In a photograph I kept long after
our divorce, she is seated, gesturing
to the boyfriend before me, in Italy.
Torcello, I imagine. He has been cut
out. She wears a soft, light, sleeveless dress
that became my favourite. I liked its touch,
how it touched her. She gestures from her wrist,
her forearms upright on the table. Her quick
brown eyes ignore the camera and hint
of something worthy of her smile. I kept it
in a leather box on my dresser and took
it up again every so often. Eventually
I knew enough to give it to our son.
The Vampire Armand Deep Dive: Torcello and Santa Maria Assunta
Remember that scene in TVA where Amadeo goes to Torcello to look at some mosaics and gets sick, and Marius has to pick him up?
“I took a gondola to Torcello and there sought out the great old Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, famous for its mosaics which some said were as splendid in the antique way as the mosaics of San Marco. I crept about under the low arches, looking at the ancient gold Iconosta-sis and the mosaics of the apse. High above, in the back curve of the apse there stood the great Virgin, the Theotokos, the bearer of God. Her face was austere, almost sour. A tear glistened on her left cheek. In her hands she held the infant Jesus, but also a napkin, the token of the Mater Dolorosa.
I understood these images, even as they froze my soul. My head swam and the heat of the island and the quiet Cathedral made me sick in my stomach. But I stayed there. I drifted about the Iconostasis and prayed.
I thought sure no one could find me here. Towards dusk, I became truly sick. I knew I had a fever, but I sought a corner of the church and took comfort in only the cold of the stone floor against my face and my outstretched hands. Before me, if I raised my head I could see the terrifying scenes of the Last Judgment, of souls condemned to Hell. I deserve this pain, I thought.” (The Vampire Armand)
Here’s my breakdown of it from a recent visit, with pictures, some explanations and fun facts, and some pointers if you want to go there yourself.
Armand takes a gondola to Torcello.
First of all, the island of Torcello is here. The best route is taking line 12 from F.te Nove stop A to Burano B, then change to Burano A for the 9 to Torcello.
That’s a 40ish minute boat ride, on a good day without traffic, without stopping and changing at Murano/Burano and with a modern boat. You can do the math how long that would take in 1498 with a normal gondola (way way longer).
On the way to Torcello
When you get there, the Basicila is a five minute walk away from the vaporetto stop. It follows a small canal, and there’s also a Devil’s Bridge (Ponte del Diavolo) on the way, but that came after Armand’s time.
It has a cute legend, but as someone was explaining it, an Italian guy started laughing and said very sarcastically that “eh, they’re always making up stories about these”. Lol. Fair enough.
The old Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
The facade and (old) main entrace, which not in use anymore today.
From the book:
I crept about under the low arches, looking at the ancient gold Iconosta-sis and the mosaics of the apse. High above, in the back curve of the apse there stood the great Virgin, the Theotokos, the bearer of God. Her face was austere, almost sour. A tear glistened on her left cheek. In her hands she held the infant Jesus, but also a napkin, the token of the Mater Dolorosa.
I understood these images, even as they froze my soul. My head swam
and the heat of the island and the quiet Cathedral made me sick in my
stomach. But I stayed there. I drifted about the Iconostasis and prayed.
What he was looking at was this mosaic of Madonna with Child (Hedogetria type). These mosacis of the Torcello Cathedral are the oldest in the area of Venice.
That’s all I could photograph of it before I got yelled at, since they don’t let you take photos. A mild inconvenience but I managed to grab some nonetheless.
Here’s what the audio guide had to say about this mosaic:
The inscription on top reads: “ I am God and Man: images of the Father and the Mother. I am not far from the guilty, but I am close of the repentant.”
The mosaic is from the 13th or 14th century. In the top corners, there are Archangel Michael on the left, and Mary to the right.
The other inscription above the Apostles reads: “Formula virtue, star of the sea, daughter, salvation. Mary and her son, free those who Eve let into sin with her husband.”
The Twelve Apolstles across,with fields of corn pepper in between them, a typical plant of the lagoon. The window to the east “which represents Christ, light of our world”. In the middle under it there is Saint Heliodorus, patron saint of Torcello and first Bishop of Altino, and his throne as well. The ten steps up to it represent the Ten Commandments. There are fields of corn poppies in between the Apostles, which is a common plant of the lagoon.
Continuing on from the book:
I thought sure no one could find me here. Towards dusk, I became
truly sick. I knew I had a fever, but I sought a corner of the church
and took comfort in only the cold of the stone floor against my face and
my outstretched hands. Before me, if I raised my head I could see
terrifying scenes of the Last Judgment, of souls condemned to Hell. I
deserve this pain, I thought.
The Last Judgement is on the wall oposite the Madonna with Child mosaic. It looks like this.
Here’s some more detailed pictures I found.
And here’s the explanation from the audioguide. I recommend you have a look at those pictures of the individual sections while you read this.
“The Last Judgment served as a warning for all followers as they left the church so they would remember while doing their daily duties, the end that awaits all men. About the year 1000 the idea of the end of the cosmos and God’s last judgment undoubtedly became an important example in western figurative art.
The scene is divided into two parts.
