The Lido of Venice enters the narrative through a remembered assault rather than an extended description of the place. In a brief exchange, it becomes linked to a young painter’s skill, his carefully styled hair, and the lasting consequence of an attack there.

The Painter’s Story

A young man is pointed out to Richard Cantwell for the natural wave in his hair, which he styles slightly to make himself more handsome. He is described as a very good painter. The same account notes that he has false front teeth after other men attacked him on the Lido of Venice during a full moon. The anecdote gives no further circumstances of the attack or details about the painter’s life.

Narrative Significance

The Lido of Venice is associated with a single, sharply defined memory: an assault whose consequence remains visible in the painter’s false teeth. The contrast between his artistic ability and attention to his appearance and this lasting trace of violence gives the location its narrative weight, without developing it into a broader portrait of the place.