Venice - Italy - page 322

15th-century Venice. Your tour of the Accademia ends in the Sala dell'Albergo.
Titian's Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple is the masterpiece beneath the
gilded ceiling.
To get the most out of the gallery, join one of the guided tours (Tues-Sun
11am-noon; € 3 per person, € 4 for 2, € 1 children 6-14).
For a time-capsule peek into the lavish home environments of 18th-century
Venetian nobility, visit Ca' Rezzonico (Fondamenta Rezzonico, Dorsoduro 3136;
% 041-2410100; € 6.50, € 4.50 reduced; Apr-Oct Wed-Mon 10am-6pm; Nov-Mar
10am-5pm), a gorgeous palazzo that now serves as the Museo del Settecento
Veneziano (Museum of 18th-Century Venice). Ca' Rezzonica was designed by
Baldassare Longhena, who cut his architectural teeth on La Salute church (below).
In later years it was home to the poet Robert Browning, who lived here until his
death in 1889. The museum gives visitors some idea of the material and artistic
beauty that Venetian aristocrats lavished upon themselves. The baroque ballroom
certainly conjures up images of all-night debauchery under a magnificent frescoed
ceiling by the artist Crosato; there are more ceiling frescoes by Tiepolo in the
salons. While much of the furniture and decorative rococo detail may leave you
cold (there's so much extraordinary beauty in Venice), there is an important selec-
tion of work in the upstairs portrait galleries. Amid the Tiepolos, Longhis, and
Tintorettos are amusing renderings of daily life that provide insight into the very
different worldviews of noble and working-class Venetians.
Toward the tip of Dorsoduro, where the Grand Canal flows into the lagoon,
directly across the waters from Piazza San Marco, there seems almost always to
be a group of tourists relaxing on the steps of the imposing Santa Maria della
Salute (Campo della Salute, Dorsoduro; % 041-2743928; www.marcianum.it;

daily 9am-noon and 3:30-6pm). La Salute, as it's known, has its own vaporetto
launch. The campo that stretches between its steps and the waters of the Grand
Canal provides a sense of open space that is lacking in most places this close to
Piazza San Marco. The 17th-century church—built on an octagonal plan in the
baroque style—commemorates the city's deliverance from the plague, and honors
La Salute, the Virgin Mary of Good Health.
ACROSS THE GIUDECCA CANAL
From Dorsoduro's breezy Fondamenta Zattere, you look across the lagoon to the
long island of Giudecca; few tourists ever venture here, which means that it has
become a popular real-estate buy for non-affluent Venetians. But low rates prob-
ably won't last; when I was last in town, Madonna was looking to purchase there,
and Elton John owned the “small” yellow house right next door to Palladio's
La Zitelle Church.
Giudecca has often been associated with isolation and banishment; it's where
problematic citizens have been sent to cool off, where the sick have been quaran-
tined to prevent the spread of plague, and where Michelangelo spent time in
exile from Florence. Despite a somewhat run-down appearance (many of its
factories have long stood abandoned), its north-facing promenade offers superb
views back toward Venice, and its ghostly quiet neighborhoods make for sublime
exploration—largely because they're devoid of other tourists.

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