Today’s Schedule
Breakfast: At the hotel.
Morning: Check out of the hotel this morning and transfer to the historic city of Padova for a guided visit. See one of Italy's oldest universities, founded in the 13th Century and visit The Scrovegni Chapel, a masterpiece in the history of Italian and European art, dating from the 14th century, and host to one of the most comprehensive series of frescoes completed by Giotto in his later years. 1 mile of walking in the city visit of Padova.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Padova
http://www.unipd.it/en/university/history
http://www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it/index.php/en/
http://www.artble.com/artists/giotto_di_bondone/paintings/scrovegni_chapel_frescoes
Lunch: On your own in Padova.
Afternoon: Transfer to Venice and embark your River Cruise at the Venezia San Basilio Quay. 1 hour cruise from Venice San Basilio to Venice 7 Martyrs quay
Dinner: Enjoy a welcome drink followed by dinner on board.
Evening: This evening the riverboat cruises up the Lagoon to the Quay of 7 Martyrs, a short stroll from St Mark's Square, from where we enjoy a free evening in Venice.
Lodging: CroisiEurope MS Michelangelo
http://www.croisieurope.travel/en-gb/ships/ms-michelangelo-2015
My Observations
I hope the above links for the Scrovegni Chapel will provide enough detail to indicate the beauty of the artwork that goes back to the 13th century. Chiesa degli Eremitani (Church of the Hermits), near Scrovegni's Chapel, has an unusual wooden ceiling. The church was badly damaged in WWII, and much of its artwork was destroyed, but what remains is beautiful. The chapel of SS. James and Christopher (Ovetari Chapel), formerly illustrated by Andrea Mantegna's frescoes, was largely destroyed by the Allies in World War II, because it was next to a German headquarters. The chapel and its frescoes were reduced to fragments (more than 80,000). The frescoes, completed in 1455, depict the Martyrdom of St. James and were a masterpiece by Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, and attracted large crowds to Padova before the bombing. (Montegna started painting this when he was only 17).
Today, only two scenes and a few fragments survive, which have been restored in 2006. They are, however, known from black-and-white photographs. With the help of innovative multimedia equipment, the fragments were classified one by one, then scanned and measured. The tiny, shattered pieces were then reassembled in the most gigantic puzzle of art history. Reconstructed in virtual form, via computer techniques of image recognition, the huge puzzle was represented by more than eighty thousand fragments of frescoes. This masterpiece of Venetian Renaissance art is also evidence of the artistic personality and innovative genius of a young Andrea Mantegna. Some of the breakthrough in restoration was due in part to Prof. Dr Massimo Fornasier. Originally from Padova, now a mathematician at University of Munich. His work in using scanning techniques and computer modeling were also used to reconstruct East German Stazi shredded documents from WWII.
I must must say that I am impressed by the use of modern tools to help restore centuries old art once thought lost when in thousands of small pieces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Eremitani
https://brightlite33.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/the-ovetari-chapel/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Mantegna
http://www.culturaitalia.it/opencms/en/contenuti/eventi/event_1761.html?language=en
https://www-m15.ma.tum.de/foswiki/pub/M15/Allgemeines/OldNews/mathsinpict.pdf
Some other key visits were to Caffe Pedrocci and the Basilica of Saint Anthony, who was originally from Lisbon Portugal.
http://www.amoitaly.com/padova/caffe_pedrocchi.html
http://www.basilicadelsanto.it/ing/home.asp
I guess I could go on and on about what I saw, or wanted to see like more of the University of Padua: the botanical gardens and anatomical theater, that has 6 elliptical viewing areas. The first female university graduate also came from the school. Elena Lucrezia Corner Piscopia, who received her degree in Philosophy from the University of Padua on June 25, 1678.
So much to see in the Veneto region and northern Italy area.
I need to get my 2 guides from prior tour 2 years ago - Cristina and Michela, who live in this area to help me return. So much to learn - so little time (-:
http://www.ortobotanicopd.it/en/lorto-botanico-di-padova
http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/italys-ancient-medical-schools-anatomical-theatres
http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/honor-brilliant-women-meet-elena-corner-piscopia-first-woman-graduate
http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/6/629
Photo 1 - See. Went to see the relics of St Anthony, which included his tongue and voice box, since he was such a great orator and sermonizer.
Photo 2 - Do. Learned so much about the mural restoration of the Ovetari chapel that was destroyed in WWII.
Photo 3 - Eat. A panini and soft drink are tasty and quick when you are trying to make the most of free time to visit as much as possible.
Click here for today's online photo album.
