The Garden Of Forking Paths

December 4, 2012

Advertisement for sponges from Venice, Italy, c. 1920s

(this is a larger version of an image posted by Sailors & Mermaids and Adventures of the Blackgang)

(Source: oldarts.info)

8:29pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxYgy5Pe

(Notes: 43)

December 4, 2012

Advertisement for refrigerators from Venice / Mestre, Italy, c. 1920s

(Source: oldarts.info)

8:19pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxYguvKe

(Notes: 35)

Filed under: advertising illustration polar bears Italy Venice 1920s ice refridgerator snow Mestre

November 19, 2012

A bastion fortress hovers menacingly over the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, like some antique game of Space Invaders. From Les Travaux de Mars ou l’Art de la Guerre (The Work of Mars or The Art of War) by Allain Manesson Mallet, 1684

6:02pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxXdQvwH

(Notes: 10)

Filed under: maps illustration fortification Venice books

November 14, 2012

Flooding is not a new problem in Venice. The 13th century artists who made these mosaics of Noah & the Great Flood in the Portico of San Marco might have had first-hand experience.

3:59pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxXHGg6B

(Notes: 83)

Filed under: Venice flood mosaic art 13th Century San Marco Noah dove raven

November 14, 2012

I stack piles of books on chairs and other surfaces, and my house isn’t even flooded.

booksnbuildings:

Libreria Acqua Alta is a bookshop in Venice.

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3:36pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxXHAmmb

(Notes: 742)

Filed under: Venice flood books

November 14, 2012

While the city of Venice fights a battle against the sea, the Venetian lagoon fights a different battle with invasive algae. This map by Christopher Christophi shows algae growth around the islands of the lagoon, 2011

(Source: futuresplus.net)

3:28pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxXH8kBQ

(Notes: 3,315)

Filed under: maps cartography Venice lagoon algae environment

November 14, 2012

An exceptionally high tide (or acqua alta) on Sunday inundated %70 of the city of Venice. While the entire city struggles against subsidence, some areas are more at risk than others. This map, prepared by Virginia W. Mason and National Geographic Society, shows the areas of the city most at risk, 2009

3:15pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxXH5laE

(Notes: 39)

Filed under: maps cartography Venice flood acqua alta

November 4, 2012

A copy of the Fra Mauro map (c. 1450) made by William Frazer, 1804

(Source: bl.uk)

8:46pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxWdnEpW

(Notes: 48)

Filed under: maps cartography Fra Mauro William Frazer mappamundi world medieval 1450 1804 Venice Paradise

November 4, 2012

An illuminated map of Venice in two panels, from the great Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation) presented to Sultan Süleyman by Piri Reis, 1525

(Source: Flickr / medmss)

8:02pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-YkmxWdaKKb

(Notes: 22)

Filed under: maps cartography Piri Reis Ottoman Turkish medieval illuminated Venice Venezia

March 13, 2012

Venice is the original floating city. Founded as a swamp refuge during the barbarian invasions of the 400-500s, the city grew on maritime trade of luxury goods between Asia and Europe. Venice began a slow decline after the opening of a direct route to the spice islands around the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese in 1499. Today it is more a museum than a living city, with a population of 60,000 swarmed by a throng of two million tourists a year.