Photo Hunt - Surprise

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "surprise".  This was a tough one at first - and then I remembered a statue from the Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice. It is located in Peggy Guggenheim's former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal in Venice. The museum was inaugurated in 1980 and presents Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection of 20th century art, masterpieces from the Gianni Mattioli Collection, the Nasher Sculpture Garden, as well as temporary exhibitions.

We first noticed the statue as we cruised by on the Grand Canal. The rider sits astride his horse, arms wide open, taking in the stunning glory of Venice. It is when you get up closer that you notice the 'surprise':

It is perhaps the museums most famous (or notorious) exhibit. The 1948 bronze is called "The Angel of the City" and was cast by by Marino Marini. It is rumoured that this nude and clearly excited horse rider was originally possessed of a screw-in penis so that it could be removed in order to avoid offending passing VIPs. So many of the bronze phalluses were stolen (although this may be an urban myth), that the current member has been welded to the Angel's body.

Mom was most amused by the statue and insisted upon having her picture taken whilst standing next to it - much to our embarrassment!

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

 

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "surprise".  This was a tough one at first - and then I remembered a statue from the Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice. It is located in Peggy Guggenheim's former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal in Venice. The museum was inaugurated in 1980 and presents Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection of 20th century art, masterpieces from the Gianni Mattioli Collection, the Nasher Sculpture Garden, as well as temporary exhibitions.

We first noticed the statue as we cruised by on the Grand Canal. The rider sits astride his horse, arms wide open, taking in the stunning glory of Venice. It is when you get up closer that you notice the 'surprise':

It is perhaps the museums most famous (or notorious) exhibit. The 1948 bronze is called "The Angel of the City" and was cast by by Marino Marini. It is rumoured that this nude and clearly excited horse rider was originally possessed of a screw-in penis so that it could be removed in order to avoid offending passing VIPs. So many of the bronze phalluses were stolen (although this may be an urban myth), that the current member has been welded to the Angel's body.

Mom was most amused by the statue and insisted upon having her picture taken whilst standing next to it - much to our embarrassment!

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

 

Comments

[Annie]

Excellent choice! I too was surprised the first time I saw this exuberant "angel." Love the photo of your Mom.

[sandi @ the whistlestop cafe]

Woah! What a surprise.
Your wicked searchers are going to love some of these phrases.

[Eden]

Great choice, Jerry! I love your Mom already! :)

[Cindy Ruth]

That's so funny. I'm sure that was quite a surprise.

[Candi]

Funny surprise! Great for the theme!

[JDeQ]

No doubt Annie.

Oh oh - I hadn't thought about THEM Sandi! ARGH

LOL @ Eden!

You have no idea Cindy. mind you, I think mom's reaction was more of a surprise to us!

Thanks for popping by on photo hunt Saturday!

[girasoli]

Wow, that sure is a surprising statue! It began as a screw in?? Great choice for this week's theme!!

[Palma]

Well, that was the perfect choice!

[Kathy (Trekcapri)]

Hi Jerry, LOL! I'm almost speechless! :) Great choice for this week's theme. I'm with Eden and the others. I like your mom! Love that photo of her.

[JDeQ]

So they say girasoli - there was no way I was getting close enough to investigate!

LOL @ Palma

Thanks Kathy - perhaps I should have saved this for a future 'speechless' theme! *smile*