We'll begin at the church of Our Lady of the Rosary and the dark years of the War of Crete when wealthy religious orders were suppressed and their properties confiscated in order to replenish the State's depleted coffers.  As we visit the church, we'll talk about Venice's final acts of piety and observe the Old World as it struggles with the laicism and disbelief of the Enlightenment.  Next, it's off to the lavish Ca' Rezzonico where we'll see the financial fall of Venice's ancient families and the rise to prominence and power of the nouveaux riches.  We'll then turn our attention to the house's incomparable collection of eighteenth-century Venetian art.  While Tiepolo immortalizes the self-proclaimed virtues of a dying aristocracy, Canaletto depicts sun-drenched facades of pageantry and bliss for foreign consumption.  The scandalous poet Giorgio Baffo strikes out next at inept officials and lascivious priests in his lewd and erotic stanzas.  We'll talk about the political significance of these censored sonnets and learn why they particularly appealed to the members of the Venetian judiciary.  At the “Fenice” theater, we'll then see self-interested nobles spend the remnants of once-great fortunes on entertainment and talk about the social and political overtones in the plays of Goldoni and Gozzi.  Next, it's on to a private casino where masked revelers whiled away the hours and then into Saint Mark's Square, the stage of Venice's roisterous Carnival.  We'll talk about the distant origins of this most famous of celebrations and see the unrepressed enthusiasm embrace Venetians and foreigners alike.  Cups still clatter in the nearby coffeehouses where we'll enjoy a sampling of the precious dark liquid and discover the reasons behind its irresistible appeal in eighteenth-century Venice.  Here, we'll also relive the dramatic days of May 1797 when French troops arrived to the cry of “liberté, egalité, fraternité” and Europe's oldest republic took its final bow before quietly entering into the annals of history.

DURATION

• Approximately 6 hours

MAJOR SIGHTS    

• Church of Our Lady of the Rosary - works by Tiepolo, Ricci, and Piazzetta

• Ca' Rezzonico - works by Canaletto, Longhi, Guardi, Carriera, and Tiepolo

• Venier gambling parlor (private visit)

• Caffé Florian

• Saint Mark's Square

ENGAGING TOPICS

• The Age of Enlightenment: science, faith,
  and a New World

• The nouveau riches: self-aggrandizement
  and the quest for omnipotence

• The Grand Tour: images and impressions
  of Venetian life

• Erotic poetry: reprobation and a new morality

• Comic theater: for and against the status quo

• The changing role of women: sexual liberation and social affirmation

• Enlightened writings: fashionable ideas and political censorship

• Carnival: pleasure and power in Eighteenth-Century Europe

REFERENCE MATERIAL    

AVAILABILTY

This guided tour is not available on Sunday and Tuesday.

PRICE AND SPECIAL NOTES

The price indicated is intended to cover the costs of the Society's continued research initiatives and organization and is in compliance with the conditions concerning the activities of non-profit organizations as set forth in the Ministry of Finance Unified Code Article 111, paragraph 3 (Art. 111, T.U., comma 3)

Comments on
The Age of Decadence

“A wonderful day of sheer, divine decadence!  The tour is an in-depth look at an extraordinary way of life such as we've never seen before or again. I felt that I was truly living the era when the nouveau riches ascended to great palazzos on the Grand Canal, nuns took to cavorting with handsome, young men, women ran casinos for their own enjoyment, and coffee and chocolate, those most exotic of pleasures, were consumed with appetites approaching lust.   The adventure was all the more poignant because I knew — no, I felt that it was all coming to an inevitable and tragic end.”