For the Love of Venice
What feels like a "dark night" for Venice, but cannot be....
As many of you hold Venice close to heart, you may have been deeply saddened to hear of the devastating acqua alta that the city experienced last month.
Not long ago, I started reading John Ruskin’s The Stones of Venice, to know the city better. In Chapter 1, of the first volume, The Foundations, Ruskin describes Venice as a “ruin:”
“[Venice], is stell left for our beholding in the final period of her decline: a ghost upon the sands of the sea, so weak - so quiet ,- so bereft of all but her loveliness, that we might well doubt, as we watched her faint reflection in the mirage of the lagoon, which was the City, and which the Shadow.
I would endeavor to trace the lines of this image before it be for ever lost, and to record, as far as I may, the warning which seems to me to be uttered by every one of the fast-gaining waves, that beat, like passing bells, against the Stone of Venice.”
This is what Ruskin saw well over a century ago. It feels...ominous, but also deeply frightening that the need for safeguarding Venice, which was so urgent even then, does not feel heeded.
On the other hand, if we choose to look towards something to give us hope around the current state of Venice, despite what Ruskin saw and believed, Venice still stood, and still stands. To anyone who has visited the city, while there is much that endangers Venice, you will know that it cannot be called a “ruin.”
In an article in the New York Times, titled “Waters Close Over Venice,” Shaul Bassi, professor at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, describes how he himself experienced the acqua alta, and also the aftermath. But he also shares an opportunity for hope. He writes about how Venice could become an "international laboratory" for ideas and research around the issues that face not only Venice, but cities around the world threatened by the environmental crisis. He refers to the writings of cultural historian Salvatore Settis who called Venice "a thinking machine that allows us to ponder the very idea of the city."
What if the very spirit and ideas, the sensitivity and harmony between the natural and built environment, which helped create the foundations of the Venice most celebrated in our memories, are what those who make decisions about Venice's future return to when looking forward? This could perhaps allow Venice to not only be saved, but once again raise victorious.
Those of us who have the honor to know the city through our travels, or who long to one day know the city in this way, can play our own small part in helping Venice. For now, part of this looks like being aware, sharing what and how we can, and also helping the city repair itself after its flooding. In response to the recent acqua alta, the nonprofit, Save Venice, has partnered with the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC, to set up an Immediate Response Fund, if you feel so inclined to help at this time. (Just an fyi that I am not affiliated with the organization; I am a member and wanted to share the news for those who may want to help).
If you happen to purchase art from my online gallery, I am also currently donating a portion of my sales to this fund.
And lastly, I wanted to close with a beautiful silently powerful meditation on Venice which I learned of through Dream of Venice. It can be experienced here.
Until next time, I wish you joy, I wish you warmth, I wish you love, laughter, and the happiness found in being surrounded by loved ones, and I wish it all for you in beautiful abundance.
XX ~ Sophia