Erbariol — plate 2
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
Mi son quel che le spiaze de marina Coltivo, passo el mar, porto à Venezia Ogni sorte d’erbazi ogni matina.
Translation
I'm the one who farms the sea-side beaches
I cross the sea, and bring to Venice
Every kind of greenery, every morning.
Notes
The spiaze de marina in the first line translates literally as beaches of the sea, which aren’t something you can farm. My interpretation is that it means the poorer, sandier fields on the sea-side of the lidos of the lagoon — the islands of Sant’Erasmo, Lido di Venezia and Pellestrina.
To get to Venice, it is not sufficient to cross the lagoon, but they had to do part of the journey in the Adriatic Sea, hence passo el mar.
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.
Leave a Reply