“Isola della Cura”
2013
Media: acrylic on canvas
Size: 102 x 102 cm
To the north of Burano and Torcello there is a group of islands which were once united by a series of bridges. The largest island was Costanzica, founded by fugitives from Altinum who commemorated their homeland by naming the island after one of the 6 city gates. The island was well populated and rich with churches and eminent buildings. The churches of Saints Sergius and Bacchus and Saint Matthew stood on what is now known as Isola della Cura. In the barren expanses to the right of Torcello stood the churches of Saints Maximus and Marcellin built by Julian III, Bishop of Torcello, the church of Saint Maurice and that of Saints John and Paul with the convent of the Benedictine nuns. These places were progressively abandoned due to the gradual migration of the inhabitants towards the islands closer to the sea (Venice) as well as due to the gradual waterlogging of the zone due to the mud deposited by a branch of the Sile river. Any traces of these ancient inhabitants have long since been destroyed. The only remaining sign is the wall that surrounds the ossuary of Saint Arian which was built much later in 155. The island was last used as a place to breed fish and some of the tank outlines are still visible.
