We had a lovely getaway day from Venice yesterday. We drove to Vicenza to have lunch, then see the Teatro Olimpico and the Basilica from Palladio. Then a surprising good meal with a view of the Basilica in Vicenzo, then off to some villas. The first villa, Rotunda, we just glanced at from the gate. Apparently the frescoes aren't much. The second was the real point of the day, the Villa Valmarana, which is filled with wonderful Tiepolo frescoes. Inside the main house, frescoes by Giambattista the father, done in high style with gods and classical themes. I was most impressed by the wonderful way he painted a silver reflective helmet on a soldier. Close up you could tell it was an ingenious mash of greens and reds and blues. From a middle distance you thought it was silver.
That Villa is known as Il Nanni, because it has sculptures of dwarves on the wall leading up to it. The guesthouse has interior frescoes by Domenico Tiepolo, the son. He usually works in a more everyday style, with peasants and scenes of quotidian life. In one room he has some fantastic landcapes of China and includes a wonderful small painting over the door of a stork with a snake in its mouth. (Of course they didn't have a card for that one!)Then we drove to Ravenna. On the way we stopped at a gas station for a Coke and saw two police officers transporting a prisoner. They had stopped for a beer and a sandwich, all three of them drinking and chatting like old friends. Only in Italy would police officers drink in uniform, drink with a prisoner, and drink before getting back on the road!
The mosaics in Ravenna have been incredible. You'll see from the pictures that they are ornate and expressive, in incredible detail. The town, however, is not much. There's not much graciousness to the spaces and it feels a bit dark and deserted at night and featureless during the day. We're only here for one day, however. I'd recommend just a day trip to see the mosaics. More when I get to a place where I can attach pictures.
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