Travel | The Daily Norm

Jan 24

Natale Italiano | Rome – A photographic miscellany

For a city whose every street and structure is punctuated with elaborate statues, architectural flourishes and ancient ruins, Rome is never short on providing photographers and artists alike with ripe inspiration to get their artistic juices flowing. And while passing the Christmas season in Rome meant that I was perhaps not as prolific in the photography stakes as I might otherwise have been, I still look upon this little miscellany of Rome shots which I collected together during that recent trip.

These photos do not aim to expose the most commonplace tourist spots of Rome in all of their magnificent glory, but aims instead to focus in on the smaller details which make those places great, or which might otherwise be missed by the visitor in that moment of complete overwhelming shock at the brilliance of the sights before them. For example, when you are faced with the magnificent Trevi Fountain, you tend to concentrate on the whole flowing mass of this mammoth fountain which appears collectively like a living grotto literally metamorphing from the façade of a baroque palace. However one often misses the fine details of the many sculptures which form the whole, something which these photos attempt to rectify. Likewise my photos of the pantheon concentrate not so much on the brilliant whole, but on the details of the iron door and that incredible roof.

Also amongst these shots are the small features of Rome which make the city such a joy to explore – the cobbled pavements whose monotony is crossed with sunshine and shadows; jazz bands playing upbeat tunes in the Piazza della Rotunda; yellow ochre roman ruins in and around the Forum; and the little birds whose visit to sidewalk cafes is always a pleasure to bestow.

I give you Rome – in photos.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 23

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Natale Italiano | Rome – Day 3: The Mastery of Bernini

Boxing day was officially renamed “Bernini Day” on 26th December of last year, as we set about discovering the works of this genius which literally pepper the city of Rome with as much generosity as London is filled with red telephone boxes. Starting off with coffee opposite our beloved Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotunda, we only had to walk mere metres past the stunning Roman Temple to the Piazza della Minerva to see Bernini’s rather grand elephant sculpture, showing very little of the strain of the ancient Egyptian obelisk which it carries on its back. Meanwhile, a short walk to the West of the Pantheon took us to the even more spectacular Piazza Navona, where of course that incredible Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) by Bernini lords magnificently over the centre of the not so square Square. That incredible gushing fountain, which appears to bring the gods of the rivers to life before one’s very eyes, also carries at its centre an ancient obelisk, albeit that this time the obelisk is far grander, and one of the most impressible of the 13 major obelisks featured in Rome’s most prominent piazzas (although I understand that this once hails from ancient Rome, rather than ancient Egypt).

Minerva and Navona – two sights of Bernini’s mastery with marble

All this Bernini sightseeing had given us a taste for something a little more appetising to set our sights upon, and the proximity of the bustling Campo de’ Fiore meant lunch was not far at hand. The Campo, which translates as “field of flowers” is one of my favourite spots in Rome, particularly in the warmer weather when the encircling buildings are soaked with sunshine, and in the square below, market stalls selling the freshest produce and flowers burst into life. On this Boxing (sorry, Bernini) Day, the Campo was relatively quiet, but its restaurants happily open for business – the crispy Pizza with speck and zucchini which followed our entry into one such establishment was truly a delight worthy of this food-lover’s paradise.

Back to business in the afternoon, and after a sad farewell to my partner’s dearest Mama, we took advantage of the last dying hours of Roman light to make a visit to another of Bernini’s renowned masterpieces, The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa, contained within the Cornaro chapel of the Santa Maria della Vittoria. This stunning sculpture, which appears to show the figures of St Teresa and an angel floating on clouds made of marble, depicts an episode in the life of Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite nun, who described a visitation by an angel who appeared to stab her with a golden spear filling her with the pain and ecstasy of god’s love. Lit from above by a little hidden window which reflects off the gilded stucco rays behind the sculptures, this work is truly a masterpiece of Bernini’s oeuvre, and perhaps the most theatrical of all his works.

