Detail of Gothic Palace with Parrot Cage, Venice 19th-20th century

Curator: Joseph Smith’s "Detail of Gothic Palace with Parrot Cage, Venice," captures a fragment of Venetian architecture. What’s your immediate impression? Editor: It feels strangely desolate, like a stage set after the actors have left. That parrot cage in the window… a silent witness? Curator: These vedute paintings of Venice were popular souvenirs, offering a romanticized vision of the city's grandeur to wealthy tourists. Editor: It’s less grand than haunting, to me. The peeling plaster, the barred windows… it speaks of something lost, or perhaps imprisoned. It's a mood thing, a feeling of decay. Curator: Indeed. It also speaks to how Venice, even then, was performing its history for an audience. Editor: It’s a performance with melancholia in its eyes. I sense that it has depth, doesn't it? Curator: A poignant perspective, one I hadn't considered quite that way. Thank you. Editor: Always a pleasure to share my interpretations. It is up to the beholder to decide.