3 MEALS A DAY

Pietà 1460 Oil on panel, 48 x 33 cm Museo Correr, Venice

A Voyage to the Moon (1868)

Gustave Doré

Around 165 AD the Syrian sophist and satirist Lukain of Samosata wrote in Greek, the True History, often referred to by its Latin translation Vera historia. Apparently the first work of space fiction, it tells of a sailing vessel carrying fifty Greek athletes that is is suddenly charred up into the heavens by a violent whirlwind. On the eighth day of travel, “…an island, round, shining and remarkably full of light” appears. The travelers have reached the Moon. In this 19th century engraving, Gustave Doré depicts the scene.

No, but this bridge is really fascinating actually. When I visited Venice, a Greek tour guide I just met who gave me a free 30-minute tour told me that it’s called The Bridge of Sighs because it’s what connects the prison with the interrogation rooms. When convicts were brought to their cells after their conviction, they were said to sigh as they got their last view over Venice from the bridge.

Avenue of Poplars, 1884