Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore | |
---|---|
45°26′6″N12°19′1″E / 45.43500°N 12.31694°E | |
Location | Santa Croce, Venice |
Country | Italy |
Previous denomination | Catholic Church (deconsecrated) |
History | |
Founded | c. 1500 [1] |
Dedication | Mary, mother of Jesus |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Tullio Lombardo |
Administration | |
Diocese | Patriarchate of Venice |
Parish | Tolentini, Venice |
Santa Maria Maggiore is a former Catholic church, now deconsecrated, in the sestiere of Santa Croce, Venice. [2] The church, which was completed at the start of the 16th century, as part of a convent, was suppressed and deconsecrated during the decade of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It has since has been used as a stable, and a tobacco warehouse, before forming part of the Santa Maria Maggiore prison.
The church had its origins in a hermitage by Sant'Agnese church in Dorsoduro. The convent was granted land by local administrators on 11 November 1497. [3] Tullio Lombardo participated in its construction and marble decoration from 1500 to 1505. [1] [4] By virtue of the Napoleonic decree of the Kingdom of Italy of 5 June 1805 (and subsequent decrees), a process of suppression and transformation of churches and monasteries and changes in parish boundaries was initiated in Venice. [5] The church, together with the adjoining convent, and Franciscan monastery was abolished in 1805. [5]
The convent was also damaged in its load-bearing structures by a fire in 1817, so it was no longer used until its demolition in the early years of the 20th century. [6] [7] The church's buildings were used as barracks, and the sisters moved to the church of Santa Croce. [1] Their church, deconsecrated and stripped of its furnishings and paintings, [5] began to be used as a stable. [7] The monastery square, renamed Campo di Marte, became a place where Austrian officers practised horse riding. It was also accessible to civilians. [1]
In 1900, the monastery was demolished and the church was used as a tobacco warehouse. [8] [9] [1] On this occasion, the interior of the building was rebuilt. [6] Between 1920 and 1930 the Carceri Giudiziarie prison was built on the monastery grounds, after which prisoners were transferred there from the Palazzo delle Prigioni a San Marco. [6]
The church was restored between 1961 and 1965. [1] In the late 1960s, the 19th-century additions were removed. The main nave was decorated with a fresco depicting the Exaltation of the Cross, Souls in Purgatory, and Our Lady in Glory with St. Francis. [10] The fresco, dated 1700, was torn down during the aforementioned renovations to allow for the restoration of the damaged plaster. [6] [9]
The design of the 16th-century brick façade is attributed to Tullio Lombardo. Its Renaissance character is evidenced by such compositional elements as: a simple portal, a cornice in the central part, its triangular finial and gentle arches connecting it with the side parts. [7] The church was built as a three-nave basilica with a long presbytery, flanked by shallow chapels. It had a total of 11 altars: the main altar, 2 altars in the side chapels and 4 in the side aisles. The invocations of 8 of them are known: Saints of the Order, Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Marcellus, St. Nicholas, Ascension, St. Clare, Our Lady of Sorrows and St. John. The side aisles are separated from the main nave by five paired columns with Ionic capitals, which support semicircular arches. Traces of a fresco depicting a simulated colonnade are visible on the right wall. [7]
Eight altars and the works of art that adorned them were removed and/or lost. Among the paintings was St. John the Baptist by Giovanni Bellini, commissioned for the chapel next to the main altar. The painting was to be transferred to the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, but after a local protest it was given to the Accademia. The canvas Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Paolo Veronese, located in the main altar, has undergone conservation and is also in the Accademia's collection. Since 2008, its collection also includes the Virgin and Child with Saints and Members of the Marcello Family , probably by Giambattista del Moro. The collection of the Pinacoteca includes: The Agony in the Garden of Olives (Veronese), The Victory of the Chartres over the Normans (Alessandro Varotari "Padovanino") and Madonna and Child with a Choir of Cherubim (Andrea Mantegna). [1]
Built on a square plan, [7] the campanile without bells rises to a height of 33 m. [1] It is decorated with the coat of arms of the Malipiero family. It is topped with a Gothic conical spire, surrounded by four pinnacles. [7]
The only document that testifies to the appearance of the monastery is an engraving in a manuscript from 1806. On the left side of the church façade there was an entrance to the monastery, leading through a long atrium to a spacious courtyard, limited on three sides by a cloister. The second monastery, located between this courtyard and the Santa Maria Maggiore square, was the oldest building, built together with the church. [7]
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.
Palazzo Brera or Palazzo di Brera is a monumental palace in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It was a Jesuit college for two hundred years. It now houses several cultural institutions including the Accademia di Brera, the art academy of the city, and its gallery, the Pinacoteca di Brera; the Orto Botanico di Brera, a botanical garden; an observatory, the Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera; the Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, a learned society; and an important library, the Biblioteca di Brera.
Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the corner of Via della Chiesa Nuova. It is the principal church of the Oratorians, a religious congregation of secular priests, founded by St Philip Neri in 1561 at a time in the 16th century when the Counter Reformation saw the emergence of a number of new religious institutes such as the Jesuits, the Theatines, and the Barnabites. These new congregations were responsible for several great preaching churches built in the Centro Storico, the others being Sant'Andrea della Valle (Theatines), San Carlo ai Catinari (Barnabites), and The Gesù and Sant'Ignazio (Jesuits).
Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a church in the sestiere of Cannaregio, 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.
Sant'Alvise is a church in the sestiere of Cannaregio in Venice, northern Italy. The brick exterior and facade do not reflect the rich interior.
The chiesa di Sant'Anastasia, or the Basilica of Saint Anastasia is a church built by the Dominican Order in Verona, northern Italy. In Gothic style, it is the largest church in the city, located in its most ancient district, near the Ponte Pietra.
San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, northern Italy.
Santa Maria del Carmine is a church in Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, considered amongst the best examples of Lombard Gothic architecture. It was begun in 1374 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, on a project attributed to Bernardo da Venezia. The construction followed a slow pace, and was restarted in 1432, being finished in 1461.
Pavia Cathedral is a church in Pavia, Italy, the largest in the city and seat of the Diocese of Pavia. The construction was begun in the 15th century on the site of two pre-existing Romanesque, "twin" cathedrals. The cathedral houses the remains of St. Sirus, first Bishop of Pavia, and a thorn purported to be from the Crown of Thorns worn by Christ. The marble facing of the exterior was never completed.
The Chiesa di San Sebastiano is a 16th-century Roman Catholic church located in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. The church houses a cycle of paintings by the artist Paolo Veronese, as well as paintings by Tintoretto and Titian. The church is a member of the Chorus Association of Venetian churches. It stands on the Campo di San Sebastiano by the Rio di San Basilio, close to the Giudecca Canal. It is one of the five votive churches in Venice, each one built after the passing of a plague through the city. Following construction, the church was dedicated to a saint associated with the disease; in this case St. Sebastian.
The Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli di Cristo, commonly called San Apostoli, is a 7th-century Roman Catholic church located in the Cannaregio sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. It is one of the oldest churches in the city and has undergone numerous changes since its foundation. The present building is the result of a major reconstruction project which was undertaken in 1575. The church is notable particularly for the Cornaro Chapel, an important example of Early Renaissance architecture, added by Mauro Codussi during the 1490s. The chapel is the burial place of several members of the powerful Cornaro family, including Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus and Armenia. The church houses several works of art including pieces by Giambattista Tiepolo and Paolo Veronese.
San Marino is a small landlocked country with an area of about 61.2 km2 (23.6 sq mi) on a rocky promontory at an elevation of 657 meters (2,156 ft) in central Italy. In 2023, the population was 33,636. It is the third smallest country in Europe after Vatican City and Monaco. It is traditionally held to have been founded as a republic in 301 AD, was recognized by the Papacy in 1631, and became a member of the United Nations in 1992. As of 2009, the ethnic composition was about 84.95% Sammarinese, 14.6% Italians and others.
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.
San Lio is a church located on the campo of the same name in the sestiere of Castello.
San Niccolò al Carmine, also called Santa Maria del Carmine is a Renaissance style, Roman Catholic church and monastery located in Pian dei Mantellini #30, near the corner of Via della Diana in the Terzo de Citta of Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy. The church now serves as the Oratory for the Contrada of Pantera. Across the street from the belltower is the Palazzo Celsi Pollini. North along Pian dei Mantellini, toward the Arco delle Due Porte, and on the same side of the street are a number of palaces built around what was once the Monastery of the Derelict Women: in order they are the Neoclassical Palazzo Incontri, the Palazzo Ravissa and the Palazzo Segardi.
Sant'Elena, also sometimes called Santa Lena, is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church at the extreme east end of the sestiere of Castello in the City of Venice, Italy.
Santa Maria in Brera was a church in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It was built by the Humiliati between 1180 and 1229, given a marble façade and Gothic portal by Giovanni di Balduccio in the fourteenth century, and deconsecrated and partly demolished under Napoleonic rule in the early nineteenth century. The Napoleonic rooms of the Pinacoteca di Brera occupy the upper floor of what was the nave.
Ognissanti is a 16th-century Roman Catholic church located in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the Italian city of Venice.
Annunciation is a 1646 oil on canvas painting by Guercino, now in the collegiate church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Pieve di Cento, a few kilometres from the painter's birthplace of Cento. The artist used the same colours for Mary's clothes in his 1656 Immaculate Conception, along with the face of God.