Pictures from a Novel

Venice, 9 November 1730. At Palazzo Antelmi, Catterina is organising a dinner to celebrate the return of her friend, painter Rosalba Carriera, just back from Vienna, But the festive atmosphere is overshadowed by a tragic event. Two days earlier Francesco Michiel was murdered. Charismatic and fascinating, he was in some way connected to all of them.

Love, politics and a bundle of letters exposing dangerous relationships. In the opulent Venetian palace that evening, Catterina is the only one who knows the secrets of each of her guests and their links with Francesco Michiel. She must tread carefully if she is to understand how to move and find out who killed Francesco and why.

1730s Venice is the setting and sumptuous frame of the The Laws of Time novel. In 1730, Venice is an opulent city, essentially living on its assets. No longer are there conquests nor wars. The government is more or less defending its territories with diplomacy. The city is irresponsibly surrendering itself to the enjoyment of life and its pleasures. Unknowingly, the Serenissima is heading towards suicide. Shortsighted, incapable of change or adapting to the times, the Republic will cease to exist a few decades later, in 1797.

And it is through this bustling and melancholic Venice, in the autumn of its history, that the characters in The Laws of Time must thread their way.

Certainly, all of this was not far from Marcello’s mind as he stood behind the glass at alla Vigilanza, waiting to return to the Senate and watching the dusk descend on Venice.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

A dog barked in the little square opposite, in front of the Scuola. Catterina closed the window and stepped back. She sat down at the dressing table and slowly applied damask rose rouge to cheeks still pale from sleep.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the image: Damask Roses in Würzburg garden, die Residenz.

In the years to come she would expand the inherited collection, moving into drawings and engravings—more economical compared to paintings—thanks to mixing with engraver and collector Anton Maria Zanetti, a drawer and caricaturist himself, who had acted as a broker at various times in the search for and acquisition of works of art.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Amongst the historical figures in The Laws of Time is Anton Maria Zanetti, the elder, appearing in name only. A well-known art collector—credited with helping Catterina Antelmi expand the collection inherited from her father—he was also a keen caricaturist.

In this drawing Zanetti depicts the singer Farinelli, then taking European theatres by storm and a hot topic in Venice, including at Catterina’s dinnner table.

“And, about that Farinelli, what can you tell me?” Carriera asked, turning to Lotti, while the plates of dessert and fresh fruit were being served. “I have heard wonderful things.”

“Well, believe them,” answered the musician. “Last year, on the last night of Carnevale, we went to San Giovanni purposely to hear him…”

Caricature of Farinelli by Anton Maria Zanetti.
On the obverse the inscription reads:
“Farinello in abito di gala” (Farinello in evening dress)
Circa 1730, British Museum
© The Trustees of the British Museum
This caricature is very similar to the one, also by Zanetti, held in the collection at the Palazzo Cini Gallery in Venice.

“You know, Catterina,” observed Rosalba, changing the subject, “coming in, I was looking at those beautiful canvases by Sebastiano that you have.” And, glancing at Joseph Smith, she added, “It’s a pity you still don’t have anything to remember poor Marco.”

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Sebastiano e Marco Ricci, referred to during the dinner at Palazzo Antelmi, are painters. Sebastiano’s nephew Marco died young in 1730. Both of them were part of the artistic circle that revolves around Catterina in The Laws of Time.

This caricature of Sebastiano Ricci is by Anton Maria Zanetti, the elder, the well-known art collector credited with helping Catterina Antelmi expand the collection inherited from her father.

Anton Maria Zanetti
Sebastiano Ricci, the author’s great friend
Palazzo Cini Gallery, Venice

In the years to come she would expand the inherited collection, moving into drawings and engravings—more economical compared to paintings—thanks to mixing with engraver and collector Anton Maria Zanetti, a drawer and caricaturist himself, who had acted as a broker at various times in the search for and acquisition of works of art.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Amongst the historical figures in The Laws of Time is Anton Maria Zanetti, the elder, appearing in name only. A well-known art collector, he is credited with helping Catterina Antelmi expand the collection inherited from her father, thanks to his association with European collectors met during his visits to London and Paris. He featured heavily in Rosalba Carriera’s letters and was also a keen caricaturist.

