I ordered the book Watermark from an English bookstore for delivery at my studio apartment (monolocale) in calle del DOSE. There seemed to be no English copies of this book in Venice, eventhough it is about Venice and was written in English. Weeks after I received the book, I did find a store with a dozen copies, but they were the American version. No words were changed to protect the innocenti as in the differing Harry Potter publishing houses, but the English version of Watermark is hard cover and has a nice jacket with a detail of a Turner watercolor as its theme. (obviously an intelligent decision, they must have seen my blog!). The front cover shows the interior of a room with a view to the Campanile San Marco through the window. The name of the painting is "The Artist's Bedroom in the Hotel Europa, Venice".
Nice view. My hotel room in Tokyo looked right over the Tokyo tower... this view is much nicer. The thought naturally seems to go to ,'Wouldn't it be cool to get in that room and take a picture of the view?'. It turns out that I was not the first to think that thought. For several weeks I have been thinking about how to approach the Europa to access a room I do not know the number to. And I have corresponded with KdeS...
...shown here in front of her room at the Regina-Europa discussing the possibilities, especially, the fact that it does not seem as though the campanile can be seen from the Europa. Considering that Turner stayed here 150 years ago, and that some buildings to the east may be taller now than they were at that time, etcetera.
I have occasionally searched Turner info on the internet.. It seems that the Europa does not occupy the same building as it did in 1840. It was at the Ca' Giustinian then, just behind San Moise near S.Marco. Turner's windows looked out in one direction towards the Campanile of San Marco to the east. From the top of the building he could look down across the canal to the Dogano and the Salute. He noted on the verso of some of the paintings that he was very excited to be in temporary possession of these views. So, the mystery has been solved a while ago by others.
I have occasionally searched Turner info on the internet.. It seems that the Europa does not occupy the same building as it did in 1840. It was at the Ca' Giustinian then, just behind San Moise near S.Marco. Turner's windows looked out in one direction towards the Campanile of San Marco to the east. From the top of the building he could look down across the canal to the Dogano and the Salute. He noted on the verso of some of the paintings that he was very excited to be in temporary possession of these views. So, the mystery has been solved a while ago by others.
"The Artist's Bedroom in the Hotel Europa, Venice".
Here is the watercolor of his room, showing the ceiling and so forth as well as the Campanile . Another interesting view is this sunrise.
Venice at Sunrise from the Hotel Europa
It is always time for a good excuse to look at Turner's watercolors.
Storm at Venice
A view closer to the Basino...
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