This article appeared
in Volume 17: No. 4 of the Orient
Express magazine.
Venetian Heritage
HRH Princess Michael of Kent, a life-long devotee of Venice, introduces
work underway to preserve the city itself and other countries once
part of its domain.
Many years ago, while on our honeymoon in India and Iran, my husband
mentioned that he had never visited Venice. “How could I marry
a man who has not been to Venice,” I cried. As soon as we were
back in England we changed luggage and set off to make amends for
this cultural omission. We arrived on a cold, clear November day;
the sun was shining, the wind-chill factor formidable. My husband
stared, then whispered in disbelief: “Why, it looks just like
the Canalettos.”
I first visited Venice as a 20 year old, while spending the holidays
with some cousins in Trieste. One summer evening, we sailed the short
distance to St Mark’s Basin for the Feast of the Redentore,
the annual festival held in July to celebrate the city’s deliverance
from the plague. On that evening most Venetians take to their boats,
loaded down with picnic hampers. Coloured paper lanterns are strung
from bow to stern and the boats packed so tightly on the water that
they form bridges for the revellers.
We moored in a tiny dock on the little island where Palladio’s
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore looks out across the water towards
the Doge’s Palace. As darkness fell, the wide Giudecca Canal
became a sea of bobbing, coloured lights—until the fireworks
illuminated the entire city. It was the start of my life-long love
affair with Venice.
Initially, the plague affected Venice far less than many other parts
of Europe. Rats carrying the disease ran ashore from trading ships
but, finding themselves on an island, could not escape the city’s
many cats. During the late-16th century, when the Catholic Counter-Reformation
was in full flow, the Venetian government briefly acquiesced to the
demands of the Jesuits—who declared cats to be tools of the
Devil—and ordered them to be destroyed. As a result, the rats
prospered and plague decimated the population. The people prayed,
made penance and tried everything to rid Venice of rats, but found
themselves rapidly overtaken by the disease.
Finally, in desperation, ships were sent to the Far East to bring
back cargoes of cats—and the city was saved. Still today, along
Venice’s narrow lanes, you can see small offerings of left-over
pasta, nestling in paper or tinfoil. It is the Venetians’ gesture
of eternal gratitude to the city’s felines.
Venice soon became an annual destination for us and it was not long
before we became involved in work to help the city. Last year, we
joined a new charity, Venetian Heritage, whose remit includes the
restoration and preservation of Venetian art wherever it may be—not
only in Venice itself, but also in the Adriatic, Aegean and Black
Sea countries which were once part of the Venetian domain. At present,
there are four major restoration projects underway: to preserve the
Orsini chapel in the Cathedral in Trogir, in Croatia; the two 16th-century
wooden altars in the Basilica of Torcello; the portal of Venice’s
Church of San Elena; and the Foscarini monument in the Church of
the Carmini. In the near future, Venetian Heritage hopes to begin
work on the façade of the Church of San Zaccaria in partnership
with the Dutch Committee for Venice. The other great project about
to commence is the restoration of the beautiful façade of
the Church of the Gesuiti, the only baroque church in Venice.
A number of Venetian Heritage events have been held recently to
raise money for this work, including a three-day séjour when
a group visited major collections of Venetian art in London. Her
Majesty The Queen graciously permitted a private visit to view the
paintings in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, as well as the
remarkable collection of old-master drawings and Windsor Castle’s
library. There were private visits to see the Canalettos at Woburn
Abbey, and to Syon House.
Venetian Heritage’s next four-day séjour will take
place in Venice, overlapping “Biennale weekend” on June
8-11, 2001. There will be concerts in glorious settings, lectures
by prominent speakers and I shall deliver an illustrated talk entitled
Venice and the Grand Tour. As well as visiting several private great
houses and gardens, the séjour will culminate in a formal
gala ball. I hope to see you there. |
