For the winter of 1994  Barbara had rented a house in München-Neubiberg - an experiment and a test whether we could retire in Germany. - I was once again thoroughly tired of the US. The embarracing squabble in Congress about the personal life of a black Supreme Court judge. The harassment I suffered for the first time at work, which I cut off by retiring, all added to my disgust. We left for München after Christmas. At the end of April the owners of the Neubiberg house returned, and we were left floating in the cold, traveling like gypsies across Europe. Easter was fairly late and orthodox Easter four weeks later. We decided to go to Greece and before that drive down to Rome. I wanted to see the Polish Pope once in his full regalia. We visited Jutta in Austria and spent a few days roaming through Venice and another day revisiting Ravenna before reaching Rome. The Pope was unimpressive, the holy hiearchy of bishops, Ratzinger prominently in the background, was frightening. On the way back we stayed in Orvieto and visited the just reopened Capella Brancacci in Florence. Our 1994 Spring visit to Naxos and Greece can be found elsewhere.

Venice

The Venice Lagoon in the eerie, subdued light of an overcast afternnoon in April 94. Santa Maria della Salute in the background, the Doge's palace and St Marc's Square and its tower to the right.

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A load-pram moored at our hotel to move furniture. We found a musty, humid hotel directly behind St. Maros' Square and walked (!) all over town through the maze of narrow lanes, bridges, and canals. Often getting lost or going in circles.

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Reflections under a bridge very close to our hotel and Piazzale San Marco.

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Facade of houses in the western, working district of town..

The boat of a vegetable merchant.

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For the first time I saw the Accademia. Paintings at the transition of styles and times fascinate me especially, and La Tempesta by Giorgione (1506) became the important painting of this visit. It is the first painting in which a nude person is shown without it being a classical Greek hero or God. It precedes by three years Giorgione's La Fête Champêtre (Pastoral Concert, 1509), the painting usually accorded that honor.!

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Cathedral of St. Marco

The copula of the entrance hall to San Marco: The Creation of the World according to Genesis (early 11th cent)

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The quadrature between the main and the side naves. Large parts of San Marco are covered with Byzantine mosaics (11th-12th cent), which because of their golden opulence I had never paid much attention to.

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Main nave and dome above the quadrature.

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Ravenna

San Vitale

I had spent several days in Ravenna in 1953 with Gerhard. Much impressed, this was the first time I returned.

Ravenna, San Vitale: The church was built by the Arian Ostrogoths before 540 AD, the mosaics after 550 AD by Justinian and Theodora, shown here in the choir. This photo is from 1953 when Gerhard and I first saw Ravenna. Then I spent great care and carried and used a tripod to take such photographs. ...

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Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

Eastern Orthodox Phase, late 6th century, after the church had been taken over from the Arians and were reconsecrated by the East-Roman Exiarchs in Justinian's time. Most of the Arian mosaics (Christ as Human not as God) were redone according to the Byzantine Canon.

SS. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Three Kings with their gifts, (556 AD).

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San Apollinare Nuovo, Abraham and Sarah serve the three messengers of God a dish of lamb in milk. "Old Testament Trinity" . Late 6th cent.

Apollinare Nuovo. Church Fathers surrounding Christ represented symbolically by the Elevation of the Cross (like in Georgia)

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The symbol of the Apostle Marcus between the angels who "elevate the cross". Before 540 AD (?)

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Doves and peacocks, probably an early 6th century mosaic.

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Rome

In Rome spring was in full bloom.

A flowering orchid tree. It had become late April.

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Campo di Fiore. We found a cheap hotel on the Campo di Fiore..

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A typical courtyard near the Campo di Fiore with blooming visterias..

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The Trevi Fountain was always surrounded by crowds of young people.

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Campodoglio and the Capitolin Hill..

The Forum Romanum on a spectacular Spring day.

Spanish Steps connecting the Piazza di Spangna with Santa Trinita dei Monte.

San Clemente (2nd and 4th cent AD, 12trh century church restored in the 18th cent). Easter pilgrims and the Byzantine mosaics in the apse.

The courtyard of the German Mission to the Holy See. Barbara hurrying across the yard to get us tickets for the Papal Good Friday service in St. Peter.

St. Peter's Square on Wednesday before Easter.

The renovation of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel had just been finished (except for the Second Coming of Christ mural). This is actually a postcard. Photographing in the Sistina was strictly forbidden.

Orvieto

Cathedral of Orvieto, supposedly the most beautiful Italian Renaissance Fassade.. For 40 years I had wanted to see Orvieto. We stayed overnight in a run-down hotel below the the Cathedral Square.

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Florence

Expressly to see the renovated Capella Brancacci we stopped in Florence for a couple of hours and had lunch al fresco on the bank of the Arno.

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Brancacci Chapel, Massacio, The Tribute, 1426-27, now in a splendor of fabulous colors.