thanks Patterson. You are right about the crowds hiding it all...it is such a shame that our wonderful placed are being loved to death. Parque Guell in Barcelona was so lovely in the 1980s and when I went back I was appalled by the crowds.
Of aaall the city squares I’ve been to studying architecture and urban planning in Italy… this is the one space where I really slowed down, had some gelato, and just took it in… scaffolding on the basilica and all…
I didn’t draw, at all - no sketches, no notes… I was oddly at peace in the ‘hustle and bustle’, once I got a seat.
Drawing also puts me at peace. I guess I’m taking notes now. :D
Really interesting post, Jan. The paving is invisible most of the time, thanks to tourist crowds. I wonder if the elaborate mosaic flooring inside the basilica bears any relationship to the paving outside. I doubt it but the geometric shapes inside are so rich and varied that the question seems worth asking.
thanks Patterson. You are right about the crowds hiding it all...it is such a shame that our wonderful placed are being loved to death. Parque Guell in Barcelona was so lovely in the 1980s and when I went back I was appalled by the crowds.
Of aaall the city squares I’ve been to studying architecture and urban planning in Italy… this is the one space where I really slowed down, had some gelato, and just took it in… scaffolding on the basilica and all…
I didn’t draw, at all - no sketches, no notes… I was oddly at peace in the ‘hustle and bustle’, once I got a seat.
Drawing also puts me at peace. I guess I’m taking notes now. :D
So interesting. The Venetian painters Canneletto and Guardi visually expressed their city from a forced perspective, perhaps borrowed from Japanese painting. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/30/style/IHT-a-rare-look-at-venetian-view-painters.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Really interesting post, Jan. The paving is invisible most of the time, thanks to tourist crowds. I wonder if the elaborate mosaic flooring inside the basilica bears any relationship to the paving outside. I doubt it but the geometric shapes inside are so rich and varied that the question seems worth asking.