City Views, Italy, Venice, San Marco

"Venise Et Ses Souvenirs"
Palais des doges de Venise, Vue de la place Saint Marc"

Wood engraving dated 1860.

Original antique print 

Below the image and on the reverse
side is a long poem by Ancelot about Venice.

Image: 12 x 13.5 cm (4.7 x 5.3")

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VENICE AND ITS MEMORIES".
the alais of the Doges of Venice, goes from Piazza San Marco. Drawing by M. A. de Bar, from a recent photograph
On the sleepy waves of this calm sea, Upright, like a vessel on its motionless anchor, Here is Venice!... Come on! of these thousand channels. Which, like a long serpent unrolling its coils, Crawl through the city, whose limpid waves Come with love to kiss the damp feet, Let the black gondola brush the bends, While my thoughts, evoking the old days, On the river years, with faithful memories, Will rush light and fast like her.
(1) We find these remarkable verses by M. Ancelot in the report of a meeting of the French Academy, already several years old. They are still so topical, particularly in their conclusion, that we cannot comment better on the beautiful view of the palace of Saint-Marc, drawn here by M. de Bar.
JULY 1860,
(Editor's note.
What is this verdant curtain on the horizon? It is the beloved refuge of the fisherman, the Lido! Here is the vast beach and the fresh meadows Where Byron's gloomy reveries ran, Then, the old arsenal where the irons were forged Whose haughty Venice enveloped the seas: Twice silent witnesses of an expired glory, The lions who watched over the gates of Piraeus Seem here to weep, squatting on the threshold, A double splendor, followed by a double mourning
How many dazzling names, with their faded splendour, Have left an indelible mark on these walls! Balbi, Mocenigo, Lorédan, Foscari!... And who would not salute with a tender gaze The Gothic window where Desdemona seated Dreamed, in the evening, in the fragrant breath of the breeze, 40 TWENTY-SEVENTH VOLUME.. -