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On July 24th Benedetto Marcello was born and died, the composer to whom the Conservatory is named

Venice, 23rd July 2021- Loggias, frescoes, paintings, stuccoes, courtyards, monumental halls and the highest terrace in Venice, from which you can enjoy an unrivalled 360-degree view of Venice. Being students of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory is truly a privilege, both for the quality of the teaching and for the artistic and historical heritage in which students are immersed. The Conservatory is one of the most famous institutions in the world, loved both by Italians and foreigners, which has its roots in one of the most beautiful palaces of Venice, palazzo Pisani located in Campo Santo Stefano, where everything you look at is a delight for the eyes.

Tomorrow we celebrate a major recurrence, the birth and death of the composer Benedetto Marcello, born on July 24, 1686 and died the same day when he was just 53 years old. Exactly on the occasion of this anniversary from tomorrow at the Conservatory a review of six musical events entitled "Il Marcello suona" will start. 

Benedetto was a scion of the patricians Marcello, who had trained as a lawyer and from 1707 had joined the Major Council of the Serenissima too. 

“Benedetto Marcello was definitely a very significant composer in his time, even if he had been introduced to legal studies from his family"-  says the director of the Conservatory, Professor Roberto Gottipavero - he has been a magistrate, who carried out assignments for the Republic of Venice, but the passion for music and, above all, a sort of rivalry with his brother Alessandro, at a certain point convinced him to invest all his energy in the study of music". He is famous for the 50 psalms he put into music for voices and basso continuo, a very important work that has been studied by all the musicians who have followed after him and who have, in some way, given value to his compositional work. This is why, in 1800, he was highly esteemed by Verdi and Rossini but also by Antonio Buzzolla, choir master at the Basilica di San Marco, who was among the promoters of the birth of what then was the institute “liceo società e scuola musicale Benedetto Marcello” and that seems to have inspired the decision to name it after Benedetto Marcello. 

The history of the institute, then liceo musicale pareggiato (State-recognized music Institute) and lastly Regio Conservatorio (Regal Music Institute), begins in the late 1800s: a school of which Venice, that this year celebrates the 1600th anniversary since its foundation, strongly felt the need considering that other major cities such as Milan, Naples and Bologna, already had their own music institutes. It took years of discussions and fundraising to found the first institute, in 1867, which later in 1940, under the guidance of the director Gian Francesco Malipiero, became Regio Conservatorio (Regal music conservatory) as we now know it nowadays. Today the music Conservatory is a high-level institution of artistic, musical and choral education that issue first and second level academic diplomas comparable to Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees, as well as professional master’s programmes, as preparation for the Bachelor’s degree, and basic courses with an average of about 400 students per year and 86 teachers. 

“The first headquarters, from 1867 to 1880, was physically in palazzo Da Ponte, to which you can access from campo San Maurizio- the director recalls- then to alleviate the housing shortage from September 1880 until 1890 the institute moved to the “sale apollinee” of La Fenice Theatre. Finally, to answer the lack of wider and more adequate spaces, palazzo Pisani was identified as the ideal headquarters for the music Conservatory, mainly due to its large concert hall.  The Pisani palace is the biggest palace in Venice, second only to Doge’s Palace square foots: a building that contains approximately 200 rooms, most of which are uses as classrooms and offices, and that has the feature of owning the highest terrace of Venice, from which you can enjoy a view of the whole city. This is a palace that offers its students a very special atmosphere too, between paintings and stuccoes, where you can breathe a unique environment. Many, even foreigners, say that the Benedetto Marcello music Conservatory is the most beautiful school in the entire world and here I can only agree.” 

But the music Conservatory also houses a book library of more than 50 thousand volumes, as well as a museum where some curious relics are displayed: such as, for example, Wagner’s beret, music stand and baton. 

“Since its foundation the music Conservatory has been equipped with its own library, serving teachers and students but also outsiders- explain the head of the library, Professor Paolo Da Col- the collections of the music Conservatory of Venice include a pretty significant number of ancient bequests and donations representing an illustration, a sort of synthesis, of the 1700 Venetian musical life that we know was a significant part of the Italian scene. For example, we have the collection belonging to the Giustinian, or Giustiniani, family from the Zattere, the one of the Torrefranca and the one of the Correr Museum, which is a loan.” There are prints, opera arias, stage scores and some rare pearls, such as the signed manuscripts of Franz Liszt, Benedetto Marcello and the only original signed manuscript of Vivaldi preserved in Venice.

