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Gesuiti
Santa Maria Assunta |
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Gesuiti |
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The Manin family
(who have tombs here) later provided money for the church's reconstruction
and this work began in 1715. The gap between the Jesuit’s acquisition and
rebuilding was down to the order being temporarily expelled from Venice
due to the Republic's argument with the Pope over the right to try
clergymen convicted of crimes. The Jesuits were never popular in
Venice,
which might explain this church's remote location, as well as the degree
to which the church tries to overawe and impress. The work was entrusted
to architect Domenico Rossi, who was the Manin family’s favourite
architect and Giuseppe Sardi's nephew. W. D. Howells (in Venetian Life)
said
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A 19th Century engraving. |
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History  A shrine was built here in 1408 to house a miracle-working icon of the Virgin. Eventually the funds that this icon generated allowed the building of a small church squeezed into the same campo. It was also funded by Angelo Amadi, the nephew of Francesco Amadi who had had the icon painted. The uncle had also been married to noted beauty Elena Badoer. The Amadi family house nearby was given to Franciscan nuns of the Order of Poor Clares soon after the building of the church. The first twelve nuns came from the convent of Santa Chiara on Murano. The church was designed by Pietro Lombardo and embellished with carvings by him, his sons, and their workshop. Since then it has been virtually untouched, only cleaned. The church The arms of the Amadi family are to be seen over the door. After admiring the handsome marble-clad exterior - unusually you can admire all four sides - you'll almost be prepared for the interior. Almost. Much rhapsodising and plenty of purple prose have been devoted to this interior, using phrases like 'renaissance jewel box', but you'll forgive it when you get inside and sit and wonder. The space consists of a single nave with a wooden barrel vault and a chancel up a steep flight of steps. No columns to complicate the space and add rhythm and no great paintings. It's not the details that appeal, it's simply the perfectly-proportioned whole, as you are enclosed by the polychrome marble patterns and porphyry and admire the fine carving skills of the Lombardi. It's very reminiscent of San Miniato in Florence, but so much smaller. The railings of the the staircase up to the chancel have small statues of the Virgin and the Angel of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel, and Saints Francis and Clare, all by Tulio Lombardo.
The
miracle-working painting of The Virgin and Child by Niccolo di
Pietro is above the altar. On either side of the altar are bronze statues
of Saint Peter and Saint Anthony Abbot. They are by Vittoria, who was a
pupil of the Lombardi, and are the only later additions to their work.
The church in art
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San Bonaventura 1620 - 23 |
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History The church and its adjacent monastery were built on reclaimed land in 1620 by a Franciscan order called the Reformati, originally from San Francesco del Deserto on the lagoon. The church was consecrated in 1623. The complex was suppressed in 1810 and the monastery demolished. The Countess Paolina Giustinian-Recanati bought the site in 1859 and established a convent for barefoot Carmelites, with the church serving as the convent's chapel. It became a children's hospital in the early 20th Century.
Lost Art |
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 A detail from the Ughi map of 1729 showing the church under its previous name. |
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The church An oratory and hospice dedicated to St Job (Giobbe) was founded here in 1378. The oratory had become famous for the fiery preaching of Fra Bernardino of Siena on his visit of 1443, but was becoming too small. Doge Christoforo Moro put up the money to build a new church in the preacher’s honour, and work on the present church was begun in a gothic style in 1450 by Antonio Gambello. Very little of his work remains - the double windows on the south side, the exterior pilasters of the apse, the ante-sacristy (now called the Contarini Chapel), the campanile and the remaining wing of adjoining cloister. In 1470 Pietro Lombardo was called in to finish the work and this, his first job in Venice, is one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in the city – the main doorway on the façade (see photo left) is an especial treat in a Florentine style. The window and the three statues (now in the sacristy) are his work too. The church was consecrated in 1493. The church and convent were suppressed by Napoleon in 1810, and the convent demolished two years later. The grounds and vineyard were laid out as Venice's Botanical Gardens in 1812. Much damaged by Austrian bombardment being so close to the mainland, the gardens reopened but