The Devout Hospital of Mercy, at which Vivaldi took a position, was an orphanage for girls. Source: Wikimedia Commons Attribution: Pier Leone Ghezzi License: Public Domain The text refers to Vivaldi as “The Red Priest,” a nickname he was given due to his curly red hair. Image 6.11: This portrait of Antonio Vivaldi was completed by Pier Leone Ghezzi in 1723. The children were brought up with all of the advantages (except parents), and were prepared for comfortable lives. While not all of the surrendered infants were of high birth, the city’s noblemen took an interest in the welfare of their illegitimate children, which meant that the orphanages were always well-funded. Instead, unwanted infants were deposited at orphanages via the scaffetta, which was an opening just large enough to fit a newborn.

It was common- even acceptable-for Venetian aristocrats to keep mistresses, but the children of these relationships could not be brought up in the marital home. Venetian orphanages were not the squalid workhouses we know from Victorian literature. However, he became highly skilled as a violinist and composer, and in 1703 he took the position of violin master at a local orphanage, the Devout Hospital of Mercy (Italian: Ospedale della Pietà note that Hospital at this time does not indicate a center for medical care). He initially trained as a Catholic priest, but ill health prevented him from performing many of his duties. Vivaldi spent his life in the city of Venice, which at the time was a wealthy and independent Republic.

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