Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

For the First Time in History, the State Archives of Venice Hosts an Art Exhibition Inside its Doors: "Archivio" by Dayanita Singh

2026-04-28T20:12:00.021+02:00

Archivio di Stato in Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer

(Venice, Italy) Every one of us has a distinct style of handwriting. When we put pen to paper, our singular spirit is captured in the ink. Our soul is embedded in our signature.

There are over 1,000 years of Venetian history written by hand and safeguarded in the vast Archivio di Stato di Venezia. More than 50 miles (80km) of state archives are shelved inside the former convent of the Franciscan Friars. That's a lot of soul power contained in one place.

Image from Archivio by Dayanita Singh
from Venice Pillar 3
Photo: Cat Bauer

For the first time in its long history, the State Archives has opened its doors for a contemporary art exhibition: Archivio, by the renowned Indian photographer Dayanita Singh.

Her subject matter? Archives. Singh is archiving the archives. It's a quirky mission, appreciated by anyone with a passion for history, and how memory is shaped and preserved. Dayanita Singh has captured the human spirit of the Archivio di Stato with her lens, but the scope of the show goes far beyond its walls.

Archivio is a tribute to both the institutional Italian archives Singh has documented over the past decade—like those in Rome and Naples—and her own evolving personal archive of images made across Italy over the last 25 years.

And it’s not just books and manuscripts on display. It’s also the people who work behind the scenes, the architecture of preservation, and Singh’s own museum-as-book philosophy. Her images are arranged in modular wooden pillars located in the Refettorio d'Inverno, the Winter Refectory.

Dayanita Singh at Archivio - Photo: Cat Bauer

The Archivio di Stato holds a special place in my heart. More than two decades ago, when I was a regular contributor to the International Herald Tribune's Italian supplement, Italy Daily, I wrote about it in an article published on August 30, 2002. Here's an excerpt, slightly edited:

"...in the campo to the right is the entrance to the Archivio di Stato (State Archive) on the former site of the small church of San Nicolò dei Frari, demolished in the early 19th century. One of the most important archives in the world, it occupies the former convent of the Franciscan Friars, once home to hundreds of friars. More than 1,000 years worth of documents from the Venetian Republic are stored in nearly 50 miles of shelving. Thanks to the efforts of Jacopo Chiodo, a Venetian lawyer, records were brought from the far reaches of the Republic and deposited in the friary in 1815.

The enormous friary contains three 3-story cloisters, packed with Venetian history. One of the Archive's most significant holdings is the series of volumes of the Senato series, a continuous record of daily decisions of the Venetian government that spans the period from about 1250 to 1792.

The Venetians were meticulous record-keepers, and noted in detail anything pertinent to the entire Republic. A brief search revealed that news of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 traveled rapidly by way of the Venetian representative in England, and reached the Doge's inner circle in just seven weeks, on August 23, 1776.

The writings of popes, emperors, artists and scientists, as well as top-secret records from the Council of Ten are also stored here—everything from Catherine the Great's correspondence with the Republic to Tintoretto's last will..."

Winter Refectory of the Archivio di Stato di Venezia
Archivio by Dayanita Singh
Photo: Cat Bauer

The Refettorio d'Inverno is where the Franciscan Friars once gathered in silence to eat their meals. Today, the space has transitioned from a place to feed the body to a place to feed the mind.

By placing her work here, Singh turns the act of archiving into a living, breathing experience, reminding us that history isn't just about the past—it's about the hands that recorded it and the eyes that find it again centuries later.

We must remember the past so we are not doomed to repeat it.

Inauguration of Archivio in the Sant'Antonio Cloister
Photo: Cat Bauer

The inauguration was a moving occasion, made possible by the vision of the Archivio di Stato’s director, Andrea Erboso, who has broken new ground by opening this historic institution to contemporary art.