For our final foray into the masterpieces of this genius of marble, we went to see Bernini’s mastery, not over sculpture, but over architecture. Yes, after a final Roman dinner in the atmospheric Ristorante Babette in the Via Margutta, we headed to a place whose structure is indebted to the genius of Bernini – St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This central seat of Catholicism revels in the theatre of religious power and position, and for any visitor walking along the Via della Conciliazione towards St Peter’s imposing façade, there can be no doubting the monumental aspect of this approach. However, surely the most imposing and dramatic feature is the huge colonnaded piazza in front of St Peter’s, a piazza which provides ample space for all the visiting faithful, and further underlines the scale and magnitude of this centre of the Catholic Church. And who was responsible for the architectural design of the palazzo with its vast double rowed colonnades? Why Bernini, of course.

Nighttime walk to Vatican City

And with that monumental encounter with one of Bernini’s final masterpieces, we ended our last full day in the magnificent city of Rome, a city which provided us with such a rich festive experience, and whose streets and squares continued to buzz, despite the passing of the Christmas season. The following day, we would pack up our bags (and my little pop up Christmas tree) once again, and head further South – to Napoli.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 22

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Natale Italiano | Rome – Day 2: Roman Holiday

It seems odd to be thinking about Christmas day. While we’re only just over 3 weeks further on in the space of a year, the Christmas period seems like an age ago. And yet my memories of my recent Italy trip seem far closer – probably because during that holiday, the hope of all the joys of Spring and Summer never seemed far away; a hope which the rays of sunshine falling over Rome only helped to engender. And yet while our Christmas day was, for all of its Roman surroundings, a very different way of spending Christmas from English Christmases past, it was an utter joy from day break until nightfall, and well worth remembering on this blog.

We woke to the sun streaming through our hotel window – that in itself made this Christmas different from the norm – and for our breakfast, a soft panettone, generously gifted to us by our hotel, and a creamy nespresso, amply supplied within the luxurious confines of our bedroom. Sitting round the little pop-up Christmas tree which we had already unpacked and packed again in Venice, and which had now become the central focus of our Rome bedroom, we promptly opened the little cards and gifts which surrounded it in a flurry of Christmas excitement. Thereafter, full of the joys of the season they brought, we strolled out into the unusually quiet streets of the city to enjoy the sunshine and another coffee.

Our pop up tree and a fresh panettone…

…and the sunshine which made it feel more like summer

That second coffee, consumed before the astounding sight of the Pantheon, turned out to be a mistake – for it meant venturing the long way around towards the Colosseum to catch the tube. That would have been alright in itself, had the tube station been accepting credit cards or euro notes – but with coins required to buy a ticket, and no human ticket salesman in sight, we found ourselves faced with the Herculaneum task of walking all the way to the Stazione Termini to make collection of the most important Christmas present of the day – the arrival of my partner’s mother, train-bound from Tuscany.

Much exhausted, and sweating profusely from the effort of crossing Rome in 10 minutes, we made it to the station just in time to reunite the family in a flurry of happiness and emotional rapture. For that was the moment when the happiness of Christmas really began.

Whisking her back to the hotel and then off to the Forum, it was clear that our Christmas Day was not going to follow the usual path of sofa-stagnant stupor which is the norm for so many households across the world (and England in particular). For we had a lunch to get to (or a “banquet” as they extravagantly called it) set on the rooftop of the Hotel Fortyseven, where breathtaking views over the Vestal Virgin’s temple and the Forum beyond made this a Christmas lunch to remember. Although strangely I don’t remember all that much of the food – but that’s what comes of indulging in one spectacular feast too many across a 9 day trip to Italy.

Present exchange, and a rooftop Christmas banquet

But what I do remember well, despite polishing off a super-strong bottle of Tuscan red over lunch, was our afternoon attempts not only to enjoy this Roman “Holiday” to the full, but also to recreate the magnificent 1953 film of the same name, starring Audrey Hepburn in her first major (and Oscar Winning) role alongside the debonair Gregory Peck. This turned out to be easier than I had thought. Our hotel room looked directly onto the entrance of the Via Margutta, where Peck’s character – Joe Bradley – had famously stayed at number 51. We had already spent the morning ambling past the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, both featured in the film, and had coffee that morning in a “sidewalk café” with the same view of the Pantheon as the twosome had enjoyed in the film. And now, after lunch, we headed off to see the famous “Bocca della Verita” (aka The Mouth of Truth) just as Princess Ann and Mr Bradley had done in the film.

