My friend Adam had recommended to visit and I was curious. The Basilica, the Monastry of the Cini Foundation, the Glass Museum and unfortunately no time for the glass Tea house.
I took the Vaporetto 2 from Piazzale Roma, a 40min boat journey, and was welcomed with sun and a beautiful work of art by Heinz Mack: The Sky over Nine Columns (http://www.cini.it/en/events/heinz-mack-sky-nine-columns-2), nine golden mosaic columns of over 7 meters, “as a manifestation of the human being standing upright, the column is the earliest element in the history of architecture and forms a direct relation between earth and sky. The golden mosaic consisting of over 800,000 tesserae is an example of the long tradition of local craftsmanship, representing Venice’s early cultural relations between Orient and Occident.”
After reading the information panels at the arrival on the island and perusing the island a bit, I bought a ticket for the tour of the Cini Foundation (http://www.cini.it/en/foundation/storia-della-fondazione).
We spent some time in the gardens of the monastry, which seven Benedictine monks inhabit. A well in one of the gardens and cypresses giving the island in times long passed the nick name of ‘Cypress island’. The Doge (person is chosen for this post, title not inherited from father-to-son) of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore hosted famous guests on the island, such as Frederik I (Redbeard) and Pope Alexander III.
Vittorio Cini constituted the Giorgio Cini Foundation on the island in honour of his son, Giorgio, who died of a plane crash when flying his private plane, to create an international cultural centre that reintegrates the island into the life of Venice. To give back the past and give a new breath to the island.
The first room we entered hosts the magnificent facsimile of the ‘Wedding at Cana’ by Paolo Veronese, made by Factum Arte (http://www.factum-arte.com/pag/38/A-facsimile-of-the-Wedding-at-Cana-by-Paolo-Veronese). I had known about this work through Adam and to now see it live, was just incredible. A huge piece, of which the guide highlighted many aspects, i.e. imagine you are seated at a banquet in this refectory, sitting on the left side of the room, you observe the painting and notice that the freeze on the top right prolongs on the ceiling the room, so the painting is a continuation of the ceiling of the refectory. There are many more intricacies in this painting, it’s beautiful to see it in its original setting in this location.
From the gardens, we walked to the library entrance, the guide explaining the three different decorations on the columns: one is simple, to free the spirit; the next one is more decorated leading to freeing the mind; and the last columns are so decorated indicating another level of freeing the mind.
The baroque architect, Baldesari Longhena, opened up the spaces between the two cloisters and redesigned the library.
The libraries are magnificent, ebony sculptures on top of the shelves indicating which books are part of a specific section, such as Homerus. A new library next to it, both in use, with over 150,000 books on art and art history.
The last treat on this tour was the Borges labyrinth. In the form of a book, his name and several of his attributes carved into the buxes the labyrinth is made of. A well-spent few hours, to be home at base camp before the lightning and thunders started.