Ciao, Carpaccio!: An Infatuation
by Jan Morris
The Annunciation of the Virgin at Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro
This is pretty much a "perfect book." A jewel. A book to be treasured! Charming, witty, and enlightening, it is a must-read for anyone who loves Venice, Carpaccio paintings or well, I think pretty much anyone in the world would fall in love with this small gem of a book. In fact, I am not sure I’ve read too many books by Jan Morris-- but I have to say, I am now very much committed to reading as many as I can! Carpaccio is one of my favorite painters, John Ruskin was also quite fond of him --though he would declare not one but two Carpaccio paintings to be "the most beautiful picture in the world."
Like Morris, while I don't think he is one of the greatest of the sublime artists of the Renaissance--not one of the "greats" perhaps (Gombrich didn't even include Carpaccio n his famous Story of Art!) Still as Morris rightly says, his paintings are unforgettable. They are gentle, with those glorious Venetian colors, and the bestiary of enchanted animals... Bellini pups! And those pheasants and rabbits; lions and deer... While Ruskin put the Ursula painting as "most beautiful" he later changed his mind and famous declared the Two Venetian Ladies in the Correr to be the finest picture in the world... I myself would probably agree, as for me, the upper part of that picture (in the Getty) of Hunting on the Lagoon, is a painting very, very dear to my heart. Morris, for her part loves St Augustine in his study (still in situ). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Aug...
Her musings about this picture are just delightful.
The book begins and ends with her personal impressions of Carpaccio's paintings. Oh, if only I could write so beautifully about art.
And yes, I must read Calasso's Tiepolo Pink! (With its titled plucked from Proust).
And oh, that little white dog!
As Jim C says below: What she says of Carpaccio, I would say of her own work – that she is an artist of "that simple, universal and omnipotent virtue, the quality of Kindness."
Don't miss this one!
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