Ospedaletto - Venice, Italy (2024)

01/03/2020

Tour of Madison Square Park
NYC
Eternal Light
At some point in the not-so-distant past, the idea came to make monuments mechanical. One problem: The disaster/momentous event/defining moment/tragedy of this generation is the forgotten story of the next. Further, today’s technology is tomorrow’s obsolescent curiosity. This monument was erected in 1918 and was lit for the first time on Nov. 11, 1923, Armistice Day. No one is exactly sure when the light went out — sometime in the 1950s. It was turned on again in 2002 because of the efforts of the Sentry lighting and Con Edison. Monuments aren’t always so lucky.

The Eternal Light Memorial Flagpole was designed by architect Thomas Hastings.

28/02/2020

Tour of Madison Square Park
NYC

Eternal Light
The Eternal Light Memorial Flagpole honors the military heroes of WWI. Located on the Broadway/Fifth Avenue side of the monument is a cautionary tale. Monuments used to be made of marble or bronze. Each was thought to be a long lasting material that needed little maintenance. This was more or less correct. Marble is actually a soft, porous stone and easy to carve, which is why it does not do well in a harsh climate — as opposed to granite, which does do well but is hard or impossible to carve. Bronze fares better but must be maintained every 25 or so years. In Europe, one has no trouble finding complete monuments made of bronze that are four or five hundred years old, and look as if they are in new condition.
The Eternal Light Memorial Flagpole was designed by architect Thomas Hastings.

27/02/2020

Tour of Madison Square Park
NYC

The Senator Roscoe Conkling statue was first proposed for one of the four corners of Union Square Park reserved for ‘four great Americans.’ The parks commissioners rejected that idea, however, because Conkling wasn’t deemed important enough — so the statue was placed in the newer Madison Square Park. Conklin’s statue does reflect his physique with its strong stance. Conkling was reputed to have had the ‘finest torso’ in public life.

The 1893 sculpture is by James Quincy Adams Ward.

26/02/2020

Tour of Madison Square Park
NYC

Senator Roscoe Conkling
Senator Roscoe Conkling (b. 1828 Albany, NY – d. NYC 1888) guards the southeast entrance to the park. He looks into the park. He is facing in the direction he was headed in his final walk home. He was an important man.

The 1893 sculpture is by James Quincy Adams Ward. The statue was cast by the Henry & Bonnard Bronze Company and paid for by his friends.

25/02/2020

Tour of Madison Square Park
NYC
Center Fountain
The fountain serves as a focal point in a park that was once the center of New York. In 1871, the P.T. Barnum circus started on the northwest corner. The arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty were placed in Madison Square Park for six years beginning in 1876, to raise funds for the statue and construction of the base.
In the early 1960s, the park fell into a state best described as a drug addict’s delight. But in the 1990s, Met Life, New York Life and Union Square Hospitality Group donated money and helped get the park restored. Now, it again is a worthy destination.

25/02/2020

Tour of Madison Square Park
NYC

Center Fountain
The fountain serves as a focal point in a park that was once the center of New York. In 1871, the P.T. Barnum circus started on the northwest corner. The arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty were placed in Madison Square Park for six years beginning in 1876, to raise funds for the statue and construction of the base.

In the early 1960s, the park fell into a state best described as a drug addict’s delight. But in the 1990s, Met Life, New York Life and Union Square Hospitality Group donated money and helped get the park restored. Now, it again is a worthy destination.

24/02/2020

Madison Square Park
NYC

Governor William H. Seward sits at the southern end of the park, which serves as the main entrance. This was the first statue erected in the park and it was sculpted by Randolph Rogers.

The Governor played a pivotal role in the Civil War...not sure it is interesting to many today.

Until about the year 2000 the park was a 'no fly zone' filled with drug dealers and such. Now it is a millenial's dream...although rumor has it drugs can stil be had.

23/02/2020

Madison Square Park
NYC
Governor William H. Seward Monument

This statue of Governor William H. Seward was the first statue erected in Madison Square Park in 1876. (The park occupies 6.2 acres between 23rd and 26th streets and Fifth and Madison Avenues.) It was paid for by public subscription and was sculpted by Randolph Rogers. The foundry mark is: Gegossen durch Ferd. V. Miller O. Sobne / Muchenn 1876. The governor is known for 'not much.'