Andrea Anastasio, the curator, spoke from his heart about the profound nature of the collaboration, describing Singh’s unique vision:

Dayanita Singh's work unfolds at the intersection of photography, book-making, architecture, and memory, persistently challenging the conventions through which images are classified, preserved, and made meaningful. Over the course of more than three decades, Singh has redefined not only the status of the photographic image but also the very idea of the archive itself. In her practice, the archive ceases to be a neutral repository of the past and becomes instead a living, mutable form—one that is activated through sequencing, circulation, and intimate encounters with viewers.

Archivio by Dayanita Singh runs from April 17 to July 31, 2026, and is free to enter. Don't enter through the Campo dei Frari. Go across the bridges and enter around the back through the Rio Terà San Tomà entrance. Visit Frith Street Gallery for more information.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
The Venice Gazette
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

ARCHIVIO Exhibition at a Glance

Exhibition Title: Archivio
Artist: Dayanita Singh
Curator: Andrea Anastasio
Venue: Archivio di Stato di Venezia (State Archives of Venice)
Entrance: Rio Terà San Tomà, 30125 Venezia (Chiostro di Sant’Antonio)
Dates: April 17 – July 31, 2026
Admission: Free

Venice Is the Center of Gravity - "In Minor Keys:" Koyo Kouoh's Vision for the 2026 International Art Biennale Revealed

2026-03-03T19:25:00.026+01:00

Koyo Kouoh - Photo: (c) antoine tempé

For Biennale 2026 dates and visitor info, see the Quick Facts at the end of this post.

(Venice, Italy) Certain souls have the cosmic strength to impact our lives long after they shuffle off their mortal coil. Koyo Kouoh, the Artistic Director of this year's Venice Art Biennale, is one of them. From beyond the grave, her mighty vision, In Minor Keys, invites us to "shift to a slower gear and tune in to the frequencies of the minor keys."

Koyo Kouoh was born on the day before Christmas in 1967 in Cameroon, Africa. She moved with her family to Zurich, Switzerland, at age 13. As an adult, she was based in Dakar, Senegal, where she founded the RAW Material Company, an artists' residency and exhibition space. In 2019, she was appointed the director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. Kouoh died unexpectedly in Basel, Switzerland, of recently diagnosed cancer on May 10, 2025, at the age of 57.

On October 17, 2024, when Koyo Kouoh accepted the invitation from Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale, she became the first African woman appointed to curate Venice's renowned International Art Exhibition, the "Olympics of the Art World." She had a short, intense amount of time to compose her concept of In Minor Keys. After her sudden passing, with the full support of her family and her dedicated team, La Biennale decided to fulfill Kouoh's profound vision for the 61st Venice Art Biennale.

In Minor Keys presentation at Ca' Giustinian, Feb. 25, 2026
Photo: Jacopo Salvi - Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

At the presentation of In Minor Keys on February 25, 2026, at Ca' Giustinian, Koyo Kouoh's team again took turns reading her words of wisdom, as they did back on May 27, 2025. I first wrote about the deeply moving experience in a post shortly after her death:

"In Minor Keys" -- Koyo Kouoh Curates the 2026 Venice Art Biennale from Beyond the Grave

Then the team each gave their impressions of how In Minor Keys was developed, and how Koyo Kouoh's vision for the 61st Venice Art Biennale would move forward.

Kouoh's frequencies of the "minor keys" challenge the loud, mechanical noise of the modern world. In Minor Keys is a call to discover one's permanent center of gravity, a concept central to The Work of G.I. Gurdjieff, the mystic philosopher who developed The Fourth Way, a system with which I am well acquainted. It had been a while since I'd heard his name.

It was President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco's words at the presentation that startled me out of my slumber. While discussing the exhibition's philosophical direction, he said something that I was amazed to hear coming from the mouth of someone who had been repeatedly labeled as a "right-wing journalist." He spoke of the baffo furbo di Gurdjieff.

"Baffo" means "moustache" in Italian. "Furbo" is a difficult word to translate into English, often translated as "sly" or "cunning." But in Italian, "furbo" often has a positive connotation, more like using ingenuity or being clever to get around the rules. More like "artful." So, he spoke of Gurdjieff's artful moustache.

