(for English, scroll down)
Na prijelazu iz 18. u 19. stoljeće, braća Dominik (1761-1848) i Ivan Luka Garanjin (1764-1841), “praktični i sposobni, a vjerojatno pomalo i bezobzirni” trgovci iz Trogira, jedni su od onih koji Dalmaciji uspijevaju darovati dašak suvremenih lifestyle trendova.[1] Otvoreni za sve oblike formalnog i neformalnog obrazovanja, u pismu poslanom 1811. iz Beča, dobivaju sljedeću poduku:
“Ovdje su šalice za kavu jednake onima za čokoladu. Nije običaj ponuditi čokoladu društvu. Daju je pojedincima, jednom ili dvojici, ili u istim šalicama kao i kavu, ili u većim šalicama i raznih oblika. Kada nude kavu, nikad ne običavaju poslužiti u šalicama jednakog oblika i kvalitete, kao što u nekoj elegantno namještenoj sobi nikada nećete naći sjedalicu, a ni divan iste vrste namještaja. Naime, u lijepim stvarima različitost je ona koja zabavlja. Ispijajući kavu, netko uzima jednu šalicu, a netko neku drugu.”
Pažljiviji čitatelj primijetit će piščev pomalo zbrkan i brzoplet stil. Kao da piše “s nogu”, u pauzi između popodnevne kave i priprema za odlazak na večernju čokoladu. Pomisao možda i nije daleko od istine. Njegov autor i prijatelj Garanjinâ, conte Alviž (Luigi) Geniceo (1767-1841), podjednako nepoznat i kao Casanova s Visa, proživio je zanimljiv život. Startna mu je pozicija prosječna: sin je osiromašenog viškog veleposjednika. Međutim, naoružan plemićkom titulom, ugodnom vanjštinom, šarmom i talentom za špekulacije i kocku, s vremenom stječe ogromno bogatstvo i reprezentativan krug poznanika po Veneciji, Beču i Napulju. U vrijeme gladi 1782./3. Splićanima trebaju tri mjeseca da skupe 27.000 lira pomoći stradalima (oko 4.000 dukata ili cekina). Otprilike u isto vrijeme dr. Bajamonti (junak prethodne, a i još ponekih gladijadorskih epizoda) godišnje zarađuje “izvanredan iznos” od 120 dukata. Geniceo pak, oko 1790., samo preuređenje trećeg kata palače Guistiniani u središtu Venecije plaća stostruko više, gotovo 10.000 dukata:
“’Što ja činim od ovog velikog stana? Budući da je bio na dobrom položaju, pretvaram ga u kraljevski dvor, unutrašnjost sam drukčije podijelio. Stavio sam nove podove i tavanice, izvrsne slike, prikladni namještaj izrađen za tu prigodu, pozlate, ukrasio sagovima, izvezenim zavjesama, izvezenim tapiserijama koje su oponašale i ponavljale ukrase na stropu, engleskim sagovima, ogledalima na prozorima, ogledalima u unutrašnjosti, željeznim ogradama, morskim kupkama koje su, uz određeni mehanizam, dovodile more do kuhinje, kadama od bakra, žaluzinama, velikom namještenom kuhinjom i odijelima za svu poslugu itd., itd. Iz ovog se opisa može zamisliti koliko me je novca stajao ovaj stan, koji je poslije izazivao divljenje svih stranaca kada su ga dolazili razgledavati. Stoga je nužno uslijedilo da su se u tom stanu priređivale velike gozbe i svečanosti.’”[2]
No kako kaže narod, easy come, easy go… Do kraja života conte Geniceo načinio je savršen krug: umire osiromašen, na rodnom Visu, nakon što su mu nekretnine (nekoliko dvoraca u okolici Beča) završile na bubnju, a novac u vrtlogu nemarnog gospodarenja, nepromišljenih posudbi, špekulacija i loših karata. Ostali su mu jedino pogled prema pučini i slatke uspomene.
Jednu od njih činila je i Bajamontijeva supruga. Iako joj ni ime ne znamo, prema Geniceu, radilo se o “jednoj od najotmjenijih gospođa onog vremena” (iako je zapravo bila pučanka skromna odgoja i uzrok društvenih problema plemića Bajamontija). Piše dalje Geniceo da bi ga, kao mladog i naočitog gimnazijalca, “uvijek pogostila.” Naime, dala mu je ključeve kuće da može ući “u svako doba noći, i bila je uvijek pripremljena večera, premda bi ona bila u krevetu…” Na ovo znakovito primeće: “Ali u toplim podnebljima vrata su uvijek otvorena.” Mladom je Višaninu moglo biti, budući da je Bajamonti u to vrijeme (krajem 1780-ih) kao liječnik službovao na Hvaru. Inače, Geniceo je, ako mu je vjerovati, našem doktoru tih godina i nabijao rogove, i držao svijeću. Navodi, naime, da je bio “povjerljiva osoba” u ljubavi između “božanstvene” šesnaestogodišnje gospođice Callafati i “ružnog, ali vrijednog štovanja” četrdesetogodišnjaka Bajamontija. Nažalost po njega, Geniceo je, izgleda, bio bolji ljubavnik nego provodadžija, budući da je gospođica Callafati ubrzo postala gospođom Rinaldi, dok se Bajamonti vratio u Split, na mršavu plaću katedralnog zborovođe.
