Tag: Tintoretto in Venice

The Church of the Madonna dell’Orto is a beautiful Gothic church in Venice, located in the sestiere (district) of Cannaregio, in the homonymous campo (square).   SHORT HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE MADONNA DELL’ORTO The church was built by the religious congregation of Humiliati around the middle of the 14th century, and dedicated to God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers. Because of its weak foundations, the church underwent important restoration works in 1399. In 1414, the Council of Ten, one of the highest governing bodies of the Republic of Venice, granted the church the name of Madonna dell’Orto, which was already popular among the locals. The name came from a miraculous statue of the Madonna, brought to the church from a nearby garden (orto meaning garden in Italian). In 1462, the Humiliati were expelled by a decree of the same council, and the church was assigned to the congregation of the Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga, which was suppressed in 1668. The convent of the Madonna dell’Orto passed in 1669 to the Congregation of the Cistercian Monks, and in 1787 came under public administration. In 1841, the Austrian Read more [...]

The Church of San Marcuola is a church dedicated to Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus, located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Venice. The church is situated across the Grand Canal from the Fondaco dei Turchi. The name Marcuola comes from the Venetian pronunciation for Hermagoras.   SHORT HISTORY The current church was built in the 12th century on the site of an ancient church from the 9th century, thanks to the contributions of the Memmo family, owners of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. In 1663, minor changes were made to the structure. Later, the architect Antonio Gaspari presented a new renovation project, but the works were started only after his death, under the direction of the architect Giorgio Massari. In 1736, Giorgio Massari managed to complete the interior of the church, but the facade remained unfinished. In 1779, the church was consecrated for the last time by the Patriarch Federico Maria Giovanelli.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE The church has a single nave with a square plan, covered by a barrel vault. The presbytery was created from a semicircular apse, and is practically the vestibule of the beautiful rectangular main chapel, surmounted by an oval dome, supported by four columns. Read more [...]

The Church of San Rocco is one of the four plague churches in Venice, along with San Giobbe, San Sebastiano and the Salute. The church was built for the Confraternity of San Rocco, founded in the plague year 1478, with the mission to help the poor and the sick, particularly the people suffering from the disease. San Rocco is the only Venetian church designed as a sacrarium for the remains of its titular saint, St. Roch, whose body is preserved within the high altar.   SHORT HISTORY A church was standing on this place before 1485. The new church was built after a design by the architect Pietro Bon, starting with 1489. In March, 1490, the left side-chapel of the presbytery was finished and ready to receive the remains of St. Roch, which were to be brought from San Silvestro. A competition for the construction of the high altar was won in 1517 by Venturino Fantoni, who designed a reliquary-altar, developed in Venice by the sculptor-architects Pietro and Tullio Lombardo. After 1680, the church was almost entirely demolished and rebuilt between 1726 and 1733 by the architect Giovanni Scalfarotto, who kept only the fifteenth century chancel and the ground-plan of Read more [...]

Palazzo Gussoni Grimani Dalla Vida is a palace in Venice, located in the Cannaeregio district (sestiere), overlooking the Grand Canal between Casa Velluti and Palazzetto Da Lezze.   SHORT HISTORY OF PALAZZO GUSSONI GRIMANI DALLA VIDA The palace was designed by the architect Michele Sanmicheli, and built between 1548 and 1556 for the Gussoni family. Between 1614 and 1618, Palazzo Gussoni Grimani Dalla Vida was the residence of the English diplomat Sir Henry Wotton, the Doge’s counselor at that time, and also the author of a limited number of poems and translations. During the 17th century, the edifice served as the headquarters for the Accademia Delfica, founded in 1647 by Francesco Gussoni. In 1736, after the death of the last member of the Gussoni family, the palace was transfered to the next of kin, the Minio family. In 1978, the building was sold to the Grimani family, and starting with 1814 it was owned by the Dalla Vida family, recognized as the last owners. Today, the palace is the property of the Italian state.   ARCHITECTURE OF PALAZZO GUSSONI GRIMANI DALLA VIDA The main facade overlooking the Grand Canal is characterized by a horizontal and vertical tripartition. At the center Read more [...]

There are many churches in Venice, and many are beautiful, but few impress like the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. It may be the place, because not many churches have their own island, or it may be the bell-tower, probably second in height after the one in the Saint Mark’s Square, but we can easily believe that, among all, the inspiration of Andrea Palladio matters probably the most.   SHORT HISTORY In 982, the Doge Tribuno Memmo donated the island of San Giorgio Maggiore to a benedictine monk, who will establish here a monastery. The church, built five years later, from brick and wood, will last until 1223, when it will be severely damaged by an earthquake. The Doge Pietro Ziani will fix it, only to retreat to the island a few years later. In 1109, the relics of St. Stephen will be brought here from Constantinople, and the annual celebration held on 26 December, on the saint’s day, will become one of the most popular Christian holidays in the Venetian calendar. The church we see today was begun by Andrea Palladio in 1565 and completed after his death, in 1610. The one who finished the project was, apparently, Vincenzo Read more [...]

Rising at the entrance to the Grand Canal, the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute is one of the defining monuments of Venice. Its great dome dominates the view from the Bacino di San Marco, while its marble mass marks the tip of Dorsoduro beside Punta della Dogana. Commonly called La Salute, the church stands between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal, directly across the water from Piazza San Marco. From the square, La Salute appears as a theatrical counterpoint to the Doge’s Palace, San Giorgio Maggiore and the long waterfront of the city. The church was built as an ex voto after the plague of 1630-1631, when Venice suffered one of the most destructive epidemics in its history. The Republic promised a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary, under the title of Santa Maria della Salute, meaning Saint Mary of Health or Salvation. Designed by Baldassare Longhena, the church combines religious symbolism, difficult lagoon engineering and Venetian Baroque architecture. The building is not a longitudinal church with a traditional nave. Its main space is centralized, octagonal and luminous, organized around a massive dome and a sequence of Marian altars. Inside, visitors find works by Titian, Luca Giordano, Tintoretto, Pietro Read more [...]