President Buttafuoco said that when he met Koyo Kouoh at Ca' Giustinian, Biennale headquarters, in October 2024, there was perfect alchemy and magic in their meeting.

She exclaimed, "You're Sicilian! Therefore, African." She had the smile of one who knows.

"The baffo furbo di Gurdjieff appeared between us," Buttafuoco said. "The permanent center of gravity..."

"Let's look for it together.' Kouoh told him. "Let's look for it together..."

Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale and
Cristiana Costanzo, Head of Press & Media Relations, Visual Arts, Architecture, Historic Archive
Photo: Cat Bauer

President Buttafuoco smiled as he addressed the audience at Ca' Giustinian. "It's a secret, underground way of understanding and speaking to each other, and it's the cura," he said. "The 'cure'—and I look directly at Professor Zecchi (Stefano Zecchi, who was in the audience), who, beyond his institutional role, is a philosopher—it's the 'remedy' that explains and reveals active commitment in the world. She used a very precise expression: gettatezza."

Gettatezza is the Italian translation of the German word Geworfenheit, or "thrownness" in English, a fundamental philosophical concept introduced by Martin Heidegger in 1927. It describes the condition of being "thrown" into a world and circumstances we did not choose.

Usually, this "throwness" leads to a sense of being lost—falling into the noise of a world that demands we react like machines to every headline and crisis. We are "thrown" into our families, our nationalities, and our struggles without a map.

But for Koyo Kouoh, gettatezza was the starting point for active commitment. By listening to the music of the minor key and finding that permanent center of gravity, we gain the ability to remain ourselves, no matter how hard the world tries to pull us off balance.

This is the "cure" that Buttafuoco recognized. It is the secret understanding that art is not just something to look at, but a way to wake up. When Kouoh looked at the Sicilian President of La Biennale and claimed him as a fellow African, she was bypassing the "major key" labels of politics, prejudice, and geography. She was tuning into a deeper frequency—the "minor key" where true human connection happens.

Koyo Kouoh - Photo: Mirjam Kluka

The 61st Venice Art Biennale, In Minor Keys, is a posthumous gift from a woman who knew how to find the center in the middle of the storm. It invites us all to look for that center of gravity together, guided by a vision that refuses to be silenced by death.

The International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia has been the center of gravity for art for over a century. Artists, art and museum professionals, collectors, dealers, philanthropists and an ever-growing public converge on this mythical site every two years to feel the pulse of the Zeitgeist. It is a once-in-a-lifetime honor and privilege to follow in the footsteps of luminary predecessors in the role of Artistic Director, and to compose an exhibition that I hope will carry meaning for the world we currently live in — and most importantly, for the world we want to make.
--Koyo Kouoh

The In Minor Keys Team: Rory Tsapayi, Siddartha Mitter, Marie Helene Pereira,
Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Rasha Tsapayi
Photo: Andrea Avezzu - Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

In Minor Keys, the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, will run from Saturday, May 9 to Sunday, November 22, 2026, with previews on May 6, 7, and 8. You can watch the presentation of In Minor Keys on The Biennale Channel on YouTube. Go to the Venice Biennale for more information.

Quick Facts: 61st Venice Art Biennale

Official Title: In Minor Keys
Artistic Director: Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025)
Public Dates: May 9 – November 22, 2026
Preview Days: May 6, 7, and 8, 2026
Venues: Giardini, Arsenale, and Ca' Giustinian
Official Info: labiennale.org

OVERVIEW:
This article provides a primary account of the 61st Venice Art Biennale (2026), specifically the posthumous vision of Artistic Director Koyo Kouoh titled In Minor Keys. It includes first-hand coverage of the February 25, 2026, presentation at Ca' Giustinian, featuring remarks by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco regarding the philosophical concepts of Gurdjieff’s "permanent center of gravity." Author: Cat Bauer (Venetian Cat-The Venice Blog).

Ciao from Venezia,

Cat Bauer
The Venice Gazette

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
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A Flirty Jesus Meets the 'Samaritan Woman at the Well" by Luca Giordano - Palazzo Grimani Welcomes a New Masterpiece to Venice

2026-01-08T16:08:00.012+01:00

Samaritan Woman at the Well by Luca Giordano (c. 1697)
Photo: Matteo De Fina

(Venice, Italy) I didn't know the story of the encounter between Jesus Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well when I first saw Luca Giordano's masterpiece at Palazzo Grimani. In fact, I wasn't really sure, exactly, what a Samaritan was. All I knew was that somewhere in the Bible a "good Samaritan" had helped a stranger in a time of need.

The look on Jesus's face captivated me. He seemed laid-back, yet intense. Was he flirting with the woman? Looking deep into her soul? And who were those two men in the upper left-hand corner? They seemed to be dishing the dirt about the scene taking place in front of them at the well.

The only gospel that mentions the encounter between Christ and the Samaritan woman is the Gospel of John, Chapter 4.

To understand the complex scene, we must travel back to the Holy Land during the time of Jesus Christ. It would take a coffee table textbook to delve into the complex cultural dynamics—the geopolitics seem to be as complicated then as they are now. And there are many interpretations of Biblical stories, with all sorts of scholars from different religious backgrounds weighing in.

Here's one greatly simplified version after doing a bit of research.

Why was Samaria Taboo?

Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her husband, Joseph, lived in Nazareth, a town in the northern region of Galilee. Supposedly, there was a census that required Joseph to travel to the hometown of his ancestors, the House of David, located in Jerusalem.

Joseph and a very pregnant Mary traveled south to Bethlehem, a town in the ancient Kingdom of Judea, about 80-90 miles (140-150 kilometers) away, and about 10 miles south of Jerusalem, the capital city of Judea.

In the most popular version of events, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem in the south, but that was not his hometown. He grew up in Nazareth in the north in Galilee.

In between Galilee and Judea was Samaria, a region that Jews considered unclean and full of heretics.

In 722 BC, the Assyrians had conquered the land and forcibly deported thousands of Israelites. To fill the void, they resettled the territory with various other conquered people from their empire. Thus, the Jews from Judea and Galilee viewed the Samaritans as mixed-bloods who had intermarried with Mesopotamian settlers. Even casual contact was taboo.

For centuries, Jews despised the Samaritans so much that they would not take the direct route from Galilee to Jerusalem through Samaria, instead making a longer trip east of the Jordan River.

Samaria was bordered by Galilee to the north, Judea to the south, the Jordan River to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Today, Samaria is primarily located in the northern part of the West Bank.

The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, which they believed predated Jerusalem, and considered it their holiest site. Abraham, the original patriarch of the Old Testament, built the first altar at the base of Mount Gerizim. Samaritans believed it was God's chosen mountain.

The Jews worshiped on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just 50 kilometers (31 miles) away, where the sacred Second Temple was then located, and which the Romans would destroy in 70 AD. For Jews, Jerusalem was the religious epicenter.

Jesus Christ took a direct route across taboo Samaria (white) instead of going around (red)
Map: Bible Study Fellowship

Even though Samaria divided the territory, both Judeans and Galileans came from the same Jewish ethnic stock. Galileans were Jews who had migrated north from Judea and had developed a strong regional identity.

At the time that Giordano's painting takes place, Jesus Christ, a Jew from the northern region of Galilee, was heading back home after spending Passover in Jerusalem in Judea. While in Jerusalem, he got caught up in an unintentional baptism competition with John the Baptist.

To get back to Galilee, Jesus broke the rules and took the straight route through Samaria. About noon, he became tired and sat down by a well while his disciples were in town buying food.

The conversation depicted by Giordano between Jesus and the Samaritan woman took place at Jacob's Well, in the ancient town of Sychar near the base of Mount Gerizim, a location of great significance that stretched back to the very origins of Judaism itself.

Who was Jacob?

