Madonna dell'Orto

Last updated
Madonna dell'Orto
Venezia Madonna dell'Orto R01.jpg
Madonna dell'Orto.
Religion
Affiliation Roman Catholic
Province Venice
Location
Location Venice, Italy
Venezia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown within Venice
Italy provincial location map 2016.svg
Red pog.svg
Madonna dell'Orto (Italy)
Geographic coordinates 45°26′46.81″N12°19′56.9″E / 45.4463361°N 12.332472°E / 45.4463361; 12.332472
Madonna dell'Orto. Madona del orto Virgin of Mercy.jpg
Madonna dell'Orto.
View of the portal. Madonna dell'Orto Portail.jpg
View of the portal.

The Madonna dell'Orto is a church in Venice, Italy, in the sestiere of Cannaregio. This was the home parish of Tintoretto and holds a number of his works as well as his tomb.

Contents

History

The church was erected by the now-defunct religious order the "Humiliati" in the mid-14th century, under the direction of Tiberio da Parma, who is buried in the interior. It was initially dedicated to St. Christopher, patron saint of those who travel by ferry, [1] but its popular name suggesting consecration to Holy Virgin comes from the following century, when an allegedly miraculous statue of the Madonna, commissioned for the Church of S. Maria Formosa but rejected, was brought to the Church from the nearby orchard (orto in Italian) where it had languished.

The church lay on weak foundations and in 1399 a restoration project was financed by the city's Maggior Consiglio. In 1414 it was officially named “Chiesa della Madonna dell’Orto” (Church of the Madonna in the Vegetable garden). [1] The Humiliati were ousted in 1462 and the Madonna dell'Orto was assigned to the congregation of Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga. [2] The latter order was suppressed in 1668, and the following year the Church and convent annexed were handed over to Cistercians of Lombardy. In 1787 the church came under public administration. Restoration was begun under Austrian rule in the 1840s and finished in 1869, by which time Venice had become part of the unified Kingdom of Italy.

Since 1931 the church is assigned to Saint Leonardo Murialdo's "Padri della congregazione di San Giuseppe". [1] The Congregation operates a nearby guesthouse, the "Casa Vacanza Madonna dell'Orto Patronato Pio IX". [3]

The church underwent extensive restoration after the flood of 1966. [4]

Façade

The façade, built in 1460–1464, [5] has sloping sides and is in brickwork, divided in three parts by two pilasters strips. The two side sections have quadruple mullioned windows, while the central has a large rose window. The portal is surmounted by a pointed arch with white stone decorations portraying, on the summit, St. Christopher, the Madonna and the Archangel Gabriel by Nicolò di Giovanni Fiorentino and Antonio Rizzo. Under is a tympanum, in porphyry, supported by circular pilaster strips. The whole is included into a porch with Corinthian columns.

The upper central section is decorated by small arches and bas-reliefs with geometrical motifs. The upper sides have instead twelve niches each, containing statues of the Apostles. Five other Gothic niches are in the central section, with 18th-century statues representing Prudence, Charity, Faith, Hope and Temperance.

Interior

Tintoretto's tombe Madonna dell'Orto (Venice) - Tintoretto's tombe.jpg
Tintoretto's tombe

The interior has a nave and two aisles, with double-framed pointed arches supported by Greek marble columns. The transept is absent, while in the rear is a pentagonal apse decorated by paintings by Jacopo Robusti, known as Tintoretto. The altarpiece over the main altar is an Annunciation by Palma Vecchio.

In the apse, either side of the main altar are Tintoretto's Adoration of the Golden Calf, and the Last Judgement. In the upper story of the apse, behind the altar) are the Four Cardinal Virtues, all from 1562 to 1564. This was his parish church [6] and he is buried in the apsidal chapel on the right, along with two of his children.

Sacristy

Choir

Right Nave

The first chapel on the right contains an altarpiece of St John Baptist with Saints Peter, Mark, Jerome, and Paul, by Cima da Conegliano. The painting was commissiond by the Saraceno dal Zio family, who were wealthy spice merchants.

St Mauro Chapel:

The San Mauro Chapel contains the statue from which the church derives its name. The Presentation in the Temple is located over the entrance to the San Mauro chapel in the south aisle, close to the east end.

Left of main Nave

There are four funerary chapels built on the left side of the church, which house the remains of four of the most important Venetian patrician families.

Valier Chapel:

The Renaissance Valier Chapel once housed a small Madonna with Child by Giovanni Bellini (1481), stolen in 1993. [5]

Vendramin Chapel:

Morosini Chapel:

The fourth chapel in the north aisle is the Capella Contarini. Dedicated to Saint Agnes, it contains Tintoretto's Miracle of St Agnes (1575). [9] Busts of the Contarini line the walls.

The organ over the entrance Madonna dell'Orto (Venice) - Interior - Gallery organ.jpg
The organ over the entrance

The organ over the entrance was built in 1878, and is one of the most powerful in Venice.

Bell tower

The bell tower, in brickwork, was finished in 1503. It has a square plan, with pilasters strips on the sides leading to the cell with circular mullioned windows. Four semicircular tympani divided the cell from the upper cylindrical tambour with an onion dome in Eastern style.

