HIDDEN VENICE

Seen from the air, Venice may seem compact enough to be explored high and low in a weekend. Besides, thanks to Canaletto’s clarity and the occasional signs to San Marco and Accademia, we think we can home in on all the treasures with a guide-book and a map. So how do you account for the feeling that the ‘real’ Venice is the one you see when you’re lost? Exactly. But how can you find it on purpose? With a tip-off or two, it’s easy to find because in this labyrinthine city the unknown is often one small bridge away from the famous. Hidden Venice takes the wraps off five of these quite well kept secrets, each of them easily missed and all of them guardians of art.

UPSTAGED BY THE CHURCH NEXT DOOR

In the unintentionally well-kept secret of the Scuola Grande Dei Carmini, the splendid barrel-vaulted staircase leads to an attractive upper world of dark wood panelling. The sala capitolare is lit by the sky of the big central Tiepolo – The Virgin in Glory gives the Scapular to Saint Simon Stock - and by eight satellite paintings, among them the astonishingly modern one of an Angel catching hold of a young mason as he falls from scaffolding.

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