Stills from Roman Holiday

It was difficult to recreate precisely the charm of the film some 60 years later when so many tourists visit the ancient monument (even on Christmas Day!) that you have to queue for around 20 minutes just to place your hand in the mouth for mere seconds while your companion takes the ONE photo allowed. Still, we managed to get away with two, and found that, as well as recreating this seminal scene in the film, the queue had also been worth the wait for leading us to the stunning Orthodox Church in whose portico the mouth resides. A beautiful atmospheric place to visit on Christmas day.

…and our own venture inside the Mouth of Truth!

But talking of Christmas, it was back to our hotel where the mini Christmas tree once again provided focus as we went about an even bigger round of present exchange commenced (now that our group had increased by one), and some wonderful presents such as the perfume I have had my eye on for years – acqua di parma, luxury clothes items, and cute teddies were enthusiastically exchanged along to the accompaniment of a bottle of Mumm’s champagne artfully chilled in the tiny hotel minibar (its contents having been emptied in order to fit the bottle inside…).

After a day of ultimate indulgence, we had very little space in our tummies nor energy in our legs to eat much more nor venture far, but for atmosphere’s sake we headed to the nearby restaurant Dilla (Via Mario de Fiori 41) whose stylish interior strung with fairy lights and fantastic grocery-shaped baubles beckoned our entry. And thank goodness we succumbed to the temptation – for the unctuous, soft pork and pistachio polpette (meatballs) I had there with a luxurious creamed potato easily rated my favourite dish of our Roman Holiday, if not the entire trip across Italia.

Belated Merry Christmas to all!

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 20

Natale Italiano | Rome – Day 1: Arrival by sunset

We arrived in Rome as the sun was setting behind Vatican city; the golden yellow and deepening tangerine skies casting a stunning glow behind the silhouette of St Peter’s and the domes and cupolas of ancient Rome. Our arrival to the city amongst the sun’s warm luminescence which gilded all of Rome with a hopeful uplifting lustre, was the happy ending to a transit as smooth as journeys can be – starting out by boat from the Rialto Bridge in Venice, out across a misty lagoon to the Marco Polo airport and onwards onto a swift flight down to Rome Fiumicino and a train into Stazione Termini – the happiest of starts to the second chapter of our festive Italian adventure.

Thrilled to be so swiftly and comfortably installed into the perfectly located Hotel Babuino 181, only minutes from the Spanish Steps, we left unpacking for later in our eagerness to run out onto the cobbled streets of Rome to enjoy the last rays of sun that the day was providing. After all, we had been three days in Venice with not a ray of sun to be seen, such was the density of mist which shrouded the city. But in Rome, all seemed alive under the vibrant blue skies of a winter’s afternoon sundown – hard to believe that this was Christmas Eve. For us it felt like the dying hours of a Spring day, a thought which could not escape us as we sat, but minutes later, upon the terrace of a ritzy hotel bar adjacent to the top of the Spanish steps, watching the seemingly odd combination of sunshine and vibrant mediterranean colours, with the Christmas tree which was installed onto the centre of the steps.

Dying hours of Roman sunshine

People watching on the sun-drenched Spanish steps

After indulging in the ultimate exercise of people watching in this, the classiest of Roman quarters, with a glass of prosecco in hand and a camera in the other, we headed down into the bustling streets of a Rome but hours before the feast of Christmas. In the chic shopping streets off the Via del Corso, the excitement of Christmas Eve as families and friends scuttered energetically from shop to shop was tangible, and in the nearby Piazza del Popolo, crowds hung around the grand obelisk at its centre, full of the spirit of the holiday season. For us, having a few hours spare before a dinner reservation, we headed across the square to Santa Maria del Popolo to accomplish something which I had intended to carry out when I was last in the city in 2010 but had been thwarted by renovations – to see the two stunning works by Caravaggio which can be found in a small side chapel in this otherwise innocuous church.

