Venice

John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler , Claude Monet, Henry James, Robert Browning: They were among the members of the international intelligentsia who congregated at the Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal in Venice at the end of the 19th century. There's evidence aplenty of their visits, in the form of painting and writing. Their canvases and quotes from their books make up the "Gondola Days" exhibition that is the culminating event of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's centennial -- which was actually in 2003.

The Venice Film Festival will honor Italian director and screenwriter Francesco Rosi with a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement. Film festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement Thursday that Rosi "has left an indelible mark on the history of Italian filmmaking. " The festival called Rosi, 89, an innovator of socially committed Italian filmmaking. It cited "Hands over the City," which won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1963; "The Mattei Affair," which took the Golden Palm at Cannes in 1972; and "Salvatore Giuliano," Silver Bear-winner in Berlin in 1961.

FRIDAY 1 p.m. Cannaregio check-in Le Mansarde B&B Rio Terra San Leonardo 1353/c 011-39-041-718826 cazzar.ola@libero.it Lodgings at this 18th-century palazzo have cooking facilities. $120-$145. 2 p.m. Join the crowd Basilica di San Marco Piazza San Marco 011-39-041-522-5205 View the interior of one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. 4 p.m. Dragonslayer Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni Castello 3259/a, Calle dei Furlani 011-39-041-522-8828 Renaissance oratory contains paintings of St. George and the dragon.

Gabriella Mondini, the driven protagonist of Regina O'Melveny's picaresque fiction debut, is as much of an anomaly in her time (a female doctor in 16th-century Italy) as she would be in ours (she's had it up to here with Venice). What would propel a woman to go into medicine in an age when women in that line of work are likened to witches, and suspected witches meet a terrible end? And who among us would willfully kiss off a comfortable home in Venice, servants included, during a time when the pigeons still outnumbered the tourists and the $20 Bellini was not yet an option at the...

WILLIAMSTOWN - By all accounts, Maurice Brazil Prendergast was very likable. He had charm, fine manners, and not least, talent. All this made him the kind of man to whom good things happen. Despite his middle-class background, his lack of rigorous art training, and the years he had spent painting shop signs, Prendergast (1858-1924) became a fixture of Boston’s art-loving high society as the 19th century came to a close. It helped that his brother, Charles, who worked in a Boston art gallery, was equally charming.

VENICE -- When travelers seek out her little bed-and-breakfast in the mainly residential Cannaregio neighborhood, Anna Maria Andreola assumes that they want to experience everyday life in this ancient marshland city huddled around its canals. "Gondolas are too expensive; they're for tourists," she says as she spreads out a map and points out neighborhood landmarks and favorite restaurants. To get around the city, she advises, "Ride the No. 1 vaporetto. " As the ferry travels the length of the Grand Canal, passengers have the perfect waterside vantage on the crumbling...

VENICE -- After traipsing in and around Rome's monuments and churches for four days, our goal in Venice was to spend time outdoors, getting lost in the maze of streets and hopping on and off "vaporettos" or bus boats. That plan was executed and complemented with visits to the delightful Peggy Guggenheim Museum and a crowded St. Mark's Basilica on St. Mark's Square. Two attempts over three days to view the Gallerie dell'Accademia's stellar Renaissance art collection failed because of long lines.

ROME - Italian authorities plan to expand Venice’s port into a bustling shipping hub, further endangering the fragile lagoon and contributing to the sinking of the treasured city built on water, a conservation group said yesterday. Venice in Peril, a British fund that works to preserve Venice, said a report it obtained from the local port authority showed plans to accommodate more and bigger ships in a bid to compete with other European harbors. The Venice port authority confirmed that it had written the report, but insisted the work will respect the...

VENICE — Pope Benedict XVI greeted thousands of faithful packed into St. Mark’s Square yesterday, the first visit by a pope since his predecessor John Paul II plied the canals 26 years ago in a gondola styled for Venice’s Byzantine-era rulers. The pope was ferried in a wooden boat from a helicopter landing pad to St. Mark’s, flanked by police in boats and a pair of jet skis. Singing and chanting well-wishers welcomed Benedict as church bells pealed and boat horns blared.

NEW YORK — A few years before the first performance of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,’’ in the 1590s, Queen Elizabeth’s physician, Rodrigo Lopez, was convicted on questionable charges and hanged. He was Jewish, part of a minuscule minority in Elizabethan England. The fact was used against him at trial. Whether Shakespeare saw Lopez’s dead body is uncertain, but Theatre for a New Audience founder and artistic director Jeffrey Horowitz believes that he must have.

