Tito has cerebral palsy.
I blame Tito’s cerebral palsy on Pietro Lombardo. In 1489, Pietro Lombardo designed the Scuola Grande di San Marco. And it was the Scuola Grande di San Marco designed by Pietro Lombardo that brought about Tito’s cerebral palsy.
On September 30, 2000, my wife and I set off for Venice Hospital in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Our son would be born that day. My wife’s name: Anna. Our son’s name: yes, that’s right, Tito. When we reached Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, next to the statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, Anna said: “I’m really worried about the birth.” She had expressed the same fear in previous weeks, because Venice Hospital, now looming before us, was known for its medical errors. I studied its façade for a moment. Venice Hospital moved into the Scuola Grande di San Marco in 1808. The façade, designed by Pietro Lombardo in 1489, became the hospital’s main entrance. I said: “With a façade like that, I could even accept having a deformed child.”