In this magnificent drawing, Zanetti depicts an “ideal figure” of a gentleman who is not dissimilar in appearance to Marcello or Francesco, characters in The Laws in Time,

Pen and ink drawing. Circa 1730
Sold by Lempertz Auction House.
Provenance: Private collection, Germany.

No, it’s not a flattering portrait. Even if done in fun and with affection, it is a rather crude caricature of painter Rosalba Carriera, one of the characters in The Laws of Time. The drawing is by Anton Maria Zanetti, the elder, the well known art collector who featured heavily in Rosalba’s letters. In the novel, it is he who is credited with helping Catterina Antelmi expand the collection inherited from her father, thanks to his association with European collectors met during his visits to London and Paris.

Anton Maria Zanetti
Signora Rosalba, the author’s friend
Palazzo Cini Gallery, Venice

In the years to come she would expand the inherited collection, moving into drawings and engravings—more economical compared to paintings—thanks to mixing with engraver and collector Anton Maria Zanetti, a drawer and caricaturist himself, who had acted as a broker at various times in the search for and acquisition of works of art.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Amongst the historical figures in The Laws of Time is Anton Maria Zanetti, the elder, appearing in name only. A well-known art collector, he is credited with helping Catterina Antelmi expand the collection inherited from her father, thanks to his association with European collectors met during his visits to London and Paris. He featured heavily in Rosalba Carriera’s letters and was also a keen caricaturist.

In this drawing Zanetti caricatures Faustina Bordoni, a celebrated soprano in 1730 and much discussed in Venetian society.

“I prefer Lucrezia Baldini. She has a much clearer voice,” Ottoboni declared.

“But Bordoni is something else again,” Smith began. “So intense, so piercing, so quick… And then on stage she has great charm, which is no bad thing.”

“She may well, as you say,” objected Ottoboni, “but in the meantime, with what they paid her, that Ascension Day festival left the Grimanis more than two thousand ducats in debt, don’t you know?”

From The Laws of Time, by Andrea Perego.

Anton Maria Zanetti
Faustina Bordoni
Palazzo Cini Gallery, Venice.

Photo ©AndreaPerego

“You know, Catterina,” observed Rosalba, changing the subject, “coming in, I was looking at those beautiful canvases by Sebastiano that you have.” And, glancing at Joseph Smith, she added, “It’s a pity you still don’t have anything to remember poor Marco.”

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Sebastiano e Marco Ricci, referred to during the dinner at Palazzo Antelmi, are painters. Sebastiano’s nephew Marco died young in 1730. Both of them were part of the artistic circle that revolves around Catterina in The Laws of Time.

This caricature of Marco Ricci is by Anton Maria Zanetti, the elder, the well-known art collector credited with helping Catterina Antelmi expand the collection inherited from her father.

Anton Maria Zanetti
Marco Ricci
Taken from: Caricature di Anton Maria Zanetti. Catalogo della mostra.
(Anton Maria Zanetti Caricatures. Exhibition Catalogue)
Presented by Giuseppe Fiocco
Curated by Alessandro Bettagno
Neri Pozza Editore, 1969

Only the functionaries who hadn’t finished their tasks for the day stayed on in the Palace, along with the magistrates who had to remain behind for the late Senate sitting that evening.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the image: Doge’s Palace, Venice

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Even before her shape thickened with the passing of her fifty-five years, Carriera, with her sharp, slightly dark expression, heavy eyebrows and narrow lips, certainly had never been a singular beauty. Nevertheless, this woman, with whom nature had been somewhat sparing, had wooed the major courts of Europe as an artist whose pastels were highly sought-after by aristocrats and gentlemen. Despite this, she still addressed her work and life with an exemplary modesty and discipline that came from an awareness of the importance of the artisan’s craft.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Rosalba Carriera, self-portrait – winter, 1730 (detail) Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
The frame is from an early 18th century mirror, Italy, private collection.

