[MR] History Blog: 16th C. Mural Venice Rediscovered

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Some of you might have noticed the recent absence of Mungo posts to this
board. I've been heavily involved with Shire activities, and also have
written three articles to non-SCA journals in the past few weeks. Whew! And
there is more to come in this busy season, both SCA and otherwise.

So before I plunge into more distracting activities, I want to call your
attention to the discovery of a 16th century mural that was discovered on
the wall of a Venice tobacco shop.

The piece, near the Rialto Bridge, was covered by plaster long ago. When
recent repairs began on the shop front, the artwork began to emerge.
Similar murals were once common in Venice, but this is one of the last to
survive.

The mural depicts three so-far unidentified cavorting and scantily-clad
figures. One male seems to be blowing a trumpet in the background. Another
male, whose immodesty is covered with no more than an oversized bath towel,
appears to be dancing with a woman. That much is clear, but the mural is in
pretty bad shape from years of weathering and other damage, and it is not
known exactly what the artwork depicts. The subjects do seem to be having a
really good time though.

You can see the work at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/72918 .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.