Accademia, Vivaldi, Pizza Roll

After lecture on the transformation of gothic to renaissance art, we saw first-hand many of the paintings during our tour of the Accademia. One such painting (The Tempest) is shown below, where the background at the center of the frame draws attention away from the two subjects on either side. I find it interesting how many elongated objects in the picture, including the man's walking stick, left tree's narrow trunk, woman's left leg, and thunderbolt, point to the vanishing point (left-center).

The Tempest, by Giorgione

Later in the evening we attended a Vivaldi Concert at the San Vidal Church. Famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance and works of Vittore Carpaccio line the interior of the church, creating a cozy atmosphere that functions in harmony with the music. This performance of classical music was highly entertaining not only because of the sounds produced by the string orchestra, but also because the musicians would play with so much passion. The way the violinists would move their heads and upper bodies to the rhythm of the songs showed they were truly in sync with their symphony. There was also a sharing of musical spirits: consecutive solo acts during a piece would involve a leaning in of bodies between musicians passing the solo "powers" between performers. It's customary and polite to clap for the musicians as they exit the stage and walk down the aisle. At one point everyone was clapping for two minutes straight as performers were taking a rather long time switching out instruments or getting some rest.

San Vidal Church

Dinner this evening was the Venetian form of a hotpocket one might purchase from an American gas station at 2 in the morning and heat up in the microwave while waiting for the car to fill up out at the pump. If the driver didn't have the minute thirty to wait on the hotpocket to get completely cooked, he might take it out early and eat it somewhat cold. I picked out my rolled up pizza and ordered it for take away. The vender heated it up in a sandwich toaster that squeezed heat into the roll, but unfortunately he forgot to cook it long enough so the center was cold. I didn't make this mistake again throughout the rest of the trip, but I will always remember my Venetian hotpocket whenever I eat cold Papa John's from the fridge.