This first one really made me smile. I call it the minimalist shrine. No flowers or decorations, just a stone cross with a money box on top. Many of the shrines of Venice have donation boxes with locks, and I've often wondered who goes around collecting money from them or even has a key that works (some of the locks look quite antique).
This particular box had a coin stuck in the slot. I tried to push it in but it was stuck tight. Perhaps the box was made for lira (or ducats!) and someone tried to put a Euro in?
This one is on the island of Murano so it's fitting that there's a glass vase on the table next to the Madonna and child.
A very ornate shrine inside sotoportego Corte Zorzi in Castello, with gold reliefs of grapes and ears of corn on the sides and an image of San Antonio inside. This tabernacle was made using materials recovered from restoration work on the pulpit of the nearby church of San Martino.
This one is on the side of the church of Sant' Antonio in Castello and has a nice mosaic Madonna and Child inside.
Comments (8)
Annie, a minimalist shrine?! You are too funny! These are very beautiful shrines. The one in the sotoportego is gorgeous, with all the ornamentation. I don't remember seeing photos of a shrine in a sotoportego before.
The collection money question sure is an interesting one. I wonder who might know the answer. I saw collection boxes in a few shrines in Andalusia but they were all placed on the wall of a church.
Posted by María I. | August 12, 2009 4:06 PM
Posted on August 12, 2009 16:06
Great post!
Posted by Leslie | August 12, 2009 5:26 PM
Posted on August 12, 2009 17:26
Lovely shrine,Annie. I love the third one with the creamy yellow wall. The first one is cute too, and I can see coin stuck in there.
Love the red Murano wall and the Madonna mosaic.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by candi | August 12, 2009 5:30 PM
Posted on August 12, 2009 17:30
Hi Annie, this is a wonderful photo collection of shrines. They are all very beautiful. I like the "minimalist" shrine and love the color backgrounds for the Madonna and Child in Murano and the one inside the sotoportego. It would be interesting to know who watches over these cool shrines.
Great post! Thanks so much Annie.
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | August 13, 2009 8:39 AM
Posted on August 13, 2009 08:39
The mosaic shrine from Castello is really lovely, and quite unusual (I think?) for a street shrine.
And the minimalist shrine is beautiful in a medieval kind of way. I wonder if it was once used for some other purpose? Offerings for burials, maybe? There is a church on Via Giulia in Rome, SM del Suffragio -- dedicated to mourning the dead -- that has similar openings where people could offer donations to pay for funerals of the very poor. At least, that's what I think the openings (above reliefs of skulls) were for!
Posted by sandrac | August 14, 2009 11:29 AM
Posted on August 14, 2009 11:29
Sandra, I bet you're right. There are a few shrines in Venice with an inscription on the donation box, Pane per i poveri (bread for the poor) or something else like that indicating the purpose.
After I did this post, I looked through some of my photos and saw a few shrines where the donation box has been removed and there's just a little niche underneath.
Posted by Annie | August 14, 2009 12:01 PM
Posted on August 14, 2009 12:01
I love the gorgeously rich colours on those walls! Beautiful photos, Annie. I really like the minimalist shrine, there's something deeply moving and holy about simple unadorned places of worship, isn't there?
Posted by Anne | August 14, 2009 1:47 PM
Posted on August 14, 2009 13:47
Gorgeous photos! Maybe the coin was glued there to see if people would try to take the coin as sort of a test? Good for you trying to push it in.
Posted by girasoli | August 17, 2009 12:40 AM
Posted on August 17, 2009 00:40