The Cloisters at Follina

The Veneto is rich in great art. Some of the major artists whose work we see on our rides are:
Andrea Palladio, a 16th-century architect of enormous, worldwide influence, especially in 18th-century England and America; thirty-two of Palladio's works are in the immediate area. Thirteen are within cycling distance. We visit the frescoed interiors of five of these: the Villa di Maser (Villa Barbaro), the Villa Rotonda, Villa Emo, Villa Cornaro, and Villa Godi Malinverni.

Antonio Canova, one of the great neoclassical sculptors; the Canova temple, his studio, and a museum containing many of his paintings and plaster-cast models are nearby.

Carlo Scarpa, an outstanding contemporary architect; several of his works, including one of the most notable, the monumental Brion Tomb, are on our itinerary.

Giovanni Bellini, a vitally important personality in the history of Venetian painting; we see one of his finest paintings, the "Baptism of Christ" when we tour Vicenza.

Jacopo Da Ponte, "Bassano", a 16th-century painter who worked in our area; many of his works are still in their original settings, including two fine paintings in our village church.

"Giorgione", one of the most influential of the brilliant 16th-century Venetian painters; we see one of his few surviving masterpieces at his birthplace in nearby Castelfranco.

Paolo Veronese, some of whose finest work is in the frescos at the Villa di Maser. Other artists, whose work can be seen in the area, are: Titian, Donatello, Tintoretto, Lorenzo Lotto, Tiepolo, Giotto, Guariento, Cima da Conegliano, Pordenone, Luca Giordano, and Palma il Giovane.

Venice, a celebration of art and beauty with no automobiles, the only city to survive intact from antiquity, a republic for over a thousand years and a former world power; and Padua, home of St. Anthony and Giotto's revolutionary cycle of frescos marking the dawn of the Renaissance, are only an hour away by train.

The Sacred Conversation by Bartolomeo Montagna