A tearful Ernest Hemingway wrote to his Italian friend in February 1953 to talk about his recently departed cat, Uncle Willie. The cat was found with its two right legs broken, and Hemingway decided to shoot it in the head to put it out of its misery. The same day, a horde of tourists arrived at the writer's door. "I still had the rifle and I explained to them they had come at a bad time and to please understand and go away," Hemingway wrote from Cuba. "But the rich Cadillac psycho said, ‘We have come at a most interesting time.

VENICE - It is a matter of perspective. From aboard a 12-deck cruise liner, the sight of St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace, and Bridge of Sighs gliding past from a cabin balcony is a breathtaking thrill. But against the backdrop of Venice's storied canals and Byzantine architecture, these floating condominiums present a jarring sight, out of scale and sync with the surroundings. The deadly grounding of the Costa Concordia off the Tuscan coast has sharpened the focus on the largely unchecked boom of these ever-larger luxury liners, and nowhere more so than in...

ROME, FLORENCE, TUSCANY, VENICE, & LAKE COMO - 11 Nights from $2,099 pp * For centuries, Italy has drawn visitors in search of culture and romance. Few countries can compare with its classical history, art, architecture, music, ne design, scenery, food and wine. Blend together the striking natural beauty of Tuscany, the vitality of Rome, the uniqueness of Venice and the captivating splendor of Lake Como and this is an unforgettable vacation. *(airfare not included so frequent flyer miles can be used)

The movie "Contagion" premiered at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend. Boston's Matt Damon , who is still bald for his movie "Elysium," shared the festival celebration with his wife, Luciana Bozan Barroso , and costar, Gwyneth Paltrow , who also starred with him in "The Talented Mr. Ripley. " Damon recently told Access Hollywood, of working with Gwyn, "I was reminded of just how amazing she is. She's a really special actress. " Damon and Paltrow play spouses in "Contagion.

The Venice Film Festival says Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To's "Life Without Principle" joins the 22 films vying for the coveted Golden Lion. But the festival tantalized film lovers with the promise of yet another surprise movie — to be announced at a later time. The festival last month announced the titles of 21 films in competition, promising to announce the first surprise film within weeks. Director Marco Mueller has made surprise films a feature of the festival since he took over in 2004.

VENICE - Whether we go to Paris, or London, or Buenos Aires, or Bangkok, we all register the existence of two incarnations of each of these places: There is the city geared to tourists. And then there is the "real" one, the one negotiated by its inhabitants. Even as we gratefully submit to the former, we yearn for the latter. Venice is different. Yes, it's the most unlikely, the most mysterious, the most heart-stoppingly beautiful city in the world. But it's also the most overrun: by tides, by crowds, and increasingly by commerce.

The reason to see "The Merchant of Venice" is Al Pacino, and to see what one of our greatest living hams -- I mean that as a compliment, mostly -- can do when he underplays. Pacino takes Shylock, perhaps the most insistent and troubling character in all of Shakespeare, and roots him powerfully to the ground. Dressed in thick layers of robes, eyes glowing like hot coals under the red hat he is forced to wear as a Venetian Jew, this Shylock is a cement roadblock, an implacable force, and he's so delighted that the law, for once, is working in his favor that he can see nothing but retribution.

VENICE — Venice is on its way to having its first official female gondolier. City Hall said yesterday that Giorgia Boscolo had passed the practical exam to become a gondolier. She is the first woman to pass this test, considered the most difficult of those required to pilot a boat on Venice’s canals. Boscolo must pass one further test, a written, multiple-choice exam, in order to join the guild of official gondoliers. Deputy Mayor Sandro Simionato said her success breaks “900 years of male dominance’’ in the profession and will probably inspire more women to...

A list of the 22 films in competition for the Golden Lion at the 68th Venice Film Festival, which will run from Aug. 31-Sept. 10. "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy" by Tomas Alfredson, UK, Germany. "Wuthering Heights" by Andrea Arnold, UK. "Texas Killing Fields" by Ami Canaan Mann, United States. "The Ides of March" by George Clooney, United States. "Quando la Notte" by Cristina Comencini, Italy. "Terraferma" by Emanuele Crialese, Italy. "A Dangerous Method" by David Cronenberg, Canada.

VENICE BIENNALE: 54th International Art Exhibition and affiliated exhibitions Various locations, Venice. Through Nov. 27. www.labiennale.org VENICE — Contemporary art likes to pretend it has no past. Every year, artists shamelessly recycle conceits that established others’ reputations mere decades earlier. Aging geniuses are relegated to the history books well before their time is up. Amnesia reigns. The situation reaches its apogee every two years at the Venice Biennale, where the world’s most important contemporary art event takes place in a setting that is up to...