Pavimenti a Venezia / The Floors of Venice (English and Italian Edition)

The floors of Venice - in palaces, churches, courtyards - are magical and wondrous. No one is like another, and like the waters of Venice, they reflect the surrounding space, giving a sense of fluctuating atmosphere to everything around. There are several kinds of pavements. The oldest ones are external and made by bricks in traditional patterns, framed by white Istrian stone. They may also be made with 'masegni', the typical grey Venetian slates. In the ancient churches there are mostly mosaic floors which are true carpets of thousands of small coloured and precious tiles in geometrical and animal design as the figures to be found in Torcello, Murano, and Saint Mark's church. In palaces the floors are often made by the sinuous terrazzo alla veneziana, made in plaster, lime and chips of marble and stone. Their design often repeats the heraldic motifs and the flower elements found in the ceiling decorations. Their suppleness perfectly adapts to the ever moving structure of the Venetian building. The entrance hall and the lobbies in polychrome marble allow the visitors to feel that they are walking over an ever-changing and endless perspective. This is a book devoted to an ancient tradition which still exists and survives thanks to the skillful craftsmen that pass their old secrets on from father to son...