He took a little bridge that led him into the dark and narrow Calle della Morte, which skirted behind the grand gothic residence belonging to the Badoer family.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

The third office tolled. The city was completely awake. The lawyers, the clerks in the Palace Chancellery, the government officials, all were at their tasks in the old rooms of the Palace.
It was the ninth of November in the year 1730.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the image: Doge’s Palace, Venice, The Golden Staicase

In the bitter cold, the main door was open onto steps that ran down into the rio. Two liveried valets stood immobile at the entrance holding the torches. Rosalba stepped out of the gondola and, hurrying up the steps, went quickly into the atrium. Her footsteps echoed off the double colonnade that defined the central part of the red-and-white-marble paved entrance hall.

Four candlesticks lit the pale columns supporting the dark ceiling beams. Rosalba smelled the tang of humid sea air and stone impregnated with salty water

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

She kept climbing and entered the portico, the large reception room, where Ottavio was awaiting the guests.

Rosalba felt the comforting warmth of that large bright room lit by dozens of candles ablaze in the two gilded chandeliers. Ottavio stood by as Lucietta helped her take off her cloak and shawl, which the young woman promptly carried off to a small dressing room. Rosalba could hear voices coming from the dining room.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

“I prefer Lucrezia Baldini. She has a much clearer voice,” Ottoboni declared.

“But Bordoni is something else again,” Smith began. “So intense, so piercing, so quick… And then on stage she has great charm, which is no bad thing.”

“She may well, as you say,” objected Ottoboni, “but in the meantime, with what they paid her, that Ascension Day festival left the Grimanis more than two thousand ducats in debt, don’t you know?”

“And, about that Farinelli, what can you tell me?” Carriera asked, turning to Lotti, while the plates of dessert and fresh fruit were being served. “I have heard wonderful things.”

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

The mystery in The Laws of Time plays out during the dinner for Rosalba Carriera on 9 November 1730. Joseph Smith and Antonio Lotti are amongst the guests. Despite the murder that has cast a shadow over the event, the conversation around the table at the Antelmi house ranges over the usual topics: travel, acquaintances in common, theatre…

Farinelli and Faustina Bordoni were the superstars of their day, highly paid, who filled theatres and send the public into a delerium.

This image is a grahic elaboration uniting three different paintings:
Jacopo Amigoni, Portrait of Carlo Broschi aka Farinelli, ca 1730. Sold by Sotheby’s, private collection
Rosalba Carriera, Portrait of Faustina Bordoni, ca 1725. Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister – Dresden (Germany) – Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Background: Filippo Juvarra, “Atrio”, study for a theatrical set, with a courtyard and arcade, 1728–1729

Photo ©AndreaPerego

This man, to whom nature had given so much, had no ambition nor apparent desire to lead. Rather than stand out at worldly social occasions, he much preferred to remain in the background. As he matured, he found more pleasure in private small-scale exchanges, where he was no longer forced to deal with his own seductive power. Then, quite by surprise, he had decided to move to northern Europe to look after the family business. Finally, at the beginning of the year, he had returned to Venice, unexpectedly, and had set up a residence for himself in a rented house at San Lio.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

On the right, a grand staircase led to the first floor. An old ceiling lamp cast a yellowish light on the white marble balustrade. On the landing wall, at the end of the first flight of steps, Rosalba could make out two dark canvases hanging over a painted wooden bench.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Yet, more and more, it was time itself—observed and measured on those enamelled faces—that bit by bit, left its mark on Francesco’s own face, like a fine blade cutting deeper and deeper. Like a condemned man, he felt the hours of his seductive power counting down, opening a silent autumnal sorrow in him. Not that he felt suffering or anguish, but he had the uneasy feeling of old age creeping into his future. An enormous solitude, the doomed daughter of liberty, oppressed him like the embrace of a lover no longer desired, as bittersweet as the smell of fermenting grapes on a damp October night.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