22/02/2020

Madison Square Park
New York City

Major General William Jenkins Worth Monument

During the Mexican War, Worth led United States troops ashore at Veracruz in 1847, and later captured Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. He personally cut down and waved the Mexican flag from the National Palace. Mexico lost approximately half its territory to the United States as a result of this war. Because of his victories, Worth was put in charge of the Department of Texas and headquartered in San Antonio. There he contacted cholera and died. This monument was constructed only eight years after his death. Worth was given a bejeweled sword by Congress after the Mexican War and he was given an honorary sword by the State of New York.

James Goodwin Batterson was the architect of the monument, which was dedicated in 1857.

21/02/2020

Madison Square Park
New York City

Major General William Jenkins Worth

Major General William Jenkins Worth (b. 1794 Hudson, NY – d. San Antonio, Texas 1849) was the United States’ Mexican War hero. He had the city of Fort Worth, Texas named after him, although he never visited it. The Renaissance-style obelisk honors Worth. He is buried inside. His remains were transferred here from Green-Wood Cemetery in 1857.

Worth entered the Army during the War of 1812. Later, he was commissioned an officer when he made important connections by serving as aide de camp to generals Morgan Lewis and Winfield Scott. In 1820, he served as an instructor at West Point. During the 1830s, Worth served under Scott in the Illinois campaign against the Black Hawk Indians and participated in the removal of Cherokee Indians from the southeastern United States. By 1842, he had helped end the Seminole War in Florida and become a Major General.

James Goodwin Batterson was the architect of the monument, which was dedicated in 1857.
The monument fell into disrepair like NYC itself until it was restored in the 1990s.

21/02/2020

Madison Square Park
New York City
Major General William Jenkins Worth Monument

Major General William Jenkins Worth (b. 1794 Hudson, NY – d. San Antonio, Texas 1849) was the United States’ Mexican War hero. He had the city of Fort Worth, Texas named after him, although he never visited it. The Renaissance-style obelisk honors Worth. He is buried inside. His remains were transferred here from Green-Wood Cemetery in 1857.
Worth entered the Army during the War of 1812. Later, he was commissioned an officer when he made important connections by serving as aide de camp to generals Morgan Lewis and Winfield Scott. In 1820, he served as an instructor at West Point. During the 1830s, Worth served under Scott in the Illinois campaign against the Black Hawk Indians and participated in the removal of Cherokee Indians from the southeastern United States. By 1842, he had helped end the Seminole War in Florida and become a Major General.
James Goodwin Batterson was the architect of the monument, which was dedicated in 1857.
The monument fell into disrepair like NYC itself until it was restored in the 1990s.

21/02/2020

Madison Square Park
New York City (where the money is now days)

Major General William Jenkins Worth Monument
Monuments, like this one to Major General William Jenkins Worth (seen vaguely) on the left), get lost in New York City. Even the placement of the monument can be a determining factor in remembrance as is the case here. Major General William Jenkins Worth, a hero in his day, lies buried on this small traffic island under the shadow of the far more prominent Empire State Building in the distance. (located between Fifth and Broadway, South of E 23rd Street.)

20/02/2020

Madison Square Park
New York City (where the money is now days)
Flatiron Building

More famous than Madison Square Park is the Flatiron building on the south side of E. 23rd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The iron shaped, triangular building rises 285 feet above the city. It was built by Daniel Burnham of the architectural firm Burnham & Root, in 1902, for a real estate partnership led by Chicago’s George Fuller Construction Company. Then, the building was not particularly decorative. Facing Madison Square Park, it was in the heart of a fashionable residential district.

The building was most famous for the wind that blew around it. It was said that women’s skirts would blow up and over their heads on windy days. Crowds of young men stood around the building, waiting for the show. The term ‘23 Skidoo’ arose from the police practice of shooing the men away.

The terra-cotta façade was manufactured by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company of Atlanta, Georgia.

20/02/2020

Madison Square Park
New York City (where the money is now days)

Madison Square Park and the surrounding area is steeped in social, commercial and political history. It is located on 6.2 acres between 23rd and 26th streets and Fifth and Madison avenues,

23/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Chapel of the Madonna dei Mascoli (2)

Some of the windows in the basilica have been covered to allow for more ceiling or wall decoration. This is an example of a chapel with its own source of light that illuminates the altar beautifully.

