Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, 2025

San Giorgio Maggiore lies just beyond the mouth of the Grand Canal. We reach it by vaporetto.

The island has a famous Palladio church, two art galleries and a monastery which now houses the Cini Foundation.

Bill and I have disembarked at the vaporetto stop on San Giorgio and are looking back at St Mark's Square.

Inside San Giorgio Maggiore: a Palladian Renaissance church that dwarfs the visitor.

Le Stanze della Fotografia (Photography Rooms) had a show of Mapplethorpe's most respectable pictures (no gay S&M). I had never seen this 1975 portrait of Patti Smith.

We walked to Le Stanze del Vetro (Glass Rooms) nearby. Bushes were in full spring blossom.

They had a wonderful collection of Art Deco Murano glass

originally exhibited at the Venice Biennials from 1932-1942.

The island is remarkably serene. A nice break from the chaos of St Mark's Square.

We made a second visit to the island for a tour of the Cini Foundation, located in an AD 982 monastery with a Palladio refectory and cloister.

What drew us to the Cini was a copy of Veronese's famous Wedding Feast at Cana (1563). Napoleon stole the original which is now in the Louvre.

The copy stands in its original position in the Palladio refectory. Imagine taking your meals under it day after day.

This detail features a self-portrait of Veronese in white, Tintoretto in blue and Titian in red.

The tour took us through three lovely cloisters. 

The second was designed by Palladio in 1615.

It displays an intimacy and warmth missing in his churches.

Book ahead for the tour. It sells out quickly.

Thomas Schütte at the Dogana, Venice

Bill and I love to discover new artists. We were pleased to discover François Pinault's collection of works by Thomas Schütte at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.

A monumental statue of Mother Earth confronts visitors at the entrance to the gallery. Pretty stern lady.

Man in the Wind, 2018. Schütte had trouble getting his maquette to stand up. He covered the feet and then liked the "stuck in the mud" look of the result. Nice accident.

An Old Testament look to this figure.

One of four Fratelli (Brothers) from 2012. It does have a 19th century Italian look.

A strange, monumental head, with a rope around its neck. He doesn't look pleased.

His heads don't look like anyone else's work.

Pinault has also been collecting works on paper.

Again, they don't look like anyone else's work.

Schütte commissioned the master glass makers of Murano to produce a series of portrait heads.

One of three figures with the title Three Truly Great Minds. They look to me like they were made from hand-rolled "snakes" of plasticine.

One of Schütte's experiments with minimalism. Definitely a tad creepy, no?

A traditional looking figure but lacking a face.He reminded Bill of a pétanque player.

The face of the artist, from a gallery documentary.

A gorgeous monumental ceramic head: Großer Frauenkopf (Large Woman's Head), 2021. Again the portrait reminds us a bit of 19th century art.

We took a traghetto to St Mark's Square. It was scary to be on a small craft in the wide mouth of the lagoon. 

We looked back at the Punta della Dogana. What a stunning location for a private gallery!

Peggy Guggenheim Collection, 2025

A short distance east of the Accademia on the Grand Canal we find Peggy Guggenheim's famous private art collection.

On our walk to the collection Bill and I found this fun portrait of the collector. We have also found portraits of women with the Superman logo in Rome and Naples.

We enter through the conservation laboratory. Robert Delaunay's Windows Open, 1912, is being restored.

Cabinet of pigments in the Restoration Lab.

Among the sculptures in the garden, Max Ernst's Young Woman in the Form of a Flower, 1944, stood out.

Every time we visit I stand in front of Picasso's Man in a Striped Jersey, 1939. That palate of greys is so satisfying.

Wes Anderson said recently that the design of his Grand Budapest Hotel is directly inspired by this Joseph Cornell assemblage: Setting for a Fairy Tale, 1942.

Calder made this Silver Bedhead for Peggy in 1943.

He made these earrings for her in 1938.

Joan Mitchell painted this in 1962.

Kandinsky's Upward, 1929, with tourists.

The artist Julius Bissier was new to us. We liked his watercolours, 1959-1962, 

Here's a closer look at his watercolour 16 July 1960-G.

The Guggenheim fronts onto the Grand Canal. Here is the name on the side of the building.

Visitors arriving by boat are greeted by Marino Marini's Angel of the City. The metal penis is removable.

View of the Grand Canal from the Guggenheim.

We exit through the garden. Bill was fascinated by the sight of the nearby palaces and domes.

Accademia Museum, Venice 2025

The Accademia Museum on the Grand Canal in Venice is one of the best art museums in the world.

It has its own vaporetto stop.

Bill and I were delighted by Paolo Veneziano's Baptism of Christ (Santa Chiara Polyptych), 1340.

When I saw this Jacobello del Fiore I thought of Oscar Wilde: "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."

I was surprised by the modernity of this smokey Madonna by Lorenzo Veneziano (from a 14th century Annunciation)  

The museum has at least two dozen paintings of the Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini. This 1487 canvas is my current favourite.

There is something mysterious and alluring in Carpaccio's Dream of St Ursula, late 15th century.

Titain painted this Pieta in 1576 to hang over his tomb. It is his last painting.

Across the room Bill took this detail of the angel Gabriel from a 1587 Veronese Annunciation.

On the other half of the painting we find the Virgin.

The full canvas here.

Nearby is Veronese's Feast in the House of Levi, 1573. 

The woman who was seated on the right has risen to look at the dog in the centre of the canvas.

The dog is looking at a cat under the dinner table.

The Accademia's rooms flow nicely from one to another.

Wonders abound -- walk through a door, turn around and find Titian's Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, 1538.

Durer sketched this Venetian local in a visit to the city in 1508. It was included in a temporary exhibition called Corpi Moderni (Modern Bodies),