On the sides are four statues of Evangelists of Pietro Lombardo's school; on the summit is a statue of the Redeemer, in white marble. The old bells, the largest being from 1424, were replaced in 1883.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Zaccaria, Venice</span> 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice, Italy

The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice, Italy. It is a large edifice, located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is dedicated to St. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria Zobenigo</span>

The Chiesa di Santa Maria del Giglio is a church in Venice, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari</span> Church in Venice, Italy

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, commonly abbreviated to the Frari, is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy. It is the largest church in the city and it has the status of a minor basilica. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Polo (church)</span>

The Chiesa di San Polo is a Catholic church in Venice, dedicated to the Apostle Paul. It gives its name to the San Polo sestiere of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Rocco, Venice</span> Roman Catholic church in Venice, Italy

The Church of Saint Roch is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Roch in Venice, northern Italy. It was built between 1489 and 1508 by Bartolomeo Bon the Younger, but was substantially altered in 1725. The façade dates from 1765 to 1771, and was designed by Bernardino Maccarucci. The church is one of the Plague-churches built in Venice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Giacomo dell'Orio</span>

The Chiesa di San Giacomo dall'Orio is a church located in the sestiere (quarter) of Santa Croce in Venice, northern Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice</span> Church in Venice, Italy

The Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, known in Venetian as San Zanipolo, is a church in the Castello sestiere of Venice, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallerie dell'Accademia</span> Art museum in Venice, Italy

The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, the art academy of Venice, from which it became independent in 1879, and for which the Ponte dell'Accademia and the Accademia boat landing station for the vaporetto water bus are named. The two institutions remained in the same building until 2004, when the art school moved to the Ospedale degli Incurabili.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palma il Giovane</span> Venetian painter (1548/50–1628)

Iacopo Negretti, best known as Jacopo or Giacomo Palma il Giovane or simply Palma Giovane, was an Italian painter from Venice and a notable exponent of the Venetian school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Giorgio Maggiore (church), Venice</span> Church in Venice, Italy

San Giorgio Maggiore is a 16th-century Benedictine church on the island of the same name in Venice, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio, and built between 1566 and 1610. The church is a basilica in the classical Renaissance style and its brilliant white marble gleams above the blue water of the lagoon opposite the Piazzetta di San Marco and forms the focal point of the view from every part of the Riva degli Schiavoni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francesco della Vigna</span> Roman Catholic church in Venice, Italy

San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, northern Italy.

Matteo Ponzone was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active between 1630 and 1700 mainly in Venice. He was a pupil of Santo Peranda. Several of his works are in the churches and public buildings of Venice, particularly in San Giorgio Maggiore, and in the church of the "Padri Croceferi".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Martino, Venice</span>

San Martino is a Renaissance Roman Catholic church in the sestiere of Castello of Venice, northern Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmini</span> Church building in Venice, Italy

Santa Maria dei Carmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo and commonly known simply as the Carmini, is a large Roman Catholic church in the sestiere, or neighbourhood, of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy. It nestles against the former Scuola Grande di Santa Maria del Carmelo, also known as the Scuola dei Carmini. This charitable confraternity was officially founded in 1597, and arose from a lay women's charitable association, the Pinzocchere dei Carmini. The members of this lay group were associated as tertiaries to the neighbouring Carmelite monastery. They were responsible for stitching the scapulars for the Carmelites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Trovaso</span>

San Trovaso is a church in the sestiere or neighborhood of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palma Vecchio</span> Italian painter (c.1480–1528)

Palma Vecchio, born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian to distinguish him from Palma il Giovane, his great-nephew, who was also a painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Gesuiti, Venice</span> Church in Veneto, Italy

The church of Santa Maria Assunta, known as I Gesuiti, is a religious building in Venice, Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Campo dei Gesuiti, not far from the Fondamenta Nuove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria Mater Domini</span>

Santa Maria Mater Domini is a Renaissance style church in the sestiere of Santa Croce in Venice, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Sofia, Venice</span>

Santa Sofia is a church located in the sestiere (neighborhood) of Cannaregio in Venice, Italy. It should be distinguished from the palazzo Ca' d'Oro on the Grand Canal is also called the Palazzo Santa Sofia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria delle Grazie, Brescia</span> Church building in Brescia, Italy

The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Brescia is located on at the west end of Via Elia Capriolo, where it intersects with the Via delle Grazie. Built in the 16th century and remodeled in the 17th century, it still retains much of its artwork by major regional artists, including one of its three canvases by Moretto. The other two are now held at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo. The interior is richly decorated in Baroque fashion. Adjacent to the church is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a neo-gothic work.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Church of Madonna dell'Orto", Camera di Commercio di venezia
  2. "Chiesa della Madonna dell'Orto", Religiana
  3. ""Casa Vacanza Madonna dell'Orto Patronato Pio IX", Monastery Stays
  4. Majewski, Lawrence J. (1978). "Reviewed work: Restoring Venice: The Church of the Madonna dell'Orto, Ashley Clarke, Philip Rylands". Studies in Conservation. 23 (2): 90–92. doi:10.2307/1505800. JSTOR   1505800.
  5. 1 2 "Madonna dell'Orto", Fodor's
  6. Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1001–1003.
  7. OriginalSt Christopher Martyr by Cima (1480–1548) now in Gallerie dell'Accademia
  8. Original Pieta by Savoldo (1480–1548) now in Vienna
  9. Douglas-Scott, Michael. “Jacopo Tintoretto’s Altarpiece of St Agnes at the Madonna Dell’Orto in Venice and the Memorialisation of Cardinal Contarini.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 60, 1997, pp. 130–63. JSTOR