Riches of La Serenissima: an on-site art seminar in Venice, Italy, with Giulia Bernardini

• Eight days in Venice?! YES!! Unlike most visitors who blow through this stunning city in a day and a half – missing 95% of what it has to offer – we will visit famous jewels including the Ducal Palace, iconic St. Mark’s Basilica, and the art-filled Accademia, as well as less-frequented sites such as the churches of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, la Salute, and San Zaccaria, the Correr and Querini Stampalia museums, and sail on a private chartered boat to islands including Torcello and Burano to see where the lagoon’s earliest dwellers put down roots. We’ll punctuate our historical investigations with plenty of delicious meals in elegant eateries, family-run osterie, and busy bacari (Venetian tapas bars), and enjoy aperitivi in pretty gardens, quiet campi (squares), and a storied private palazzo, as well as a cooking class in a Venetian home. Preview the full feast in the mouth-watering itinerary.
• Stay at the award-winning Santa Croce Boutique Hotel, a centrally-located jewel with a unique private garden and solicitous staff.
• Enjoy free time with the help of recommended food, shopping, gelato, and further art options all hand-picked for you by Giulia.
• Explore literature made available to you online to expand your understanding of the art and architecture you will encounter.
• Share the experience with a small, select group of like-minded explorers (maximum of ten people).
• Prices and dates forthcoming.

Seminar price includes: 8 days of art history tuition with Giulia and carefully-vetted local guides, accommodations and breakfast (unless opting out of accommodation at Santa Croce Boutique Hotel), entry tickets to scheduled museums and galleries, Venezia Unica Pass  for visiting scheduled and certain non-scheduled sites, two aperitivi and five meals (including a cooking class) at local restaurants and in private homes, 7-day ACTV water bus pass, private chartered boat tour of lagoon, gratuities. Does not include: airfare, lunches and dinners not listed in itinerary, ground transportation to and from airport. Seminar itinerary subject to change at any time.

Riches of La Serenissima seminar description: 

For eight rich and stimulating, art-, food-, and conversation-filled days, we will visit major and hidden sites of The Most Serene Republic past and present. We will learn how this republic rose from modest origins as a community of fishermen and salt harvesters to command the seas of the Mediterranean, bringing Constantinople to its knees and importing silks, spices, art and ideas to an astonished, comparatively backward Europe.

We will see how for centuries la Serenissima worked tirelessly to build its own myth of unsurpassable wealth, prosperity, and sophistication. Its shrewd – perhaps even cynical – political system and lay religious organizations ensured that citizens and outsiders alike felt allegiance to the Republic, thus keeping it safe from dissidents. This will become clear to us through the dazzling Byzantine mosaics of Saint Mark’s Basilica, the sumptuous allegorical ceiling and wall paintings of the Ducal Palace, and the endless masterpieces in the Academy, in churches, private collections, and museums by the Bellinis, Carpaccio, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, and Tiepolo, to name but a few.

At the same time, we will investigate how the twenty-first century city lives with this illustrious past and fights to be more than an artistic theme park for the throngs of foreigners who descend upon it yearly. For this reason, we will immerse ourselves for three times the average number of days spent by most visitors. This will allow us to become acquainted with hidden histories, less known neighborhoods, and the musicians, artisans, and artists whose voices and work keep this city at the forefront of contemporary culture.

All of this art and culture will be accompanied by generous glasses of prosecco taken in local haunts and tranquil campi (squares) as well as in a private palazzo, meals at modest osterie and in elegant, hidden ristoranti and a cooking class in a private home.

Join us for this unmissable experience. Contact Giulia to book your place and for more information at giulia@wonderfeast.com or click on ‘Contact Us’ below.

I look forward to seeing you at the banquet!

Giulia