“The acqua Granda, occurred in November 2019, was a tragic event that saw the participation of many volunteers, students, teachers and outsiders, who wanted to help save these books from water, speeding up the process of delivering them to the places where they were later restored- says in the end Da Col- I must confess that this fraternal competition occurred also later on, thanks to the Marciana Library and thanks to the restorers of the National Library of Florence, who helped us saving manuscripts and prints that are now actually fully readable, and today we are facing the restoration of some other rare and more damaged pieces. Moreover, there’s also a deal with Ca’ Foscari University for a digital restoration of some pieces, therefore we’re hoping all this precious heritage will eventually be saved”. 

 

San Giobbe: the place where, in the 1700s, repended Venetian prostitutes could hope for a new and brighter future

Venice, the 27th July 2021 - It is in Cannaregio, specifically in the area of San Giobbe, that the “pio luogo delle penitenti” is located. This used to be the place in which young repented prostitutes went to find shelter, be protected, and helped. Help was given through a process of redemption, which aimed at reintegrating women within society as: workers and, possibly, wives. Aged between 12 and 40, they did not have any children, and were mainly concerned with the establishment of their status and improvement of their economic conditions, usually characterized by extreme poverty.

As a consequence of the need for a structure in charge of developing a reintegration program for former prostitutes, it was in the 1700s that a specific institute was established. This institute helped women, both psychologically and economically, by leading them to take a socially accepted path which, for the time, provided women with three potential choices: becoming a mother, a nun or a maid.

Prostitution had ancient roots in the city of Venice which, already in the 1300s had begun to tackle this issue. Nevertheless, it would be only in the 1500s that institutes, helping former prostitute’s reintegration, will be projected and established, mainly as a consequence to the involvement of rich noblemen. Noblemen used to create and finance associations that were necessary to create the “ospizi or ospedaletti”-with the main aim of welcoming former prostitutes living in extreme poverty. As the phenomenon grew, the existent number of ospedaletti could not satisfy the request for help and assistance aymore. Consequently, it was in the early 1700s that new institutions were created: the “case di soccorso” and “convertite”. The first,  were hardly accessible due their high price, while the second had as a mandatory access condition the conversion of women to monastic life.

«When at the beginning of the 1700s the issue of prostitution re-emerged in Venice – said Laura De Rossi, consultant and art historian at IPAV[1] - priests began to face the issue by developing a rehabilitation centre that had neither religious influence nor profitable aim. The main reason for which this centre was created lies within the need to control a social problem which could have had great repercussions on people’s health. After several hearings to the Patriarch Giovanni Badoer, it was him indeed who decided to take charge of the issue, becoming the founder of the “Penitenti” institution».

Afterwards, volunteer citizens took the first group of repented prostitutes in corte Borella, located in Campo Santa Marina, although the group will later be transferred to San Giobbe, a suburb of the city which guaranteed isolation to young women. Once the rehabilitation program at the “Penitenti” began, no contact with the outside was allowed for one entire year. 

The structure of the “Pio Istituto delle Penitenti” was managed by an organizational body made up by a citizen, a nobleman and a delegate of the church. The latter was the one who would become the governor for life of the institute. The very first governor for life of the “Penitenti” was abbot Paolo Contarini, whose graveyard still lies within the church of Santa Maria delle Penitenti. The church of Santa Maria delle Penitenti - still part of the institute - is considered as on the five hidden gems of Venice, together with the: Oratorio dei Crociferi, the Chiesa delle Zitelle, the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto and the Scala Contarini del Bovolo. 

How prostitutes used to live at the “Istituto delle Penitenti”

To have access to the “Istituto delle Penitenti”, the former prostitute had to be sponsored by her priest, who had to guarantee for her real sorrow. Moreover, the priest had to make sure that the woman neither had caught syphilis nor was pregnant. Once welcomed to the centre, the woman was totally isolated from the outside and from other guests for one year. In this year, she had to undertake a spiritual process with the help of one prioress. Afterwards, she was reintegrated within the community through the assignment of house chores, such as: sewing or the creation of laces. Provided that the rehabilitation program succeeded, women could really hope to get married eventually.

«The first prioress who began to help the “Penitenti” – continues Laura De Rossi – was Elisabetta Rossi, an old maid from one of the few noble families of Burano. Elisabetta Rossi, together with her brother Francesco Rossi, a religious man very close to the patriarch Badoer, helped the “Penitenti” by founding the first laces school in Venice. In point of fact, the art of lace will then be taught to women within the walls of the “Istituto delle Penitenti”, later becoming a unique handicraft for which nowadays Venice - but mainly Burano - is famous worldwide».  

