Welcome to Henry's Travel Blog!
Although he kept detailed business papers, Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw left little personal material for biographers to consider in analyzing his life. One of the few items which remain is a series of five journals. Following his retirement from the hardware business in 1840, Shaw traveled abroad and made notes, recollections, and even sketches in these small bound books. Join us as we chart Henry's journey to Europe and beyond.
 
Shaw's variable spellings, punctuation, and grammar, preserved throughout, are typical even for well-educated gentlemen in the 19th Century. Important note (4/14/09): The entries from March 11, 2009 through April 8, 2009, correspond to recently discovered text from Henry Shaw's journal. They will be posted online under the correct dates to preserve chronological accuracy.
 
   
   

Posted Online Monday, October 5, 2009

December 30, 1841: Galleria Manfrin

A cold windy day with rain. After Italian Lezione went to the gallery in the the palazzo Manfrin - one of the best collection of paintings in Venice. Among those that struck me most was the dead Christ by Titian. Portrait of Queen Cornaro who gave up her Kingdom of Cypress to the Ventians in the 15th century - by the same master - a St. Cicelia by Carlo Dolce in his soft and delicate style, many things by Giorgione, whose portraits are so much in the style of Titian that I cannot tell the difference.

A Cartoon of Raphael covers the side of a room and represents Noah, his family, with animals and birds in pairs going into the ark. A curious and rather odd effect - but perhaps as well as the subject could be represented the colours are fresh and distinct after a lapse of three centuries -