Like most of Caravaggio’s works, these two: the Conversion of St Paul and the Crucifixion of St Peter are utterly stunning works; Caravaggio’s exercise of chiaroscuro as dramatic as ever, while the skillful foreshortening of St Paul falling out towards us and St Peter shown foreshortened on the cross allowing audiences to become utterly absorbed in the paintings – that is at least when we could see them – for this being Rome, we had to insert a coin in a light box in order to have the otherwise shadowed works lit for all of a minute (and us being us, we had no coins on us – meaning that we had to wait for some other earnest Caravaggio fan to come along and supply lighting on our behalf…).

Caravaggio’s Popolo masterpieces

Venice: My paintings (Part 3) – The Rialto

As The Daily Norm waves goodbye to Venice (for now at least – I feel the need to return in warmer climes to capture the city endowed by blue skies and glittering sunshine), I thought it an appropriate time to share two artistic reflections on the city’s grand canal with you, both created by my own fair hand.

The first piece is a painting which marked the climax of my small Venice series of paintings, the previous four of which I have already shared with you in previous posts. More akin to a traditional Canaletto style of work, I painted this reflection on the grand central canal of Venice shortly after visiting the city in 2007. This painting is not so much about the ripples or the details of the buildings or gondolas, but about the grandeur and beauty of the city when considered from one of its most popular viewpoints –here from atop the famous Rialto Bridge.

Venice V (2007 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

I was so pleased with the finish of this work – the effect of light on the water in these dying hours of a sunny winter’s day in the city. The work, which I painted in oil on canvas, was sold shortly after completion, and now hangs in a solicitors firm in Sussex.

Meanwhile, talking of the Rialto Bridge, I thought I would also return to another of my works, albeit this time one of my Norm sketches completed in a completely different style and medium – this time in pen and ink on paper. This small sketch was completed in 2012 as part of a series of Italy Norm sketches which included Rome, Florence, Pisa, the Vatican and Sicily, and the original can now be found hanging in a small town by the Mediterranean sea in Tuscany along with the rest of the series. The sketch, which shows Norm tourists and gondoliers alike slowly ambling along the Grand Canal under the architecturally renowned Rialto Bridge, was originally featured on this blog in July 2012 – but 18 months on, I think it’s only right that it gets a good airing.

Norms in Venice (2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

My head is now filled with the prospect of new Venetian paintings – hopefully I’ll be featuring one on The Daily Norm soon!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jan 16

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Natale Italiano | Venice – A photographic miscellany

From rose-tinted street lamps and highly-glossed gondolas, to gilded, feathered and hand-painted masks and the much weathered but still glorious colonnades of the Piazza San Marco; this is an album of miscellaneous photos of Venice captured on my recent travels, and with which I shall bid adieu to my tales of Venice on this blog. But despite my finding no better collective title for this set than “miscellaneous”, they are nonetheless bound by one harmonious element: the glory of La Serenissima herself. Venice: City of bridges, of masks, of canals; City of the winged lion, of gilding and of glass. It’s a city whose beauty transfers so easily to all forms of artistic expression. And in photography, it is possible to capture the mood and elegance of the city whatever the weather.

Because every turn of every corner in Venice is like some kind of stroll into wonderland, almost like a make-believe theme park manufactured to pleasure the senses rather than fulfil any kind of logical purpose, there were opportunities to take photographs almost every second of our time on the island city. And so limiting my set of some 1,300 photos down to a featured few has been both a challenge and a delight. But of those which made the cut, I think a sense of the unique mysticism of the city shines through, not only in the deeply atmospheric shots of the lagoon shrouded in mist and the ancient artefacts which pepper the city, but also in the glimpses of those enigmatic masks, calmly gliding gondolas, and the neglected facades of once grand buildings whose every crack and rupture tells a hundred stories of the abundantly rich and decadent history of this city.

I give you Venice: in photographs

See you soon… in Rome!