The building in which the “Istituto delle Penitenti” of San Giobbe is still located, was established in 1730. The project was based on the idea of developing an organized and wide space to welcome a growing number of people. The project was based on the idea of building an independent structure – that had to include a clinic, kitchen, and a laundry - in order to minimize the contact with the outside. The architect in charge was Giorgio Massari, well-known in the city and especially within the religious community. He decided to apply the project that Palladio used to build the institute of Zitelle, characterized by a church essentially located among the side wings of the building. The church was completed between 1744 and 1745, while it was consecrated twenty years later due to the lack of funds necessary to finish the façade. As far as the interior decoration of the church was concerned, the painter Jacopo Marieschi was chosen. On the ceiling, he painted the “Madonna in gloria con San Lorenzo Giustiniani”, the “Santissima Trinità” and some years later he painted the altarpiece of “San Lorenzo Giustiniani”and other saints whose lives had a connection with the activities carried out within the institute, as a path to follow. 

Today, the former “Penitenti” institute hosts a care home, while the church, not accessible to the public, displayed a temporary exhibition of the Biennale of Art in 2019.  

 

[1] IPAV: Istituzioni Pubbliche di Assistenza Veneziane – a public association that provides social assistance to people while also promoting cultural activities for the city of Venice. 

Ospedale dei Derelitti: welfare and social rehabilitation during the Venetian Republic

Venice, 29th July 2021 – In order to see the elliptical stair that seems to challenge gravity laws we have to go to the Ospedale dei Derelitti, commonly known to the inhabitants of Venice as the Ospedaletto. It is a massive building, which includes the church in Barbaria de le Tole, where a nursing home was located until ten years ago, in continuity with the model of assistance to the poor and needy pursued by the Venetian Republic. A 1600-year-long birthday, the one that this year celebrates Venice, a city that has always demonstrated to be a modern and efficient organisation model for the assistance of poor and needy people, of orphans and widows through the creation of Ospedaletti or hospitals.

“The Ospedaletto was built between 1527 and 1528 to receive beggars, invalids and orphans – explains Agata Brusegan, curator of the artistic heritage of the Fondazione Venezia Servizi alla Persona, which manages the five monumental sites owned by the Ire (including the Scala Contarini del Bovolo, the Penitenti, the Zitelle and the Oratorio dei Crociferi) – we have inherited what can be defined as the welfare, meaning the social policies system built by the Republic, which was essential in order to ensure a good standard of living to all the population living on the island”.

Wanted by the Doge Pietro Orseolo I and located at the bottom of the bell tower of San Marco, the first institution dates back to 975-978; fast-forwarding to the sixteenth century, four were the hospitals already built in Venice: the Ospedale dei Derelitti, the Incurabili, the Pietà and the Mendicanti. Such institutions not only provided shelter, but they also taught people trades and exalted their talents: from the musical point of view there was, for example, the putte da coro, whose exhibitions were admired all around the world. As Brusegan states, the hospitals acted as theatrical producers, since the musical activity was a flourishing business.

The putte da coro were distinguished from the putte de comun, as the latter had other jobs inside the institution, like lacemaking or teaching. “Everyone had to work – continues Brusegan – and the girls were paid with the tasca, namely the minimal labour that was to be executed by the end of the day and contributed to one’s dowry. The future of these girls was to get married, to become a nun or to remain in the institution”. And it was in the very own church choir of the hospital that a young Giambattista Tiepolo, while painting some details, fell in love with the putta da coro Cecilia Guardi, sister of painters Gianantonio and Francesco Guardi and who would later become his wife.

“During the Middle Ages, those who did charity work did so in order to save their souls. However, such a thing changed with the Catholic Reform at the beginning of the sixteenth century: no more for the sake of oneself, charity then aimed at building a better world and focused on young people, orphans and underprivileged youth. Coinciding with a contextual secularism, a sort of ante litteram Enlightenment – explains the curator – these hospitals were established and managed by private citizens and aristocratic benefactors; those who found shelter here were far luckier than those who had to always scrape for food. As far as men were concerned, they did not do any musical activity: they left the institution with a job, they had their apprenticeship paid and had a direct connection to the Arsenale. The hospital also had an emergency room for those who were feverish, as well as one of the first anatomical rooms in Venice. Therefore, these hospitals were sort of little villages where different realities could be found: sick people, young people, putte da coro, lacemaking women. Such diversity disappeared with the advent of the Napoleonic reforms, when health and social policies were separated, a distinction that still holds true today”.

The elliptical stairs of the architect Giuseppe Sardi, the courtyard of Baldassarre Longhena and the only music room left in Venice are few more reasons to visit this interesting building. “The music room is the last that was built and the only one left in Venice: with perfect acoustics, it was rebuilt in 1776 thanks to what could be described as an early form of crowdfunding that involved famous singers that had stayed in the Ospedaletto – concludes Brusegan – it acted not only as a rehearsal room and chamber concert room, but also as a business place and as a parlour for external relations. Such a room lasted for a brief period of time, as with the fall of the Venetian Republic it was abandoned and the hospital itself changed its purpose”.

