Facchini — Labourers — Grevembroch 3-120

Theriac was considered a kind of wonder medicine, and an antidote for most poisons. It required over sixty ingredients, and it was one of the prime products of the many pharmacies in Venice in the 1600s and 1700s.

Due to issues with fraud — and the importance of the industry to the Venetian economy — the Magistrato alla Sanità obliged the spezier and the pharmacists to display the ingredients for theriac in the street in front of the shop for several days each year.

Day labourers were hired to grind the ingredients into a fine powder, working in the open in front of the pharmacy.

This watercolour depicts such a worker, pounding the ingredients of theriac in a giant mortar.

#Commoners #histodons #Theriac #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/translation/facchini-labourers-grevembroch-3-120/

Facchini — Labourers — Grevembroch 3-120

Theriac was considered a kind of wonder medicine, and an antidote for most poisons. It required over sixty ingredients, and it was one of the prime products of the many pharmacies in Venice in the 1600s and 1700s.

Due to issues with fraud — and the importance of the industry to the Venetian economy — the Magistrato alla Sanità obliged the spezier and the pharmacists to display the ingredients for theriac in the street in front of the shop for several days each year.

Day labourers were hired to grind the ingredients into a fine powder, working in the open in front of the pharmacy.

This watercolour depicts such a worker, pounding the ingredients of theriac in a giant mortar.

#Commoners #histodons #Theriac #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/translation/facchini-labourers-grevembroch-3-120/

Beheading bulls

Lent, leading up to Easter, is a period of abstinence and repentance.

Forty days, where the basic rule is that if it's fun, it's probably not allowed.

Carnival originated, at least in part, as a reaction to the meagre forty days, when meat, wine, cakes, and rich foods in general were off the menu.

Hence, we have the fat week leading up to Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent.

Shrove Tuesday is the last day of the carnival — Mardi Gras for the French inclined, martedi grasso in Italy, both meaning Fat Tuesday — but the preceding Thursday was also an important feast.

In Venice, this was the Feast of Giovedì Grasso, which was celebrated in grand style in the Piazzetta, the smaller part of Piazza San Marco near the two columns.

#1500s #1600s #1700s #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://venetianstories.com/venetian-story/beheading-bulls/

Beheading bulls

Lent, leading up to Easter, is a period of abstinence and repentance.

Forty days, where the basic rule is that if it's fun, it's probably not allowed.

Carnival originated, at least in part, as a reaction to the meagre forty days, when meat, wine, cakes, and rich foods in general were off the menu.

Hence, we have the fat week leading up to Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent.

Shrove Tuesday is the last day of the carnival — Mardi Gras for the French inclined, martedi grasso in Italy, both meaning Fat Tuesday — but the preceding Thursday was also an important feast.

In Venice, this was the Feast of Giovedì Grasso, which was celebrated in grand style in the Piazzetta, the smaller part of Piazza San Marco near the two columns.

#1500s #1600s #1700s #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://venetianstories.com/venetian-story/beheading-bulls/

Coniatore di Moneta — Minter of Coins — Grevembroch 2-162

This painting depicts a Venetian moneyer, working in the Zecca of the Republic of Venice, in the process of hammering out a coin.

As a merchant nation, stable and sufficient coinage was an essential interest of the Republic of Venice, and the production of coins of gold, silver and copper was high regulated.

The Venetian mint was managed by magistrates, who were initially appointed by the Council of Ten, and later directly by the Venetian Senate.

#Coinage #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/translation/coniatore-di-moneta-minter-of-coins-grevembroch-2-162/

Coniatore di Moneta — Minter of Coins — Grevembroch 2-162

This painting depicts a Venetian moneyer, working in the Zecca of the Republic of Venice, in the process of hammering out a coin.

As a merchant nation, stable and sufficient coinage was an essential interest of the Republic of Venice, and the production of coins of gold, silver and copper was high regulated.

The Venetian mint was managed by magistrates, who were initially appointed by the Council of Ten, and later directly by the Venetian Senate.

#Coinage #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/translation/coniatore-di-moneta-minter-of-coins-grevembroch-2-162/

Le Arti che vanno per via (1753) — Gaetano Zompini

Gaetano Zompini (1700–1778) was a well-known painter and engraver in Venice in the 1700s. His works appear in many churches and museums, not just in Venice, but around Italy and Europe.

Today, however, he is better known for the Le Arti che vanno per via nella Città di Venezia — The trades on the streets of the city of Venice — first published in 1753, and later reprinted and republished in several editions.

The book contains a series of sixty engravings, made in the 1740s and 1750s, which show the craftsmen, workers and street vendors habitually seen in the campi and calli of Venice.

#CommonPeople #Crafts #Engravings #Trades #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/article/sources-and-publications/gaetano-zompini-and-the-trades-of-venice/

Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare — Sansovino

Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare (1581), by Francesco Sansovino, is one of the best known early modern descriptions of Venice, for an Italian and foreign public.

The full title is Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare, descritta in 14. libri da M. Francesco Sansouino. Nella quale si contengono tutte le guerre passate, con l'attioni illustri di molti senatori. Le vite dei principi, & gli scrittori veneti del tempo loro. Le chiese, fabriche, edifici, & palazzi publichi, & privati. Le leggi, gli ordini, & gli usi antichi & moderni, con altre cose appresso notabili, & degne di memoria.

#histodons #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/article/sources-and-publications/venetia-citta-nobilissima-et-singolare-sansovino/

Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare — Sansovino

Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare (1581), by Francesco Sansovino, is one of the best known early modern descriptions of Venice, for an Italian and foreign public.

The full title is Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare, descritta in 14. libri da M. Francesco Sansouino. Nella quale si contengono tutte le guerre passate, con l'attioni illustri di molti senatori. Le vite dei principi, & gli scrittori veneti del tempo loro. Le chiese, fabriche, edifici, & palazzi publichi, & privati. Le leggi, gli ordini, & gli usi antichi & moderni, con altre cose appresso notabili, & degne di memoria.

#histodons #Venezia #Venice

Read more here: https://historywalksvenice.com/article/sources-and-publications/venetia-citta-nobilissima-et-singolare-sansovino/