Cappe — plate 15
The Arti che vanno per via nella città di Venezia (1753, 1770, 1785, etc.), by Gaetano Zompini (1700–1778), contains sixty engravings of common, mostly poor people, peddling their trades on the streets of Venice in the mid-1700s.
Text
El dì sora i palui xe stà chiapae Ste cape o da mio Pare, o da qualche altro: De note mi le vendo ben purgae.
Translation
The day over the swamps collected These mussels by my father, or someone else: Note that I sell them well cleansed
Notes
The shallow areas of the lagoon are called paludi o palui. At low tide they’re exposed, making the collection of mussels and clams easier, if still back-breaking. The literal translation of paludo is swamp, even if the bottom might be sandy and hard.
Many Venetians still do this.
Mussels have to be cleansed by being soaked live in water for some time.
All images
Related articles
Bibliography
Zompini, Gaetano. Le arti che vanno per via nella città di Venezia inventate ed incise da Gaetano Zompini, Aggiuntavi una memoria di detto autore. Venezia, 1785.
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