Page 112 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

110  VENICE AREA B Y AREA

9 Scuola Grande di San Rocco

Founded in honour of St Roch (San Rocco), the Scuola
was set up as a charitable institution for the sick.
Construction began in 1515 under Bartolomeo Bon and
was completed in 1549 by Scarpagnino, financed largely
by donations from Venetians who believed that St Roch,
the patron saint of contagious diseases, would save them
from the plague. In 1564 Tintoretto (see p144) was
commissioned to decorate the walls and ceilings of the
Scuola. His remarkable cycle of paintings starts in the Sala Restored main entrance to the
dell’Albergo (see Gallery Guide). Scuola di San Rocco

Sala dell’Albergo

The Crucifixion
A self-portrait was
In this panorama of often a feature of
Calvary, Tintoretto reached Tintoretto’s paintings.
a pitch of religious feeling
never hitherto achieved in The subsidiary figures are
Venetian art. full of life but do not lessen
the central drama.
A competition was held in
1564 to select an artist to
paint the central ceiling
panel of the Sala dell’Albergo Figure of Christ
in the Scuola. To the fury of The crucified figure of the
his rivals, Tintoretto pre- Redeemer is raised and
empted his fellow leaning, accentuating His
competitors by installing his divinity and saving grace.
painting in situ prior to
judging. He won the ceiling of the Sala dell’Albergo.
commission and was later made The most moving work in the
a member of the Scuola. Over cycle is The Crucifi xion (1565) 2.
the next 23 years, Tintoretto Henry James wrote: “Surely no
decorated the entire building. single picture contains more of
The series of paintings, human life; there is everything
completed in 1587, reveals in it, including the most
Tintoretto’s revolutionary use of exquisite beauty.” Of the
light, mastery of foreshortening paintings on the entrance wall,
and visionary use of colour. The portraying the Passion of Christ,
winning painting, St Roch in the most notable is Christ Before
Glory 1, can be seen on the Pilate (1566–7) 3. Sala dell’Albergo

110-111_EW_Venice.indd 110 06/08/15 11:03 am