Longing for the Unique

Venice is a city capable of evoking numerous thoughts and emotions. Each traveler that stumbles upon this city possesses a preconceived idea about what the culture and experiences of Venice will entail. Venice is a unique place. The culture, the construction of the city, the priceless artwork, the beautiful churches, and many other factors can be found in no other city in the world. Travelers flock to the city with the desire to live out one of the well-known myths of the city. Some people may travel to Venice to fulfill their longing to experience history or the arts while others may come for liberation, but any way it is looked at, the base component is the yearning to experience the unique.

One of the most common myths of Venice is the idea that Venice freezes the past. One of the most attractive attributes of the city to tourists, guide books, and the media is its ability to preserve the historical aspects of its government, architecture, and construction in general. While the city continues on in modern days, it thrives on both the preservation of the past and on its ability to decay in a beautiful manner. The tourism industry focuses on the old, and the architecture itself (even when remodeled), represents a mixture of distinguishable architectural styles from past centuries. Every calle in Venice incorporates aspects of Gothic and Renaissance architecture, and a person does not need to walk too far in order to stumble upon Baroque, Byzantine, or Palladian architecture. Part of this of course is the city’s inability to logistically support sky scrapers, but that is not the only reason the city refrains from modernizing the construction. It also refuses to modernize in order to allow the decline of the city to portray an image of frailty and helplessness, similar to that of a damsel in distress. Byron explains the beauty found in this fragility in his work With Byron in Italy. He writes, “Perchance even dearer in her day of woe / Than when she was a boast, a marvel, and a show” (With Byron in Italy, 64).

Perhaps the traveler is not passionate about the history Venice represents. Maybe skyscrapers, roads, or artistic expression are more enticing. Whether it be Lord Byron, Shelley, Titian, Tintoretto, or Vivaldi, the tourist can find the essence of the arts within the Venetian culture. It is possible to saunter into the Frari and locate a piece of art by Bellini, or to walk into the Academia and see the priceless Vitruvian Man by Leonardo DaVinci. It is not the collection of artwork in itself that creates the artistic culture in Venice. The longing can be correlated with the inspiration that arose from the beauty and uniqueness of Venice. Many have said the famous quote, “see Venice and die”. Many artists have found their passion within this city and have felt that they have achieved everything there is in life by expressing themselves here. Many tourists long to uncover the same inspiration, the same beauty, and the same passion that so many others have experienced before them.

Another great myth of Venice is the idea of Venice as a carnival city. Famous for its sexual debauchery, cortisans, and the masturbatory fantasies that it creates, Venice has a reputation for allowing anyone to create a secret identity. It allows people to travel here with the ability to put on a mask, both literally and figuratively. Of course during the week-long Carnival (which used to last much longer), participants of the festivities don masks in order to live out their fantasies while remaining anonymous. In many ways though, a physical mask is not required, and the carnival lasts year round. Casanova, Lord Byron, and Veronica Franco are only three examples of people who took advantage of the sexual liberation provided by Venice, but it is a common practice throughout. Represented not only in art and poetry, but in lifestyles too, Venice is one place on earth where sexuality is not only accepted, but embraced. Veronica Franco publicly writes “I will show you my heart open in my breast, / once you no longer hide yours from me, / and my delight will be to please you” (Poems in Terza Rima lines 46-48). This idea of sexuality may be prevalent in other societies, but the openness and acceptability is a signature feature of Venice. It is a city known as being an escape from reality where people have the ability to let loose and live out their fantasies without repercussions.

Whatever longing the traveler may possess deep within, Venice fulfills those desires in a way that only Venice can. History, art, liberation, among many other things can all be found in the heart of this unique land situated in a lagoon. Whether it is the obvious distinct features such as canals and the lack of cars, or some of the more hidden gems of Venice such as its inspiration and decay, Venice is a city that is longed for by many. This longing comes from uniqueness and the fact that no other place compares to Venice. It is not possible to travel to another similar sized city and have a similar experience. “Venice can be compared only with itself” (Goethe, Italian Journey, 59). Stewart writes that “The silence of the photograph, its promise of visual intimacy at the expense of the other senses (its glossy surface reflecting us back and refusing us penetration), makes the eruption of that narrative, the telling of its story, all the more poignant” (On Longing, 138). This is particularly true for photographs of Venice. A city unique in itself, which writes fascinating narratives that cannot possibly be captured on film, is left to be spoken about by those whom possess these photographs, those whose longings have been fulfilled.