Italy Beyond the Obvious

Attention to Detail

Sure, we all have checklists when we go to Italy. There are things we definitely want to see. But I suggest adding "time to amble" to any Italian checklist.

Walk slowly and notice the rooftops, walls of buildings, the pattern of the cobblestones or the line of the steps, the doors, door knockers, knobs and ironwork, the detail at the base of the fountain, and everything that is probably not on any Top 10 checklist in a guidebook. 

This is also great when traveling with kids, because it easily becomes a game, and can be built into a story by asking questions.

For example: why would there be an iron ring attached to a stone wall along the road? Well, it was used to tie horses up many years ago. Why are there rows of them? Maybe it was a market "parking lot". 

When you're visiting a country with such a vast, long, and rich history, sometimes it helps to just bite off a small piece and chew slowly. Take some time to admire the details that most tourists just whizz by en route to the next major attraction, and you'll have a significantly more Beyond the Obvious trip, I promise!

Door ornament and iron ring photos taken in Siena. Steps taken in Bologna.

All photos by Sanjay

Gipsoteca Canoviana, Possagno

 

The sculpture of Antonio Canova (1757 - 1822) is so smooth and so white and so large, so full of energy and emotion that I just want to run my fingers over them. I'm not allowed, of course.

You may recognize his sculptures since they are spread far and wide across the world. Click on the links below for a small sample of some of his most famous works worldwide.

• Dedalus and Icarus and Orpheus and Eurydice in the Correr museum in Venice;  
•  Theseus slaying the Minotaur in Vienna;
• Pauline Bonaparte in the Galleria Borghese in Rome;  
• Napoleon in London;  
• the Three Graces in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg;
• Cupid and Psyche (see photo), in The Louvre in Paris.

To see copies of his most famous works as well as hundreds of his original sculptures all in one place, visit the Gipsoteca Canoviana in Canova's hometown of Possagno, north of Venice. Canova worked primarily in Rome, with frequent trips to Paris and London, but he returned to Possagno often.

His sun-filled home, studio and gigantic Gipsoteca with courtyard are a great way to spend several hours, and gain a good understanding of the style and technique of the artist who was one of the founders of the neo-classical style. 

In addition to rooms and rooms of sculpture, the visitor also gets a unique behind-the-scenes look: Canova's tools and sketches are on display, as is a detailed description of the innovative process he created in order to mass produce his designs, which involved making a plaster cast of a smaller scale clay or wax model, and then piercing it with small nails in order to accurately transfer the proportions when creating the larger marble piece. 

Photo of Canova's Cupid & Psyche, original on display at The Louvre, Paris