The chapel was built at the direction of Doge Francesco Foscari in 1430, to show his gratitude because he survived an attempted assassination. The altar figures are of the Madonna and Child, St. Mark, and St. John the Evangelist. The Gospel of John in the Bible tells how Jesus, dying on the cross, entrusted his mother, the Virgin Mary, to John the Evangelist to watch over her. Images of St Mark and the Virgin are ubiquitous around Venice. The Virgin Mary is associated with images of Venice as a maiden, and also with the virgin goddess of Justice. With St. Mark as the city's protector, this grouping makes a cycle of nurturing divine figures worthy of Doge Foscari's sentiments. The sculptures are of fine quality, and have been attributed to Bartolomeo Bon.

22/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Final View

St. Marks and the square surrounding it aren't always bustling with tourists. In the morning it is quiet there and St. Marks stands as it always has as a testament to man's faith in God.

Would folk prefer the next to to be of Venice, Rome, Spain or New York City? You vote counts....

21/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Last Mosaics

The upper mosaic shows 'Adoration of the Eucharist'. The Eucharist is the Holy Communion that symbolizes the mystical relationship between man and Christ. And this is our final photo of San Marco.

20/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy

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Paradise

The large 'Arch of Paradise'. This last narrative in the basilica is situated just inside an enormous round window on the second level above the entrance door. Here we see the apostles being gently ushered into heaven by a crowd of angels.

The designs were by the painter nicknamed L'Aliense (Antonio Vassilacchi), who worked around the turn of the 17th Century in a classical late Mannerist style. Though not a terribly distinguished artist, he was a lucky one with this project because his designs are in one of the brightest locations in the church.

19/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Apocalypse

On the left is a partial view of the last narrative cycle in the Basilica of San Marco: the 'Arch of the Apocalypse'. The last book of the New Testament, called the Revelations, tells of the ultimate struggle between good and evil, the Last Judgment, and the passage into Paradise.

St. John the Evangelist on the left is standing among the guardian angels of the Seven Churches of the Orient, another nod to the Eastern Empire of Byzantium.

Palma Il Giovane designed these mosaics, and the Zuccato brothers laid them.

The two saints in the archway are Saints Theodore and George. They were venerated throughout Byzantium. When the historian John Julius Norwich commented that Venice 'was born and brought up Greek,' he was certainly referring to the strong influence of the East that pervades the art of Venice. Yet there is nothing like this basilica in Byzantium.

The cupola to the right is the Kingdom of Heaven, with Christ in the center and a glory of angels surrounding him.

18/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Typical Byzantine Bas-Relief

Throughout the church, bas-reliefs from the earlier churches were used as decorative elements, and remind the visitor of its venerable, and ancient, past. This quintessential Byzantine virgin, undoubtedly one of the works saved from the earlier structures. Smiling, static, and columnar, the Byzantine sculptural style here is inspired by more ancient, maybe pre-Christian, images of females.

17/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Mosaics, Miracles of Christ

In the arches down the right aisle, there are more mosaics of the parables and miracles of Christ. Above, Christ is healing a blind man. Below, a man named Zaccheus climbed a tree to hear Christ preach. Zaccheus was chief of the Publicans, a despised class of tax collectors and extortionists. Zaccheus renounced much of his fortune to follow Christ.

Note the small windows at the very top of the arch on the left. There were even more windows in the church than there are now. The Venetians had a predilection for extensive mosaics, and many more windows were bricked up in order to add more.

The effect is like gold leaf on the arches, with the way the light hits the mosaic tiles; that, of course, is the intended effect.

17/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Mosaics above Altar of the Sacrament

Above the 'St. Leonard/Sacrament Altar' is a corner with still more splendid mosaics

15/01/2020

San Marco - Venice, Italy
Altar of the Sacrament

The 'Altar of the Sacrament' used to be dedicated to St Leonard. In 1617, a relic of the true cross was placed inside this tabernacle on the rich altar made from rare types of marble.

On the darkened wall to the left, there is a panel decorated with a colored marble mosaic panel. Incredible as it seems, the story goes that Mark's body was misplaced during a remodeling of the church. The body was discovered here, bricked up inside a pillar, in 1094. The scene is depicted in mosaics elsewhere in the church; it was an occasion for great celebration, and was considered a miracle.

