Santi Apostoli, Venice

Last updated
  • Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli di Cristo
  • Church of the Holy Apostles of Christ
Santi Apostoli (Exterieur).jpg
The campanile and the campo of San Apostoli
Religion
Affiliation Roman Catholic
StatusActive
Location
Municipality Venice
CountryItaly
Venezia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Venice
Geographic coordinates 45°26′25.81″N12°20′11.87″E / 45.4405028°N 12.3366306°E / 45.4405028; 12.3366306
Architecture
Type Church
Style Gothic-Renaissance
Apse on Campo dietro la chiesa Santi Apostoli (Exterieur) Abside.jpg
Apse on Campo dietro la chiesa

The Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli di Cristo (Church of the Holy Apostles of Christ), 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 (Venetian : Corner), including Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus and Armenia. The church houses several works of art including pieces by Giambattista Tiepolo and Paolo Veronese.

Contents

History

In the 7th century Venice was not yet a city, but a collection of small communities scattered throughout the lagoon. St Magnus (Italian : San Magno), the Bishop of Oderzo, came to the lagoon and founded eight churches. [1] According to a legend recounted by the historian Flaminio Cornaro, St Magnus had a vision of the Twelve Apostles who commanded him to build a church on a site where he saw twelve cranes. This location, eventually to be in the sestiere of Cannaregio, became the site of the church of San Apostoli. [2] The church stands on the Campo dei Santi Apostoli at the beginning of the Strada Nuova (New Road).

During the 1490s the Cappella Cornaro, built as a burial place for the wealthy Venetian Cornaro family, was added to the church. [3] It is considered one of the most important Early Renaissance chapels in Venice. [note 1] It is unknown exactly who designed the chapel, although it is most often attributed to the architect Mauro Codussi. [4] [note 2] At the same time a porch was added to the front of the church and a sacristy was built. These alterations were also overseen by Codussi.[ citation needed ]

In the middle of the 16th century the church briefly housed the Catecumeni, a Venetian fraternity for those wishing to convert to Christianity, before they established a permanent home at San Gregorio in 1571. [5] Shortly after this, in 1575, the church was completely rebuilt. [1] Only parts of the earlier structure were retained, including some frescos and the Cornaro Chapel.[ citation needed ]

During the early 18th century, Andrea Tirali added detailing, including the onion dome, to the campanile which itself had been a late 17th-century addition. [3]

Interior

The church retains its 16th century layout: a single nave supported by two rows of columns. One chapel has the funeral monument of Count Giuseppe Mangilli, designed by Luigi Trezza with bust by Angelo Pizzi. The main altarpiece is a Custodian Angel by Bernardo Strozzi. [6]

Cornaro Chapel

The chapel is the burial place of several members of the Cornaro family, including Giorgio Cornaro and his sister Catherine Cornaro the Queen of Cyprus [7] (since removed to the church of San Salvadore [8] elsewhere in Venice), The charitable organisation Save Venice funded the restoration of the chapel, including the relief carvings. [9] The main altar of this chapel was the Last Communion of St Lucy (1747–48) by Tiepolo.

Art

The church contains a number of paintings, including:

Ceiling paintings by Fabio Canale

Notes

  1. The other early Renaissance chapels in Venice are the Gussoni in San Lio, the Badoer Giustinian in San Francesco della Vigna, and the Martini in San Giobbe
  2. The other possible candidate is Pietro Lombardo

Citations

  1. 1 2 Giordano, Venice Described, p. 85
  2. "Churches in Venice – San Magno and his eight churches". Slow Travel. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
  3. 1 2 Biucchi, Venice: An Architectural Guide, p. 2.22
  4. Huse, The Art of Renaissance Venice, p. 86
  5. Pullan, The Jews of Europe, p. 262
  6. Nuova Guida di Venezia by Giannantonio Moschini, 1842, page 83.
  7. Hazlitt, History of the Venetian Republic, p. 120
  8. Hurlburt, Holly (2009). "Body of Empire: Caterina Corner in Venetian History and Iconography". Early Modern Women. 4: 61. doi:10.1086/EMW23541572. S2CID   236502097.
  9. "Other Restorations – Cornaro Chapel in SS. Apostoli". Save Venice. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  10. Nichols, Tintoretto, p. 236

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mark's Basilica</span> Cathedral church in Venice, Italy

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark, commonly known as St Mark's Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cathedral of San Pietro di Castello. It is dedicated to and holds the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Battista Tiepolo</span> Italian painter (1696–1770)

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also known as GiambattistaTiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. He was prolific, and worked not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isola di San Michele</span> Island in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy

The Island of San Michele is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, Veneto, northern Italy. It is associated with the sestiere of Cannaregio, from which it lies a short distance northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannaregio</span> Historic sestieri (districts) of Venice

Cannaregio is the northernmost of the six historic sestieri (districts) of Venice. It is the second largest sestiere by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people as of 2007.

