Page 148 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

146  VENICE AREA B Y AREA

8 Santa Maria Pietro, can still be seen above
dei Miracoli the altar. The interior of the
church, which ideally should be
Campo dei Miracoli. Map 3 B5. visited when pale shafts of sun-
Tel 041 275 04 62. 4 Fondamente light are streaming in through
Nuove or Rialto. Open 10am–5pm the windows, is embellished by
Mon–Sat. Closed 1 Jan, Easter, pink, white and grey marble and
15 Aug, 25 Dec. & 9 ^
∑ chorusvenezia.org crowned by a barrel-vaulted
ceiling (1528) which has 50
An exquisite masterpiece of the portraits of saints and prophets.
early Renaissance, the Miracoli The balustrade, between the
is the favourite church of many nave and the chancel, is deco-
Venetians and the one where rated by Tullio Lombardo’s carved
they like to get married. Tucked figures of St Francis, Archangel
away in a maze of alleys and Gabriel, the Virgin and St Clare.
waterways in eastern Cannaregio, The screen around the high
The sumptuous ceiling frescoes of the it is small and somewhat altar and the medallions
Gesuiti church elusive, but well worth the of the Evangelists in
effort needed to find it. the cupola spandrels
7 Gesuiti Often likened are also by Lombardo.
Campo dei Gesuiti. Map 3 B3. to a jewel box, Above the main
Tel 041 528 65 79. 4 Fondamente the façade is door, the choir
Nuove. Open 10am–noon, 4–6pm daily. decorated with gallery was used
various shades of by the nuns from
The Jesuits’ close links with the marble, with fine the neighbouring
papacy provoked Venetian bas-reliefs and Decorative column, interior of Santa convent, who
hostility during the 17th sculpture. It was Maria dei Miracoli entered the
century, and for 50 years they built in 1481–9 by church through
were refused entry to the city. the architect Pietro Lombardo an overhead gallery. The Miracoli
However, in 1714 they were and his sons to enshrine The was the subject of a major
given permission to build this Virgin and Child (1408), a painting restoration programme, which
church in the north of Venice, believed to have miraculous was funded by the American
on the site of a 12th-century powers. The picture, by Nicolò di Save Venice organization.
church which had belonged to
the Order of the Crociferi.
Consecrated as Santa Maria Santa Maria dei Miracoli
The façade is a harmonious tapestry
Assunta, the church is always of decorated panels and multi-
referred to simply as the coloured polished stone.
Gesuiti; thus it is often
confused with the
Gesuati in Dorsoduro
(see p133). The semicircular
crowning lunette
Domenico Rossi’s emphasizes the
imposing Baroque church’s jewel-box
exterior gives only a appearance.
hint of the opulence
of the interior. The
proliferation of green A false loggia is
and white marble, formed of Ionic arches,
carved in parts like inset with windows.
The marble used was
great folds of fabric, reportedly left over
gives the impression from the building of
that the church is San Marco.
clothed in damask.
Titian’s Martyr dom The marble panels are
of St Lawrence fixed to the bricks by
(c.1555), above the metal hooks. This
first altar on the left, method, which prevents
has been described the build-up of damp
by the art historian and salt water behind
the panels, dates from
Hugh Honour as “the the Renaissance.
first successful
nocturne in the
history of art”.

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