SAN MARCO’S CAMPONILE

Venice, Italy

San Marco's Campanile is the bell tower of San Marco's Basilica in Venice, located in the square (piazza) of the same name. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city. The tower is 323 feet tall, and stands alone in a corner of San Marco's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a plain brick square shaft, 39 feet wide on each side and 160 feet tall, above which is the arched belfry, housing five bells. The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show walking lions and the female representation of Venice. The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel. The campanile reached its present form in 1514. As it stands today, however, the tower is a reconstruction, completed in 1912 after a collapse in 1902.

Venice was the beginning port of our 2008 Mediterranean cruise. We toured the city by boat, by foot and by gondola. The city is brimming with history, but it is also challenged by the rising seas, which regularly flood the piazza with two to three feet of water, necessitating elevated board walks for residents to pass through the city. The sketch was done standing, with my back to the canal. With the big crowds, I was watchful for pickpockets. My son knew where I was, and got stuck paying $100 for a boat ride trying to meet up with me. But we never connected. From photographs we each took, we later realized that he had walked right by where I was working. We met up later on the cruise liner.