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 13

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Natale Italiano | Venice – Day 3: Tintoretto Treasure Trove

Compared with the weekend days we had spent in Venice so far, waking up to the city on a Monday was a quite different experience. Suddenly, canals which had previously been so quiet, hosting only a lone gondola or two, had suddenly become bustling with working people. It was captivating to watch how Venice came alive, not just as a tourist funfair, but also as a living city with the practical needs and commercial transactions that go with it. So, for example, I whiled away many a minute at the beginning of this day watching a post delivery boat in the canal below our room offloading large parcels onto the quayside, as well as a rubbish boat a few canals down, loading the weekend’s refuse onto its bobbing timbers. It was fascinating to note (although I suppose the thought should have been obvious) that in Venice everything really does come and go via water – a city intrinsically married to the transient milieu which surrounds it.

Venice awakens

But we didn’t have time to stop and stare for too long, no matter how tempting that may have been. We had art on the mind – something which comes easily in a city whose historical relationship with art was so strong that today the small island has become an abundant treasure trove of art historical treasures. And no where on the island can you see such a spread of these artistic riches than in the city’s primary gallery, the Gallerie dell’Accademia.

I vividly remember visiting the gallery on what was probably the first day of my art history course in 2001. Our teacher, Grant (“Grantus”) took us into the first main gallery there and sat us on the floor amongst panel after panel of glinting gilded altarpiece paintings. There he took out of his pocket what looked to be a sheet of gold and, like a magician, threw the gold up into the air letting it flutter into our hands. This demonstration served as a introduction to the lavishness of Venetian art, from the gold leaf which adorned the background of these pre-renaissance altar pieces, to the scale and astonishing execution of some of the greater works which came later.

Veronese, Feast at the House of Levi

Back in 2013, and the Accademia continued to captivate me as it had 12 years before. For who could not be entranced and knocked back a little by the vast masterpiece, Feast at the House of Levi by Veronese. Originally entitled The Last Supper, Veronese had been forced to change the name when the painting, which shows the traditional Last Supper set-up surrounded by all manner of musicians, actors, animals and various unsavouries, attracted the attention of the Roman Catholic Inquisition. The inquisition called Veronese to answer for what they considered to be the “irreverence and indecorum” of including within the scene depicting Christ and his Apostles a band of “buffoons, drunken Germans, dwarfs and other such scurrilities”. Thanks mainly to the support of Venetian authorities, the painting was saved – but the name changed. And here it hangs to be widely admired today, alongside other brilliant masterpieces – amongst my favourites Bellini’s Madonna of the Red Cherubs, which looks almost futuristic with those surreal blood red cherubs behind her, Antonio Rosso’s Madonna Enthroned, and Giambattista Cima da Conegliano’s Lion of Saint Mark.

Bellini, Madonna of the Red Cherbubs

Giambattista Cima de Conegliano, The Lion of St Mark

Antonio Rosso, Madonna Enthroned

However, my favourite work of all continues to be St Mark’s Body Brought to Venice by Venetian supremo, Tintoretto. With its ephemeral light and whispish ghostly forms over on the left of the canvas, as well as its moody blood red sky and dramatically shadowed body of St Mark, the painting demonstrates, to my mind, modernity beyond its time (Tintoretto painted it in 1548). It could easily be mistaken for a surreal masterpiece by Salvador Dali, and you can see the influence of Tintoretto in artists who came later, like Spain’s El Greco with his looser, dramatically coloured figures.

Tintoretto, St Mark’s Body Brought to Venice (1548)

But as we were to discover, the handful of Tintoretto’s on show at the Accademia would only scratch the surface of the Tintoretto treasure trove to be found in Venice. And to discover to what extent Venice lavished upon this artistic supremo, and just how much Tintoretto painted in return, one has to visit the mind-bogglingly beautiful salas of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where we headed that afternoon (We did so after a pizza in a slightly dodgy looking tourist pizzeria near the Rialto Bridge. With a view that good, I didn’t think the food would be up to much but we were pleasantly surprised – a perfectly crispy pizza base munched over an unbeatable view: Priceless).

Lunch with a view…

Between 1565 and 1567 and again from 1575 to 1588, Tintoretto, in an incredibly prolific bout of creativity, painted some 50 masterpieces to cover the walls and sensationally gilded ceiling of the new showcase palace of the Confraternity of St Roch. The cycles, dealing with both old testament stories as well as the birth and life of Christ (culminating in a huge crucifixion masterpiece) are startling in their action packed illustrations of these well-known stories, demonstrating more than ever before Tintoretto’s brilliant dexterity when it came to perspective and light, as well as his ability to paint effectively on a monumental scale.

