I love how
much is available on the internet. I've been reading Margaret Plant’s wonderful Fragile City, a history of Venice from 1797-1997, and have been
riveted by this comprehensive, fascinating account of a relatively little
published period in Venetian history.
In one of the chapters, Dr Plant
discusses the history of film, both set in Venice, and exhibited in Venice. Dr Plant notes that Albert Promio, a cinematographer for the Lumière
Brothers, shot the first moving footage EVER in 1896, from a gondola in
Venice. I hadn't known that.
I raced over to my Ipad and found several samples of the
footage on Youtube. Here is a screenshot of the first stills:
A gondola floats past as we head up the Grand Canal:
And then a steam boat swings into view:
