This beautiful marble tabernacle, showing the Madonna with Child Giving the Keys to St. Peter, is in eastern Castello on Fondamenta Quintavalle, on the way to the church of San Pietro di Castello. It’s an early 15th century work that was recently restored by the California chapter of Save Venice.
It's so wonderful seeing art outdoors as you roam around Venice, and there's actually quite a lot of it all over the city. You could make a case for moving works like this into a museum for protection, but instead, the restoration included adding lead to the roof to protect it from rain. I'm a bit sad that they finally had to move the four horses of San Marco inside, but those things are 2000 years old – it was time for them to get out of the weather, I think.
Comments (6)
Wonderful photos! I love the colors. It is amazing that some of the artwork is left outside like that. What a great find - one more place to put on my list of things to see :)
Posted by girasoli | May 1, 2008 4:23 AM
Posted on May 1, 2008 04:23
Gorgeous photos! The prevalence of art everywhere is one of the things I loved about Italy, too. I haven't seen the original horses yet. We intended to get into the museum last year, but...other things drew us away (such wandering around in a daze enjoying the everyday magic of Venice!)
Posted by Anne | May 1, 2008 11:31 AM
Posted on May 1, 2008 11:31
One of the joys of wandering around any town or village in Italy is discovering these little gems just around the corner. Beautiful tabernacle and how wonderful that it was recently restored.
Orange seems to be a very popular color in Venice. The photo of the shrine that you posted a few days ago was also on an orange wall.
I love reading your blog, Annie. So informative and with fantastic photos.
Posted by María I. | May 3, 2008 12:00 AM
Posted on May 3, 2008 00:00
So beautiful! The red is just gorgeous, and I agree, outdoor art is great! It must be nice to walk down the street and stumble upon something like this.
Posted by Chiocciola | May 3, 2008 3:51 PM
Posted on May 3, 2008 15:51
Thanks everyone! It IS one of the many magical things about Italy...you don't have to visit a museum to see some amazingly beautiful and unexpected art.
Maria, I hadn't thought about the "orange" thing before but you're right! Plus there are all the orange-red roof tiles in Venice.I'm really enjoying your blog too. Those Italian cat photos that you recently posted are wonderful.
Posted by Annie | May 3, 2008 10:12 PM
Posted on May 3, 2008 22:12
Hi Annie:
Loved these photos! I totally agree with what you said about being able to roam around Venice to find such wonderful art everywhere. And the more I read your blog the more I'm learning about where I will be able to find them the next time I have the pleasure of visiting Venice.
I had no idea that they have these Save Venice Restoration Chapters. What a fantastic thing to have.
Thanks for this wonderful entry Annie!
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | May 6, 2008 10:32 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 22:32