DOI Heft:
No. 18 (September, 1894)
DOI Artikel:Richards, Frank: Letters from artists to artists, [10], Venice as a sketching-ground
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17190#0197
Sketching Grounds.—No. X. Venice
that you have good money given in return, as it is
quite a common occurrence to have handed to you
old coins and money of various countries that are
impossible to get rid of again. Some of the waiters
at the cafes are quite experts at this sort of thing;
IN A CAFiS—WAITING
at the tobacco-shops, also, they repeatedly tried
the same trick of " forgetting " to give us all the
change—generally mistaking a ten lira note for a
five. The mistake is always to their advantage.,
strange to say, and happens every day, so it is worth
while to be prepared.
The flower-girls who ply their daily business in
the Piazza San Marco are a great nuisance, and if
you once take any notice of them by allowing
them to fix the flower upon your coat, or by
accepting it and paying them, they will pester you
every day, and will all of them make a mark of you
in spite of your protestations, and decline to take
" no " for an answer. If you wear a flower that is
half a day old, they will often take it out of your
coat and fix in another by sheer force. So if you
want to work in the square of St. Mark's, by no
means take any notice of "flower vendors."
There is one thing very important that is well
worth mentioning—that is, the danger incurred by
sitting on the marble seats and steps in St. Mark's
and in the square when painting; always be pro-
vided with either a sketching stool or piece of
square leather that can be folded up and easily
carried in pocket. I can speak from experience :
it is equally unsafe at any time of the year.
It is the easiest thing in the world to get an
internal chill in a very short space of time, pro-
bably terminating in a dangerous illness ; and the
inconvenience one has to put up with abroad during
sickness is something to steer clear of.
With reference to a sketch of myself, my fellow-
traveller made, which is here reproduced, let me
advise you not to wear knee-breeches in Venice if
you want to do any work, for the natives stare at
them and pass such remarks, that to the nervous
man it would prove fatal. More than once, a whole
school procession would halt, right about face,
and stare at a pair of British legs moving innocently
and harmlessly about their business.
Venice is a good place for a holiday, there is
quite enough amusement in the evenings to give
one a good appetite for work the following day.
The best hotels are reasonable, and things in
general are cheap; tobacco is bad, baths are rare,
A WATER CARRIER
dentists won't rush you more than they can help,
nor will the other folk one comes in contact with;
but beware of the mosquitoes.—Yours very truly,
Frank Richards.
The illustrations to the above are mostly from
water-colour drawings by Mr. Frank Richards—
some of which will be seen in a forthcoming " one
man" exhibition of his work at Dowdes well's Gailery.
179
that you have good money given in return, as it is
quite a common occurrence to have handed to you
old coins and money of various countries that are
impossible to get rid of again. Some of the waiters
at the cafes are quite experts at this sort of thing;
IN A CAFiS—WAITING
at the tobacco-shops, also, they repeatedly tried
the same trick of " forgetting " to give us all the
change—generally mistaking a ten lira note for a
five. The mistake is always to their advantage.,
strange to say, and happens every day, so it is worth
while to be prepared.
The flower-girls who ply their daily business in
the Piazza San Marco are a great nuisance, and if
you once take any notice of them by allowing
them to fix the flower upon your coat, or by
accepting it and paying them, they will pester you
every day, and will all of them make a mark of you
in spite of your protestations, and decline to take
" no " for an answer. If you wear a flower that is
half a day old, they will often take it out of your
coat and fix in another by sheer force. So if you
want to work in the square of St. Mark's, by no
means take any notice of "flower vendors."
There is one thing very important that is well
worth mentioning—that is, the danger incurred by
sitting on the marble seats and steps in St. Mark's
and in the square when painting; always be pro-
vided with either a sketching stool or piece of
square leather that can be folded up and easily
carried in pocket. I can speak from experience :
it is equally unsafe at any time of the year.
It is the easiest thing in the world to get an
internal chill in a very short space of time, pro-
bably terminating in a dangerous illness ; and the
inconvenience one has to put up with abroad during
sickness is something to steer clear of.
With reference to a sketch of myself, my fellow-
traveller made, which is here reproduced, let me
advise you not to wear knee-breeches in Venice if
you want to do any work, for the natives stare at
them and pass such remarks, that to the nervous
man it would prove fatal. More than once, a whole
school procession would halt, right about face,
and stare at a pair of British legs moving innocently
and harmlessly about their business.
Venice is a good place for a holiday, there is
quite enough amusement in the evenings to give
one a good appetite for work the following day.
The best hotels are reasonable, and things in
general are cheap; tobacco is bad, baths are rare,
A WATER CARRIER
dentists won't rush you more than they can help,
nor will the other folk one comes in contact with;
but beware of the mosquitoes.—Yours very truly,
Frank Richards.
The illustrations to the above are mostly from
water-colour drawings by Mr. Frank Richards—
some of which will be seen in a forthcoming " one
man" exhibition of his work at Dowdes well's Gailery.
179