<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">Sebastiano Ricci</span> Italian painter (1659–1734)

Sebastiano Ricci was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Cortonesque style of grand manner fresco painting.

<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 Giobbe</span> Church in Venice

The Church of St Job is a 15th-century Roman Catholic church located overlooking the campo of the same name, known as Sant'Agiopo in Venetian dialect, on the south bank of the Cannaregio canal near Ponte dei Tre Archi in the sestiere of Cannaregio of Venice, northern Italy,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procurators of Saint Mark</span>

The office of Procurator of Saint Mark was one of the few lifetime appointments in the government of the Venetian Republic and was considered second only to that of the doge in prestige. It was routinely occupied by nobles belonging to the most influential families and typically represented the climax of a distinguished political career, although it was often an intermediate position prior to election as doge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista</span>

The Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista is a confraternity building located in the San Polo sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. Founded in the 13th century by a group of flagellants it was later to become one of the five Scuole Grandi of Venice. These organisations provided a variety of charitable functions in the city as well as becoming patrons of the arts. The Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista is notable for housing a relic of the true cross and for the series of paintings it commissioned from a number of famous Venetian artists depicting Miracles of the Holy Cross. No longer in the school, these came into public ownership during the Napoleonic era and are now housed in the Gallerie dell'Accademia. The scuola is open to visitors on a limited number of days, detailed on the official website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Pietro di Castello (church)</span> Roman Catholic minor basilica of the Patriarch of Venice

The Basilica di San Pietro di Castello, commonly called San Pietro di Castello, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica of the Patriarch of Venice located in the Castello sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. The present building dates from the 16th century, but a church has stood on the site since at least the 7th century. From 1451 to 1807, it was the city's cathedral church, though hardly playing the usual dominant role of a cathedral, as it was overshadowed by the "state church" of San Marco and inconveniently located. During its history, the church has undergone a number of alterations and additions by some of Venice's most prominent architects. Andrea Palladio received his first commission in the city of Venice from the Patriarch Vincenzo Diedo to rebuild the facade and interior of St Pietro, but Diedo's death delayed the project.

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

Santa Maria di Nazareth is a Roman Catholic Carmelite church in Venice, northern Italy. It is also called Church of the Scalzi being the seat in the city of the Discalced Carmelites religious order. Located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, near Venezia Santa Lucia railway station, it was built in the mid-17th century to the designs of Baldassarre Longhena and completed in the last decades of that century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo dei Camerlenghi</span>

Palazzo dei Camerlenghi is a Renaissance palazzo in Venice, northern Italy, located in the sestiere (quarter) of San Polo. It faces the Canal Grande, adjacent to the Rialto Bridge.

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

San Felice is a church in Venice, northern Italy, located in the sestiere (district) of Cannaregio. It faces the eponymous campo (square), across the Strada Nova.

Gerolamo Mengozzi Colonna was an Italian painter, mostly of frescoed quadratura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Vidal, Venice</span> Former church, and now an event and concert hall in Venice

San Vidal is a former church, and now an event and concert hall located at one end of the Campo Santo Stefano in the Sestiere of San Marco, where it leads into the campiello San Vidal, and from there to the Ponte dell'Accademia that spans the Grand Canal and connects to the Sestiere of Dorsoduro, Venice, Italy.

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

San Lio is a church located on the campo of the same name in the sestiere of Castello.

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

San Cassiano is a 14th-century Roman Catholic church located in the San Polo sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. A church has stood on the site since 726 with the present building dedicated to Saint Cassian of Imola being consecrated in 1376 and re-modelled during the 17th century. It has a plain exterior with several adjacent buildings overlapping it. Its interior however is richly decorated in a Baroque style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant'Elena, Venice</span> Gothic church in Castello, Venice, Italy

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.

This is an alphabetical index of people, places, things, and concepts related to or originating from the Republic of Venice. Feel free to add more, and create missing pages.

References

Italian