The Scuola Grande di San Rocco

There was so much to look at in the Scuola, from the sensational wood carved panelling along the walls, and the incredibly opulent gold ceiling and grand staircase leading up to this first floor paradise, that the Tintoretto’s could easily have become second fiddle to the general sensation which one feels when entering the room. Nonetheless, you want to spend at least 10 minutes concentrating on each of Tintoretto’s masterpieces, but soon realise that were you to give them such time, you would remain in the place for a whole day. And so eventually we had to drag ourselves away, leaving the Scuola Grande with such a sense of awe that the previous day’s exploration of all this golden and glamourous had just reached absolute overdrive.

Tintoretto Cycle – Miracle of the Bronze Serpent

Tintoretto Cycle – The Annunciation

Tintoretto Cycle, The Adoration of the Shepherds

Tintoretto Cycle – Christ Circumcised

Tintoretto Cycle – The Last Supper

Tintoretto Cycle – The Crucifixion

Exhausted by the efforts of trying to take all this golden glory in, we retreated happily to the Campo San Giacomo dell’Orio where, in the Bar “Al Prosecco” we treated ourselves to two very delectable glasses of “surlie” prosecco – a cloudy variety which allegedly results from the lack of chemicals in this purer form of the drink – which makes you wonder just what chemicals go into the more traditional clear version of the bubbly drink! With these two glasses clinked before the Christmas-twinkling scene before us, we toasted our trip to Venice. For the next day, we were heading south. To Rome.

Jan 10

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Venice: My paintings (Part 2) – Ripples

No artist can visit Venice and not be inspired. By the mist which clings so densely to its cold canals in the winter time, and the sun which shines upon the city with such alacrity in summer; by the classic Venetian gothic architecture which graces its canal-side palazzos, and the astounding masterpieces of art history which adorn the insides of those residences and their neighbouring churches alike; and by the elegance which resides at the core of Venetian values as manifested in the masquerade balls, the carnevale, and the most sophisticated of all modes of transportation: the gondola. But above all things, as yesterday’s photography focus demonstrated, no artist can fail to be inspired by the watery reflections which provide a unique, second facet to the city.

Back in around 2007, when I made a short weekend visit to the city, I came back loaded with ideas of what I wanted to paint. On Monday, I shared with you two of the paintings I created at that time, focusing mainly on the Grand Canal and the palazzos which neighbour it. Today however, it’s time for those rippled waters to take centre stage, as I share two further paintings from that brief 2007 collection, both of these focusing not so much on the city itself, but on its rippled reflection in water.

Venice II (2007 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Venice IV (2007 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Venice II is almost a complete reflection, with only the mere hint of the end of a gondola representing the real world above water; while Venice IV focuses a bit more on the lavish paintwork which adorns so many gondolas and the kind of narrow canal “street” which is so characteristic of the city.

There’s one more Venice 2007 painting to share with you, and then it’s surely time to paint something new…? See you next time.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jan 9

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Natale Italiano | Venice – Photography Focus: Ripples

I’ve always loved the effect of water. The way the light shines through it, and on it; the way still water reflects perfectly like a mirror, and conversely the way moving water distorts an image into its own abstract reimagining. My love for the effect of water has always translated into both my art (see my post tomorrow) and my photography so much so that I’ll always remember my friend, Mackenna, lovingly taunting me every time we crossed one of the breathtaking bridges in Paris where upon, almost as automatically as one takes a pause to consider the beauty of the Seine, I would snatch out my camera and start snapping away at the effect of the illuminated bridges reflecting in the water below.

It will come as little surprise then that for me, Venice is like some kind of quasi-orgasmic over-abundant celebration of rippled reflection; a city so spectacular that they managed to build it twice – once in reality, and once in reflection. A city whose very soul is the water which laps around its foundations and without which it would be a city stripped of half the beauty that it manifests to such worldwide renown.