closed in 1870. The interior Lombardo’s calm interior has chapels on the left side and used to have three major altarpieces (see Lost art below) on the right, and so large and impressive were they (complete with illusionist depth) that they balanced the depth of the chapels on the left – a neat trick as the right hand side of the nave couldn’t have protruding chapels as it backed onto the existing cloister. The carved stone frames remain, including that for Bellini's painting (possibly carved by Pietro Lombardo, or if not by a talented assistant) with its characteristic dolphins. The early renaissance style of the interior, with its decorated cupola, gives the church a bit of a Brunelleschi feel, which is only enhanced by the polychrome Della Robbia roundels in the vault of the very Florentine Martini Chapel. The altarpiece is more of Lombardo’s work, and the very deep choir is reminiscent of San Francesco della Vigna. Doge Christoforo Moro, along with his wife Cristina Sanudo, is buried in the church, whose building he funded. He is reputed to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Othello. Art The Contarini Chapel, through a door on the right, is a remainder of Gambello's original building and contains a pleasing Nativity by Savoldo. Beyond is the sacristy which has it's original wood furniture and painted ceiling panels, and an annunciation by Antonio Vivarini that's no great shakes. The paintings here are all less than middling, unfortunately. Lost art The three altarpieces mentioned above were Giovanni Bellini’s Virgin and Child with Saints (see left) (also known as The San Giobbe Altarpiece), Carpaccio’s Presentation of Christ in the Temple (inspired by the Bellini) and Marco Basaiti’s Agony in the Garden. They must have been a pretty impressive sight, all in the same small church, but now they are the three highlights of the second room in the Accademia, hung on the wall opposite the bench in the same order that they appeared in the church (Carpaccio, Basaiti, Bellini). They were looted by Napoleon and returned to the Accademia in 1815. Their aching lack in San Giobbe only adds to the slightly forlorn feel of this church in this somewhat backwaterish part of Venice.  Campanile 46m (150ft) electromechanical bellsErected between 1451 and 1464, with restoration work in 1903, 1905 and 1982. Ruskin said Its principal entrance is a very fine example of early renaissance sculpture. Note in it, especially, its beautiful use of the flower of the convolvulus. There are said to be still more beautiful examples of the same period, in the interior. The cloister, though much defaced, is of the Gothic period, and worth a glance. And he says that the Virgin and Child by Bellini is Alone worth a modern exhibition building, hired fiddlers and all. The third best Bellini in Venice, and probably the world. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 - 1.30 Note: this church now only open in the morning. Sundays: closed A Chorus Church Vaporetto Ponte dei Tre Archi map |
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The Church  The church is one of the very few in Western Europe named for the 5th Century patriarch of Constantinople, reflecting the strength of the Byzantine influence in Venice when the first church on the site was built in 1080. This original church burned down in 1475. Work began on the replacement in 1497. Like San Zaccaria this church was designed by Mauro Codussi (it was supposedly his last in Venice) and it shares that church's curvy shapes, whilst the façade is almost identical to his one for San Michele in Isola. Codussi died in 1504, but work here was completed by his son Domenico, with consecration in 1525. The façade was damaged during an air-raid in February 1918, and there'd also been a near miss on 13th September 1916 (see photo below right). The interior The interior is compact, cosy and welcoming - a Greek cross plan ringed by apses. The pleasing proportions derive from Platonic ideals of perfect geometric form and balance. Codussi's original barrel vault over the choir was unfortunately replaced with a flat roof to help the lighting. But this remains one of those churches where dimness and unrestored paintings conspire to keep you squinting and a little frustrated. And talking of lighting - the light fittings in here bear an unfortunate but strong resemblance to condoms. If you can look at them without smirking you're a stronger person than I. Art highlights Pietro Lombardo and Giovanni Bellini here provide us with a bas-relief of The Coronation of the Virgin and an altarpiece respectively. The altarpiece (on the right as you enter) is Saints Jerome, Christopher and Louis of Toulouse (see below right) from 1513. It's said by some to be Bellini's last great masterpiece, and even his very last work. It's not as immediately striking as some of the mature-period gems in other churches in Venice, but its characteristic serenity has grown on me with repeated visits. The use of space is oddly appealing too: just because Saint Jerome is outside in the wilderness outside doesn't mean the other two saints have to suffer the elements too. Saint Louis is the saint for whom the church of Sant'Alvise (below) was built. The Sebastiano del Piombo painting over the high altar is of Saints and Mary Magdalene. Henry James thought the Magdalene looked like a 'dangerous but most valuable acquaintance' (see detail below right). (She bares more than a resemblance to Sebastiano's Portrait of woman as a wise virgin in Washington, I think.) This is Sebastiano's only altarpiece in Venice, and was long thought to be a Giorgione, or even Vasari. It's one of those altarpieces that's better appreciated in photographs, though, because in situ it's not that easy to see. The Tullio Lombardo relief of The Coronation of the Virgin you can get close enough to, though, and it's very fine.  Campanile 21m (68ft) manual bells The original detached campanile, dating from 1080, was demolished in 1532 when the calle was broadened, but can be seen in Carpaccio's The Miracle of the Holy Cross at the Rialto Bridge in the Accademia. The current one was built 1552-1590 and is nicely decorated around the base. The church in fiction In A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva chapter 2 introduces our hero, Israeli secret-service agent Gabriel Allon, working at his day job - restoring the Bellini altarpiece in San Giovanni Grisostomo, and living in the Ghetto in Venice. The topographic and art-historical detail is spot on, but the action soon moves to Vienna. Ruskin said One of the most important in Venice. It is early Renaissance, containing some good sculpture, but chiefly notable as containing a noble Sebastian del Piombo, and a John Bellini, which a few years hence, unless it be "restored," will be esteemed one of the most precious pictures in Italy, and among the most perfect in the world. John Bellini is the only artist who appears to me to have united, in equal and magnificent measures, justness of drawing, nobleness of colouring, and perfect manliness of treatment, with the purest religious feeling. He did, as far as it is possible to do it, instinctively and unaffectedly, what the Caracci only pretended to do. Titian colours better, but has not his piety. Leonardo draws better, but has not his colour. Angelico is more heavenly, but has not his manliness, far less his powers or art. Opening times Monday-Saturday 10.00-6.30, Sunday 11.30-6.30 Vaporetto Rialto map |
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  Photo above by Brigitte Eckert   |
History A convent with a small oratory was founded here in 1375 by Augustinian nuns originally from Santa Maria degli Angeli on Murano. They fled here from Treviso, escaping the invading Hungarians lead by King Lajos. Later that century the convent was enlarged and a church built. This work was completed in 1425 but in 1456 these buildings were damaged by fire, which resulted in more rebuilding and further enlargement. The present church dates from the rebuilding by Domenico Rossi in the early 18th Century (following yet another fire in 1705) with interior decoration by Francesco Zugno. The new church was reconsecrated on the 15th June 1751. Both church and convent were suppressed by the French in 1807. From 1840-1855 the church was used as the steam mill of a sugar factory installed in the convent and a chimney was installed in the campanile (see below). It's also said to have once been used as a brick factory. The church was restored and reopened in 1952, (see black & white pre-restoration photos further below left) which show evidence of much adjustment to doors and windows) but the campanile's long gone and the church is now always firmly closed. The rare interior photo (left) was recently snatched by Brigitte, who found the church open for a christening.  Art Contains/contained works by Palma il Giovanne, according to the old sign on the wall. The nearby (now demolished) Scuola di San Girolamo had two scenes from the legend of St Jerome by Giovanni Bellini, now lost. The
church in art
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History Built in 1025 and consecrated in 1343. In 1260 the Scuola di Santa Maria della Carità, the first Scuola Grande was founded here. It later moved to the complex of Santa Maria della Carità which is now part the Accademia Galleries. The present church dates from a rebuilding of 1794 by Bernardino Maccaruzzi. Suppressed by the French in 1807, and having since been used as a coal warehouse and for band practice, it is now a community centre and sometimes houses exhibitions. It lurks behind fruit and veg stalls, almost always piled around with boxes and carts. Campanile
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History Founded in the 9th or 10th Century and dedicated to St Ermagora and St Fortunato, which became, by the mysterious workings of Venetian dialect, San Marcuola. This church was famous for housing the right hand of John the Baptist - the one with which he'd baptised Christ. Rebuilt after a fire, which was caused by an earthquake, and reconsecrated in 1343. Barbari's map of 1500 shows the church perpendicular to the Grand Canal with the apse to the north (see detail below). This church also had a hermit's cell over the door in which three (and later six) women were walled up. They moved to the church of the Eremite when San Marcuola became unstable and needed to be rebuilt. This work began in 1663 with the chancel, and then the rest of the church, orientated parallel to the Grand Canal this time, with its apse to the east. The architect was Giorgio Gaspari, who died in 1730, after which the work was completed by Giorgio Massari. The church The façade was to look very like that of the Pieta, but it remains unfinished above the plinth, with the ledges that were to hold up the marble cladding now usually full of pigeons. Interior and art
highlights
From the de'Barbari map. |
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History Tradition tells us that this church was founded in the 9th Century and dedicated to San Marcilliano, who Venetian dialect transforms into San Marziale. A statue of the Virgin and child that was carved by a shepherd called Rustico in Rimini (with the help of angels) came here 'miraculously' unaccompanied on a boat in 1286. This led to a rebuilding, by the Bocchi family, and a reconsecration in 1333. The present church dates from another rebuilding of 1693-1714 which was reconsecrated in 1721. The church The exterior is whitewashed and very plain. The interior is more decorated, with ceiling paintings by Sebastiano Ricci depicting St Martial in Glory and the creation and arrival of the miraculous statue of the Virgin mentioned above. The luminosity of these paintings pre-dates Tiepolo and his re-introduction of the shadowless glow into Venetian art. There are six side altars. Four of them feature barley-sugar spiral columns and the two central ones on each side are even more sticky-outy and architectural with some very precarious putti. A copy of the famous and miraculous statue of the Virgin is to be found in a niche on the altar dedicated to the Beata Vergine delle Grazie. The sculpture over the high altar is by Fra Giuseppe Pozzo, who also had a hand in the high altar of the Gesuiti. The work is again exuberant: highly populated and surging up, in this case, to a gold globe. The organ is behind it.  Art highlightsTintoretto's St Martial in Glory (see right) over the second altar on the right was originally painted for the high altar but was moved during the 17th Century rebuilding. It was the artist's first commissioned altarpiece and he was paid 50 ducats for it. Presumably it being early is what explains it being not very Tintorrettoish.
Lost art |
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History The convent and church of Sant’Alvise was built in 1388 at the behest of doge’s daughter Antonia Venier. Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse (Alvise is the transformation (via Luigi) of Louis into Venetian dialect) had appeared to her in a dream and told her to build a church in his honour, and he even told her where to build it. She then withdrew to the convent herself, with a group of fellow followers of the teachings of St Augustine, all women from noble Venetian families. The original wooden structures were rebuilt in 1430, due in no small part to the generosity of Pope Martin V, and restored at the end of the 17th Century. In 1807 nuns from nearby Santa Caterina moved here. Following suppression in 1810 the convent became a home for abandoned girls and the church became a parish church. Nuns returned later in the 19th Century, transferring this time from Santa Lucia. The church The exterior is in a plain and lofty flat gothic style. The 15th Century statue of St Louis over the door is by Florentine Agostino di Duccio. Interior The barco (nuns’ choir) at the back of the church dates from the 15th Century, although the wrought-iron grill is an 18th Century addition. The nuns entered this raised gallery from the convent next door and remained unseen behind the grill for the service. A similar grill low in the right-hand wall allowed them to come down and take the sacrament. The decoration of the rest of the single-nave church dates from the 17th Century - most overwhelming, and a bit incongruous, are the vertiginous trompe l'oeil ceiling frescos by Antonio Torri and Pietro Ricchi. Ruskin hated these works, blaming Veronese for inspiring such later and lesser artists with his superior ceilings. Art highlights Worth the trek out here are the three Tiepolos depicting Christ’s passion. Two are early and less impressive (The Flagellation and The Crowning With Thorns) but the dramatic Ascent to Calvary looks like it might have been inspired by Tintoretto, who is not himself represented here, oddly, given his ubiquity in Venetian churchs, especially in Cannaregio, his home district. The church acquired three important relics of Christ's suffering in 1456, the Chorus laminated guide sheet tells us, and thereby acquired a related reputation and devotees, hence the theme of these commissioned Tiepolos. Eight small 15th-century tempera panels showing scenes from the Old Testament on the back wall are of varying quality. These were called ‘baby Carpaccios’ by Ruskin, which has been interpreted as a contention that they were by Carpaccio when he was a boy, although he would've been 8! They were actually painted by the studio of Lazzaro Bastiani, with whom Carpaccio was a student, and taken from the organ case of the suppressed church of Santa Maria delle Vergini. Campanile 26m (85 ft) electromechanical bells 14th Century brickwork, it had a pine-cone spire and four little towers but in the 17th Century this was replaced by an octagonal drum. Restored during work in 1910 to its original appearance. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church The Convent Still a working convent, housing 23 white-clad nuns of the Canossian order from Santa Lucia, they now have their own chapel so don’t need to use the barco and they now let out their numerous empty cells to female students. I’m told that if you're dressed appropriately you can visit the cloisters and gardens. You just have to knock on the door of the nursery, adjacent to the façade of the church, on weekday mornings, and ask nicely. Vaporetto Sant’Alvise map |
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History The original church and monastery was founded in the 11th Century by the order of The Friars of the Penitence of Jesus Christ, who were also called the Sacchini friars because of their sackcloth robes. Following the suppression of the order in 1274 the complex passed to Augustinian nuns around 1289. Rebuilt in the mid-15th Century, the church and convent were suppressed in 1807, becoming a school, the nuns moving to Sant’Alvise. Damaged during World War 1 and by a large fire on Christmas Day in 1977. The latter destroyed the roof, which was rebuilt. Interior Two aisles, with a ship's-keel roof and a large nuns' gallery (both visible in photo far below left). The church is now used by the school purely as a space, and a space with three big portakabin classrooms erected in the middle. The church fittings are in a very poor state. Two side altars remain, one on each side, and the high altar in its charred-looking apse. No art remains. There are bits of painted wood partitioning and modern doors to further make for a functional but unlovely space.  Lost artThe slightly flirty Madonna del Parto (see right) by the Master of the Madonna del Parto, from the late 14th Century, is in the Accademia. As is Titian's Tobias and the Archangel thanks to it never having been returned here following its looting by Napoleon. It has the Bembo coat of arms behind the dog - the connection with Pietro Bembo, aside from his friendship with Titian, being that his nieces were educated here. This painting is now, however, sometimes attributed to 'a follower of Titian', possibly Santo Zago. Currently (2010) on display in the corridor at the Accademia are two Scenes from the Life of Santa Caterina painted for this church by Sebastiano Mazzoi  Also now in the Accademia is Veronese's fine Mystic Marriage of St Catherine (see right) which was painted for the high altar and taken from here during WWI. There was also a series of six paintings of Episodes in the Life of Saint Catherine which presumably fitted in the frame visible in the photo (above left) by Tintoretto, which are now to be found in the Patriarchal Palace. The convent on TV The complex appears repeatedly in Episode 9 Doctored Evidence of the German TV adaptation of Donna Leon's Brunetti novels. Opening times The complex now belongs to a school (the church houses portakabin schoolrooms) and so is not usually accessible. Vaporetto Fondamente Nuove map
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History Following the arrival of the body of Santa Fosca on the island of Torcello in the 10th century her local popularity grew and this church was built. Renovation followed in 1297 and a complete rebuilding in 1679, architect unknown. Reconsecration in 1733 was followed by the renovation of the façade by the Doná family, to a design possibly by Domenico Rossi. A plaque in the church commemorates the ceiling falling in after mass on the 24th June 1761, but no one was injured. More restoration work in 1847. The artist Bernardo Strozzi is buried here.
The
Church
Vaporetto San Marcuola |
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  The back end of the complex before the recent work.  |
History A hospice for fallen women, founded at Santa Marina in 1703, transferred here in 1705, occupying buildings paid for by Maria Elisabetta Rossi and Marina da Lezze. The complex was designed by Massari with the church consecrated in 1763. It was based on Palladio's Le Zitelle, with the façade flanked by blocks of accommodation. The site is deep, with two cloisters, one behind the other. The church now sports an unfinished façade from a design by Lazarri of 1845. The complex is currently undergoing extensive renovation work and conversion. Lost art? Contained three works by Jacopo Marieschi, the son of the vedute painter Michele, including the painting over the high altar. Update 9.2009 In the first episode of of BBC series Kevin McCloud's Grand Tour of Europe KM arrives in Venice, following in the footsteps of Inigo Jones, and to find out how Venetian buildings are built he is taken by architect Matteo Negro to 'a convent he is restoring' (below) which turns out to be Santa Maria dei Penitenti.  
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History A monastery of the Servite Order was founded here in 1318 and work on the church began in 1330, but the work was not completed until 1474, with consecration in 1491. Reports state that it was demolished again in 1510 and rebuilt at the expense of the Servite friars. The church was conceived to compete with San Zanipolo and the Frari in size, as can be seen in the etching of 1703 (see left). It covered almost eleven thousand square meters including, besides the church itself, the Cappella dei Lucchesi, three dormitories and a refectory, as well as cloisters and orchards. Frà Paolo Sarpi, a Servite monk who later became a famed theologian, scholar, anti-papal patriot and friend of Galileo, lived and studied here. His statue is to be found in front of the nearby church of Santa Fosca. On the bridge near that church he was attacked by five Papally-employed ruffians on October 5th 1607 as he returned to the Servi. They left him for dead but he recovered from his wounds, which included a dagger in his face. There was a serious fire in 1769 which destroyed most of the monastery buildings. The church and monastery were suppressed in 1812 and almost totally demolished. By 1821 nothing was left but the Cappella dei Lucchesi (built in 1360 at the edge of the site while building was progressing and consecrated in 1376) and two portals, including the 15th century Gothic entrance (see photos below left). The site was bought by Canon Daniele Canale who, along with Anna Maria Marovich, in 1864 founded a charitable institution for women just released from prison called the Istituto Canal Marovich ai Servi. The Cappella dei Lucchesi (see photo left) was rebuilt as the chapel for the institute, having fallen into use as a warehouse. In the early 20th century the institute's scope broadened to include schooling for young girls of 6-11 years and 11-15 years. Generally these girls were orphans, which during and after WW2 also included girls who'd lost their fathers. The school closed in the late 1960s and the complex is now a student hostel. There have been recent rumours that the Cappella dei Lucchesi is due to be restored and opened for some sort of public use. Lost art A statue of Adam by Tullio Lombardo was carved around 1490 for the tomb of Doge Andrea Vendramin in the old church. It was moved to San Zanipolo initially, with the Doge's tomb, but is now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The church also contained the tombs of Doge Francesco Donà (now at Meren near Conegliano) and Admiral Angelo Emo (now in San Biagio). A 14th Century relief of the Madonna della Misericordia, now over the door of the Scuola dei Calegheri e Zavatteri opposite the church of San Tomà, came from this church. The Lamentation by Giovanni Bellini (or, it has been argued, by Rocco Marconi, one of his pupils) which is now in the Accademia was originally over the first altar on the right in Santa Maria dei Servi, possibly installed after the 1510 rebuilding. Also in te Accademia is Benedetto Diana's Virgin and Child with Saints John, Louis and Monica which was originally on the altar of the Sacristy here. Veronese's Supper in the House of the Pharisee (now in the Louvre) was painted for the refectory. Ruskin said Only two of its gates and some ruined walls are left, in one of the foulest districts of the city. It was one of the most interesting monuments of the early fourteenth century Gothic; and there is much beauty in the fragments yet remaining. How long they may stand I know not, the whole building having been offered me for sale, ground and all, or stone by stone, as I chose, by its present proprietor, when I was last in Venice. More real good might at present be effected by any wealthy person who would devote his resources to the preservation of such monuments wherever they exist, by freehold purchase of the entire ruin, and afterwards by taking proper charge of it, and forming a garden round it, than by any other mode of protecting or encouraging art. There is no school, no lecturer, like a ruin of the early ages. 
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Vaporetto San Marcuola
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Santa Maria Maddalena
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The church
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History Built as an abbey church in 936, it was originally named Santa Maria di Val Verde from the original name of the island on which it was built. In 1348 all the monks died of the plague with only the abbot surviving. He died in 1369 and patronage of the church passed to the Moro family. The church was enlarged in the 13th Century and the façade, by Bolognese architect Clemente Moli, was added during further rebuilding in 1651-59. This work was financed by philosopher Gasparo Moro, whose bust by Moli is above the door (see left). Moli also carved the allegorical figures either side of the door and the Virgin up on the segmental pediment. On 9th June 1611 Girolamo Savina, then the prior of the abbey, and the author of a famous chronicle called the Cronaca Savina, was murdered whilst saying mass, by a monk who had poisoned the communion wine. Before dying Savina forgave his poisoner and obtained a pardon for him. The convent was in such a sorry and
collapsed state it was demolished in the early 19th Century. The church escaped suppression in the Napoleonic
period, but was in a poor state when it was taken in hand by Abbot Pietro Pianton who, from 1828-1864, managed to find and reinstate some of its
original fittings, as well as fittings from other suppressed churches, and so
restored the church's fortunes. Patriarch Domenico Agostini bought the
building in 1844, so saving it from becoming an Evangelical church.
Pianton's work was unfortunately reversed
after his death in 1864. After legal proceedings the Mor-Lin family
reacquired the church and dispersed the art works that weren't
originally to be found there. The church had closed in 1868, but it did re-open, badly restored and
without its original fittings, in the early part of the 20th Century. The
last mass was celebrated here on 17th August 1967, two years before the
remaining Servite monks left and the complex was closed.
Local plans
Update August
2009 Correspondent Francesco Boraldo has provided a photograph (left)
of the elegant cloister in the angle between the church and the
old scuola. And of the campanile seen from this cloister (right). |
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History Tradition dates the founding of this church to 866, but the earliest written record is from 1020. There was a rebuilding in 1225, 1568 and 1698. The appearance of the current church mostly dates from a 17th Century restoration by Antonio Gaspari, although this church was burnt down on 28th February 1760, but was rebuilt. Suppressed in 1810, the church was sold to the Jewish community, but reopened following its purchase by Giovan Battista Rebellini in 1836. The church Lost art
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History This is supposedly one of the churches founded by St Magnus, the Bishop of Oderzo, in 643, and built on a site where he saw twelve cranes, after an apparition of the twelve apostles told him to look for this sign. The church was rebuilt around 1020, with the first documented mention in 1094. Destroyed by a fire in 1105 and rebuilt. It was rebuilt again from 1570-75, probably by Alessandro Vittoria. Restored again in the mid-18th century by Giovanni Pedolo. The church A plain façade with the more attractive side view dominated by the campanile and the domed exterior of the Corner Chapel (see left). Interior A big dark box. Which all goes to throw into relief the lovely Corner chapel, the work of Giovanni Battista Castello. A bright and stony sanctuary, it's older than the rest of the current church and was built (probably to a design by Codussi) for poor old Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus who was buried here in 1510. The chapel also has the tombs of her brother and father, Marco; the latter attributed to Tullio Lombardo. Her body was moved to a big, flat and plain tomb in San Salvador around 1580. If I was her I'd have stayed here. The chapel also has a luminous altarpiece by Giambattista Tiepolo of The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy, whose just-removed eyes stare at you from a plate, and yes they do follow you around the chapel. The church has a sweet very old (late 13th Century) Veneto-Byzantine fresco fragment in the chapel to the right of the high altar, and on the left wall there's a spooky little dark nun's balcony, or something like that. Campanile 47m (153 ft) electromechanical bells The 7th Century campanile was destroyed by the fire of 1105. Rebuilt 1450, renovated 1601-09 by Francesco di Piero, brought down by a storm in 1659 and rebuilt 1672-1720 to a design by Andrea Tirali. Jan Morris says that an 'old and simple' sacristan fell from the campanile soon after its completion in 1672(?) but was caught by the minute hand on the clock, and so was slowly lowered to a parapet as time passed. Lost art An altarpiece by Benedetto Diana, commissioned by Giorgio Corner for the Corner chapel, has since disappeared. The church in art Canaletto's View of Campo Santi Apostoli (see below) Ruskin said The exterior is nothing. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 7.30 to 11.30 & 5.00 to 7.00 Vaporetto Ca d'Oro map  |
