The Churches of Venice

Frari Baldassare Longhena, Jacopo Sansovino, Marco Cozzi 14th-15th Centuries
		A pantheon? A museum? Well, a big church with some big tombs and works by a lot of the big names. History The Franciscan friars (or Frari) came to Venice in 1222, but had no permanent home until Doge Jacopo Tiepolo gave them some land in 1236, adjacent to the abandoned Benedictine abbey they were inhabiting. The church that they built in 1250, extending the abbey, was much smaller than the one we see today, and faced in the opposite direction. The current church was begun in 1340, but work was slow - the old church was still being used in 1415. But it was demolished shortly after this date, the new church was finished in 1442, and consecrated in 1492. It’s plan is attributed to Fra Scipione Bon, who has a tomb in the church. The monastery dates from 1256, being renovated after a fire in 1390 and having two cloisters, one by Jacopo Sansovino and the other attributed to Andrea Palladio. The church The exuberant, but brick-plain, Gothic façade contrasts with the more restrained façade on the Dominican’s San Zanipolo, built at the same time. Stand in the campo at it’s north-eastern front –the one with the canal running through it - to see the sequence of three entrances and three oculi windows (below left) with the stout campanile rising above the middle one. In the Campo San Rocco at the other end you can admire the Gothic apse, as you indulge in a gelati and listen to the buskers. It’s mouldings were said by Ruskin to be the source of similar designs on the Palazzo Ducale. Interior The twelve huge round pillars between the nave and the aisles represent the apostles, but the division of the nave and aisles is very unobtrusive, giving the impression of a single space dissected up high by tie-beams. The tie-beams are there because of the brick vaulting – a dicey choice of material in a sinking city. And here the bricks have been painted to mask their humble nature. Dominating the centre of the church is the dark wood of the monumental monks’ choir (a rare survival in Venice) separated from the nave by a carved marble screen, said to be the work of Pietro Lombardo. The choir stalls feature fine marquetry by Marco Cozzi, depicting views of an ‘ideal city’. The nave features some mighty overpowering tombs, the most exhausting being the one for Doge Giovanni Pesaro, designed by Longhena, with the four huge moors bent under a weight of allegorical figures under a canopy of carved ‘brocade’. Rarely can sculpture be so accurately described is ‘doing your head in’. The pyramidal tomb to Canova is a far calmer and lovelier thing, if not exactly unwacky either. His heart is preserved behind that open door in the centre (or, some say, in the urn being carried by the figure about to go through it) although the rest of him is buried in Possagno. From the Chapter House, beyond the Sacristy, it’s possible to glimpse the Cloister of the Holy Trinity, one of the two cloisters of the original convent which have housed the Venetian state archives since 1814 (after a period, post-suppression, of use as a barracks). The other is called the Cloister of St Anthony and both are unfortunately usually closed to visitors. Art highlights Claims are often made for the Frari as almost a museum of Renaissance art in Venice, and it certainly contains some of the finest church art in town. Titian’s Assumption over the main altar dominates the church, and is said to be the largest altarpiece in Venice. Ruskin said that this painting was 'not one whit the better for being either large or gaudy in colour' and complained of its excess of 'fox colour.' The friars who commissioned it had their doubts too - telling Titian that his apostles were too big - but they stopped complaining when Charles V expressed an interest in buying it. It spent some time during the nineteenth century as the highlight of the Accademia gallery before returning here after the First World War. Along with this early triumph - it was one of Titian's first altarpieces - there's the slightly later and much quieter, but no less impressive Pesaro altarpiece, which Ruskin thought to be the artist's best work in Venice. These career highlights, along with the painter’s tomb, gives rise to this being known as Titian’s church. In the Sacristy there’s also a Giovanni Bellini altarpiece to contemplate at length, a Virgin and Child with Saints (also known as the Frari Madonna). It has that same power to calm as his later altarpiece in San Zaccaria, despite a somewhat overpowering contemporary frame, and a bit too much distance between it and us. Bellini was reputedly just not good at painting movement, which 'limitation' gives us something to rest in front of (chairs are provided) after his pupil Titian’s more kinetic works. Two sculptures of John the Baptist, one by Donatello and the other by Sansovino, are equally impressive, as are works by Bartolomeo Vivarini, and his nephew Alvise. Campanile 69m (224 ft) electromechanical bells Work on it began in 1361, to a design by Jacopo Celaga, and completed by his son Pietro Paolo in 1396. It still looks like it did on the Barbari map (see left). It's amongst the tallest in Venice (being as tall as San Franceso della Vigna's). Restored in 1871 after subsidence, with the foundations further reinforced in 1903. The three-light belfry is surmounted by an Istrian-stone balustrade and an octagonal drum. The church (not) in art Canaletto never painted the Frari Opening times Monday to Saturday: 9.00 to 6.00 Sundays: 1.00 to 6.00 A Chorus Church Vaporetto San Toma
San Cassiano 13th-17th Centuries
History The first church here was said to have been built in 726 and dedicated to St Cecilia. Rebuildings followed in 926, 1106 (after the fire), 1205 and 1350, with this church consecrated in 1376. Rebuilding in the early 17th Century to its current appearance, this work finishing in 1663. The portico was demolished in the 19th Century. The church Outside it just looks like a big box. The rio-facing façade misses its portico and is encroached on by buildings. It retains its Byzantine-era doorposts, possibly from the original church. Entry is usually now via the small side-door onto the campo. A visit The church has no façade and a very plain exterior (see above right) but makes up for this inside. The interior is highly decorated but manages to stay this side of exhausting, despite having an altar by Meyring and Nardo, the first being responsible for the decoration of San Moise, the church that makes you say 'blimey!' His work here is relatively restrained as are the rather splendid Venetian chandeliers. The use of pale colours generally lightens the interior, even the heavily decorated ceiling, with its paintings by a Tiepolo-follower called Costantino Cedini, including one of San Cassiano in Glory. Even the Tintorettos here are likeable and exceptional, with a Crucifixion, Resurrection and Descent Into Limbo ranged in sequence around the chancel. St John in the famous and superior Crucifixion even gestures comic-strip-like into the next 'frame' - the Resurrection over the altar. Then in The Descent into Limbo Jesus meets up with Adam and a very sexy Eve. I had to ask, but access to the small chapel half way along the left hand wall is worth it as it is an odd little jewel-box of a room - all marble and inlaid semi-precious stones. Commissioned in 1746 by Abbot Carlo del Medico it has an altarpiece (1763) and ceiling fresco by Giambattista Pitoni. It also contains an early 18th Century painting of the Martyrdom of San Cassiano by Antonio Balestra, and yes those children are hacking at him and stabbing him with pens. He was a teacher martyred by his pupils using pens, and so is now the patron saint of schoolteachers. Lost Art The San Cassiano Altarpiece by Antonello da Messina was commissioned by Pietro Bon and was housed in the old Gothic church. It brought oil painting to Venice, probably, and was massively influential in introducing the layout of the typical 'Venetian' altarpiece. It disappeared sometime in the early part of the 17th Century - the disappearance is first mentioned in 1648. The painting reappeared in the collection of Archduke Leopold William in Brussels, attributed to Giovanni Bellini. In 1700 the three fragments that remain (there were originally eight saints) (right) found their way to Vienna, and are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Campanile 43m (140 ft) electromechanical bells It's sturdiness suggests that it may originally have been a defensive tower acquired by the original church. Rebuilt 1295 with a slightly later Gothic belfry. Ruskin says This church must on no account be missed, as it contains three Tintorets, of which one, the "Crucifixion," is among the finest in Europe. There is nothing worth notice in the building itself, except the jamb of an ancient door (left in the Renaissance building, facing the canal), which has been given among the examples of Byzantine jambs; and the traveller may therefore devote his entire attention to the three pictures in the chancel. Local colour In 1488 San Cassiano's' entrance was ordered to be chained shut and the porch of Santa Maria Mater Domini was sealed off 'after the twenty-third hour' to 'stop sodomites using it as a meeting place'. Local pastry shops were also said to be dens of such iniquity. The funeral procession of Caterina Corner, the ex-Queen of Cypress, in 1509 started here and made its way over a bridge of boats to the church of Santi Apostoli where she was buried. Campo San Cassiano was the site of the first public opera house in the world which opened in 1637. It was demolished in 1812 having been badly damaged by several fires. The church in fiction The painting The Martyrdom of San Cassiano by Antonio Balestra features in the novel Lucifer's Shadow by David Hewson. Opening times Tuesday-Saturday 9.00-12.00 & 5.00-7.00 Vaporetto San Stae
San Giacometto 11th Century
		The symbolic site of Venice's birth. History Traditionally said to be the oldest church in Venice - an inscription on the left-hand pillar in the chancel says 421. Legend goes even further and claims that the church was consecrated at noon on the 21st March 421, this being the date that the republic used to celebrate as Venice's birthday. It's also supposedly the date of The Annunciation. Information about the rebuilding is vague. The current church was built sometime during the reign of Doge Domenico Selvo (1071-84) and consecrated in 1177. It survived the fire of 1514 which destroyed most of the market, but must have been damaged as it underwent considerable restoration in 1531 (according to a plaque by the entrance) and again in 1599-1601. This latter work improved the lighting and installed some heavy baroque altars, but the original mosaics were lost. The choir on the inside façade was removed in 1933. This has always been seen as the 'market church' and has altars dedicated to various guilds of merchants and craftsmen. An cross-shaped inscription from the 12th Century on the outside of the apse (below left) tells merchants to be honest in their dealings and precise in their weights. The church now hosts concerts where Vivaldi's Four Seasons is performed most nights. The church Façade dominated by one of only two wooden Gothic church porches to remain intact in Venice (the other being at San Nicolò dei Mendicoli). It was restored in 1958. Also the large and ever-wrong 24-hour clock above the 17th Century windows, which was put up in 1410 and restored in 1749. A visit Hemmed in by the market bustle. It's a dinky little Greek-Cross shaped church with a dome, some charm, but no great art. The Greek marble columns with their Veneto-Byzantine capitals remain from the 11th Century church. Campanile The original was destroyed by fire in 1514. The current Roman-style tower was built in the 17th Century. Under the bells is a Gothic relief of the Virgin and Child from the early 16th Century. Local colour Opposite the church you'll find (usually buried under a pile of boxes and rotting vegetables) the 16th Century granite statue of Gobbo di Rialto (the Hunchback of Rialto) - a crouching figure supporting a flight of stairs and and a plaque (see left). The Republic's decrees where once read from this pedestal and men convicted of petty crimes would run the gauntlet of beatings naked from Piazza San Marco to this statue where the punishment would end when the criminal kissed the statue. Shakespeare is said to have named the clown Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice after the statue. The church in art Canaletto's San Giacomo di Rialto (see below) is in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 9.30-12.00, 4.00-6.00 Vaporetto San Silvestro or Rialto
San Giovanni Elemosinario Antonio Abandi (Scarpagnino) 1527-29
The church The name saint translates as St John the Almsgiver, the Patriarch of Alexandria - his body is in the church of San Giovanni in Bragora over in Castello. Tradition claims that this church was founded in the 9th or 10th Century. The first record is dated 1050, but it calls the church 'ancient'. This old church was destroyed in the Rialto fire of 1514 and rebuilt by Scarpagnino (as part of his wider rebuilding commission after the fire) in 1527-29. It underwent much restoration recently and reopened in 2002 after having been closed for 20 years. A visit The church has no façade as it's hemmed in by shops. Interior is Greek-Cross shaped and classical in style. Has a bright Pordenone-frescoed cupola (thought lost but rediscovered during the recent restoration) and a very mannerist-influenced altarpiece depicting saints. Also a fine late Titian altarpiece of the church's name saint which was returned from the Accademia following the restoration. This is to be found over the high altar, which was built in 1633 and dedicated to the Casteletti (the guild of lottery clerks). The local market guilds seem to have paid for most of the art and fittings here. Campanile 41m (133ft) manual bells Collapsed in 1071 and again in 1361. It was rebuilt 1398-1410, and again by Scarpagnino as part of the 1527-29 rebuilding. Originally topped by a dome and four pinnacles, it now has a hipped roof with pantiles. Ruskin said Said to contain a Titian and a Bonifazio. Of no other interest. Its campanile is the most interesting piece of central Gothic remaining comparatively intact in Venice. It stands on four detached piers; a greengrocer's shop in the space between them; the stable tower for its roof. There are three lovely bits of heraldry, carved on three square stones, on its side towards the Rialto. The Titian, only visible to me by the sacristan's single candle, seems languid and affected. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church Vaporetto San Silvestro or Rialto
San Giovanni Evangelista Bernardino Maccaruzzi 1758-9
		A church very much overshadowed by its scuola, a gem of the renaissance admired even by Ruskin. History Founded in 970 (or 790?) by the Badoer family. Rebuilt in 1443-75, restored in late 16th Century by Simone Sorella and again in 1758-9 by Bernardino Maccaruzzi. More work in the 19th Century. The Scuola was founded in 1211 and was housed in the church of Sant’Aponal until it moved to an ospizio (asylum) building here, again at the expanse of the Badoer family. It too was rebuilt in the mid-15th Century. The screen is the work of Pietro Lombardo and features an eagle, the symbol of St John the Baptist in its semi-circular pediment. Interior Contains sarcophagi of the Badoer family, a Domenico Tintoretto Crucifixion and works by Marieschi. Lost art The famous sequence of nine paintings of The Miracles of the True Cross by Carpaccio, Gentile Bellini and others in the Accademia gallery were painted for the Scuola here. Campanile 30m (98ft) manual bells Also rebuilt by Maccaruzzi. The church in art Courtyard of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista (1913), an oil painting by John Singer Sargent. An unusually (for him) uncropped view, it is a head-on view of the screen. It excludes the iron railings in front of the screen, but shows their stone bases. *Ruskin said (of the Scuola)* A fine example of the Byzantine Renaissance, mixed with remnants of good late Gothic. The little exterior cortile is sweet in feeling, and Lazari praises highly the work of the interior staircase. Vaporetto San Toma Opening times The Scuola is open during events and concerts, and by arrangement.
San Polo 15th Century
A church that's 'seen life'. History This church, dedicated to the Apostle Paul, was founded in 837 by the doges Pietro Tradonico and Orso Partecipazio and rebuilt in the 12th and 15th centuries. Some heavy-handed restoration and additions in the early years of the 19th Century by David Rossi have recently been partly reversed revealing, for example, the 15th Century wooden ship's keel roof and restoring the rose window which dates from the same period. The church The 15th century work resulted in the gothic windows and the impressive South doorway by the Bon workshop that visitors enter from the cramped and busy calle. The façade is now hidden by the Oratorio del Crocifisso, but from the nearby Corte de Cafetier you can see the Gothic rose window with trefoil arches and irregular quatrefoils. The apses face onto Campo San Polo and have several carvings, including (right) the 14th Century relief of The Enthroned Madonna and Child with St Peter and St Paul. The interior The ship's keel ceiling dominates San Polo's somewhat knocked-about seeming interior. It's pleasingly rough and calm, and pretty dark at most times. Art highlights Aside from a Veronese and a couple of Tintorettos, including a dramatic Last supper, there's five by Palma il Giovane, of course. More memorable is an impressive sequence of paintings of fourteen Stations of the Cross by Giandomenico Tiepolo, son of the more famous Giambattista. The son seems to have rebelled against his father's exuberance in life and his use of colour in his art - these works are paler and much more melancholy than anything by his dad. (Comparison can be made with Giambattista's The Virgin appears to Saint John of Nepomuk* in the main church.) He painted them, whilst still in his early 20s, from 1747-49 and they are rare examples of his being allowed to work alone. They are in the Oratory built onto the old façade. Campanile 26m (85ft) manual bells Built in 1362 and detached (see right). The doorway features two carved lions, one with a snake in its mouth, the other with a human head in its paws (see below right). The latter is popularly thought to be a reference to the punishment of Doge Marin Faliero for his plotting against the Venetian Rebublic. Although it's also (and more often) said to represent the head of the condotiere Count Carmagnola, beheaded by the Republic in 1402. The well was restored in 1884 and the spire and belfry in 1909. Local colour In the calle between the campanile and the church doorway Lorenzino de'Medici (also known as Lorenzaccio or bad Lorenzino), along with his friend Alessandro Soderini, was murdered in 1546/1548? by an assassin sent by his cousin Cosimo de'Medici, Duke of Florence. His lover's house was nearby. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church Vaporetto San Toma or San Silvestro *Saint John of Nepomuk is a national saint of Bohemia. He was the confessor to the Queen of Bohemia and for refusing to reveal secrets of her confession he was chucked from a bridge in Prague in 1393. He was canonised in 1729 and is the patron saint of silence, and also of protection from floods and calumnies. He is sometimes painted with a finger to his lips or a padlock on his mouth. In the painting here he 'consecrates his tongue' to the Virgin. There is a worn 18th Century statue of him on the fondamenta at the junction of the Grand Canal with the Cannaregio Canal.
San Rocco Giovanni Scalfarotto 1725
		Overshadowed by the Scuola History Built 1489-1508 by Bartolomeo Bon for the Confraternity of San Rocco, along with the scuoletta to the right of the church's façade, where CDs and tickets for concerts in the Scuola are usually on sale. The confraternity had thrived following its acquisition of the saint's remains in 1485, its mission being to help the sick, particularly plague victims. This original church can be seen on De Barbari's map (see below). Extensive rebuilding, occasioned by danger of collapse, by Giovanni Scalfarotto in 1725, which left only the apse, the (repositioned) side door and a window from the Bon church. Following the plague of 1575/6 the Doge and Signoria would visit San Rocco on the saint's day to give thanks for his intercession. The church The façade was erected in 1765-71 by Bernardino Maccaruzzi to reflect the façade of the scuola. The statues flanking the doorway are by Giovanni Marchiori, who has more works inside, those above are by Gian Maria Morleiter. The side door and rose window are the work of Bon - the window had been on the façade but was moved around the side when the baroque façade was built. Both door and window were restored 2000-2001. A visit The church tends to be overshadowed by the Scuola, and after that Tintoretto-fest you might not need any more. The church is well lit and so not as dark and requiring of coins-in-slots as many others. The titular saint is very well represented in the art. There are Tintorettos, but they're a bit unspecial, especially after the Scuola, the best being an Annunciation which was once an organ door, to the left of the door. The apse is attractively decorated and above the altar is the saint himself, whose remains were brought here in 1485, and a statue of him by Bon. The church in art In the early 18th Century the church had no façade (from 1720) and so the view artists of the day tended to invent their own. The National Gallery's Canaletto has the unfinished brick, but an earlier painting by him is embellished with an imagined façade, further jazzed up by Visentini when he came to engrave it. Zucci in 1740 and Marieschi in 1742 went to town too. Campanile 29m (94ft) manual bells Originally built by Bon in 1494, but not shown on the De Barbari map (below). Opening times 8.00-12.30, 3.00-5.00 Vaporetto San Toma
San Silvestro Lorenzo Santi/Giovanni Meduna 1837-43
History Founded in the 9th Century, this church was rebuilt in the first half of the 15th, being consecrated in 1422. There was a further rebuilding in the first half of the 17th Century and then again, and more completely, in 1837-43, as the church was in danger of falling down, by Lorenzo Santi and Giovanni Meduna. The church The façade dates from 1909 and is the work of Giuseppe Sicher. A 17th Century statue of St Sylvester stands in a niche over the door. Through an iron grill to the right inside is the Scuola dei Mercanti di Vino, which has a chapel upstairs with 18th Century frescoes, depicting three episodes from the life of Saint Helena, by Gaspare Diziani, a pupil of Ricci. You'll need to ask the sacristan to let you in. The scuola of the mastellai (bath makers) was once attached to this church too, but was destroyed around 1820. A visit A very unarchaic church mostly dating from the mid-19th Century when it was rebuilt in a relatively unembellished neoclassical style. It has a flat ceiling painted with coffering. A lot of the paintings the church once contained have been lost, but there's still Tintoretto's Baptism of Christ (recently restored) and opposite it an appealingly bright and Bellini-esque St Thomas a Becket Enthroned. It's by Girolamo da Santacroce from 1520, but with a couple more dingy flanking saints (John the Baptist and Francis) added in the 19th Century by one Leonardo Gavagnin. Each of these paintings is the wrong size and shape for the spaces they inhabit, suggesting that they've been brought from elsewhere. (It turns out that the Tintoretto came from a demolished altar in this church.) Lost art Veronese's fine The Adoration of the Kings, now in the National Gallery in London, was painted for San Silvestro where it remained until the 19th century rebuilding, after which it was found to be too big. Campanile 47m (153ft) manual bells Destroyed by an earthquake on 25th January 1347, rebuilt 1422, restored 1840. Hear the bells Local colour Giorgione died in the house opposite (no. 1022) (the Palazzo. Valier) during the plague of 1510. He was said to have painted designs on the wall to advertise his skills. But Lorenzetti says that this is only the 'supposed abode' of the painter, who 'lived instead perhaps' at no. 1091 to the left. Opening times Monday - Saturday: 7.30-11.30, 4.00-6.00 Vaporetto San Silvestro
San Tomà
		History Dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle, the church was founded in the 10th Century and rebuilt in 1395 and 1652. The façade from the 1652 rebuilding, by Longhena, was replaced (as it was about to fall down) with a classical façade by Francesco Bognolo in 1742-55. In a city not unobsessed by religious relics, this church is said to have once had 10,000 saintly bits and a dozen intact holy corpses. Was a parish church until 1810 and taken over by Minotite friars from 1835-1867. Closed in 1984 for restoration and yet to reopen, although the scaffolding is long off. Exterior On the left side of the church there's a marble relief of the Madonna della Misericordia taken from convent of Santa Maria della Carita (now the Accademia Gallery). Interior Aisleless nave and six side altars. Ceiling fresco The Martyrdom of St Thomas by Vincenzo (son of the more famous Jacopo) Guarana. Campanile De Barbari's map shows a squat detached brick tower. A 36ft high section remains, tilted and with its door below ground level. It's topped by a Roman-style campanile restored in 1809. Local interest The 14th Century relief of the Madonna della Misericordia over the door of the Scuola dei Calegheri e Zavatteri (shoemakers and cobblers) opposite the church came from the demolished church of Santa Maria dei Servi. Opening times Never Vaporetto San Toma
Sant’Aponal 15th Century
History Founded in 1034 by the Sciavola and Rampana familes from Ravenna, Sant'Appollinaris being that city's patron saint and Sant'Aponal being the Venetian dialect version of his name. The current church dates from a rebuilding from 1407. Restored with interior remodelled in 1583 and again in 1791. A parish church until it was suppressed in 1810 by the French, who stripped it of its art and furnishings and used the church for the detention of political prisoners. Later sold by auction to Angelo Vianello who later sold it on to a group who had it reconsecrated and reopened for a short time in 1851 with five of its eight altars returned. Also and the high altar acquired the painting of The Martyrdom of Sant'Apollinare by Lattanzio Querena taken from the church of Santa Giustina in Castello, which had been turned into a school. Restored in 1929 at which time the Renaissance doorway with sculptures by Antonio Rizzo that had adorned the church since 1841 was returned to the church of Sant'Elena. Closed in 1984 and used as store for marriage registers by the Venetian Commune. The church 15th Century Gothic façade with large marble relief of the crucifixion from the late 14th Century above the rose window. Reliefs below the window (which may have come from a demolished altar in the original church) show Christ with the Virgin and St John the Baptist under a Gothic arch and flanked by saints in spired niches (see below right). The Reliefs below the main figures are of The Agony in the Garden and Doubting Thomas and are dated 1294. The smaller separate relief is of the Enthroned Virgin and Child and is early 16th Century. Interior Said to have a single nave with a flat coffered ceiling and side altars. Art highlights/Lost art? Luca Giordano The massacre of the innocents and Christ's expulsion of the merchants from the temple Campanile 50m (163 ft) manual bells Detached, Veneto-Byzantine and erected between the 12th and 13th century. Restored in the 15th Century. The base is decorated with 11th Century bas-reliefs and paterae, which included one of the oldest representations of the Lion of St Mark - the so-called the crab-lion (see below) now in the Museo Correr. Update: the whole tower covered in scaffolding - 9.2008 Opening times Never Vaporetto San Silvestro