Now we must travel even further back in history, to about 2,000 years before Christ.

Long before he tricked his way into becoming one of the three Old Testament patriarchs, Jacob was a calculating strategist who entered the world clutching the heel of his twin, Esau. The twins' parents were Isaac, son of Abraham, and Rebekah.

The twins came from divine stock. Their VIP grandfather, Abraham, was the original patriarch who carried the Covenant, God's hallowed promise that he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham's descendants would receive the promised land of Canaan. Isaac inherited the sacred Covenant from Abraham before Esau and Jacob were born.

Isaac favored Esau, a manly, hairy hunter, who, as the firstborn, was destined to inherit the divine Covenant.

Rebekah favored Jacob, whose name meant "the deceiver" or "the supplanter." Rebekah and Jacob had their eye on the divine Covenant and schemed how they could hijack Esau's inheritance.

First, Jacob exploited Esau's impulsiveness to snatch his material birthright. As Esau stumbled home after a hunt, famished and exhausted, Jacob refused him a simple meal until Esau signed over his birthright as head of the family for a single bowl of red lentil stew. Rashly, Esau agreed.

Even so, Esau was still the destined heir to the spiritual claim of the divine Covenant, whose descendants would receive the promised land. That claim needed Isaac's blessing—the spiritual activation of the Covenant that only a father preparing for death could bestow.

Decades later, Rebekah overheard Isaac—by this time old, blind, and nearing death—tell Esau to hunt venison for the sacred ritual to pass on the Covenant. While Esau was gone, Rebekah cooked a substitute of goat meat and draped Jacob in hairy goat skins to mimic his brother's touch and scent. In disguise, Jacob fed his father fake venison and whispered lies to intercept the hallowed words meant for his brother, Esau, the firstborn.

The fallout was explosive. Esau vowed to murder his brother the moment their father died. To save Jacob, Rebekah sent him into exile. She would die before her favorite son ever returned.

The climax of Jacob's life occurred some 20 years later at the Jabbok River, a dark and lonely crossing where Jacob learned that Esau was coming to greet him with 400 armed men. Fearing the worst, he was alone and terrified.

Suddenly, what seemed to be a "man" attacked Jacob in the darkness. For hours, they fought to the death. The stranger struck Jacob's hip, dislocating it. Jacob refused to let go of what seemed to be a mysterious divine manifestation. "I will not let you go unless you bless me!"

The stranger demanded, "What is your name?"

Jacob said, "Jacob." By stating his name, which meant "the deceiver," Jacob was confessing his true nature and past actions, a necessary step before he could be transformed and receive the blessing.

The stranger declared, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with humans, and have prevailed."

Jacob emerged from the battle with the mysterious entity—whom many scholars interpret as God—with a permanent limp and a new identity: Israel. Transformed, when Esau arrived, the twins reconciled their differences. Later, Jacob purchased a plot of ground in Shechem for 100 pieces of silver. It was there that he created the well, the physical anchor for his 12 sons, which would forever be known as Jacob's Well.

Today, Jacob's Well is a Christian holy site in a suburb of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank. Over the centuries, different churches have been built over the same site where the well is located. Currently, it is inside an Eastern Orthodox church and monastery.

So, Jacob pilfered the blessing, but he earned the name Israel, "he who struggles with God," and is considered the father of the Israelites. The descendants of his 12 sons became the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Samaritan Woman at the Well by Luca Giordana (detail)
Photo: Cat Bauer

Jesus Meets the Samaritan Woman at the Well

Around two thousand years later, Jesus was sitting by Jacob's Well at noon. His disciples were in town buying food. A solitary Samaritan woman approached. She was not with the rest of the women of the village, who would have drawn water earlier in the morning. Jesus asked, "Will you give me a drink?"

The woman was startled. Not only should a Jew not be in Samaria, but he should definitely not be speaking to a single female Samaritan. The woman questioned him. "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"

Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

The woman challenged him. "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman said to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Jesus told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

She replied: "I have no husband."

