The Venice of Bieńkowska, the Venice of Bolewski – on two essays about the city

The article analyses two essays about Venice: Ewa Bieńkowska's “What do the stones of Venice say” and Jacek Bolewski's “What after Venice… Following up artists and saints”. The subjects of both essays are, above all, the art and architecture of the city, which leads to comparisons. E. Bieńkowska focuses on painting, whereas J. Bolewski refers to literary texts (I. Brodski, Casanova, H. James). However, both essays are a special “lesson in looking.” In both of them, there are clear references to essays of Herbert, even in the way the “essayistic speaking voice” is formulated in the opposition to the tourist.