San Marco in the Snow.
I've kept this Christmas card for over three decades. It was a UNESCO card I once purchased a box of and sent to friends and family. I absolutely love it. It is called "San Marco in the Snow," and on the back of the card the source is credited as a painting contributed by Christine Chagnoux of France to benefit UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. In 1977 I had a talented student of mine, Michael Colasante, do a large copy of it in oils. Paid him a hundred bucks. It hangs in my bedroom. I'm not sure how much it snows in Venice, though it rains aplenty in winter. The image of the lovely Byzantine basilica has a serene and haunting quality. And what privileged pigeons! They are the only tourists in this scene. I've been in Rome at Christmas, but never Venice, though I've spent several Easters there.
