Before I went to Venice, I had never considered art to be my
“thing”. My mind is very scientific, and my thoughts tend to be cut-and-dry. I
considered art to be part of a gray area, something beautiful but largely
over-analyzed, while I preferred to think primarily in black and white. So,
when I heard that the study abroad program in Venice would be studying a lot of
art and architecture, I was a little bit worried. But, I figured, I would
finally be able to travel to Italy, so it would all be worth it in the end (no
matter how painful it would be to look at all of these things).
Everything changed when I got to Venice, though. The city
itself was so beautiful that the (sometime ornate) architecture seemed
perfectly in place; elsewhere, it might not fit in so well. I found myself
absolutely consumed by the beautiful buildings, some of which completely
dominated my small stature. As we visited churches, I could understand the
differences between Medieval and Renaissance architecture. I could finally
comprehend the paradigm shift that my professor had been telling us about:
medieval churches were dominating and huge, and they emphasized the distinction
between God and humans. Renaissance churches, on the other hand, were all about
beauty. At this point, what people saw meant much more than the size of the
church. People of the Renaissance must have appreciated the churches of their
time much more than the Medieval churches; this is likely why architects began
to become famous and have their own certain “styles” at this time.
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| A huge Medieval church - standing by this made me feel tiny! |
In Venice, I also found myself more interested and
appreciative of art than ever before. I had always avoided art museums and
exhibits; in fact, when I went to Paris I didn’t even go to the Louvre! I did
not see the point in looking at art and analyzing it—I thought that what the
observer sees was what the artist meant. There was no special meaning behind
it. Again, this mindset changed when I was in Venice. I found myself taken with
the artists’ portrayals of various Bible themes and stories. I even appreciated
(and could distinguish) the different styles of artists like Tintoretto,
Giotto, and Titian! One of my favorite activities during our trip was a walking
tour of various Tintoretto portrayals of the Last Supper. We only saw three of
the seven Last Suppers during this tour, but I still loved it! I was especially
taken with the first painting we saw, which was in the church of San Stefano.
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| My favorite of Tintoretto's Last Supper paintings - from wikipedia.org |
This painting is full of motion, and the viewer can see that the disciples and
various other attendees were in the middle of moving. Everyone at the table
seems to be focused on Jesus (or in his general direction), which is not always
the case in portrayals of the Last Supper. One woman, toward the bottom left of
the painting, looks especially hurried; this specifically struck me for some
reason. Tintoretto’s painting was so lifelike that it seemed almost like a
picture, and it still comes to my mind easily a week after I first saw it.
Though I did develop a new appreciation for art and
architecture during my trip to Venice, I am not sure I will continue to pursue
it in the future. This is not because of anything that happened; rather, I
believe that I will never be able to have an experience quite like my Venetian
art experience ever again! In Venice, there are so many beautiful works of art
and architecture in such a small area. This is extremely unique, and I do not
know of any other city that has so much. Nonetheless, I will look back fondly
upon my time in Venice, especially the parts spent studying art and
architecture. My future art and architecture studies will just have to wait
until I return!
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