The small-mindedness of the man who sees only his own little garden is a worm. It is a cancer that eats the spirits and the souls of those who should be charged with looking ahead and leading the government forward. There is a tumour growing in this city that is swollen with fear nourished by laziness, an anxious disgusting torpor. The lack of interest in public affairs is not only found amongst the governed, but also in those who govern, who offer the sickening spectacle of the wounded animal, which, rather than fight to combat its enemies and become head of the pack, starts chewing on its own limbs, devouring itself. And this, rather than becoming a vice to pity, becomes an example to admire.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

It was the ninth of November in the year 1730.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

At the far end of the portico, four windows opened on to the canal. To the right of these was the entrance to the dining room. Flanking the door were two portraits: a young man by Lorenzo Lotto and, by Pietro Vecchia, a Cleopatra yielding to the bite of the asp under her breast, abandoning herself, in a manner not entirely clear, either to pleasure or to death.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Catterina walked over to the casement and looked out at the wan motionless canal, at the massive rugged façade of Misericordia, at the rio in front and the rooftops surrounding it. The pale damp sky muffled every contrast. All was still, if not for two boats passing beyond the bridge. From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

“Milady, good morning,” old Oria answered, setting the light down on the dressing table. She went to the windows, parted the curtains and opened the shutters.

“’Tis foggy again today,” she murmured, softly closing the windows.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

It had been in May. The gardens in Venice smelled of daffodils and the sea. Rose gardens and belts of flaming tulips were flourishing, and walks among tuberoses in the shade of horse chestnuts and young linden trees were the order of the day. From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Joseph Smith was numbered amongst the friends at Casa Antelmi. He had arrived in Venice after his studies at the College of Westminster, not yet thirty years old at the turn of the century, and had been employed to practise commerce and economics in the firm of Thomas Williams, a wealthy and influential British banker who also traded in works of art. It was with Williams that Smith had taken his first steps in Italy towards acquiring and selling works of art, both antique and recent. From 1709 he lived with his employers in the house at Sant’Apostoli that they rented from the Balbis. When the Williamses left Venice definitively in 1720, Smith succeeded them as the new tenant. From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego Joseph Smith was a prominent figure in eighteenth century Venice. He lived in a palazzo on the Grand Canal at Santi Apostoli that he rented, and then bought, from the Balbi family. At that point began the radical renovation of the fourteenth century palazzo to a design by Antonio Visentini, The house today (centre) is still notable for the façade dating to that eighteenth century renovation, as well as an additional floor, added in 1794. Photo ©AndreaPerego

The gentle swash on the shores and the embankments, almost inaudible, had the remote sound of monotonous immobility, of time suspended between night and early morning. In the fog, the halos of lanterns attached to the tops of pilings shimmered on the Canal.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Alessandro Antelmi stepped out of the main entrance of his palazzo on Rio di Noale. Angelo, the household’s red-hatted gondolier, was waiting, ready to row him to his work. Antelmi climbed aboard and settled himself down under the felze, holding his cloak about him. Making himself comfortable on the cushions, he fixed his gaze on the candle burning in the lantern creaking on an iron hook. The gondola passed under the bridge, skirted past the Scuola della Misericordia, rounded the Tiepolo house and turned down Rio di San Felice, which brought them to the Grand Canal. That morning Antelmi had left a little later than usual, but he would be staying out longer for the Thursday Senate sitting.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Her eyes were drawn to an elaborate console table in front of her, against the wall and facing the stairs. On top, standing out in the centre, amongst smaller gold and silver vases, was a sixteenth century lapis lazuli amphora decorated with additional gold fittings and miniatures in gold relief enamel.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo: Flask in lapis lazzuli, molten gold, engraved and enamelled, gilded copper.
Date: 1583-1584
Jaques Bylivelt on a design by Bernardo Buontalenti.
Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Leonardo left the room.

