Escape from Venice

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The Giants’ Staircase (photo – Remi Mathis). A nightwatchman spotted them and assumed they were courtiers who were accidentally locked in, Casanova having previously changed into the fine suit and hat (‘my exquisite hat trimmed with Spanish lace and adorned with a white feather’) that he had been wearing on his arrival at the prison. They were thus released and made good their escape from the Doge’s palace via Antonio Rizzo’s spectacular Giants’ Staircase.
Palzzo Grimani (photo by Wknight94). The day after staying at the home of the chief of police, he met Signore Marc Antoine Grimani. Members of the Grimani family (brothers Alvis, Zuane and Michele, the latter thought to be Casanova’s true father) had given an oath to Casanova’s putative father before his death to be protectors of his children. It was a matter of some surprise and sourness on Casanova’s part, then, when this particular member of the family rejected his appeal for help.
Casanova’s Life and Times
'Wheel of Fortune' by Kev Butters, artist of 'Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King' - an online graphic novel created by Kev Butters and Dave Thompson.
Il Piombi
On 26th July, 1755 Giacomo Casanova was imprisoned in ‘Il Piombi’ (‘The Leads’). He did not receive a trial, was not told of the charges against him (on the record as ‘a question of religion’) and was kept in ignorance as to the length of his sentence.
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His cramped, backache-inducing cell was larchwood-lined, measured eight feet by ten feet and was five feet in height (Casanova was himself over six feet). The entrance was a lofty three feet in height.
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) | Piazza San Marco | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Piazzo San Marco (Canaletto). Casanova remained incarcerated for over 15 months, subject to extreme heat in the summer and extreme cold in the winter, was terrorised by large, noisy rats, tormented by flea bites and deafened by the chimes of St Marks. The conditions of his imprisonment led to agonising bouts of constipation and haemorrhoids. At one point he became dangerously ill with a fever. It was nine months before he was allowed out of his cell for regular exercise.
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Casanova's break came when he was allowed out of his cell to exercise and found an iron spike. He worked through the floor of his cell and by August 1756 was close to being able to break out. At the last minute, however, he was moved to another cell. His attempt was uncovered although not before he was able to hide the spike in his chair and shrewdly insinuate to his gaoler that it was his neglect that allowed the attempt to take place. Consequently, the gaoler didn’t report the incident.
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Casanova’s new cell contained a prison mate, a spy, with whom he did not get on. He did, however, manage to join forces with a prisoner in another cell who was also interested in escaping - a renegade priest called Marino Balbi. The plan this time was not to go down but to go up. Casanova smuggled his spike to Balbi who hacked through the ceiling (at night-time there were no guards on duty), concealing the damage with a religious canvas which the authorities had allowed Balbi.
Jan 5, 1757: Giacomo Casanova Breaks out of Prison
The night they chose to escape was November 1st, All Saints Day, a religious holiday when most of the staff were away. Balbi escaped his cell then went across and broke through into Casanova’s. From the roof void above the ceiling they peeled back the leading (hence the prison was called ‘Il Piombi’, or ‘The Leads’) and scrambled onto the roof itself before dropping down through a skylight back into the palace and the locked offices of the Inquisition.
Casanova autres ouvrages
News of Casanova’s escape made him something of a celebrity throughout out Europe, a celebrity he cashed in on by writing a bestselling book: The Story of my Escape: from the prisons of the Republic of Venice otherwise known as “The Leads”.
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Veneto countryside. “As soon as I saw Father Balbi far enough off I got up, and seeing at a little distance a shepherd keeping his flock on the hill-side, I made my way-towards him to obtain such information as I needed. “What is the name of this village, my friend?” said I. “Valde Piadene, signor,” he answered, to my surprise, for I found I was much farther on my way that I thought.” (Casanova’s Memoirs)
Greeted by the police chief’s pregnant wife, Casanova claimed to be a good friend of her husband from which, for some mysterious reason, she deduced him to be her husband’s superior, a Signor Vetturi. She told him that her husband was out searching for two escaped prisoners and that she wasn’t expecting him back for three or four days. Casanova asked her if she could put him up. The wife obliged, herself and her mother duly taking care of his wounds before feeding him and putting him to bed.
Richard Wilson | Lake Nemi and Genzano from the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Lake Nemi and Genzano from the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery (circa 1756-57 by Richard Wilson). Casanova had more joy later in the day when, as the sun began to set, ‘weary and faint with hunger I stopped at a good-looking house’. The house was owned by a Signore Rombenchi who was absent at the time. Nonetheless, he was given hospitality and allowed to stay for the night. In the morning, he walked five hours to a Capuchin monastery where he dined.
Sequin (coin) - Wikipedia
Italian States-Venice (1779-89), 50 Zechini. Casanova carried on to the house of a friend, an elderly stockbroker who, according to Casanova ‘was under great obligations to me’. Not great enough, apparently, for his friend, terrified of the Venetian authorities, refused to lend him some money. On this occasion, however, Casanova was not prepared to take no for an answer and, infuriated, threatened the man with violence.
That night Casanova stayed with a farmer where he ‘had a bad supper and a bed of straw’. The next day he bought an old overcoat, boots and hired a donkey. In this way passed through a guard post unsuspected and got to Borgo de Valsugano in the foothills of the alps, beyond the Republic’s jurisdiction. Here he found that Father Balbi, disguised by a great overcoat and hat, had already arrived. They had previously agreed to meet up at Borgo but neither of them had expected it to happen.