THE MYTHS OF VENICE with Sylvia Sagona

This alluring city of angels, rising out of the waters and hovering on the border between East and West wove miraculous legends about herself, and played them out in extravagant masked pageants which drew tourist crowds from the Middle Ages onwards. Her painters and poets alike celebrated the myth of Venezia, which successfully blended the contradictory stories of Venus rising from the sea with the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.

SYLVIA SAGONA is an internationally recognised specialist on 19th century French society. She retired from the French Department at The University of Melbourne to work on historical documentaries for French and Australian television and is currently researching a book on the invention of the restaurant in Paris in the 18th century.

Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal), (Italy,1697 – 1768), The Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day, 1732, The Royal CollectionEngland, RCIN 404417