Canaletto meets Guardi: two artists rapresenting the same view from the Molo towards the Basilica della Salute​

Venice, 4th of August 2021- The encounter between Canaletto and Guardi turns out in a comparison view that from the molo of St. Mark expands all the way up and beyond the Basilica della Salute. On Friday, August 6, the Giorgio Franchetti art Gallery at the Ca' d'Oro opens its doors to “Canaletto incontra Guardi. Vedute veneziane a confronto: il Molo verso la Basilica della Salute", a tribute to the city of Venice on occasion of the celebrations for its foundation: 421-2021. The exhibition in which takes part, as an exceptional “guest”, the view of Canaletto depicting "the Molo to the West with the Zecca and the column of San Teodoro" from the Civica Pinacoteca of Castello Sforzesco in Milan, will be open until October 24. The loan is the result of a temporary exchange between the two museums on the occasion of the exhibition held simultaneously in Milan and dedicated to the Italian sculpture of the Renaissance (“Il Corpo e l’Anima da Donatello a Michelangelo. Scultura italiana del Rinascimento”, Castello Sforzesco 21 July-24 October).

The temporary exhibition of the canvas of Canaletto, next to the painting by Francesco Guardi which has the same subject (owned by the Franchetti collection), offers the possibility of juxtaposing two extraordinary Venetian views, among the most appreciated by aristocratic tourists on the Grand Tour, by directly comparing two “still images” (and two different pictorial concepts of urban portraits) of absolute protagonists of 18th century lagoon landscape painting. On one hand, Canaletto’s luminous version, of large, spectacular breadthand and flawless coherence of perspective, resulting from the painter’s maturity and that can be dated before 1742, on the other the vibrant lyrical interpretation offered by Francesco Guardi in an advanced phase of his work, by then far removed, in its fantastic indeterminateness, from the clear rigour that had sealed, in a sunny image, “as if engraved in crystal” (A. Mariuz), Canaletto’s Venice in the perception of travellers and collectors of the time. In the perspective, captured by the two artists, buildings that embody the history of Venice itself are condensed and help, accompanying, those who watch the canvas discover its changes and its urban persistence, in a journey back in time which this year celebrates its 1600 years from the foundation of the legendary city.

Firstly, in both, attention is focused on the column of San Teodoro (which recalls the origins of the city and the veneration of the Holy Saint of the Byzantine liturgy), then our gaze widens to the string of buildings overlooking the shore of the molo: from the southern corner of the Sansovinian Library, with the soaring marbles as crowning element placed on the edge of the cornice and completing the monumental structure, to the front facade of the Zecca, in front of which the ancient market of fish and poultry took place; and then again to the austere block of the Granai di Terranova, which housed the warehouses for the storage of cereals (destroyed in the Nineteenth century to make room for the Royal Gardens) and, at the end of the fondamenta, to the small building of the Fonteghetto della Farina, where the resale of the precious grinded product took place, becaming in the eighteenth century the headquarters of the Academy of Painters. Beyond the entrance of the Grand Canal stands Punta della Dogana with the majestic domes of the Basilica della Salute by Baldassare Longhena, impressive ex-voto built to save the city from the plague of 1630 and further away, in the background, half-hidden from the sailboat in Canaletto's painting, and clearly visible in the Guardi's canvas, the other important religious building linked to the terrible disease, the Redentore.

On the shore and on the water, recounted by both the artists, the daily life of the Serenissima is teeming: from the boats docking and unloading the goods to the canopies of the market stalls crawling with furnishings, till the representation of the busy or idle daily life. Elegant ladies walk on the fondamenta in Guardi's painting – darting shapes, briefly sketched in thin strokes and quick taps of color- while the Canaletto offers more accurate pieces of "still-life" en plein air, as the one representing some baskets and barrels, and an empty chair on the shore or the one on the right with a group of man and a gentleman, depicted from behind, with his tricorn hat and three men in Eastern dress, also rapresented by Bernardo Bellotto in his canvas.

Preeminent figures, on both paintings, are the light and the sky: a warm and cozy representation of Venice that best suits the image of the charming naturality, so dear to the rational taste of the enlightenment, in the painting of Canaletto; an emotional transfiguration with almost a pre-romantic spirit, in the reinterpretation of Guardi, where the emphasis of the atmospheric values and the changing light of the clouds, that run fast in the sky, throws shimmering strokes on every detail of the portrayal. 

In the perspective of a widen itinerary, from the museum to the land, visits and guided tours starting from the art gallery, and from the exhibition and reaching the places narrated in the eighteenth-century canvases would be planned, in a comparison through which only a city like Venice, with its light and its games of reflections, can return a reality even more evocative than the one painted.