Venice Biennale,Vegas Style
The Casino Report, part II
ABOVE ALL ELSE, THE VENETIAN IS HEAVY on Christian apocalyptic iconography. Besides the Winged Lion of Revelation, used as the casino's logo, and the Madonna and Child, the Casino's embellishments include the statue of the Archangel Michael standing with sword drawn -- a decorative motif on the Doge's Palace -- and a golden Archangel Gabriel perched high atop the Campanile. A monolithic statue of St. Theodore with lance in hand stands triumphantly on a dragon (Satan) on top of one of the casino's entryway columns. Figures of horribly grotesque demons are used as architectural detail.
Some citizens of Vegas believe in a Second Coming, when the golden statue of the Archangel Gabriel will spring to life and blow his mighty horn, heralding the end of the world. Many believe that Vegas is a modern-day Gomorrah that a vengeful God is planning to punish. If in fact Vegas is Sin City and the approaching millennium is the biblical Armageddon, then the Venetian Casino may well be ground zero for the Apocalypse. What a damn town!
Professor Vallance divides his time between Las Vegas and Lapland.
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