Looking above at the first two bands, done in the 12th century, and probably restored, we see the mystery of Christ’s death and his resurrection represented in Byzantine tradition by the descent into Hell.
From the third band on, dating back to the 11th century, various moments from the Judgment are depicted. Starting from above, we see Jesus crucified, with Mary and St John the Evangelist on either side. Blood gushing from Christ’s wounds underline again his human nature. The second scene shows Jesus triumphant over Evil and Death, as he stamps over the Devil and the broken doors or Hell. Behold the cross, an instrument of victory in his left hand, and with his right, takes Adam, father of the living, from Hell. Eve is dressed in red, with gloved hands in the sign of respect, and appeals to Jesus. David and Solomon, royal progenesis, are behind him, acknowledging Christ’s victory. John the Baptist to the right, dressed in a long camel’s hair keep indicates Christ in front of a crowd of prophets. The scene concludes on either side with two archangels, covered in gems, like the Byzantine emperors. They are out of proportion, perhaps due to restorations done in the 19th century. The Virgin and the Baptist appeal onto Christ and implore him to favor humanity, while he shows the wound of the Passion. On the sides are two angels, with jeweled covered clothes, and the Twelve Seated Apostles dressed in white who are also judging the world. Behind them are a multitude of angels. Christ is represented inside the mystical almond, that indicates divine nature, hidden inside a corporeal shelf. Two Seraphs support him, with wings covered with eyes, because they are the closest to the wisdom of God. According to the Scripture, a river of fire flows from the almond that fuels the flames of Hell, seen on the bottom right.
In the lower band, in the center, is the throne of the Triumph of the Cross. Instruments of the Passion are clearly infused: the cross, the crown of thorn, the sphere and the sponge, and also the book whose seal will be broken on the day of judgment, according to the Apocalypse. Adam and Eve are kneeling in front of the Throne, asking for mercy. On the sides, are two scenes of the Resurrection of the Dead. To the left, are the dead, wrapped in funeral bandages, who are coming out of their tombs, and out of the mountains. On the right, two angels call alive those who died in the sea, here represented by a pagan figure, probably found on one of the floors of a Roman villa on the lagoon’s coast. Another angel wraps up the stary sky, which will cease to exist when the world ends.
Below, let’s admire the scene of the weighting of the souls. While one angel weighs the amount of good and evil committed by each person, devils with long rods try to tip the scales in their favor. To the left, we see the Blessed, and Heaven below them. In the flower garden on the right, Saint Peter, the Keeper of the Keys, is kneeling and shows us the door to Heaven, together with Michael, the Archange, whose job is to accompany the souls to the hereafter. The Good Thief is waiting to enter by the door, the cross, which is the instrument to his redemption. The Virgin is by his side, who intercedes for the salvation of sinners. Abraham is next, seated between two trees and surrounded by those waiting to be saved. In the right part of this area, we see the Damned. Two red angels shining with the light of God, use spheres to throw the crowd into the flame, where we see Hades, among others, holding in his lap, the Antichrist, depicted as a child, because he deceives man with his innocence. The other six deadly sins are seen punished in the two lower bands, divided into six red, and black squares. The lustful on the left with the Epulon begging for a draft of water. The greedy who chew on their hand, the wrathful immersed in deep water to wash away their rage. The envious are in the lower band, with the snakes coming out of the skull’s eyes. Next are the avaricious, men of all races with jewel filled heads. Finally, skulls, bones, hands and feet are drawn to represent the slothful.
Mary appears in prayer in the small moon above the door, underneath the description that reads: “Oh Virgin, move with your prayer, He who is born from God and purify him from sin”. Once again, it is the Virgin who steps in for humanity, in the hour of judgment, and who accompanies us all with her prayer from the moment in which we leave the Basilica, and we enter the world of fragility, and temptation.”
That’s about it as far as canon goes.
Here’s some other angles of the church.
This is on the right side of the Madonna mosaic, and the inscription reads: “God is 3 person simultaneously, but only one in essence. He covers the Earth with grass, lays down the sea and illuminates the sky.” It is most likely from the 12th century, probably after a scheme from the 9th century.
This painting is in between them, but there was nothing about it, and I forgot to ask. It looks newer than anything else in there, could be from Armand’s time, and hey, look at those angels! Could that be Anne’s inspiration why he went to this place? Hmm.
That’s probably where Armand was kneeling and praying. The left side was closed off for renovations, but there wasn’t much there.
And some more pictures from the outside as well.
Next to it there is a small church/capel. When I went there, there was a wedding going on.
There is also a small museum across from the church, which had mostly Byzantine art/objects from other churches around the area.
The view from the tower, tower which I’m not sure is 100% straight. As you can see there isn’t much on the rest of the island, a farm or two here and there, a restaurant which is on the way from the vaporetto stop. If you like to visit, I do recommend you go in summer, and go as early as you can if you’d like to see Burano and/or Murano on the same trip, because things close down fairly early (4-5pm). As of 2022, a vaporetto single ticket is 7,50 €, which you can get online (AVM Venezia App) or in person in Venice (just use the app lol). There’s options for day tickets if you like, but I won’t get into that.
Thanks for reading and do let me know if you have any comments/questions, happy to nerd about!