When you get Venice on a sunny day, those delicate terracottas, pungent oranges and sunny yellows of its buildings reflect to startling effect in its waters against the blue sky beyond. When we were in Venice however, mist largely predominated. This means that my photographic homage to the watery wonders of the city is a more sedate, more muted affair. Nonetheless, there can be no doubting the very transient beauty which nevertheless resides in those photos of ripples and movement through Venice’s canals.

But this post is not just about the ripples. Here too I bring you some of my favourite shots of Venice’s most quaint canals; the characteristic stripy wooden poles which emerge out of the water like a candy-cane forest; and of course the gondolas whose presence is as much an integral element of Venice’s waters as the ravens are to the Tower of London.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 8

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Natale Italiano | Venice – Day 2: All that glitters is Venetian gold

A London tourist knows when he is abroad when he awakes, not to the ear-splitting wail of a police siren, but to the tolling bells ringing out from old renaissance bell towers, their calming peal harmonious to the ears, especially when, in Venice, there is no nearby traffic to otherwise preclude the passage of that early-morning melody. And perhaps it is also because we are so used to the animated streets of London that the comparative silence of Venice’s tranquil canals struck such a chord on this misty bright first morning, when the only sounds were the gentle lapping of waters when a lonely gondola passed by.

Now that’s a view to wake up to…

That we should rise, with some degree of Casanovian elegance, in our sumptuous hotel room lined with fabric wall coverings of golden thread, under a bed spread which reflected this glory with its own ample gold thread-count kick-started what was to become something of a theme to the day, if not to the whole Venice trip: Glorious and Golden. For all its decay, the neglected paint work, the stagnant waters, and the dirt-ridden façade of the Piazza San Marco’s colonnaded palazzos, Venice is, at its heart, a city of insuperable decadence, glamour and sophistication. And just in case the point could not be made obvious from the lavish boutiques, the jewel-covered masks and the elaborate architecture, one building more than any other shouts out glamour more than any other: from its richly coloured marble façade right up to its astonishing golden cupolas. The Basilica San Marco. And it was to this beating heart of Venice’s identity that we headed first, as we set out on a new day ambling amongst the jewels of the Queen of the Adriatic.

The Basilica’s marble-clad exterior

Ever since its first construction in the 9th century to commemorate the arrival in Venice of the (allegedly) stolen remains of St Mark, this magnificent cathedral, prime example of the Byzantine style of architecture, has been at the heart of the city. Adorned with 8000m squared of golden mosaics, and jewels and treasures aplenty collected from across the world in the aftermath of Venice’s many historical conquests, the Basilica is not just a symbol of religious devotion, but also historical prowess. Above all things, it is a temple of the utmost opulence. When visitors first enter, you can literally hear the little eruptions of “wow” escaping from tourists’ mouths as their astonishment is articulated at a first glimpse of this heavenly space.

For me, with its expanse of paradisal golden cupolas glimmering and sparkling across every curve and corner of the cathedral’s vast ceiling, Saint Mark’s is without a doubt the most stunning church in all the world. And while photo taking was banned, Dominik and I naturally ignored this, surreptitiously taking photos, largely from cameras wrapped up in our scarves (before we became a bit more brazen in our approach). So while gazing at the incredible majesty of the Basilica as represented in these photos, don’t forget the extra effort we had to go to in order to bring them to you!

…but the real treasure is inside

Having become almost tongue-twisted with awe in the Basilica, we spent the rest of the morning largely ambling around Venice’s superfluity of canals and side streets, shop-lined passages and piazzas – for what greater joy is there than to get lost in Venice. And while it would be difficult to beat the splendour of St Mark’s, even in that pursuit we could not help but be wowed by the opulence which scatters its luxurious bounty all over the city: Gondolas with their highly ornamented damask seating fringed with golden unicorns and lions glided elegantly down canals and under bridges; in the shops, windows came alive with glinting gold masks and sparkling glass Christmas trees; and lining canals and cobbled streets, Venice’s palazzos and houses, while often tired and ageing, retain the unique grace and characteristic elegance which has made them famous throughout the world.

All that glitters is Venetian gold…