History Walks in Venice
History Walks in Venice
René Seindal
History Walks Venice is run by René Seindal. René is Danish by birth, but lives in Venice for fifteen years with Martina, his Venetian wife, and their two dogs Stella and Giubba. René has an M.A. in History and Italian, and a B.Sc. in computer science and math, both from the University of Copenhagen. He is also an authorized tour leader (accompagnatore turistico) in Italy.
Latest Posts
This is the work on Renaissance dress, with many hundreds of woodcuts of people from all over the world, and almost one hundred of Venetians.
All the translated watercolours in the four volumes of "Gli Abiti de Veneziani" by Grevembroch, as galleries for easy browsing.
An advertisement flyer for Theriac, from 1688 (and 1697), printed in Venice, but in English. This is an annotated transcript.
Venice treacle, or theriac, was an ancient wonder medicine, an antidote for most poisons and a cure for most ailments, including the plague.
A 1700s recipe for the miracle medicine Theriac, with most of the ingredients identified.
An incomplete list of pharmacies, or speziali, which have at some time existed in Venice. Some are still around.
Two prints, from the 1600s, depicting the production in public of the wonder-medicine theriac, at the Testa d'Oro pharmacy at Rialto.
"Teriaca" (Theriac) from the Lessico Veneto (1851) by Fabio Mutinelli, translated by René Seindal.
What have been the most popular articles on History Walks Venice in 2025?
"Provveditori e Sopraprovveditori sopra Banchi" from the L’Archivio di Stato di Venezia: indice generale, storico, descrittivo ed analitico (1937) by Andrea da Mosto
The statue on the façade of the San Zulian church is not a saint, but an astrologer and doctor, who sold remedies for syphilis.
"Senatore con stola di duolo" (Senator with a mourning stole) from the Gli abiti de veneziani (1754) by Giovanni Grevembroch, translated by René Seindal.
"Arte Quadrupla" (Quadruple Art) from the Gli abiti de veneziani (1754) by Giovanni Grevembroch, translated by René Seindal.
Over the years, I have written quite a bit about the plague and how the Republic of Venice tried to manage it. This is a complete list of all the plague related articles, podcast episodes, newsletters, chronologies, and sources, both in...
"Vesta da zentilomo" from the Dizionario del Dialetto Veneziano by Giuseppe Boerio.