At San Marco La Nona tolled midday.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo: Entrance gate to St Mark’s Basilica, Venice

Foto © Andrea Perego

The coldness of night was still dripping down the columns of the Procuratie. In front of candles in the surrounding churches—at San Moisè, at San Zulian, at San Zaccaria—a few people were on their knees, praying.”

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Marcello continued towards the bridge and Calle dei Scudi. In the narrow street he could smell the odour of damp stone, and of the bricks eaten away under the shabby lichen-yellowed render, mingled with the faint stink of sewage. He slowed his pace to avoid slipping on the sweaty flagstones, which shone with a mossy green patina.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Sometimes she went out at night, in the illusion that darkness could create more space. On those occasions she rode in a gondola, masked and wrapped in her cloak, seeking some sense of escape.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Joseph Smith was numbered amongst the friends at Casa Antelmi. He had arrived in Venice after his studies at the College of Westminster, not yet thirty years old at the turn of the century, and had been employed to practise commerce and economics in the firm of Thomas Williams, a wealthy and influential British banker who also traded in works of art.

It was with Williams that Smith had taken his first steps in Italy towards acquiring and selling works of art, both antique and recent. From 1709 he lived with his employers in the house at Sant’Apostoli that they rented from the Balbis. When the Williamses left Venice definitively in 1720, Smith succeeded them as the new tenant.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Joseph Smith is amongst Catterina’s guests at the dinner on 9 November 1730, described in The Laws of Time. He is already a prominent figure in eighteenth century Venice. He would become the British Consul to the Serenissima, and it was thanks to him that painters like Canaletto received important commissions from rich English aristocrats and from the Crown itself. Thanks to him a spectacular collection of drawings and paintings is now owned by the Windsor collection. From 1709 Joseph Smith was a guest of the English bankers, the Williams, for whom he also worked in the palazzo at Santi Apostoli that they rented from the Balbi family. The house faced onto the Grand Canal, next door to Palazzo Michiel (sometimes called “Michiel dal brusà” referring a fire that once struck it). In 1720, when the Williamses left Venice definitively, Smith succeeded them as new head of the company and new tenant of the palazzo.The Balbis sold him the palazzo in 1740, the year in which he began operating as British Consul (officially confirmed in 1744). At that point began the radical renovation of the fourteenth century palazzo to a design Antonio Visentini, a disciple of Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini who was Rosalba Carriera’s brother-in-law. The work was completed in 1751.

The appearance of the gothic house before the renovation, and therefore before the events in The Laws of Time, was completely different. It is clearly visible in a painting by Canaletto from around 1725, exhibited at Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris. This painting is the second version of the same view that was ordered by Smith who evidently wanted a view of the Grand Canal that included “his” house, which he had just taken over as tenant. The first version of the painting is held in the Royal collection at Windsor.

In the painting, Joseph Smith’s house is on the right hand side of the Grand Canal, on the right of the light-coloured house and awning. Today the palazzo is called Mangilli-Valmarana and retains the eighteenth century façade renovation. There is also an additional floor, added in 1794.

Antonio Canal, aka Canaletto, View of the Grand Canal, ca 1725
Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris

On the second floor of the house, his wife Catterina had not long woken up. The room was still dark. Oria, her lady’s maid, came in quietly with a candlestick in her hand.
“Good morning, Oria,” Catterina greeted her from the bed.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

