Meeting Benches World art in all forms
Where every step is a new vision, a new shade of beauty
Meeting Benches serves as a virtual meeting place and source of inspiration for travelers, artists, thinkers and dreamers from around the world. Created by artist Dastilige Nevante, the website celebrates the importance of benches as meeting spaces where stories and thoughts can be shared. Meeting Benches hosts content of painting, poetry and music, travel stories and experiences that, through the eyes of artists and travelers, allow visitors to explore fascinating destinations. Creating an atmosphere of sharing and inspiration, digital images created by Dastilige Nevante invite visitors to sit, reflect and share stories of boundless creativity. Welcome to the places of the mind where one can write, read and travel in the beauty of his authorial travels.
Beauty, a complex and multifaceted concept that has fascinated philosophers, artists and thinkers for centuries, can be seen as an intrinsic quality of an object or an individual perception. Plato considered beauty as an ideal entity. Immanuel Kant perceived it as an experience linked to aesthetic pleasure. Beauty can manifest itself both in nature and in art: a breathtaking landscape or a work of art, therefore, can both evoke a sense of wonder. In addition to external appearance, beauty can refer to moral and spiritual qualities, such as kindness and integrity represented by the little ermine that Leonardo da Vinci painted in the arms of a young model. The perception of beauty is influenced by culture and historical context, has the power to evoke deep emotions and can inspire us to transform the way we see the world. Of that concept, still today the object of reflection and debate, we want to explore a specific aspect with you: the awareness we have of it.
He died in the spring of 1770 in Madrid, but was born on the threshold of another spring, that of 1696, in Venice. His ability to create dynamic and luminous compositions made him one of the most important artists of the Rococo era. An Italian painter and engraver, Giambattista Tiepolo married a woman born into a family of Venetian artists; that connection Maria Cecilia Guardi helped him to excel among the fresco artists of his time. Having worked in several European noble residences, to appreciate the most famous works you should plan a trip that includes the frescoes of the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Würzburg Residence, in Germany. In Italy, with epic themes inspired by the Iliad and the Odyssey, he frescoed Villa Valmarana ai Nani and Villa Cordellina Lombardi. At Villa Tiepolo Passi, built by the Tiepolo family, you can admire frescoes that tell the story of that family. For an unforgettable experience, you can take a Cruise on the Brenta River, a true author’s journey that includes Villa Pisani, the most famous Venetian villa in the world. Built by the Pisani family as an ideal extension of the Grand Canal, it welcomed doges, kings and emperors in its rooms. When you walk through its rooms, which preserve the glory of the Pisani family, on the ceiling of the ballroom you can admire a masterpiece.
Along the Brenta River, from March to October you can enjoy a unique experience of art, history and nature. In these months the climate is generally mild and pleasant, ideal for enjoying the landscape and visiting the historic villas along the river. Early autumn, with its shades of color that add a special charm to the landscape, could also be a great choice. These are cruises that include guided visits to the villas, lunches on board and the possibility of enjoying the landscape from the panoramic deck. They will offer you a truly enchanting way to get to Villa Pisani, famous for the magnificent fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo in the ballroom. To book a cruise on the Brenta you will have to choose a shipping company; by visiting the “Il Burchiello” website, you will discover that it offers daily cruises with guided visits to the villas. You can book online, so all you have to do is select the date, type of cruise and number of participants. Make sure you arrive on time at the embarkation point and bring everything you need for a comfortable day. Before arriving at Villa Pisani and the appointment with Tiepolo, the Brenta Park will offer you enchanting landscapes, fishing lakes, educational farms, agritourisms, historic villas and monasteries. You will even discover the existence of a cycle path, the Ciclovia del Brenta, with wetlands that host a rich biodiversity, banks characterized by woods and meadows that offer habitat to many animal and plant species.
During your Brenta cruise, you may want to listen to your own soundtrack that includes music by Antonio Vivaldi and Domenico Scarlatti; it may help set the mood for your arrival at Villa Pisani. There is no direct evidence that a specific composer influenced the Tiepolo era, but it is known that the art and music of his time were closely intertwined. Composers such as Antonio Vivaldi, who was active in Venice during the same period, certainly contributed to the cultural atmosphere that influenced the artists of the time. The liveliness and dynamism of Tiepolo’s works, therefore, reflects the energy and complexity of the Baroque music that graced his days. Painted between 1760 and 1762, Giambattista Tiepolo’s fresco in the ballroom of Villa Pisani is considered one of the largest frescoes he painted for a private residence. A perfect example of his airy and luminous style, it is characterized by soft colors and a fictitious spatiality, with figures floating on pink clouds in an infinite sky, “The Apotheosis of the Pisani Family” celebrates not only the glory of a family, but of an entire era.
Inside this villa, just below the fresco by Giacomo Tintoretto, there is a specific aspect of Giacomo Casanova‘s life that might interest you. Close your eyes and imagine: you will feel the presence of that Venetian adventurer who led a life full of intrigue, romance and adventure. He might confide in you that Venice has had famous poetesses, such as Veronica Franco, known for her beauty, intelligence and literary skill. “She wrote poems and letters that reflected her life and experiences as an honest courtesan,” he might add, reading you Sonnet XIV. “Love, if any favor I return to you yet, think not that it is in your power. Feel the dawn of tomorrow; let not the hour carry you too far. Let today be enough for you, for through my window I have seen it rise.”
Leaving the villa among original architecture and citrus trees, greenhouses and flowers, you will have a new vision and a new beauty. Yet, it is only by walking in the labyrinth, just as if you were reading a poem that Dastilige Nevante left you, that you can experience the same apotheosis of beauty that Tiepolo immortalized on the ceiling of a ballroom. “APHOTHEOSIS OF AWARENESS – To merge here, where time dissolves, as if it were the heart of the universe. United in an embrace, pure essence that transcends every barrier, as a sublime apotheosis.”
