As Carnevale starts its celebrations, a special mention goes to Stefano Nicolao, whose atelier for years has designed some of the most stunning costumes, including the one worn every year by "the flying angel" at the grand opening in Piazza San Marco. Although Carnevale 2019 celebration in Venice starts on February 16, the official opening is scheduled on Sunday, February 24. That’s when, according to a tradition that traces back to the mid 16th century, a young woman in a sp

A talented restorer, Simona Iacovazzi is always been one of those privileged human beings whose job is definitely about art and beauty. Extremely passionate and meticulous, these people usually spend most of their workday on a scaffolding or in a lab, cleaning, remedying cracks and trying to bring back to light colorful artworks that time forgot. In 2008, from her vibrant Apulia, Simona had come to Venice in order to work on one of these restoration projects, that sometimes s

Most recently it’s been in the spotlight as part of the Gran Caffe’ Quadri restoration project: some walls of the historical bar and restaurant in Piazza San Marco are now beautifully covered with its brocatelle, creatively reinterpreted by Philippe Starck. We are talking about Tessitura Bevilacqua, a company that, starting from 1875, has been practicing in Venice the art of weaving on original 18th-century looms. Starck, who ironically introduced contemporary elements to the

Right in the heart of Dorsoduro, a few minutes from the Galleria dell’Accademia, there’s a small workshop that might go unnoticed by the most. Yet, it is a magnificent chest that contains an indefinite number of handmade convex mirrors. These unique objects, that originally had strong allegorical and magical meaning, were believed to ward off the evil eye and the witches curse. Found in people houses around XV and XVI centuries, they later worked as monitors in public spaces