Churches in Venice

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Open."

At first, I wondered if this was "open theme" week but I decided to go with "open" as the specific theme. Didn't have to look hard at all to find some pics for this one.

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend. Happy holiday weekend to those who celebrate July 4 (three-day weekend for me, woo hoo!).

Another masterpiece in the NC Museum of Art's Italian collection is this work by Giotto, The Peruzzi Altarpiece. Painted around 1310-15, it's the only complete altarpiece by Giotto outside of Italy. This work is less "modern" than those incredible frescoes in Padova that I loved so much, but the gentle hand gestures are so clearly Giotto. The work shows Christ Blessing in the center with John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary to the left, and John the Baptist and St. Francis of Assisi on the right.

In 2008, this altarpiece returned on loan to Italy for a year and then came back to NC. Here's an interesting and funny article about the high tech preparations involved in getting the work ready for travel. There's a photoset on Flickr called Giotto Homecoming that shows the museum staff unpacking it when it arrived home. I bet they were so relieved to have it back safe and sound!

And welcome home to blog friend Sandra, who just returned from a month in Italy. She had a cool and very unusual Giotto experience in Assisi (viewing his frescoes up close and personal while wearing a hard hat!) and has just posted some wonderful shrine photos from her trip.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Free."

Another theme that's open to interpretation. Is "free" the theme or is this a theme-free week (a free-for-all)? I bet we'll see some of both.

I'm going with some random pics that say "free spirit" to me.

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend. Those of you in the midst of this heat wave, keep cool!

There are thousands of books about Venice, more than anyone could read in a lifetime, but without a doubt The World of Venice is my favorite of the ones that I've read. It's the kind of book you can pick up, turn to any page, start reading, and be transported. It's so beautifully written and completely captures the crazy magic of Venice.

This year marks 50 years since it was first published, and author Jan Morris returned to Venice to celebrate the anniversary. Her rather bittersweet reflections are published here.

Another book celebrating its 50th Anniversary is To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel I read many times when I was in school. I read it again last weekend to celebrate the anniversary and also to see if I liked it as much as I did many years ago. It's always interestesting to re-read a book you loved - some of them don't hold up so well, but this one did. I enjoyed it just as much if not more. It's a story with so much heart. And don't we all wish we'd had a father like Atticus?!

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Triangle."

A Byzantine doorway in Venice~

Rock wall near the walking trails where I stroll~

A painting in the NC Museum of Art. Indian Fantasy painted by Marsden Hartley in 1914.

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Hanging."

We've done this theme before and it was a great fun to see what everyone came up with. Here's mine:

A street shrine hanging on a wall in Venice~

And here in North Carolina, a bird house hanging in a tree~

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend. Keep cool if you're in the midst of this heat wave.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Public."

I love this theme! It was challenging though because there are just so many possiblities, and it took me a while to narrow it down.

This choice was a no-brainer.

I have lots of photos of public art, street murals and such. Even when I don't love an individual work of art, I do love the fact that it's there, out in public, and I wish there were more of it.

This mural is very cool. See the faces?

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the oldest public university in the USA. The photo below shows campus landmark, the Old Well.

Shortly after I took the pic of the Old Well, I saw this little piece of public art on a campus building~

I could go on and on with this theme but I think I'll stop here. Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

You can find more Photo Hunters and join the hunt here.