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At the turn of 18th and 19th century, the Garanjin brothers, Dominik (1761-1848) and Ivan Luka (1764-1841), “practical, able and probably somewhat inconsiderate” merchants from Trogir, belonged to those who managed to bring a taste of new lifestyle trends to Dalmatia.[3] Open-minded about both formal and informal education, they received the following instruction from Vienna in 1811:
“Coffee and chocolate cups are alike here. People are not in the habit of serving chocolate when entertaining. It is offered to individuals, one or two, either in the same cups as coffee, or in larger ones of different shapes. When coffee is served, cups never come in the same form or quality, just as you would not find chairs, or sofas, of the same make in an elegantly furnished room. Indeed, it is the diversity that entertains when beautiful items are concerned. When having their coffee, people take different cups.”
A careful reader will notice that the style is somewhat confused and hasty. It reads almost as if it was written “off one’s feet”, in a break between the afternoon coffee and the preparations to attend evening chocolate. The idea might not be far from truth. Its author, a friend of the Garanjins, led an interesting life. Conte Alviž (Luigi) Geniceo (1767-1841) was less widely known as the Casanova of Vis. His starting position was average: he was the son of an impoverished island landowner. However, thanks to his peerage, a pleasant appearance, charm and a talent for speculations and gambling, he slowly accumulated a huge wealth and a representative circle of acquaintances in Venice, Vienna and Naples. During the famine of 1782/3, it took three months for the citizens of Split to collect 27,000 liras (4,000 ducats) as relief. At about the same time, Julije Bajamonti (see previous Culsperience episode) as a medic earned a “fantastic sum” of 120 ducats per year. Geniceo, however, spent a hundred times more just to adapt the third floor of the Guistinian Palace in downtown Venice – almost 10,000 ducats.
“What do I do with such large premises? Because of their excellent placement, I am turning the place into a royal court, by dividing the space in a new manner. I have replaced the floors and ceilings, found excellent paintings and suitable custom-made furniture, ordered gild, decorated the place with rugs, embroidered curtains, embroidered tapestries that mime and repeat the decorations on the ceiling, put English carpets, mirrors on windows, mirrors inside, iron fences, installed sea baths that bring the sea, via certain mechanisms, to the kitchen, copper baths, window blinds, a large furnished kitchen, and uniforms for all domestic staff, etc., etc. From this description alone, you can imagine how much the place cost, but it won the admiration of all foreigners who came to take a tour. It necessarily followed that grand banquets and celebrations were held on the premises.”[4]
As the saying goes, however, easy come – easy go. By the end of his life, conte Geniceo had closed a perfect circle. He died impoverished, on his native Vis, after his real-estate (several castles outside Vienna) had been sold to the highest bidders, all the money lost in a whirl of carless management, imprudent loans, speculations, and bad hands at cards. He was left with only the sea view and sweet memories.
One of them was of Mrs Bajamonti. Although we do not know her name, Geniceo claimed that she was “one of the most fashionable ladies of the time” (despite being a commoner of humble education and causing social troubles for the aristocratic Bajamonti). Geniceo further wrote that she would always “have him over for a banquet”, when he was a young and handsome student. She gave him keys to the house, so he could enter “at any time of the night, and supper would always be waiting, even though she was in bed…” To this he also, significantly, added, “In warm climates, however, the door is always open.” The young man from Vis might have got some, since Mr Bajamonti was stationed on the island of Hvar at the time (late 1780s). If we can believe him, Geniceo both cuckolded Bajamonti and acted as his abettor. Conte wrote that he was the “man of confidence” in a love affair between the “divine” sixteen-year-old Miss Callafati and “ugly but worthy” forty-year-old Bajamonti. Unfortunately for Bajamonti, it seems that Geniceo had been more successful as a lover than as a wingman. Miss Callafati soon became Mrs Rinaldi, and Bajamonti returned to Split, to live on the scant wages of a conductor in the Cathedral choir.
[1] Bavili su se oni i umjetnošću, skupljanjem i istraživanjem narodnog blaga te ozbiljnim ekonomskim istraživanjima. No to nam je, priznajemo, za ironičnu narav ovog odlomka manje važno.
[2] Sve ove navode donosi nam splitska talijanistica, prof. dr. Ljerka Šimunković, u svom prijevodu Alvižovih zapisa Burni život jednog Dalmatinca (2013.).
[3] They also created art pieces, researched and collected folk treasure, and practiced rigorous economic research. However, we do admit it is less important for the ironic nature of this passage.
[4] All quotes are taken from Ljerka Šimunković PhD, a Split-based expert on Italian language and culture, and her translation of Conte’s memoires (Burni život jednog Dalmatinca, 2013).