The coldness of night was still dripping down the columns of the Procuratie. In front of candles in the surrounding churches—at San Moisè, at San Zulian, at San Zaccaria—a few people were on their knees, praying.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Sometimes she went out at night, in the illusion that darkness could create more space. On those occasions she rode in a gondola, masked and wrapped in her cloak, seeking some sense of escape. She knew where the travellers and the foreigners went at night—Venice was full of them—to dine and have fun, or where they went strolling in the obscure labyrinths of certain dark streets or gardens in search of fleeting savage pleasures. Then, Andriana’s beauty bloomed once more. She knew how to captivate. Like a thirsty animal hurling itself towards water, she swept her night-time companions into the raptures that ignited her and animated a life that was otherwise stagnating.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Rosalba stepped out of the gondola and, hurrying up the steps, went quickly into the atrium. Her footsteps echoed off the double colonnade that defined the central part of the red-and-white-marble paved entrance hall.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Catterina walked over to the casement and looked out at the wan motionless canal, at the massive rugged façade of Misericordia, at the rio in front and the rooftops surrounding it. The pale damp sky muffled every contrast. All was still, if not for two boats passing beyond the bridge. A veil of dissatisfaction fell over her as she considered that this was just the start of the cold season and that she had months of wintry shadows ahead. She felt a vaguely bitter irritation. She opened the window a little, breathed in the smell of the sea and felt the biting cold chill her hands and face.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Joseph Smith was numbered amongst the friends at Casa Antelmi. He had arrived in Venice after his studies at the College of Westminster, not yet thirty years old at the turn of the century, and had been employed to practise commerce and economics in the firm of Thomas Williams, a wealthy and influential British banker who also traded in works of art.

It was with Williams that Smith had taken his first steps in Italy towards acquiring and selling works of art, both antique and recent. From 1709 he lived with his employers in the house at Sant’Apostoli that they rented from the Balbis. When the Williamses left Venice definitively in 1720, Smith succeeded them as the new tenant.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Joseph Smith is amongst Catterina’s guests at the dinner on 9 November 1730, described in The Laws of Time. He is already a prominent figure in eighteenth century Venice. He would become the British Consul to the Serenissima, and it was thanks to him that painters like Canaletto received important commissions from rich English aristocrats and from the Crown itself. Thanks to him a spectacular collection of drawings and paintings is now owned by the Windsor collection. From 1709 Joseph Smith was a guest of the English bankers, the Williams, for whom he also worked in the palazzo at Santi Apostoli that they rented from the Balbi family. The house faced onto the Grand Canal, next door to Palazzo Michiel (sometimes called “Michiel dal brusà” referring a fire that once struck it). In 1720, when the Williamses left Venice definitively, Smith succeeded them as new head of the company and new tenant of the palazzo.The Balbis sold him the palazzo in 1740, the year in which he began operating as British Consul (officially confirmed in 1744). At that point began the radical renovation of the fourteenth century palazzo to a design Antonio Visentini, a disciple of Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini who was Rosalba Carriera’s brother-in-law. The work was completed in 1751.

The appearance of the gothic house before the renovation, and therefore before the events in The Laws of Time, was completely different. It is clearly visible in a painting by Canaletto from around 1725, exhibited at Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris. This painting is the second version of the same view that was ordered by Smith who evidently wanted a view of th Grand Canal that included “his” house, which he had just taken over as tenant. The first version of the painting is held in the Royal collection at Windsor.

In the painting, Joseph Smith’s house is in the centre, on the right of the light-coloured house and awning. Today the palazzo is called Mangilli-Valmarana and and retains the eighteenth century façade renovation. There is also an additional floor, added in 1794.

Antonio Canal, aka Canaletto, View of the Grand Canal, ca 1725 (detail)
Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Oria was still sitting in the corner of the room with Giulia, holding her little hand and geeing her up and down like a pony. Starting with the thumb, Oria counted the little girl’s fingers while she sang her a nursery rhyme:

“In the campo, behind the square,
A little pig was walking there,
This one grabbed him,
This one killed him,
This one cooked him,
This one ate him,
…And this little one, he got no share!!!”

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the image: Ca’ Sagredo staircase, Venice.

“But, I have to say, that, when I can, I still prefer to go and listen to music in the Conservatories or in Church,” she answered evasively. “It is more peaceful, more restrained. And it allows a way to hear the music better, if one is going just for the music.”

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo: Fresco in the Sala della musica at the Ospedaletto, Venice.
It was here that the Venetian nobleman Girolamo Miani inaugurated the system of instructing orphans in crafts and writing, and introduced singing instruction to the young ones. In the course of the seventeenth century, the practice followed in the music school at the Ospedaletto spread through the city to the other similar institutions giving shelter to orphans.

