{"id":2639,"date":"2026-01-09T12:41:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casanovaofficialmuseum.com\/journal\/venice-and-the-hot-air-balloons-of-1784-science-wonder-and-an-episode-of-jealousy\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T12:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:04:35","slug":"venice-and-the-hot-air-balloons-of-1784-science-wonder-and-an-episode-of-jealousy","status":"publish","type":"journal","link":"https:\/\/www.casanovaofficialmuseum.com\/en\/journal\/venice-and-the-hot-air-balloons-of-1784-science-wonder-and-an-episode-of-jealousy\/","title":{"rendered":"Venice and the hot air balloons of 1784: science, wonder, and an episode of jealousy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong><strong>The arrival of hot air balloons in Italy<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the Montgolfier brothers pioneered hot-air balloon flight in France in 1783, the whole of Europe became fascinated by this new technological marvel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Italy was not to be outdone: between 1783 and 1784, experiments multiplied, from Rome to Verona, from Pavia to Milan, involving scientists, curious onlookers and nobles eager to take part in what seemed to be a revolution in the way people viewed the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venice, too, with its natural enthusiasm for spectacle and novelty, quickly embraced the excitement surrounding hot-air ballooning<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong><strong>The Venetian flight in 1784<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April 1784, a group of Venetian patricians \u2014 including members of the Spinola and Avanzetti families \u2014 organised the launch of a hot-air balloon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event attracted a large crowd: Venice, a city with a long tradition of public celebrations and spectacular events, could hardly remain indifferent to the sight of a balloon rising into the sky above the lagoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As in the early French experiments, a cat and a dog were placed aboard the balloon to observe the effects of flight on living creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The balloon, however, did not travel far: it came down on the nearby island of Burano, where its unexpected arrival frightened a local farmer. The incident soon became a widely circulated anecdote<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Spectacle Through Guardi&#8217;s Eyes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The painter Francesco Guardi, a keen observer of Venetian life, depicted the event in a painting that captures an atmosphere of wonder and curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The painting conveys not only the spectacle of the balloon flight but also the reactions of the spectators: amazement, disbelief and the sense of witnessing something entirely new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is one of the earliest visual records of hot-air ballooning in Venice, offering us a glimpse of how the event must have appeared to those who witnessed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong><strong>Francesca Buschini and the Casino dei Mongolfisti<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the morning of 5 May 1784, Francesca Buschini, one of the women closest to Casanova during his years in Venice, watched another balloon flight from the terrace of Casanova&#8217;s house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contemporary accounts also record her presence at the Casino dei Mongolfisti, a gathering place for enthusiasts of the new invention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fact that a young, spirited woman took part in such events shows just how much hot-air ballooning had become a popular attraction in Venice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong><strong>Casanova&#8217;s jealousy<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zaguri informed Casanova of Buschini&#8217;s presence at the Casino dei Mongolfisti, and this seemingly insignificant piece of news had an unexpected effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Casanova, by then far from Venice, reacted with intense jealousy, interpreting her presence there as a sign of disloyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His irritation was so great that he broke off correspondence with the young woman for almost two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The episode reveals a deeply human and vulnerable side of Casanova, a man who remained profoundly attached to the people he loved, even from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong><strong><strong>A curious and modern city<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venice&#8217;s interest in hot-air ballooning was not an isolated phenomenon, but part of a broader openness to scientific innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zaguri, always curious about the inventions of his time, discussed them with the same enthusiasm he brought to conversations about theatre or social events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This episode \u2014 blending science and private life \u2014 offers us a glimpse of a vibrant Venice, eager to embrace new discoveries, and of two figures from eighteenth-century Venetian society caught up in a moment of innovation and genuine emotion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 1784 hot air balloon flight in Venice, between spectacle, science and private life: Guardi\u2019s painting, Italian experiments, and Casanova\u2019s jealousy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2882,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"autore-journal":[135],"categoria-journal":[161],"tag-journal":[139,137,162,138],"class_list":["post-2639","journal","type-journal","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","autore-journal-sabine-herrmann","categoria-journal-venice-in-the-eighteenth-century","tag-journal-casanova","tag-journal-eighteenth-century-venice","tag-journal-francesco-guardi","tag-journal-peter-zaguri"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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