriers relates to my own work. I was also thinking about voice and individuality, the way that occurrences can effect a person.
Almost immediately in the Palazzo I found myself staring at what looked like a strange hag-like face sculpted within the stone of the wall, its face scrunched into an angry grimace, its mouth gaping as if in a toothless snarl. Beneath it were some words:
DENOTIE SECRETE
CONTRO CHI OCCVLTERA
GRATIE ET OFFICII I
COLLVDERA PER NANSCON
DER LA VERAM
REN DITA D ESSI
I later found out that people could write down misdeeds and illegal acts on paper and post it Golem-style into the mouth of the lion creature, and it would slide down into a box to be investigated by the government officials.
This was such a surprise to me but a perfect find for my research. Knowing that people would turn eachother in anonymously to the government for whatever act they felt could be investigated is such an interesting and heartbreaking thing to find out, and it relates so much to Freespace. In a Republic, a seperate "Free" trading city to the rest of the Italian Monarchy, people still had to live in fear of being turned in to the Government at the Palazzo Ducale.
The Prisons
My main plan for the Palazzo was to go and visit the prisons. The Bridge Of Sighs, one of the most famous landmarks in Venice, is what connects the government rooms of the Palace to the prison. Through the beautiful stone arches of the windows, the prisoners would take their last glimpse at freedom before being detained.
The prisons themselves were extremely haunting. I half expected torture Chambers and chains bolted to walls. I saw the holes where the bolts could have once been, the tiny doorways and heavy iron bars to the otherwise empty cells.
The most haunting part was the marks on the walls.
I'm aware that some of them were vandals, some just people looking to leave a fun message from their trip to the prisons. But what told me that some of it was real was the room full of high-quality photographs presented on boards, and exhibition of scratched drawings and words, typed up for the modern reader to understand.
Overlaid in a palimpsest of lament and desperation to be heard were countless messages and drawings from real prisoners. It was harrowing to see all of their individual marks on the walls with my own eyes and laid out for me on paper.
My main plan for the Palazzo was to go and visit the prisons. The Bridge Of Sighs, one of the most famous landmarks in Venice, is what connects the government rooms of the Palace to the prison. Through the beautiful stone arches of the windows, the prisoners would take their last glimpse at freedom before being detained.
The prisons themselves were extremely haunting. I half expected torture Chambers and chains bolted to walls. I saw the holes where the bolts could have once been, the tiny doorways and heavy iron bars to the otherwise empty cells.
The most haunting part was the marks on the walls.
I'm aware that some of them were vandals, some just people looking to leave a fun message from their trip to the prisons. But what told me that some of it was real was the room full of high-quality photographs presented on boards, and exhibition of scratched drawings and words, typed up for the modern reader to understand.
Overlaid in a palimpsest of lament and desperation to be heard were countless messages and drawings from real prisoners. It was harrowing to see all of their individual marks on the walls with my own eyes and laid out for me on paper.
As dark as it is, the trip to the Palazzo Ducale was maybe one of the best things I could have seen for my work. Individual voices, social justice and injustice, mark making, palimpsests, tone, texture, drawings...
I would love to work my way through this and see how I can translate it into my own work.
I would love to work my way through this and see how I can translate it into my own work.
Comments
Post a Comment