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Photos of Burano, Venice’s colourful Island
As the Venice Vaporetto water bus to Burano travels across the Venetian lagoon it passes Venice’s cemetery island and then the glass making island of Murano. As The grand Palaces and high campanile of Venice recede into the distance the 2 islands of Burano and Torcello appear ahead in the lagoon.
Torcello was the first inhabited Island in the Lagoon along with Burano but the water fresh water from the River Po around these island allowed mosquitoes to breed in great numbers. Malaria spread by the mosquitos eventually drove the early settlers away from these islands to build Venice on the Riva Alto where the salt water kept the mosquitos at bay.
Torcello is still almost deserted apart from the medieval church and campanile at its centre and the Locanda Cipriani Restaurant, which used to be a Cipriani guesthouse and became a literary legend after Ernest Hemingway wrote ‘Across the River and Through the Trees’ during his stay there.
Burano became the home of the Venetian lace industry . Devoid of any of the great palaces of Venice the houses of Burano are simple square workers homes lining a few canals that criss cross the small island. Burano is not a dull place though. It is as if its inhabitants have all been struck by colour blindness. A tradition of painting the houses in Burano in high primary colours is epidemic. Every colour of the rainbow is used and clashing colours are the fashion. The dancing colour of the reflections in the canal spread joy and happiness to residents and visitors alike.
Burano may lack the grand architecture of Venice but it more than makes up for this with its vivid coloured houses that burn their way into your memory and make any visit an unforgettable experience.
Free eBook of Burano Photos
JANUARY 2011 – LEAD ARTICLE
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It is very tempting to asume that licensing Microstock photos from $1 each is a gift to any marketing Brand managers budget. At $1 you cannot loose financially but when you start looking at who else is using the same photo you start to see that usage conflicts could cost your Brand, or Products, image much much more than any financial saving you make.
Microstock photos are Royalty Free and therefore come without a usage history . So is there a way to find out who is using a Microstock photo you want to license on line and for what?
New free photo recognition browser plugins give you information about who else is using photos you find on the web such as in Google image searches, in photo library searches or even on your own web site or anyone elses web site. You can also find out if and who to license photos from that you find on the web.
We test drive 2 free plugins and come up with results from a couple of iStockphoto images that are a warning to any Brand Manager or picture buyer.
[READ ARTICLE]
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How photo recognition browser plugins can help protect your brand image.
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The Palatine Chapel Palermo – Middle Age High Art From The Normans
Until recently the centuries between the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance have been viewed as a period of low culture. Now historians and archaeologists are evaluating again the period called the Dark or Middle ages.
The effect the Normans had on European culture was far greater than their war mongering image suggests. Masterpieces like the interior of the Palatine Chapel in the Norman Palace of Palermo demonstrates the Normans love of high bombastic art. Wherever the Normans Conquered great works of Architecture and art were started. The Normans encouraged the church to build the great churches & monasteries of Northern Europe. When they conquered areas of Southern Italy and Sicily great architectural and high art projects were commissioned that paved the way for the Renaissance.
The art of the Palatine Chapel shows that The Norman Kings were politicians of great skill. The style of the art and its iconography would have pleased Roman Catholic Christians and the Christians of the Orthodox church of Byzantium. In this way the Normans could trade with both without conflict.
The Normans did not create great Empires but married into the local noble families of the lands they conquered and in that way became part of countries they conquered.
To find out more about the Normans and the Palatine Palace we have written the story of the chapel with photos of its incredible interiors.
Other Norman Sicilian Church Interiors
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