14/01/2020

San Marco - Venice Italy
Altar of San Giacomo

The small stone 'Altar of St James' —Giacomo in Italian--stands between two chapels on the right side of the main altar. Doge Cristoforo Moro commissioned the altar during his reign, which was 1462-71. The whole carved ensemble is a classic work from the Venetian Renaissance.

09/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy

Chapel of St. Clement (2)

The altar is composed of two marble bas-reliefs that were made at different times and put together. The bottom one Saints Andrew, James, and Nicolas adored by Doge Andrea Gritti. This one was made in the second quarter of the 16th Century. It was originally in the Doges' Palace. The top one is earlier, a Virgin and Child attributed to the sculptor Giorgio Lascaris. His last name is Greek. The bas-relief has a carved inscription dated from the reign of Doge Cristoforo Moro—1465.

There is a door connecting the basilica to the Ducal Palace that allowed the Doge to worship privately during the Mass. Remember, San Marco was built as the Doges' chapel. Venice's official cathedral way back then was San Pietro di Castello on the far eastern end of Venice.

08/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Chapel of St. Clement

On the left in the background is the Chapel of St. Clement. It is one of the oldest areas of the church, with some 9th Century elements. The chapel has an open portal like the rood screen of the main altar. In this case, it is called an architrave.

This architrave was decorated by Jacobello and Pier Paolo dalle Masegne in 1397. They also made the statues for the main rood screen.

07/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Chapel of St. Clement *

On the left in the background is the Chapel of St. Clement. It is one of the oldest areas of the church, with some 9th Century elements. The chapel has an open portal like the rood screen of the main altar. In this case, it is called an architrave.

This architrave was decorated by Jacobello and Pier Paolo dalle Masegne in 1397. They also made the statues for the main rood screen.

06/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Right Arm of Transept

There are two chapels on the right side of the main altar, and a small Renaissance altar between them.

05/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Right Arm Transept

There are two chapels on the right side of the main altar, and a small Renaissance altar between them

04/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
North View from Right Transept

Standing in the right arm of the transept, looking north.

03/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Nave View

Some of the windows in the basilica have been covered to allow for more ceiling or wall decoration.
The chapel was built at the direction of Doge Francesco Foscari in 1430, to show his gratitude because he survived an attempted assassination. The altar figures are of the Madonna and Child, St. Mark, and St. John the Evangelist. The Gospel of John in the Bible tells how Jesus, dying on the cross, entrusted his mother, the Virgin Mary, to John the Evangelist to watch over her. Images of St Mark and the Virgin are ubiquitous around Venice. The Virgin Mary is associated with images of Venice as a maiden, and also with the virgin goddess of Justice. With St. Mark as the city's protector, this grouping makes a cycle of nurturing divine figures worthy of Doge Foscari's sentiments. The sculptures are of fine quality, and have been attributed to Bartolomeo Bon.
The innovation of this building was engineering that allowed for brick vaulting, and thus more flat surfaces for the beautiful mosaic work.

Note the two ambos, or pulpits, on either side of the rood screen. The two-tiered pulpit on the left was used for reading from the Old and New Testaments. The hexagonal pulpit to the right was carved in similar porphyry and jasper, and each of the columns supporting it is a different colored rare marble. This pulpit was where each new Doge was presented to the public, and where the reliquaries were shown to the faithful on the holiest days of the year; Holy Thursday and the evening before Ascension Day.
Note the way the chancel is raised; first on the platform with the marble arches on the floor where one can look through the grating at the crypt below. Then, further back near the main altar, there is another set of stairs that raises the altar still higher. St. Mark's body used to be stored in the crypt below, but regular flooding of San Marco now prevents that.

02/01/2020

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy

Chapel of the Madonna dei Mascoli

Some of the windows in the basilica have been covered to allow for more ceiling or wall decoration. This is an example of a chapel with its own source of light that illuminates the altar beautifully.