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Cecilia had lived serenely in the Ottoboni house, perhaps even happily. For years she had never thought that it might be otherwise; she never even knew it could have been otherwise.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the image: Palazzo Ottoboni seen from Palazzo Grimani. Venice.

Photo ©AndreaPerego

He walked quickly with a grim taciturn air, his eyes fixed on the ground, apparently deep in thought, perhaps even worried. He kept close to the wall of the San Francesco cemetery. The sixteenth century bell tower, tufted with weeds, stood out behind him, crumbling against the white sky. He skirted round the church and turned left towards Campo delle Gate. Amidst the rotting leaves strewn across the pavement, shouting children were playing pandòlo, using poles to whack a piece of wood, no wider than the span of a hand.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

The third office tolled. The city was completely awake. The lawyers, the clerks in the Palace Chancellery, the government officials, all were at their tasks in the old rooms of the Palace.

It was the ninth of November in the year 1730.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Catterina said nothing. She looked at him, not batting an eyelid. She knew the influence Francesco had had over the young man and took the opportunity, then, that Leonardo’s erroneous conclusion was offering her. She gestured with her hand, inviting him to go down the first flight of stairs with her, to distance them from the others so as not to be overheard. They stopped in the dim light on the landing.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Marcello came out the back way from the chapter house at San Francesco della Vigna. It was early afternoon. Later, he would return to the Senate for the Thursday evening sitting that would continue until after vespers.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Leonardo left the room.

At San Marco La Nona tolled midday.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

She knotted the hemp cord holding the sheaf of papers together and, before meeting the hairdresser, hurried down into the mezzanine, to the library rooms.

Two rooms in the Antelmi house had been refurbished to accommodate the bookshelves and all the volumes from Catterina’s previous home. The old bookcases, hand-carved by Pietro Morando some fifty years earlier, had been adapted along each of the walls.

Catterina was assailed by the familiar bouquet—equal parts paper, mildew and wood—which brought home to her the memories of childhood

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Marcello came out the back way from the chapter house at San Francesco della Vigna. He had gone there to speak with the Guardian of the Friars Minor. It was early afternoon. The air was vaguely tinged with a soft warm glow, but there was no hint yet of the ‘Summer of San Martino’.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the image: the cloister of San Francesco della Vigna, Venice

Sitting on the benches bordering the cupboards that ran around the walls—and enveloped in a perfume of herbs coming from glass jars and earthenware jugs, each with cobalt blue decorations and name plates, that filled the carved and gilded shelves—free-thinkers met together, along with disbelievers and philosophers, priests, citizens, high and low functionaries of the city, businessmen and noblemen. Sometimes the apothecary was a venue for recitations of compositions in prose or verse. They read books and discussed them.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Photo: The reconstructed apothecary at Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice.

At the centre of her chest she wore a brooch that had been a gift from Catterina, an extraordinary-shaped pearl in an enamelled gold setting depicting a lizard.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo: Pendant in the form of a salamander. Late sixteenth century.
Enamelled gold, pearls and an emerald.
According to Aristotle and Pliny, the salamander, a small amphibian similar to a lizard, is able to resist fire and extinguish a flame, and became regarded, therefore, as the personification of fire.
The brooch that Giustina wears, a gift from Catterina, is very similar to this pendant held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Oria took the child into her lap, sitting herself in one of the armchairs lining the wall, and began to hum her a little song, dandling her on her knee.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Only the functionaries who hadn’t finished their tasks for the day stayed on in the Palace, along with the magistrates who had to remain behind for the late Senate sitting that evening. Marcello would be going in soon to join them.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

As Catterina entered the room, that word ‘nature’ singularly impressed itself on her in a way it had not in all the hundreds of times she had passed the inscription as a child. She put the candleholder down on the table in the middle of the room and, in the faint glimmer of its light, went to the bookshelves with the sheaf of letters in her hand. One hundred and fifty volumes made up the collection of Latin classics, bound in calfskin, morocco, velvet or parchment. The most recent to arrive had been a gift from the publisher, Gian Battista Albrizzi, who had begun printing the Opera Omnia of Saint Augustine the previous year and had presented Catterina with the first copy.