Jesus acknowledged her honesty. "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

The woman was astonished. "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

"Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know: we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."

The woman said, "I know that Messiah, called Christ, is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus declared: "I, the one speaking to you—I am he."

Disciples return (detail)

Just then, his disciples returned and were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman, as depicted by the men in the upper left-hand corner of the painting. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman dashed back to the town and said to the people,“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him...

Samaritan woman (detail)

Call her by Her Name: Saint Photina

I was raised Roman Catholic (which, I have learned over the decades, is a bit different than Venetian Catholic) with a biblical knowledge limited to Bedtime Bible Stories and a Catechism taught by frightening nuns. But I am surprised that I have never heard the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well before—I've included the entire Gospel of John, Chapter 4 at the end of this post. It seems that she was the first person to whom Jesus openly revealed himself to be the Messiah.

The Eastern Orthodox faith definitely knows who the Samaritan woman is. She is Saint Photina, venerated as the first person to spread the Gospel of Jesus to her people, leading to many conversions. She is recognized as the first Christian evangelist.

In fact, the current Eastern Orthodox church that houses Jacob's Well is named the Church of Saint Photina. It is considered by some to be the most authentic site in the Holy Land, depending on which religion is telling the story, "since no one can move a well that was originally more than 40 metres deep."

So, not only did ground-breaking Jesus Christ take the direct route through off-limits Samaria, he stopped to rest at the very well created by Jacob, aka Israel, the redeemed father of the Israelites. Then he upped the ante by having an intimate conversation with a Samaritan woman, to whom he revealed that he was the Messiah.

The Modern Journey of Giordano's Masterpiece: From Bankruptcy to Palazzo Grimani

In recent years, Giordano's painting had been part of a Venetian collection that fell into bankruptcy. Its future was uncertain. Then the Italian police stepped in.

One of the most fascinating units of the Carabinieri, Italy's military police, is the Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Italy has an abundance of priceless art, and all sorts of shenanigans go on from those who would like to get their hands on it.

The Carabinieri discovered Giordano's painting at a Venetian bankruptcy auction in 2018. Its origins were unknown. It was purchased by the Italian Ministry of Culture in 2021.

Because of the connection between Cardinal Vicenzo Grimani (c.1652-1710), who was the Viceroy of Naples during the Hapsburg realm, and the Neapolitan Baroque artist Luca Giordano (1634-1705), it was decided that Palazzo Grimani, Cardinal Grimani's ancestral palace in Venice, would become the permanent home of the Samaritan Woman at the Well. Grimani was an important patron and collector of Giordano's work. The masterpiece has been carefully restored by Claudia Vittori, and is now in the dining room of Palazzo Grimani.

Samaritan Woman at the Well by Luca Giordano
in the dining room of Palazzo Grimani
Photo: Cat Bauer

Slowly but surely, the ancient Palazzo Grimani is returning to its former glory when it was a paramount cultural center in Venice. It is a brilliant example of how even the serpentine bureaucracy of the Italian Ministry of Culture enables Italy to regain its priceless heritage.

And that’s not all. In July 2025, the vibrant Dr. Marianna Bressan was confirmed as the director of a new Italian State institute in Venice, which was created in May 2024: the National Archaeological Museums of Venice and the Lagoon.

The Palazzo Grimani Museum is a crucial element of the new institution, which also includes the National Archaeological Museum of Venice, the Altino Archaeological Museum, and the future Museo Archeologico Nazionale della Laguna di Venezia, which will be out in the lagoon on the Island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, also home to the Venice Immersive section of the Venice Film Festival. The institute will explore the evolution and transformations of the city of Venice from antiquity to the present day.

In its new home in Palazzo Grimani, Luca Giordano's Samaritan Woman at the Well is a welcome masterpiece and a vital cornerstone for the future of Venice's new National Archeological Museums.

Ciao from Venezia,

Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Gospel of John, Chapter 4

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— ²although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

⁴Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.^[a])

¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ³⁰They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

³³Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴²They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”