The chapel was built at the direction of Doge Francesco Foscari in 1430, to show his gratitude because he survived an attempted assassination. The altar figures are of the Madonna and Child, St. Mark, and St. John the Evangelist. The Gospel of John in the Bible tells how Jesus, dying on the cross, entrusted his mother, the Virgin Mary, to John the Evangelist to watch over her. Images of St Mark and the Virgin are ubiquitous around Venice. The Virgin Mary is associated with images of Venice as a maiden, and also with the virgin goddess of Justice. With St. Mark as the city's protector, this grouping makes a cycle of nurturing divine figures worthy of Doge Foscari's sentiments. The sculptures are of fine quality, and have been attributed to Bartolomeo Bon.

01/01/2020

Happy New Year

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Chapel of the Madonna dei Mascoli

Mascoli means men, and these men were members of a religious confraternity that was active at San Marco since the 12th Century.

The altar is Venetian Gothic. The rear wall and the barrel vault are covered with mosaics depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin. The mosaics date from 1430-50, some of the earliest examples of Renaissance art in Venice.

31/12/2019

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy

Upper Bays

The upper part of the church used to have areas reserved as women's galleries. The wooden flooring on these upper levels often caught fire.

30/12/2019

After a brief Christmas break

Tour of San Marco - Venice Italy
Chapel of St. Isidore

The 'Chapel of St. Isidore,' with its carved marble sarcophagus, is at the end of the north arm of the transept. This Isidore began life as a Roman soldier. He became a Christian, and was martyred in the year 250 for his beliefs. His remains were brought to Venice from Chios in the 12th Century by Doge Domenico Michiel, but they were hidden until found under Doge Andrea Dandolo's reign. Dandolo had this chapel dedicated to Isidore in the 14th century.

Some of the marble walls in this chapel are really ancient. They are thought to date from the Byzantine church of St. Theodore, the first church recorded here. That would have been before the 9th Century.

25/12/2019

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Vaults Near St. John the Evangelist

On the vaults outside the dome of John Evangelist are scenes from the life of the Virgin. In one scene, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she is pregnant with the son of God. She would need an earthly husband, and her marriage would be to a man pure of heart, who would protect and nurture her and the Savior. The temple priest gives her cloth so she can prepare a veil for her marriage to Joseph.

The scenes facing us are (on the lower part, left) the 'Visitation of Mary to her sister Elizabeth'. Mary tells her sister that she is pregnant with the child Jesus. Elizabeth's husband, Zacharias, was a temple priest. Suitors hoping to marry the Virgin each deposited a walking stick at the temple. Overnight, the staff belonging to Joseph bloomed with flowers, and it was a sign that Joseph should be chosen to marry the Virgin. In the next scene, Zacharias gives Joseph's flowering staff back to him and entrusts Mary to him'.

The scenes seem to take place in a hot climate; the buildings appear like narrow towers, or open domed canopies. The narration is surprisingly intimate and poignant; most of the action is outdoors. The mosaics are late 12th and early 13th Century, but hearken back to the very early Christian period.

24/12/2019

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Dome of St. John the Evangelist

The center symbol in the 'Dome of John the Evangelist' is a Greek cross, with inscriptions from Christ's Sermon on the Mount. The largest audience to hear Christ during his lifetime attended that sermon. Christ imparted valuable lessons. He asked for no allegiance; he performed no miracles. Nor did he predict his own Crucifixion. He simply made one of the most potent speeches of his life, centering on the subject of humility before God and the rewards for good deeds: the Kingdom of Heaven.

23/12/2019

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Dome of St. John the Evangelist

The 'Dome of St John the Evangelist' shows the healing miracles performed by the saint, and the power of his preaching to convert pagans, and to destroy the pagan temple of Diana. Lower down between the windows, there are mosaics of the four doctors of the Western (as opposed to the Eastern, Byzantine) church. They are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome.

By featuring those saints, Venice sought to assert her independence from the Eastern Church, even though the overall design is completely Byzantine. The Venetians were always rebellious when it came to church domination, whether it was the Byzantine church or the Roman church. As prominent a role as the church played in civic life in those days, the powers in Venice would always try to subjugate the role of the church to the glory of their state.

22/12/2019

Tour of San Marco - Venice, Italy
Madonna of Nicopeia

The enameled frame containing the 'Madonna of Nicopeia' is encrusted in jewels, and the painting was, too, until a robbery in 1970 warned the procurators to remove the rest of the jewels before they were stolen.

01/03/2020

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