Lucretius was there in several versions. Catterina took out one of the most recent that completed the collection, the De rerum natura, in the English edition by William Baxter. She moved the books next to it—bringing them forward—and, separating the letters into smaller bundles, slid them in at the back, against the wooden casing. Afterwards, she re-arranged the shelves to the way she had found them, pushing the books as close to the wall as possible

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Her eyes were drawn to an elaborate console table in front of her, against the wall and facing the stairs. On top, standing out in the centre, amongst smaller gold and silver vases, was a sixteenth century lapis lazuli amphora decorated with additional gold fittings and miniatures in gold relief enamel.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Poto: Flask in lapis lazzuli, molten gold, engraved and enamelled, gilded copper.
Date: 1583-1584
Jaques Bylivelt on a design by Bernardo Buontalenti.
Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti

The St Mark’s Basin lay before him. Opposite, the bell tower and the cupola at San Giorgio were fading into the milky haze. He walked towards the Piazza along the embankment littered with twigs and stacks of wood, where the Dalmatians had their stalls selling smoked fish and lamb.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

It had been in May. The gardens in Venice smelled of daffodils and the sea. Rose gardens and belts of flaming tulips were flourishing, and walks among tuberoses in the shade of horse chestnuts and young linden trees were the order of the day. Francesco and Cecilia had exchanged some polite letters, had diminished and falsified the nature of their interests, concealing their desires even to themselves, eventually seeing each other on occasions that both of them had fervently hoped for.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

She knew where the travellers and the foreigners went at night—Venice was full of them—to dine and have fun, or where they went strolling in the obscure labyrinths of certain dark streets or gardens in search of fleeting savage pleasures.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

He skirted round the church and turned left towards Campo delle Gate. Amidst the rotting leaves strewn across the pavement, shouting children were playing pandòlo, using poles to whack a piece of wood, no wider than the span of a hand.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the narrow street he could smell the odour of damp stone, and of the bricks eaten away under the shabby lichen-yellowed render, mingled with the faint stink of sewage.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

From there he emerged into Campo de la Bragora and was engulfed in a dull, shadowless glow. Two men crossed his path carrying a couple of sacks of semolina bread and baskets overflowing with zaletto biscuits. In front of the church, an old woman with a large bowl was selling hot butter-and-cheese-dressed polenta to three shivering children.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

The bridge came to life. A bluish dawn glow was just filtering through, spreading its foggy sickly-pale lustre.

A few people were already leaving mass to hurry to the warehouses, the markets, haberdasheries and workshops. On large wooden chests around Rialto, bolts of silk, brocades, damasks, velvets and fine wool reappeared.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

The gardens in Venice smelled of daffodils and the sea. Rose gardens and belts of flaming tulips were flourishing, and walks among tuberoses in the shade of horse chestnuts and young linden trees were the order of the day. Francesco and Cecilia had exchanged some polite letters, had diminished and falsified the nature of their interests, concealing their desires even to themselves, eventually seeing each other on occasions that both of them had fervently hoped for.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

In the fog, the halos of lanterns attached to the tops of pilings shimmered on the Canal. The light reflecting on the surface of the dark water rose and fell, broke and recomposed, as if it were, itself, liquid and dense.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

Marcello continued towards the bridge and Calle dei Scudi. In the narrow street he could smell the odour of damp stone, and of the bricks eaten away under the shabby lichen-yellowed render, mingled with the faint stink of sewage.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

She walked quickly towards the side of the embankment, where she stepped into a gondola and settled herself under the protection of the felze.

The oarsman made his way slowly up the Canal. The boat proceeded cautiously in the fog, which seemed to be steaming off the water.

From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego

Photo ©AndreaPerego

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