Off to la Serenissima with Commissario Brunetti

After dealing with yesterday's timewasters, the Few Sandwiches Short of a Picnic Club, I was desperate for a little escapism come the evening. And, thanks to my dear friend, the only other blonde in the village, I am currently escaping with a rather gorgeous Italian - or Venetian to be precise.

I've not read many crime writers, apart from Ruth Rendell and P D James, but my friend recently gave me two of Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti books. I am hooked. Set in Venice, the central character is a thoughtful detective - Commissario Brunetti - who finds himself dealing with murder cases that lead him through complex labyrinths involving art, history, literature, ecology and much more. Brunetti's thoroughly modern marriage to university lecturer, Paola, provides a continuing and revealing counterpoint to the main plot of each book.

A couple of hours in the company of Commissario Brunetti was just what I needed. The only problem is that Venice is my favourite city in the whole world and I am feeling withdrawal symptoms even as I write this. It is far too long since I was last there.

So, on a dark, damp, gloomy Devon morning, I am cheering myself up with this picture of my favourite Venetian painting: a sacra conversazione by Giovanni Bellini in the Church of San Zaccaria. It is a depiction of the Virgin and Child accompanied by saints, in this case Peter, Catherine, Lucy and Jerome. I was introduced to this painting by an art history lecturer from Naples, whom I met when I was doing my Open University degree. He was so passionate about this work that, when I first visited Venice with my daughter a few years later, we were off to San Zaccaria almost as soon as we arrived. We immediately understood just what it was about this painting that the lecturer loved.

If you find yourself in Venice and have a few moments to spare, take the short walk from St Mark's Square to San Zaccaria, switch on the light beside the painting and prepare to be amazed. You will not be disappointed. And you might want to take Commissario Brunetti with you too.

Comments

[Pamela]

A place I've always wanted to visit and never managed, so I've contented myself with Commissario Brunetti since the late 80s after being introduced by a friend. You can get an extra fix with Francisco da Mosta on his History of Venice BBC DVD, and repeat as necessary.

When is a good time to visit to avoid too many crowds?

[60 Going On 16]

Avoid high summer Pamela: too crowded and the canals get a bit whiffy. February is carnival time, when Venice is packed, so I'd give that a miss too. Apart from that, Venice in winter can be delightful. My daughter and I spent Christmas 1990 there and had a wonderful time. Relatively few tourists and, unlike the UK, Italy does not close down for at least two weeks over Christmas/New Year; only Christmas Day is quiet. And some excellent Christmas concerts in many Venetian churches. We went to several, including one in S Maria Gloriosa dei Frari; nothing to do but sit back, listen to the glorious music and gaze at the massive Assumption altarpiece painted by Titian . . .