When we travel, we are often creatures of habit. That habit is one where we return to places we enjoy. Whilst in Venice, returning to Cavalier is routine for us. We just love this cozy, golden, little shop.
The red arrow marks the location of Cavalier in the aerial view of Venice, below. For reference, that’s the Accademia bridge across the Grand Canal to the left. [For those in the know, it doesn’t look like the Accademia bridge, which is a simple wood decked bridge. The bridge has been reworked to modernize it, and to eliminate the attachment of those irritating locks one sees hanging here and there. So, the version you see here during Google’s photo shoot has construction scaffolding.]
The large vacant area to the lower-right of the arrow is Campo Santo Stefano. This is not a piazza, as there is only one piazza in Venice, and that is Piazza San Marco.
Here is the business card for Cavalier. The owners are Gianni and Alberto. We have not met Gianni, as Alberto has been in attendance on our visits.
And here is their cozy little shop’s exterior. And cozy, it is.
So, what is it that Gianni and Alberto do whilst at their cozy shop? As it says on their business card above, they are a ‘gilding’ artisan workshop. Specifically, they apply gold leaf to gild just about anything, but in particular to picture frames and small carvings.
You will instantly take a liking to Alberto. Here you can see friendly Alberto with a soon-to-be gold-leafed picture frame. It looks as if this frame has had a past life of framing.
I returned to the shop after a bit of lunch to check on Alberto’s progress. Here you can see that he has made great strides in his work.
And, what holds the gold leaf to the wood work? Alberto explains below that it is rabbit. Yes it is a rabbit glue within Alberto’s glue pot. I have no idea which part of a rabbit produces glue, or whether it is given up freely by the rabbit, but is sure works well.
On this trip, here is our purchase…a little putti (to adorn our Venetian inspired guest bathroom, which is complete with Venetian plaster walls, applied by none other than my artist-daughter Alyson).
As is always the case in Italy, things are wrapped as if the wrapping were as important as what’s being wrapped. We have never wanted for traveling protection of our purchased treasures.
And yes, our cute little putti made it home safely, and is now ensconced for our guests to admire.
And, here is another cutie, purchased at Cavalier on our most recent trip. This purchase was inspired by my granddaughter Kylie…who i a spitting image of this putti!
So, what should you do whilst in Venice? Do what we do time and again and go spend some time with Alberto (or maybe even Gianni) at Cavalier, of course.
When you visit Cavalier, hit me up for one of their charming putti, as I’ll probably be there visiting with Alberto. In the meantime…
Ciao for now,
Steve