THE BRIDGE OF VENICE: RIALTO AND KANDINSKIJ

This is the second post of our new projects (cf. here) after the first one published in April about Frank Lloyd Wright and the Masieri Memorial. We are not moving far from the previous one since we will talk about a well-known, worldwide famous, bridge: Rialto Bridge.

kandinsky venice

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Personality: Vasilij Vasil’evič Kandinskij.

Place: Rialto Bridge (i.e. Ponte di Rialto).

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May, more than any other month of the year, wants us to feel most alive” once said Fennel Hudson.

It has always been like that. After winter, the warm sun of May heats our hearts and spirits.

The nature reveals its beauty: colourful flowers, delicious fruits and nice wild animals start to appear everywhere.

People no longer meet inside pubs or restaurants, for the nice weather inspires long walks and nice outdoor activities.

For this month of happiness, we would like to tell you the story of a great painter and his prophetic view of a joyful place in Venice: Ponte di Rialto.

rialto area

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Rialto and the nearby area

We have already described Rialto and the nearby area here.

What we have described, however, is far from what Rialto is today.

Even if Venice is slowly coming back to life, Rialto is still quite desert and far from the joyful crowds populating it only few months ago.

Rialto is probably the place, which has changed more after the outbreak of the sanitary emergency.

In fact, here crowds were quite normal.

In the morning people gathered for the market, during the day tourists were everywhere looking at the outstanding beauty of the bridge and, finally, during the night youngsters met for a spritz, some music and nice talks.

RIalto Market

What remains? An outstanding, lonely and somehow melancholic beauty of an almost desert area.

A poem, which became famous thanks to a FCA spot used to say:

 

Life is a collection

  of places and people

  who write

  our time.

 

So true.

Rialto is made for people and people are made for Rialto. Rialto can write amazing stories on the diary of your life, but only and thanks to people.

At the end of the day, Rialto is made for crowds.

rialto

 

It is just natural to meet there, at the very centre of Venice, where the bridge unifies the two sides and markets were built.

At this point, you would probably be curious to know why we chose Kandinskij.

Have you ever seen the 1904 painting titled Erinnerung an Venedig 4. Ponte Rialto [Venezia. Ponte Rialto]?

Well, if you have not, this is your chance.

Everyone knows the greatness of this painter and we are not stressing it again on this post.

What we would like to share with you is our feeling that his painting about Rialto perfectly matches the current condition of the bridge.

After his staying in Venice, Kandinskij painted several canvas portraying some known views of this island. Among them, Erinnerung an Venedig 4 [Rialto Bridge] fully reflects its affection for the blue colour for giving to the paint a sensation of absolute calm. Very few people are portrayed in this painting, almost nobody appears at the bridge. But what we like most of this canvas is its special frame: Kandinskij left the usual perspective of Rialto Bridge seen from the banks for bringing the vision at the level of those who are approaching the bridge by boat. Is this “slow approaching” perhaps the best way to come back and enjoy Venice again?

It is amazing to see how he could paint such a masterpiece under normal conditions.Rialto Market

Since we hope that life will soon fill Rialto again, we wanted to catch the opportunity to share with you this unknown side of Rialto, so unexpected as it is surprising.