We took three water taxis out to Murano for glassblowing and shopping. A lot of people bought a lot of stuff. Most of it would be shipped to them, but quite a lot of wives were spending sales bonuses, I could tell. We got back just after noon and I was able to hop over to Giudecca and eat with Mamma before coming back to meet the Houstons.
What a lovely couple. I took them around San Marco, to the Rialto, the Frari church and Scuola San Rocco, over to Dorsoduro to the Zattere and Santa Maria Delle Salute and back over the Accademia bridge to do some shopping. She wanted to buy some Murano glass jewelry so I brought her into my new favorite shop and pointed her at a bunch of things in the team colors (which happen to be my favorite colors) in case she wanted to show team spirit. There was one piece that I joked I would fight her for, just a long single strand, but really elegant looking. She bought it. I bought a pair of earrings too. I told the that if there was something they wanted them to string together in custom colors or pattern they could have it in a few hours. I don't get commission from these people, I just like their prices and customer service. She wanted to have them make a few sets of earrings as gifts to take home so she consulted with Gianna and I stepped outside to find a sandwich for Frederick. The man needs to keep up his caloric intake you know.
The Mrs came out and told us she would go back in the morning to pick things up and I walked them back to the hotel. I needed to be on my way and they thanked me profusely. No problem! I was on my way to a Sunday Salon (say it with the French accent s'il vous plaît) at the Professor's house.
Jeremy is a British ex-pat who has been living in Venice for over thirty years. He comes into the bar at the Europa late in the evening with his little dog Tobiya, who sits on his lap and eats cookies. I find him tremendously interesting, and the dog is adorable. I first met Jeremy in 2005 and our friendship led me to being able to housesit at the house of another professor last year, the place in the San Sebastiano neighborhood around the corner from where I am now. Jeremy teaches literature at University Ca' Foscari here and has been used as a fixer for location shoots for documentaries and films shot here for decades, with credits to his name. We share a love for old British comedic stories from P.G. Wodehouse, Donald Jack and Noel Coward.
Every Sunday afternoon Jeremy holds a salon in his home, where anyone is free to drop in from 5 to 7. It used to be only talking about books, but has developed into a lending library of books, VCR tapes and DVDs. Tea and biscuits, some chatting about what everyone who regularly attends is up to. It's quite a scene. Most of the people who show are other ex-pats or long time vacationers in the city like me but occasionally a student will come to check out a DVD. Jeremy has been on my case to come for years and I don't know why I never have before.
I was there to see a painting of his, The Samian Sibyl, byGuercino, a nickname given to the painter Giovanni Barbieri, the name literally meaning “the squinter.” He had painted four versions of this portrait in the early 1650's, each named for a different Arabic region with different colors in the man's robes. Each painting was owned by someone noteworthy: one was owned by the Medici family and is still in the collecton at the Pitti Palace, another was acquired by King George III of England, another has always been in a private family's holdings somewhere in Italy, and this one was purchased by Lord Byron when he lived here in Venice in the early 1800s and later owned by the Count of Uray – wherever that is. Jeremy purchased this painting at auction from Sotheby's in 2007 for a steal. Somebody was not paying attention that it's provenance included Byron.
But the interesting part of this story is that an image this particular painting is currently being used as a Amazon.com Kindle screensaver. Someone had brought it to Jeremy's attention a few months ago, but since he's never seen a Kindle and doesn't own a computer (isn't that quaint?) he has no idea if it is one and the same. I told him a few days earlier that I would bring over my Kindle and show him, as well as my computer to show him the Amazon list of screensavers. He is wondering how they are using it without having his permission, as the owner of record.
I brought along the electronics and we all had a look. It is definitely Jeremy's painting. I told him I would ask my friend Luke, who used to work for the Kindle group, if he could shoot an email off to the screensaving folks or somebody in charge just to inquire about the rights and stuff like that there. I have no idea if anything will come about. Jeremy isn't necessarily looking for any recompense, he's would be happy with a name or owner's credit.
I feel like a sleuth on a mission. But even super sleuths have to eat. I went to Francesco's restaurant afterward. I needed a lasagne fix.
I was welcomed warmly as usual and was seated next to a woman and three young boys. After a few glances I could see she was a well known actress. The boys were all pretty rambunctious and she was trying to finish a phone call so I diverted their attention for a few minutes. She thanked me and we chatted. I engaged the boys in conversation and entertained them so she could eat and get the little one to eat. I asked her if she was here on vacation or if she was filming nearby. It was the latter. She's filming in Verona. She had no airs about her, just a mom out with the kids.
We continued chatting and left at the same time so I showed her to the vaporetto. The boys were still a bit wild and she got frazzled when we got aboard, realizing she didn't really remember the way to her hotel. She was looking for coins for the tickets and I asked if I could help. She told me the name of the hotel and I said I'd show her, I know a shortcut. I told the boatman that she was just crossing to the other side of the canal, could he just charge her the ferrying price (most people don't know about this.) He recognized her, got wide-eyed and said “no problem no problem.”
I kept the kids entertained again as we walked to her hotel. She had mentioned that the nanny was with the kids all day while she went to Verona to film, so I told her that if wanted, I could show the kids around with the nanny on Monday afternoon, or I was free all day Tuesday before I headed back. I gave her a card with my number and told her to have the nanny call me. I didn't want to presume that she would be around. She thanked me profusely and told me Monday was a great idea and since the kids were coming to the set on Tuesday, I would be welcome to join them if I wanted to. Whoo boy. That could be very interesting. We arrived at her hotel and she promised to call me tomorrow with a time to meet with the kids. Okay.
A very nice woman. Famous or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment