The Churches of Venice

San Bartolomeo Giovanni Scalfarotto 1723
History Tradition says a small church dedicated to San Demetrio (Saint Demetrius), the martyr of Thessalonica, was built here in 836, but the first documentation dates to 1083. In 1170 the church was rebuilt and re-dedicated to San Bartolomeo, being used from the 13th century onwards by German merchants from the nearby Fondaco dei Tedeschi (which is now a glitzy shopping mall) the minister here being used for baptisms and funerals by the Germans as an 'official' front for their secretly-observed protestant beliefs. The church is said to have been used as a civil service school in the 15th century. A rebuilding of 1723, possibly by Giovanni Scalfarotto, is the church we see today. It was closed and deconsecrated in the 1980s following decades of neglect, and reopened as an art gallery. After a recent restoration it was being used for concerts. The church Only a door and the rusticated campanile base can be seen at street level. The carving of the grotesque face in the pediment over the entrance at the base of the campanile may be a reference to the suffering of Saint Bartholomew, whose martyrdom involved his being whipped and flayed. Art highlights All the art (including paintings by Palma Giovane and sculpture by Heinrich Meyring) was removed when the church was deconsecrated, apart from the sculptures by Meyring on the altar and the choir loft at the rear of the church. A fresco over the altar also remains, depicting Saint Bartholomew in Glory by Gian Maria Morleiter. Lost art For a small church that's now never open this church has seen some good stuff, all painted in the first decade of the 16th century. Dürer painted The Feast of the Rose Garlands (see below) now in the National Gallery in Prague, for this church in 1506 as it was then the church used by the German trading community. It was commissioned by Christopher Fugger, who is buried in the church, and was originally placed over the altar of the Confraternity of the Rosary here, the painting being a celebration of the institution of the rosary. Saint Dominic, a keen proponent of the rosary, stands to the left of the Virgin, who places a wreath of roses on the head of Emperor Maximilian I whilst the Child places one on the head of the pope. The altarpiece shows the influence on Dürer of Venetian painting generally, and Giovanni Bellini very much, in both cases in its use of colour. Dürer incorporated a self-portrait into the painting, over to the right in front of the tree, behind all the recognisable but anonymous German merchants. The painting was acquired by Emperor Rudolf II in 1606, not long after its installation in the church, and after long and costly negotiations. He had it packed in cotton wool, carpets and waxed linen and carried (upright suspended from a pole) over the Brenner Pass by four strong men. It was thought to be too big, damaged and fragile to transport when the Habsburg collections were moved to Vienna when it became the centre of the Empire, so alone amongst their treasures it remained it Prague. It has suffered much damage and restoration over the centuries, the former by the mid-17th century and the latter notably in the mid-19th. Organ shutters by Sebastiano del Piombo, painted 1510-11, showing Saints Bartolomew and Sebastian, on the outside (see right above), and Saints Sinobaldus and Louis of Toulouse, on the inside (see right below), are now in the Accademia on one wall in a room in the new sequence of rooms devoted to the 15th and 16th centuries. They were commissioned by a priest of the church called Alvise Ricci and paid for from his bequest following his death in 1509. His arms can be seen painted over the arch on the exterior of the doors. The doors where were taken from the old organ when it was destroyed, sometime between 1733 and 1771. They were transferred to the Accademia in 1940, returning to this church at an unknown date, but they where reported as here in 1954. They probably returned to the Accademia in 1977, came back here, and then returned to the Accademia in 1980. Most of their vaguely recorded trips to the Accademia resulted in conservation works there, before more restoration by Venice in Peril, undertaken for the Genius of Venice exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1983. (Saint Sinibaldus (Sebald), said to have been an Anglo-Saxon missionary to Germany, is the patron saint of Nuremberg, where he lived as a hermit. One of his miracles was using icicles as fuel on the fire of a poor man who had given him shelter but who had no wood.) Also a Virgin and Child with Saints by Giovanni Buonconsiglio from 1502. Palma Giovane painted the high altarpiece of The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew for this church in 1593. Local artists Vincenzo Catena lived in a house in Campo San Bartolomeo, and died there in September 1531. Ruskin wrote I did not go to look at the works of Sabastian del Piombo which it contains, fully crediting M. Lazari's statement, that they have been "Barbaramente sfigurati da mani imperite, che pretendevano ristaurarli." (barbarously disfigured by inexpert hands, which claimed to be restoring them) Otherwise the church is of no importance. A Tintoretto exhibition in 1994 In 1994 there was an exhibition here in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Tintoretto’s death. It consisted of 13 of his paintings from churches, including the Last Supper from San Polo, the Baptism of Christ from San Silvestro and the organ doors from Santa Maria del Giglio. But 'six of the paintings were from the inferior cycle of Saint Catherine (painted mainly by Tintoretto’s son, Domenico).' This last quote (and opinion) is from a review of the Tintoretto exhibitions and books of 1994 by Garry Wills in the New York Review of Books. But he adds that it was good to see the other works 'cleaned and close up...under bright lights.' Campanile 50 m (162 ft) manual bells Dates from building of 1170, but rebuilt following damage during the earthquake of 1688 by Giovanni Scalfarotto 1747-54 with an octagonal drum and onion dome, based on Tirali's campanile for the nearby church of Santi Apostoli. The old spire is just visible in Marieschi's The Rialto Bridge from the Riva del Vin (detail right). In Guardi's The Rialto Bridge from the North... of about 1768-9 you can see the new dome at far left. Opening Times The website for San Salvador used to give opening times for San Bartolomeo, but I never found it open. Then it said TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR RESTORATIONS, now it says nothing. Update January 2022 A news report on the Nuova Venezia website from July 2020 says that the never-open churches of San Bartolomeo, San Beneto and San Fantin in the San Marco sestiere were about to open. This doesn't seem to have happened, but the intention was there, and may persist. Let's hope. Vaporetto Rialto map
San Basso Giuseppe Benoni/Baldassare Longhena 1665-1675
History Facing the side entrance to the Basilica San Marco, the original church on this site was built in 1076 and was rebuilt after the fire of 1105 which destroyed 23 churches in total. It was again damaged by fire in 1661, when the altar decorations caught fire, and rebuilt in 1665. This last church, the current building, was probably designed by Giuseppe Benoni with the facade (right) added 10 years later by Baldassare Longhena, but never finished - its upper part was never built. Closed by Napoleon in 1806, the church was sold and after 1847 acquired by the Basilica for storage. It was restored in 1951 and has since hosted an antiques shop, exhibitions and Vivaldi concerts. It's currently the automated cloakroom for visitors to San Marco Basilica. Campanile A small Roman-style campanile was built - it's just visible in the painting left. Upon suppression it was removed to Santissimo Nome di Gesù. Local colour The Piazzetta dei Leoncini, which the church faces onto, also contains the Palazzo Patriarchale. Begun in 1837 this was the last major new building in the Piazza San Marco area. In the monumental neoclassical style, it roughly but noticeably echoes the facade of San Basso The church in art The Piazzetta di San Basso by Michele Marieschi of 1736/7 (San Basso's façade is to the right) (see above). The church is also visible in the background of Daniele Manin and Niccolò Tommaseo freed from prison and carried in triumph to Piazza San Marco by Napoleone Nani in the Querini-Stampalia Vaporetto San Zaccaria map
San Beneto 1619-1629
History The church is first mentioned in the 10th century as being founded by the Caloprini, Burcali and Falier families. It was given in 1013 to the Benedictine monastery of Santissima Trinità e San Michele Arcangelo in Brandolo, near Chioggia, by Giovanni and Domenico Falier. They presumably renamed it after their founder - Beneto is Venetian dialect for Benedetto. In 1167 a fire destroyed the original church and the second church, as seen in the Barbieri map (see below), was built. It passed to Cistercians at the behest of Pope Gregory IX in 1229. The order neglected the church, however, and in 1435 the first Patriarch, Lorenzo Giustiniani, made it a parish church. The structure of this church became dangerous following the collapse of the campanile and so the current building, the third, which dates from 1619-1629, was built under Patriarch Giovanni Tiepolo, architect unknown. The church was closed in the early 20th century. Art highlights Said to contain 17th and 18th century works by Carlo Maratta, Jacopo Guarana, Sebastiano Mazzoni (two paintings featuring Saint Benedict, including Saint Benedict Presents Pasqualino Daneli to the Virgin), Antonio Fumiani, and Gaspare Diziani. Also a Giambattista Tiepolo Saint Francis of Paola in Ecstasy from 1738/40, said to be 'rather faded and over-cleaned'. This last overzealous restoration was carried out in the 18th century and has been somewhat ameliorated by restoration in 1994, which also had to deal with water damage. Also the 'boldly painted' Saint Sebastian Tended by the Holy Women by Bernardo Strozzi, known as 'the Genoese priest'. Lost art For the second church Jacopo Tintoretto painted a high altarpiece, a Nativity of Christ for the Contarini chapel and the organ's shutters and two works to decorate the organ gallery. The two altarpieces disappeared during the 17th century rebuilding, but the four canvases painted for the organ have survived, albeit cut down, and are now elsewhere. The Annunciation from inside the organ doors is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The scenes from the exterior are in the Uffizi in Florence. The organ canvases remained here into the third church but were removed in 1730 and sold to pay for the restoration of the organ. Controversy surrounds the assertion that the painting from the high altar is the Tintoretto Virgin and Saints (see right) now to be found in the Galleria Estense in Moderna. Campanile 20m (65ft) manual bells The original campanile, with a sugar-loaf spire and four pinnacles, can be seen on the Barbari map. It collapsed on the 26th November 1540, severely damaging the church. It was replaced during the 1619-95 rebuilding by the current one, which has an octagonal drum and onion dome. Opening times This church has undergone comprehensive restoration quite recently but remains closed. Update December 2018 Press reports talk of a gathering of worthies to celebrate San Beneto reopening after 40 years closed. November 2021 Correspondents on the spot have yet to find it open. Watch this space for further updates. January 2022 A news report on the Nuova Venezia website from July 2020 says that the never-open churches of San Bartolomeo, San Beneto and San Fantin in the San Marco sestiere were about to open. This doesn't seem to have happened, but the intention was there, and may remain. Let's hope. Vaporetto S. Angelo map The marriage of Contessina Marina Volpi di Misurata (see right) and Prince Carlo Ruspoli at San Beneto in September 1927.		Photo above taken in 2013 by Stedrs58 Photo below from the Nuova Venezia article mentioned left.
San Fantin Scarpagnino/Sansovino 1507-1564
History Said to have been founded in the 9th century but the earliest documentary evidence dates from 1127. Rebuilt in the 15th century in a nave-and-two-aisles form, as clearly visible on the Barbari map. This church was demolished in 1506 and a new one begun the following year. It was to a design by Scarpagnino, who worked on the building until his death in 1549 when Jacopo Sansovino took over (with help from Alessandro Vittoria), designing the domed apse, and this building was completed in 1564. This was the guild church of the Scaleteri (vendors of biscuits and sweets) whose patron saint is San Fantin (Saint Fantinus of Calabria, San Fantino in Italian ). Amongst the church's relics are the body of Saint Marcellina (the older sister of Saint Ambrose of Milan) and an arm bone of Saint Trifone. The church A plain façade and exterior of Istrian stone. The exterior view of Sansovino's apse was blocked by some 'poor houses' which were cleared away in 1931, as a tribute to Luigi Marangoni, Procurator of San Marco, and paid for by a group of his friends. The interior Monumental and made of squares, I'd read, so was keen to get in and have a look during the 2011 Biennale. The darkness and the largeness of the art made appreciating the interior difficult, but it has an odd and interesting plan and is indeed made of cubes. Grubby dark grey stone detailing, with a couple of side altars visible towards the back. There's a monument to Vinciguerra Dandolo by Tullio Lombardo (an urn over the door to the sacristy) and paintings by Leonardo Corona and his pupil Sante Peranda, and several by Palma Giovane, another of Peranda's teachers. Also a 15th-century Tuscan polychrome wood crucifix the restoration of which was paid for by Venice in Peril in 2002. This crucifix was the one that was carried in front of condemned prisoners from the Doge's Palace dungeons to the place of execution between the two columns on the Piazzetta. There is an icon, said to be miraculous, possibly by Andreas Ritzos, presented to the church by the Pisano family. It may have been brought back to Venice from Candia (Crete) by Giovanni Pisano (Domenico Pisani?) who was Duke of Candia from 1475-77 (1480?) Lost art/Ruskin wrote Said to contain a John Bellini, otherwise of no importance. This was probably the Virgin and Child with Saint Joseph 'in front of a landscape and damasked curtain' which Crowe and Cavalcaselle in their History of Painting in Northern Italy in 1871 described as being by 'a nerveless follower of Bellini in his last days'. It's now thought that this could well be the Holy Family by Pier Francesco Bissolo which is now in the Sant’Apollonia Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art. There's also talk of a Tintoretto Visitation and two by Piazzetta - a Pieta and The Liberation of Venice from the Plague. Opening times Never Except Summer 2011, when it was open and housing some Biennale stuff, and then after that stuff was removed, until Jan 2012, when it remained open. And Yvonne T took photos (the two to the right). Update January 2022 A news report on the Nuova Venezia website from July 2020 says that the never-open churches of San Bartolomeo, San Beneto and San Fantin in the San Marco sestiere were about to open. This doesn't seem to have happened, but the intention was there, and may persist. Let's hope. Vaporetto Santa Maria del Giglio The Scuola has it's own entry on the Scuole page now. map
San Gallo 1703
History Built in 1582 as the chapel of the Ospizio Orseolo, it acquired its present form in 1703. The Ospizio was demolished in 1872, a hotel being built in its place. Lost art The high altarpiece Christ Blessing with Saints Mark and Gall, attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, or maybe Jacopo, from 1540/45?, now in the Sant’Apollonia Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, was completely restored in the 17th century by Gaspare Diziani. Little of the original paint surface is said to survive and the picture’s wretched condition makes a certain attribution impossible. Opening times Often hosts Biennale exhibits. As it did in 2015. Vaporetto San Marco map Interior photo taken by Brigitte Eckert during the 2015 Biennale
San Luca mid-16th century
History Originally built before 1072 by the Dandolo and Pizzamano families, the present church dates from a rebuilding in the mid-16th century. The collapse of part of the façade in 1827 created an urgent need for more rebuilding in 1832, by Sebastiano Santi, with further major work in 1881. The church Tucked away just north of Campo Manin, opposite a long-disused cinema, it's orangey pink on the outside and not entirely fascinating on the inside. An aisleless nave with deep apsidal chapels, there is a worse-for-wear late Veronese (c.1581) of Saint Luke in Ecstasy, sitting on his ox, over the high altar. A side chapel has a Palma Giovane Virgin and Saints and there are 19th-century wall and ceiling frescoes by Sebastiano Santi, an artist born on Murano. The church's main claim to fame now is the fact that Pietro Aretino (who lived nearby on the Riva del Carbon) was buried here in 1556, but his tomb was covered over during the 19th-century restoration. This church is also the last resting place of his friend Ludovico Dolce, who died in 1568. He was a 16th-century writer who was something of a hack but very famous in his own time. He is now most known for Aretino and Venetian Art Theory, a book taking the form of a dialogue, with discussions taking in Giorgione, Michelangelo, Sebastiano del Piombo and, mostly, Titian. Aretino and Dolce were said to be so close that they were buried in the same tomb, but this is not true. A German painter called Carlo Loth who died in 1698 was also buried here. Lost art A very unconventional Annunciation - the angel is above the Virgin and to her right in a vertical composition - by the Florentine Sebastiano Mazzoni. It was painted for this church in the late 1640s and may have been rejected by the commissioner as too innovative. It was in Santa Caterina in the early 19th century and has been in the Accademia since 1945. The dissolute librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, later Mozart's librettist, was a priest at this church in the 1770s. Whilst living in a nearby boarding house he met Anzolletta Bellaudi, who became his mistress and matched him in dissolution, reputedly indulging in mutual fondling by young men in public, even in church. She bore Da Ponte two children. In 1779 he was tried for living a debauched life, basically, although his borderline heretic views may have been more a factor. The Council of Ten found him guilty and he was banished from Venice for fifteen years. Campanile 22m (72ft) manual bells Original erected in 1072, damaged by fire in 1105 with the top rebuilt in 1462. Reinforced with girders in 1966. The church in art San Luca turns up oddly often in the sketchbooks of Turner, possibly because it's on one the common canal routes from the San Marco area (where he usually stayed) to the Grand Canal. The church is to the right of centre in the luminous watercolour sketch (right) from the Tate Gallery's collection. Opening times Erratic But found open on a Thursday in November 2021. Vaporetto S. Angelo map
San Marco 1063
this church now has its own page
San Maurizio Giannantonio Selva/Antonio Diedo 1806
History Tradition says the original church was built in the 9th century, but the earliest recorded mention is dated 1084. Rebuilt after the fire of 1105 and in 1590. The present neoclassical church dates from a rebuilding of 1795-1806, for patrician Pietro Zaguri, by Giannantonio Selva - the façade and altars being by Selva. The work was finished after Selva's death in 1819 by Antonio Diedo and the church consecrated in 1828. This rebuilding was carried out so that this church would replace Sansovino's demolished church of San Geminiano, with the design of the interior supposedly inspired by that church, and the work of Codussi. The church A severely classical façade with an Ionic portal and rectangular reliefs by Bartolomeo Ferrari and Luigi Zandomeneghi either side of the lunette. A relief of the life of the saint is in the pediment above. Interior A Greek-cross plan with a central cupola surrounded by four bays each with a blind cupola. The church having been deconsecrated, the interior has been stripped and is now full of the 120-odd 18th-century stringed instruments that were collected of Artemio Versari. But it is still quite a pleasing square space and worth a visit. Campanile The De Barbari map shows a tower from after the 1105 fire, on the opposite side of the calle, topped with a cone-shaped spire and four pinnacles. This was demolished to make way for the house of oil and flour merchant Dionino Bellavite, who from 1564 onwards paid a fee 'for the demolished campanile'. A Roman-style bell tower built was in 1795. (The leaning campanile in my photo left belongs to Santo Stefano.) Opening times 9.30-8.30 Free entrance Vaporetto Accademia map
San Moise Alessandro Tremignon/Heinrich (Enrico) Meyring 1632
The church The first church on this site was said to have been built of wood in 797 and dedicated to San Vittore. The second was built in 947 by Moisè Venier and dedicated to his name saint. Venetians being in the Byzantine habit of looking upon Old Testament prophets as saints. This church was renovated after the second fire of 1105. The current church dates from a rebuilding of 1632. Work on rebuilding the façade began in 1668 to designs by Alessandro Tremignon, and at a final cost of 30,000 ducats. The reconstruction was paid for by the Fini family and it's Vincenzo Fini, who was made Procurator of San Marco in 1687, whose bust sits atop the central obelisk on the facade over the door, propped up by angels, saints and a pair of camels. In the order above you'll find four virtues, with sibyls at the top. The whole theatrical thrust of the facade is to the glory of the Fini, and represents the mercantile lives of the brothers. All the decoration is by Flemish sculptor Heinrich Meyring (sometimes Italianised to Merengo) who also carved the massive sculpture on the altar inside, with the help of Tremignon, seemingly out of a rock. It shows God handing the tablets to Moses. There is also a Washing of the Feet by Tintoretto, a late work from c.1590/92, and a Last Supper by Palma Giovane. The grave of John Law, the man behind the Mississippi Bubble, is in this church, near the entrance. He died in poverty in Venice in 1729. The church in art John Piper produced a lithograph of the façade in 1961 Ruskin wrote Notable as one of the basest examples of the basest school of the Renaissance. It contains one important picture, namely, "Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet," by Tintoret; on the left side of the chapel, north of the choir. This picture has been originally dark, is now much faded, - in parts, I believe, altogether destroyed, - and is hung in the worst light of a chapel, where, on a sunny day at noon, one could not easily read without a candle. I cannot, therefore, give much information respecting it; but it is certainly one of the least successful of the painter's works, and both careless and unsatisfactory in its composition as well as its colour. The late-renaissance habit of using the façades of churches to glorify generous benefactors he said was a manifestation of insolent atheism. (Statues in public spaces were forbidden in Venice so this was a way of circumventing the law.) Campanile 47m (153ft) electromechanical bells 14th century with fired brick spire. Opening times Daily 3.30-7.00 officially, but it seems to be open most of the day. Update August 2021 The façade is still covered in scaffolding, now with a huge advert for the iPhone. Vaporetto Vallaresso map
San Salvador Giorgio Spavento and Tullio Lombardo 1506-34
*this church has its own page*
San Samuele 1685
History Samuel is another of the Old Testament prophets which Venice, unique among cities in Italy, have venerated as saints due, it is said, to its strong ties with Byzantium and the Orthodox church. The original church was built in 1000 by the Boldù and Soranzo families and was dedicated to the apostle Matthew. It was first documented in 1090, and rebuilt after the fires of 1105 (during which its orientated was probably turned by 90 degrees) and 1170. The current building dates from a rebuilding of 1685. The façade structure and the statue of the Virgin over the door date from this rebuilding. In 1952 the façade was again rebuilt and the original, but much changed, porch was restored by architect Ferdinando Forlati. At this time the loggia on the upper storey was also opened up. (See pre-restoration black and white photo right) Interior The entrance is under an organ loft. The church has a nave and two aisles, the right much wider than the left, four arches long with good-looking oil-painted pendentive panels depicting saints (see right). These are by Antonio Zanchi, Giustino Menescardi, Gaspare Diziani, Fabio Canal and Gregorio Lazzarini. The central lunette of David's Sacifice is by Nicolò Bambini. There are four almost identical altars, two on each side at the back facing inwards and two flanking the apse facing down the aisles, all with painted altarpieces. Some panels on the nave walls too and a tombstone propped in a niche. Also a sarcophagus found during the 2000 excavations against the right back wall. There is no really striking art amongst the 18th-century paintings over the altars. The 15th-century frescoes in the presbytery and apse are pretty spectacular, though (see above), having been discovered under plaster in 1882 during restoration work and restored again in 1946 and 2000. They are by an unknown artist and have over the years been described as School of Mantegna and Paduan School. Studies on the frescoes are ongoing, but the work seems to be by a team of artists probably not from Venice. They show Christ, the Four Evangelists, the Four Fathers of the Church - Saints Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Gregory - and the Eight Sibyls. The Crucifix of 1350/55 is said to be by Paolo Veneziano. Over the altar at the end of the aisle to the right of the sanctuary there's a 13th-century icon of the Virgin and Child (see photo above) displayed alongside its revetment. This latter covering is 14th-century and also Byzantine. It's decoration reproduces the icon underneath, with an Annunciation in the top corners and 45 small figures and scenes in the framing. It was brought to Venice from Nauplia in Greece in 1541 by Francesco Barbaro, who was governor there, before the city passed to the Turks. Further work on it was undertaken in Venice at this time and it was restored in 1995. Lost art The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, with Saint Magnus by Cima da Conegliano from c.1505. The two saints were the patrons of the Scuola dei Mureri (Stonemasons’ Guild) over whose altar here the painting hung. It's been in the Accademia since 1829. Campanile 28m (91ft) manual bells Romanesque in style, made of Istrian stone and dating from the 12th century. One of Venice's oldest, restored in 1984. Casanova connection Off of Campo San Samuele, to the right of the church, is Calle Malpiero, where you can see the house in which Casanova was born. This whole area is very Casanova-haunted. He played in the orchestra of the San Samuele Theatre (now a school). His parents were married in this church on 17 February 1724 and he was baptised here. And in 1740, at the age of 15, he gave his first two sermons in this church. The first was a great success – the offertory plate came back not just full of money but with some love letters in it. But the second one was a disaster – he’d eaten and drunk too much, and not prepared properly, and rather than make the ‘brutta figura’ he pretended to faint. And that was the end of his ecclesiastical career. The church in art Grand Canal at San Samuele, an impressionistic watercolour by John Singer Sargent. Opening times Not usually, but... In March 2019 Informant Harry reported finding the church open, adding 'No information about times, but a notice saying a guidebook was available from the Sacristan (if you knew where to find him!)' And then later in 2019 the church was open thanks to a Biennale-related art exhibition, and guidebooklets dated 2002 were for sale for €5. Vaporetto San Samuele map		A photo showing the archaeological work during the relaying of the floor in 2000.
San Vidal 1696-1700 Antonio Gaspari/ Andrea Tirali
History Founded in 1084 by Doge Vitale Falier in honour of his patron saint Vitalis, a somewhat obscure saint martyred by being thrown into a pit and buried alive, who was also the father of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, the dedicatees of the church of San Trovaso. San Vidal was rebuilt after the fire of 1105, and from 1696 ambitious plans by Antonio Gaspari were commissioned by the Morosini family as a memorial to Francesco Morosini, who defeated the Turks at Morea and then served as doge from 1688-1694. His palace stands on the other side of Campo Santo Stefano. This ambitious project was watered down, and work was completed with the Palladian-style façade (1734-7), based by Tirali on that of San Francesco della Vigna and paid for by Doge Carlo Contarini, on which there are busts of Contarini and his wife, and one of Teodoro Tessari, the parish priest whose efforts lead to the early-18th-century rebuilding. Long deconsecrated, the church spent some time as an exhibition hall for the Catholic Union of Italian Artists and now hosts concerts performed by Interpreti Veneziani and sells CDs. There was restoration work in 1902/3 and 2000. Interior A square Corinthian-column-ringed space. Three side altars in niches each side retain five mostly 18th-century painted altarpieces and a sculpture, commissioned following the rebuilding. Lunette paintings over the larger middle niches depict The Resurrection and The Assumption and are by the Greek painter Antonio Vassillacchi (called L'Aliense, the alien) who was buried here in 1629. The altarpieces include an Immaculate Conception from 1732 by Sebastiano Ricci, a Crucifixion with the Apostles from c.1726/32 by Giulia Lama, and two by Gianantonio Pellegrini: a Trinity with Saints Peter and Francesco di Paola and a Martydom of San Vitale. Also here is the Archangel Raphael with Saints Anthony of Padua and Gaetano of Thiene of 1720 by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta which was restored by Venice in Peril for the Glory of Venice exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1994. But the art highlight is unquestionably the high altarpiece - Saint Vitalis on Horseback, from 1514, a late and handsome Carpaccio (see below right) which is his only altarpiece still in the church for which it was painted. The saint is flanked by Saint Valeria, his wife (also martyred) and Saint George on one side, and Saints James and John the Baptist on the other. On the balcony are his martyr saint sons Gervasius and Protasius (the dedicatees of the church of San Trovaso just over the Grand Canal), with Saints Peter and Andrew. During the 18th century rebuilding this canvas was made to fit the new altar - 50 centimetres were added to the bottom and the Virgin and Child were cut out and moved higher. Skilful overpainting masks the joins. The altarpiece is flanked by 18th-century statues of Faith (on the left) and Fortitude by Antonio Gai. Ruskin wrote Said to contain a picture by Vittor Carpaccio, over the high altar: otherwise of no importance. Campanile 29m (94ft) electromechanical bells Originally of 1084, rebuilt after the 1105 fire, like the church. Further restored after an earthquake in 1347, and again in 1680. A door in its base (see far right) is surmounted in an almost convincing fashion by a fragment of a 12th century cornice and a 15th century relief roundel of Saint Gregory. The church in art Canaletto's Campo San Vidal and Santa Maria della Carita (The Stonemason's Yard) in the National Gallery in London is said to depict masons working on the stonework for San Vidal's rebuilding. Opening times For concerts and selling concert tickets. Vaporetto Accademia map A print from around 1717 showing the church before the 18th-century rebuilding
San Zulian Jacopo Sansovino/Alessandro Vittoria 1553-1580
History Tradition says that the church of Santi Zulian (Venetian dialect for San Giuliano) e Basilissa was founded around 829, but the church is first documented in 1061, and some sources say that it was rebuilt after the second fire of 1105, at the expense of the Balbi family. By the mid-15th century this church is said to have been in a poor state. The current church dates from a rebuilding commissioned in 1553 by Tommaso Rangone, a physician and astrologer from Ravenna who could not be accused of undue modesty. He made his fortune from syphilis cures and wrote a book on how to live to 120 which was based on his observations regarding the longevity of Venetians. (He lived to the age of 84, since you asked.) His obsession with longevity may explain his ceaseless quest for immortality in paint and stone. He is depicted in major roles in Tintoretto's paintings for the Scuola di San Marco (now in the Accademia) for which he became Guardian Grande. He had also wanted to be commemorated by an effigy on the façade of San Geminiano, the church which used to face the Basilica across Piazza San Marco, but this request was refused by the Signoria as too vainglorious. Jacopo Sansovino was put in charge of San Zulian's rebuilding, which began in 1566, after thirteen years of fund raising. But while he was building a new façade the roof collapsed and he had to start again from scratch. Alessandro Vittoria collaborated with him towards the end and the church was finished and consecrated in 1580, ten years after Sansovino's death. Rangone, who died in 1577, kept the architect's model and made arrangements for it to be carried in procession during his funeral. He's buried in the chancel here. His marble coffin is said to have been made in the shape of his body. It's also said that his bones were transferred to the island of Sant'Ariano in 1822. The church That's a bronze statue of Rangone by Sansovino, made in 1554, in the arch over the door (see right). Rangone is depicted holding sarsaparilla and guaiacum, two of the ingredients of his syphilis cure. The portico is recessed, rather than sticking out, because of space constraints. The façade also features odd symbols and inscriptions in Latin, Greek and Hebrew telling us what a great and generous man Rangone was. This is one of only two freestanding churches in Venice (i.e. ones that can be walked all around). The other is Angelo Raffaele. Much work was carried out here by Venice in Peril in the early 1990s. This included cleaning and applying protective substances to the façade and the statue of Rangone, which also needed protecting from pigeons. Much work was done then on the interior too. The interior A square aisleless nave almost totally, and oddly, free of architectural detailing, having just two Corinthian pilasters framing the sanctuary, but there's lots of gold and works by Palma Giovane including, I have to admit, quite a nice Assumption. Appreciation of the painted ceiling is much improved by putting some coins in the light, but it is a light of somewhat stingy duration. Art highlights Saints by Vittoria and four paintings, including the central cross-shaped ceiling painting The Apotheosis of Saint Julian, by Palma Giovane (see below right). The surrounding Virtues on the ceiling are by Leonardo Corona. Jacopo Tintoretto famously somewhat desperately subjected himself in his maturity to a competition involving painting the Assumption of the Virgin for the Marzeri (merchants) here. He lost out, by one vote to four, to the young upstart Palma Giovane. The first altar on the right has an unobvious Pietà by Veronese from 1584, with Saints Roch, Jerome and Mark below by assistants. Opposite the Veronese Pietà is Boccaccio Boccaccino's attractive Virgin and Child with Saints, which has a sweet air of Bellini and Giorgione about it. Also a Last Supper formerly attributed to Tintoretto but now said to be by the studio of Veronese. It's mentioned by Ridolfi. During repairs to the roof in 1909 a huge roll, thickly coated with dust and cobwebs, and after much cleaning, it was discovered that the roll consisted of numerous canvases. It turned out that around 1830 the rector of San Zulian, deciding that his church was a bit dark and gloomy, decided to remove the paintings from the clerestory windows and replace them with panels of light-coloured marbles. Paintings by Tintoretto, Palma Giovane, Leonardo Corona and others were removed and stashed under the roof. These works were Christ Bearing the Cross at Calvary by Tintoretto; Ecce Homo and The Resurrection, by Palma Giovane; The Deposition, The Flagellation, The Crowning with Thorns, and Christ before Caiaphas by Corona; The Agony in the Garden and The Washing the Disciples' Feet, by Giovanni Fiamengo; and a Saint Jerome, and a Saint Theodore by Andrea Vicentino. A 1909 article in the Burlington Magazine said that the paintings by Tintoretto and Fiamengo were in 'a deplorable state', but that 'it is already supposed that one and all of them will in time be re-hung in the places for which they were originally intended'. Update August 2018 The truth of this (recently discovered) story needs to be checked. Lost art A triptych featuring paintings of Saint Christopher and Saint Sebastian by Antonello and his son Jacobello da Messina either side of a wooden statue of Saint Roch was recorded here in 1581 by Francesco Sansovino. The Saint Sebastian panel (see right) by Antonello, is now in the Dresden Gemäldegalerie. Relics The body of Saint Paul the Hermit was brought here from the church of Theotokos Peribleptos in Constantinople following the Latin Sack of 1204, during the forth crusade. Campanile manual bells De Barbari's map shows a tower, presumably built during the second rebuilding, topped by a sugar-loaf spire and four pinnacles. The current tower dates from the demolition of this old campanile in 1775 and is the only one in Venice that rests on the roof of its church. Opening times Daily 8.30 - 7.00 Vaporetto San Zaccaria map
Santa Croce degli Armeni 1682-88
History A house on the site was supposedly given to the Armenians around 1253 by Marco Ziani, the son of Doge Pietro Ziani, grateful for the fortune he'd made in their country. An oratory was built in 1496 as Santa Croce di Cristo (the Sacred Cross of Christ). This was rebuilt as a church in 1682-88 and renovated in 1703. The small Armenian population of Venice later began attending services at the monastery on the island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni and this church fell into disuse. It has recently come into use again, once a month. The church The discrete entrance is off the Sotoportego dei Armeni - the farther of the two doors in the photograph of the sotoportego (see left). The church has a small square interior, richly decorated in a classical style with a central cupola. Sardi and Longhena are sometimes suggested as possible architects. The altar paintings date from the period of the restoration. Campanile 24m (78ft) manual bells Hard to see (see right) dating from 1682-88 too, and with an onion dome. Opening times For mass only, in Armenian, on the last Sunday in the month at 10.30. Vaporetto Vallaresso (San Marco) map
Santa Maria del Giglio Giuseppe Benoni/Giuseppe Sardi 1680-83
History The original Byzantine-style church was said to have been founded by the Slav Jubanico family, a name corrupted over time to Zobenigo. Hence the church's other name Santa Maria Zobenigo. The church burnt down and was then rebuilt in 976, and again in 1105. This latter church survived until the present church, whose name translates as Our Lady of the Lily, was built in 1680-83 by Giuseppe Benoni, with the façade and side altars by Giuseppe Sardi. Similarly to the nearby Santo Stefano this church has its side onto a broad campo with its façade facing a narrow calle. It underwent restoration in 1833. The church The façade is another of the irreligious self-glorifying displays that Ruskin condemned, along with San Moise, as a 'manifestation of insolent atheism'. Here it's Antonio Barbaro who left 30,000 ducats in his will with precise instructions as to how Sardi was to celebrate his political and military careers. The heavily populated façade has Barbaro's four brothers, clothed according the public offices they held, on the lowest level, with Barbaro himself on the next level up, over the door, all sculpted by Giusto Le Court. Hoards of allegorical figures and putti keep him company. Also some angels because this is a church after all. The plinths under the pairs of Corinthian columns on this upper level show battle scenes, whilst the plinths under the Ionic columns at ground level show plans of the cities of Antonio's military triumphs: Zara, Candia (Crete), Padua, Rome, Corfu and Spalato (Split). Interior and art highlights A compact and aisleless space, with three shallow altars either side. There's an impressively detailed big arch over the high altar, with an organ behind. Meyring statues of The Annunciation flank the high altar. 17th-century artists dominate, which just about excuses the Rubens, he being of the same period. This church has the only Rubens in Venice, you see, behind bullet-proof glass in the Molin Chapel (entrance to the right) - a fleshy Virgin and Child with the Young St John, not really in keeping with its surroundings. And some guide books use words like 'alleged' and 'attributed'. This chapel has a ceiling painting by Domenico, Jacopo Tintoretto's son, and lots of extravagantly designed reliquaries with bones, nicely labelled. Remains include hanks of hair and other hard-to-identify bits that it's probably best not to know or enquire about. Over the third altar on the left there's a Tintoretto altarpiece depicting Christ with Angels and Saints Justina and Francis of Paola.of 1581/2, possibly by the young Domenico. There are also two sketchy pairs of Evangelists by Jacopo, from 1557, on either side of the choir behind the altar. They were the inner panels from a destroyed organ case and you can walk around behind the altar to get a better look. The contract for these doors survives and having not even started painting five years after they were ordered he ended up with just sixteen days to finish the job or lose the commission and be forced to return the payment already made. (This threat is dated 6 March 1557 - exactly 400 years before the day I was born!) The outer shutters (now lost) depicted The Conversion of Saint Paul. Also an impressive Last Supper by sculptor/painter Giulio Del Moro on the inside front wall, with four cute sibyls by Il Salviati ranged below. The Zanchi paintings high up over the main cornice look impressive from a distance. The paintings on the ceiling are by him too. There's also a sweet little carved high relief panel of Saint Jerome, and an overpowering carved baptistery crawling with putti. This is a church whose cumulative pleasures sort of creep up on you. Campanile Visible in the Canaletto painting (see below), it was leaning a lot when it was demolished in 1774. Rebuilding began in 1805 but work only reached 26 feet - this stump is now a gift shop (see photo far right). Barbari's famous map shows a stump too (see right) but here it's because the tower was being built, suggesting that an earlier one had toppled too by 1500. The church in art Santa Maria Zobenigo by Canaletto (see right) from 1738/40, now in a private collection. It shows the demolished campanile when still intact. Guardi painted an almost identical view thirty years later, even copying some of the figures and groups. Ruskin wrote Mentioning the five churches he thought of as 'illustrative of the last degradation of the Renaissance. He calls Santa Maria Zobenigo the most impious. So incensed was he at the Barbaro family's vainglorious and atheistic appropriation of this church's façade that when he learnt, during his visit of 1851, that the last members of the once-great family, two old brothers, were then living in the garret of the nearby family palazzo Ruskin wrote to his father 'So they have been brought to their garrets justly'. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.30 - 1.30 and 2.30 - 5.00 Sundays: closed A Chorus Church A NO PHOTO! church Vaporetto Santa Maria del Giglio map		Photo above by Vicky Greig
Santo Stefano 1294-1325/early 16th century
History A convent church was founded here around 1294 by the Augustinian hermits of Sant'Anna in Castello and named for Saints Augustine and Stephen. Work on the current building began in 1294 and was finished in 1325, with major rebuilding in the early 15th century - this being when the chancel was extended over a canal. This latter work was overseen by Gabriele Veneto, an Augustinian worthy and scholar whose portrait was painted by Giovanni Bellini and who is very likely - a strong case has recently been made - the violist in Titian's mysterious and Giorgionesque The Interrupted Concert. Gabriele was buried in the new sacristy here and is commemorated on the lintel over its door. The church underwent further restoration in 1743. Santo Stefano has had to be reconsecrated six times because of, according to Jan Morris, 'repeated bloodshed within its walls'. The first being when Girolamo Bonifazio wounded a monk called Fra Francesco Basadonna on Whit Sunday 1348. Further such incidents occurred in 1556, 1561, 1567, 1583 and 1594. The church A plain exterior. The facade, with a fine late Gothic carved portal probably by Bartolomeo Bon (see right) faces onto a cramped and sunless calle, which does not make viewing it, or photographing it, very easy. Interior The interior is one of Venice's most quietly memorable and impressive. Divided into a nave and two aisles by slender columns, the walls are painted and gilded in a pleasing diamond and acanthus-leaf pattern executed in the 15th century and above is the richly-decorated ship's keel roof probably made in the Arsenale. The columns are alternating red Verona broccatello and Greek white marble, with decorative-frescoed arches, and the floor tiles pleasingly compliment the colour scheme. There was originally a marble pulpitum screen separating the choir from the nave. When this was demolished in the 17th century the stalls were moved to the chancel, behind a new high altar, and the statues of saints from the screen moved to the presbytery. Art highlights The sacristy is chock-full of paintings, with three late (1576) Tintorettos - The Washing of the Feet, The Agony in the Garden and an impressive and large Last Supper, one of the many by him in Venice. They all came from the church of Santa Margherita following the Napoleonic suppressions. There's a small Resurrection here which may be by him too, opinions differ, and works by Bartolomeo Vivarini and Bonifacio di'Pitati. In the small cloister beyond you can get close to some sculpture by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo amongst others, including Canova's tombstone for Senator Giovanni Falier (see right). Canova's first Venetian studio was in the cloister here. Lost Art The Saint Jerome polyptych by Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d'Alemagna from 1441, originally on the right hand wall here, is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it's called The Hieronymus Altar. Jerome is flanked by Saints Ambrose and Mark and is wearing the cardinal's red robes not created until 700 years after his time. And he never was a cardinal. Also by Antonio Vivarini was an altarpiece from c.1440 in a chapel dedicated to Saint Monica consisting of a wooden statue of the saint (according to Ridolfi in 1648) and surrounded by Vivarini's panels showing scenes from the life of the saint. These remaining panels are now widely dispersed - The Marriage of St Monica in the Accademia, the Birth of Saint Augustine (Monica's son) in the Courtauld in London, Saint Ambrose Baptises Saint Augustine in the Bergamo Accademia Carrara, The Conversion of Patricius (Monica's husband) on his deathbed, in the Detroit Institute of Arts and Saint Monica at Prayer in the Museo Amedeo Lia in La Spezia. The church in art The Church of Santo Stefano, from the Rio del Santissimo, a watercolour by J.M.W. Turner. The church and its campanile feature often in his sketchbooks too. Ruskin wrote An interesting building of central Gothic, the best ecclesiastical example of it in Venice. The west entrance is much later than any of the rest, and is of the richest Renaissance Gothic, a little anterior to the Porta della Carta, and first-rate of its kind. The manner of the introduction of the figure of the angel at the top of the arch is full of beauty. Note the extravagant crockets and cusp finials as signs of decline. Cloister The monastery was suppressed in 1810 and the buildings now house the Ministero delle Finanze. The large cloister, with an entrance off of Campo Sant'Angelo, can be visited on weekday mornings. It's a handsome one (see photo below) but the wires and air-conditioning units, amongst other impositions, show it to be what you might call a working cloister. Some nice steps, corners and bits of stonework though, so worth a visit. Down a corridor off it is a second and smaller cloister (see photo below right). One of them was said by Berenson to contain ruined frescoes by Pordenone, and the last of the Carrara lords of Padua, Francesco Novello was buried here, having been strangled in prison in 1406 along with his two sons following their capture during a war between Padua and Venice.. Local colour Campo Santo Stefano was used for bullfights until 1802, when the last one held in Venice took place here. Campanile 61m (198ft) electromechanical bells Late Renaissance (1544) and leaning, with a newer top. On the 7th of August 1585 it was struck by lightning, collapsing onto nearby houses, and the bells melted. Replacements came from England, where Catholic churches were being stripped under Elizabeth I. Rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. The base was reinforced between 1902 and 1906 due to an earthquake in 1902 and consequent leaning. It is still said to be unstable. Opening times Monday to Saturday: 10.00 to 5.00 Sundays: closed The museum out the back (the Sacristy etc) is now run by Chorus so you have to pay. It is open Monday to Saturday: 11.30 to 5.00 Cloister: Monday to Friday 9.00-1.00 Vaporetto Accademia map
Note the now-removed porch over the side door.
Santi Rocco e Margarita 1488
History In 1485 the Scuola di San Rocco briefly moved to an oratory on this site with the intention of building a church to house the relics of Saint Roch, its patron saint, but soon moved to their present premises near the Frari. The oratory and some adjoining houses were given to the Cistercian nuns from the derelict monastery of Santa Margherita on Torcello who began construction of the church and convent here in April 1488, with contributions from the Augustinian friars of Santo Stefano and the Lezze family (Luca Lezze was Procuratore di San Marco in 1464) The church was consecrated in 1547. In 1597 an altar was built for the holy icon of the Virgin brought here from Lakonia in southern Greece. The monastery was suppressed in 1806, and the church closed in 1810. After some years of use as a music venue both were acquired in 1822 by the priest Pietro Ciliota, who founded a school for girls. Two of the five altars were sold, and the other furnishings dispersed. The Istituto Ciliota (since restoration in 1999) offers accommodation in the monastery. The interior A single nave with a pair of side altars - a functional little space with charm and some unspecial art. There was a stage and projection screen at the back when I visited in 2010, and a TV and video player on the altar. I'd heard that there had been talk of turning it into a supermarket a while back - not the most imaginative fate for what must have been quite a sweet little church in its day. Lost art Amongst the lost art the high altarpiece was a work by Francesco Montemezzano. It was highly praised by Boschini, who also lists two more altarpieces: an Annunciation by Matteo Ingoli and another work by Girolamo Pilotti. A bas-relief showing The Trinity and The Annunciation is now in the collection of the Patriarchs of Venice. The church in books In her book The Virgins of Venice Mary Laven, writing about the lengths enclosure went to, tells us that Patriarch Vendramin told the nuns of Santi Rocco e Margarita to block up the holes ventilating their toilets, lest they catch a glimpse of the street below whilst going about their business. Opening times Accessible through the Istituto Ciliota. Vaporetto San Samuele map


		San Bartolomeo San Basso San Beneto San Benedetto San Fantin Madonna di San Fatino San Gallo San Luca San Marco San Maurizio San Moise San Salvador San Salvatore San Samuele San Vidal San Vitale San Zulian San Giuliano Santa Croce degli Armeni (Armenian Catholic) Santa Maria del Giglio Santa Maria Zobenigo Santo Stefano Santi Rocco e Margarita