Page 146 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

144  VENICE AREA B Y AREA

passengers to To the right of the entrance
the islands in the is Cima da Conegliano’s
northern lagoon. magnificent painting St John
The dedication was the Baptist and Other Saints
changed and the (c.1493). The vacant space
church reconstructed opposite belongs to Giovanni
in the early 15th Bellini’s Madonna with Child
century following the (c.1478), which was stolen
discovery, in a nearby for the third time in 1993.
vegetable garden
(orto), of a statue of
the Virgin Mary said 2 Campo dei Mori
to have miraculous Map 2 F3. 4 Madonna dell’Orto.
powers. However, a
15th-century statue According to popular
of St Christopher tradition, the “Mori” were the
still stands above three Mastelli brothers who
the portal. came from the Morea (the
The interior, faced Peloponnese). The brothers,
almost entirely in who were silk merchants by
brick, is large, light trade, took refuge in Venice
and uncluttered. The in 1112 and built the
The campanile of Madonna dell’Orto, crowned by an greatest treasures Palazzo Mastelli, visible from
onion-shaped cupola are the works of art Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini
by Tintoretto, who and recognizable by its camel
1 Madonna was a parishioner of the church. bas-relief. The brothers’ stone
dell’Orto His tomb, which is marked with figures are embedded in the
a plaque, lies in the chapel to wall of the campo on its eastern
Campo Madonna dell’Orto. Map 2 F2. the right of the chancel. The side. The corner figure with the
Tel 041 71 99 33. 4 Madonna most dramatic of his works makeshift rusty metal nose
dell’Orto. Open 10am–5pm Mon–Sat, are the towering paintings in (added in the 19th century) is
noon–5pm Sun & public hols.
& donation. 9 ^ 8 on request. the chancel (1562–4). On the “Signor Antonio Rioba”, who,
∑ madonnadellorto.org right wall is The Last Judgment, like the Roman Pasquino, was
whose turbulent content the focus of malicious fun
This lovely Gothic church is caused John Ruskin’s wife and satire. A fourth Oriental
frequently referred to as the Effie to flee the church. In the merchant with a large turban
English Church in Venice, for it painting The Adoration of the faces the Rio della Sensa on
was British funds that helped Golden Calf on the left wall, the the façade of Tintoretto’s
restore the building after the figure carrying the calf, fourth house (see p142).
1966 floods (see p54). The original from the left, is said to depict
church, founded in the mid- Tintoretto himself.
14th century, was dedicated to Inside the chapel of San
St Christopher, patron saint of Mauro visitors can see the
travellers, to protect radically restored statue of the
the boatmen Madonna which inspired the
who ferried reconstruction of the church.
Tintoretto (1518–94)
Jacopo Robusti, nicknamed Tintoretto because
of his father’s occupation of silk dyer, was born,
lived and died in Cannaregio. He left Venice only
once in his life. A devout Christian, volatile and
unworldly, his was a highly individual and thea trical
style, conveyed by vivid exaggeration of light and
movement, bold fore shortening and fiery, fluid
brushstrokes. His remarkably prolific output has never
been ascertained, but scores of his works survive, many
still in the places for which they were painted. Examples of his
canvases can be seen in the church of Madonna dell’ Orto, the
Accademia (see pp134–7), and the Doge’s Palace (see pp88–93).
His crowning achievement, however, was the great series of
works for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (see pp110–11).
One of the stone Moors which gave the
Campo dei Mori its name

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