Thank you for your posts; special thanks to ADOANNIE.
I had prepared for this segment for weeks, long before we began, because I have a special relationship with Venice.
But due to a misunderstanding I failed to send my questions to JoanP in time. My sincere apologies to all of you, most especially Joan, who didn't need this unnecessary aggravation. Mea culpa, me maxima culpa.
I so wanted to post at least one view of the Venice waterfront showing the Doge's palace. One of the most famous, of course, was painted by Canaletto (1697-1768). But I'm not good at linking, and copyrights have to be considered.
My first question was to be "Did you know that the word 'ghetto' is derived from the Italian geto and that Venice was the first?"
It was. Gated; locked at night, reopened in the morning.
An indignity, wasn't' it? Plus having to wear a distinguishing sign!
Since the allotted space was limited, there was only one way to build , UP,, and at the very top was the sanctuary right under the sky.
And yes, there is something about the light in Venice, a special luminosity. Even in the dead of April, say, when acqua alta floods Piazza San Marco, St. Mark's Square, and people cloaked in raincoats make their way across rhe wooden boards, always ready for such times.
One question looms large for me: how old is Vistorini?
Adopted by monks when he was five or six; his extraordinary affinity for languages was soon discovered. That became his specialty. And,\ the reason, we assume, for his being chosen to be Inquisitor in Venice.
Can we today have any measure of the power the Inquisition had?
Or the power of the Catholic church over what the faithful were allowed to read?
We all heard of "banned in Boston", but do we realize what limits the Index imposed? Where they lifted ?When?
Much to talk about : the relationship between the two men ---- what is considered 'heretical', gambling in the 17th century, and the "carnevale".
Again, my apologies for posting with such delay.
Traude