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History The Barefoot Carmelites, or Scalzi, came to Venice in 1633 and in 1649 got Baldassare Longhena (the architect of the Salute church at the other end of the Grand Canal) to build them a monastery and a church, dedicated to Santa Maria di Nazareth. The church was built 1656-89, with finance provided by Girolamo Cavazza, and consecrated in 1705. Longhena had died in 1682 and the work was continued by the Carmelite Giuseppe Pozzo. The monastery was suppressed in 1810, but the order returned in 1840. The monastery buildings were demolished when the railway station was built. The church The façade was built 1672-80, by Giuseppe Sardi. It was also paid for by Conte Cavazza, who stumped up the necessary 74,000 Ducats. The semi-clothed saints are attributed to Bernardo Falcone. It lays claim to being one of the better baroque façades in Venice - well ordered and not too congested. Interior An unrelaxing baroque riot in marble, with walls that might make you think of salami, statues aplenty, and a painting on every surface. It has no aisles, but a sequence of three connected deep side chapels on each side of the nave, the middle ones being much taller. Some welcome bright contrast is provided here by a couple of the chapels having Tiepolo ceiling vaults. The baldachin over the high altar is huge with twisty barley-sugar columns and statues of sibyls lounging about on the architecture - it's the work of the aforementioned Pozzo. Lodovico Manin, Venice's last doge, deposed by Napoleon in 1797, is buried here.  Campanile
37m (120ft)
electromechanical bellsMade to plans by Longhena, it has a small onion dome on an eight-sided drum. Ruskin said It possesses a fine John Bellini, and is renowned through Venice for its precious marbles. I omitted to notice before, in speaking of the buildings of the Grotesque Renaissance, that many of them are remarkable for a kind of dishonesty, even in the use of true marbles, resulting not from motives of economy, but from mere love of juggling and falsehood for their own sake. I hardly know which condition of mind is meanest, that which has pride in plaster made to look like marble, or that which takes delight in marble made to look like silk. Several of the later churches in Venice, more especially those of the Jesuiti of San Clemente, and this of the Scalzi, rest their chief claims to admiration on their having curtains and cushions cut out of rock. The most ridiculous example is in San Clemente, and the most curious and costly are in the Scalzi; which latter church is a perfect type of the vulgar abuse of marble in every possible way, by men who had no eye for colour, and no understanding of any merit in a work of art but that which arises from costliness of material, and such powers of imitation as are devoted in England to the manufacture of peaches and eggs out of Derbyshire spar. Lost art Tiepolo's ceiling fresco of the Transfer of the Holy House of Nazareth was destroyed by an Austrian bomb, aimed at the nearby railway station, on the 17th October 1915 (see right). Seven fragments are now in the Accademia, as is a preparatory sketch for the lost central panel. The 'John Bellini' mentioned by Ruskin above is no longer to be found here, but seems to have been a Madonna and Child which was also admired by George Eliot in her Journals. It was still here, and described as 'the gem of the church', in the late 19th Century. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 7.45 to 12.30, 4.00 to 7.00 Sundays: 7.00 to 11.45, 4.00 to 6.45  Vaporetto Ferrovia map |
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History Begun in 1713 by Andrea Tirali, who is also responsible for the tambour on the top of the campanile of the Santi Apostoli church opposite, this church was built for the confraternity of the Angelo Custode. When the confraternities were suppressed in 1812 the scuola was bought by a German merchant called Sebastian Heinzelmann. German Protestants (moved from the Fondaco de Tedeschi, where they'd been since 1657) began using this building for worship, bringing with them two paintings. One of these was the Madonna in Glory with the Archangel Michael by Sebastiano Ricci. The angel over the entrance is by Flemish sculptor Heinrich Meyring more (in)famous for his work on San Moisè. This building is now an Evangelical Lutheran church. Interior After passing through the more interesting and characterful entrance hall (see below) the church upstairs turns out to be a pale-painted plain and squareish space with wood fittings and a few fine paintings (see below left). Foremost of these is the altarpiece by Sebastiano Ricci The Madonna in Glory with the Archangel Michael, in which Michael is rescuing a child from the clutches of a sea monster. It contrasts with the portrait of Luther to its right, by the studio of Lucas Cranach (father or son, they're not sure). There's also a Titian painting of Christ on the left wall, given to the church when it was in the Fondaco de Tedeschi.
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