Mantova

Today is day of rest being Sunday.
We went only to Andrea Mantagna's house and the Museo Civico MACA Mantova, and a car museum of Tazio Nuvolari and San Andrea's Church, and the Duomo. Also did a late afternoon passagiata along the lake.
The idea of how Mantagna's perspective paintings were displayed at his house, with geometric diagrams did shed light on how the angles were worked out.
We learnt about the man Tazio who raced everything on wheels, from motorcycles, to cars and even bicycles.
A old Italian man selling church stuff explained (in Italian and the international language of mime) the painting of the archer shooting an arrow at St Sebastian in the chapel of St Sebastian at the Duomo and then given a English booklet. He rattled much Italian which only word we recognised was crypt. He then ushered into the Crypt. Fortunately in the group was a lovely lady from Torino who volunteered to interpret what the guide said to us. The crypt held the Holy Blood of Christ taken from the earth under the cross.
We could not look up at anymore frescoes, see anymore paintings or take anymore pictures. So a walk along the lake. Mantua is surrounded by three artificial lakes, engineered and built in the 12th century as essentially a tremendously large moat.
We are either getting old, getting travel weary, lazy or just becoming sensible as we are catching more buses and trams. At the start of this holiday, we'd think nothing of walking 2-3km between sights. Now, if there's a bus, we take it.

Distance walked 12 kmLes mer