More Venice museums

Tuesday, May 7 - another lovely day in Venice - cool temperature and clear sky. We decided to continue visiting the churches and museums from our Venice card. Our first stop was the church S. Stae, which didn’t open until 2! Since it was only 10 that one was a bust! The next was a museum, Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art. We thought it opened at 10, but did not open until 10:30. They were getting a new exhibit ready to open on Thursday and had invited the press, so they were closing early. The Museum has one floor of art spread out in the various rooms of this Venetian-Baroque house built in 1679. There were a few familiar faces among the artists - Klimt, Lichtenstein, Calder, Rodin, Donghi and lots we did not know - mostly Venetian painters from late 1800’s & 1900’s.

Julia II by Klimt

Rodin, The Thinker

On the third floor (yes, they did have an elevator), they had the most extensive exhibition of Oriental objects d’art I have ever seen. Someone had gone around the world around the turn of the century and brought back thousands of objects he collected along the way. We saw cases of weapons, shields, armor, Netsukes, sagemonos, lacquerware, fabric, a sedan chair, porcelain, jade, paintings, room dividers and 2 walls of boxes for carrying food or other items. And that’s all I remember - there was much more.

After that exhausting visit, we found the other nearby museum, Palazzo Mocenigo Costume Museum. It was in another home owned by the Mocenigo family who were influential in the late 1700’s - producing several doges. We had to climb stairs to get to the exhibits - rather tired looking furniture and clothing of the period. The most interesting was the information on perfume and perfume making in Venice. They had lots of samples to smell and a movie about producing it. However, at 90E a bottle I didn’t buy any!

And finally we found the church, Chiesa di San Giacomo (St. James) dell’Orio. It was called Venetian Gothic style, but we found it a hodgepodge of styles. It was definitely an example of something designed by a committee. The ceiling was wood, shaped like a ship’s hull. There were 3 naves with columns and several side chapels. The old sacristy was in front as were 3 alters. One was totally baroque with its own cupola, the other two were planer.