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Church of San Giorgio Maggiore
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic
District	Patriarchate of Venice
Leadership	Benedictine monks
Location
Location	Venice
Geographic coordinates	45.4293°N 12.3433°E / 45.4293; 12.3433
Architecture
Architect(s)	Andrea Palladio
Completed	1610

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. The two-pediment façade renders a dramatic backdrop for the viewers standing across the river on Piazza San Marco. San Giorgio Maggiore is vital to the history and observance of Venice for its rich history and unique setting.

San Giorgio Maggiore seen across the water in full sun on an evening in June

San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk, Claude Monet, 1908–1912

History

The first church on the island was built about 790, and in 982 the island was given to the Benedictine order by the Doge Tribuno Memmo. Dating from the 12th century, Venetian official would often pay visit to the church to worship the relics of Saint Stephen. The Benedictines founded a monastery there, but in 1223 all the buildings on the island were destroyed by an earthquake. Patronage at San Giorgio was sourced mainly from monks' connection with artists as well as monastic commissioners.

The church and monastery were was rebuilt after the earthquake, while the church was rebuilt in late Gothic style after 1461. The church, which had a nave with side chapels, was not in the same position as the present church, but farther back at the side of a small campo or square. There were cloisters in front of it, which were demolished in 1516. Giovanni Buora completed the dormitory construction, which started in 1450. The monks were considering the rebuilding of the church from 1521.

Palladio arrived in Venice in 1560, when the refectory of the monastery was being rebuilt. He made great improvements to this and in 1565, was asked to prepare a model for a new church. Unlike San Pietro di Castello and San Francesco della Vigna, of which he only designed the façade, San Giorgio Maggiore was Palladio's first project that involved a complete reconstruction of a church. In February 1568, Antonio Paleari de Marco started to work on the church's foundations, walls, and other stone parts, but his contract did not involve reconstruction of the façade.

A new plan was designed in 1565 and the model was completed and approved in 1566. and The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the Pope in the same year. The work was not finished before the death of Palladio in 1580, but the body of the church was complete by 1575 except for the choir behind the altar and the facade. The decoration of the interior was completed subsequently.

The choir appears to have been designed in essentials by Palladio before his death and was built between 1580 and 1589.

The façade, initially under the superintendence of Simone Sorella, was not commenced until 1599. The stonemason's contract provided that it was to follow Palladio's model and there were only minor changes. It was completed in 1610.

The campanile (bell tower), first built in 1467, fell in 1774; it was rebuilt in neo-classic style by 1791. It was ascended by easy ramps and there is now also a lift. There is a fine view across Venice from the top.

The façade

Architecture

Plan

The architectural plan for San Giorgio Maggiore combines Latin and Greek crosses, and the main body takes on the form of a classical basilica, which is likely inspired by Basilica of Maxentius. The pre-Palladian building involves a nave with chapels on the side, and Palladio's plan enlarges the overall dimension of the whole church. A dome is situated over the crossing of the transept and the central nave. Andrea Guerra believes Palladio kept the original number of altars and maintained the composition of the nave and aisles at the monks' request, as it matches the long-held distribution of relics in the church. The church of Santa Giustina in Padua uses a similar design.[1] The presence of the façade became more visible to viewers from the direction of Bacino di San Marco after the demolishment of quadriporticus. The church is extended westwards and parts of the old presbytery, where the choir and high altar is housed, stays intact. The presbytery today is completed after Palladio's death from 1581 to 1589.

Scenography

The church façade is directly visible from Bacino di San Marco, which is a major thoroughfare for merchandise, civic activities, and tourism. San Giorgio Maggiore is precisely oriented towards the direction of the Grand Canal so that its frontal view is aligned with the left side of Punta della Dogana, which is on the canal's opening. As a result of this meticulous alignment, when spectators on boats drift pass the edge of Punta della Dogana, their view will be immediately welcomed by the frontal view of San Giorgio's monumental façade. Similarly, for spectators who pass through the main street of Merceria, they can catch a glimpse of the marble façade at distance, before even entering Piazza San Marco. The theatrical display of the façade to viewers both on land and water strengthens San Giorgio's image as a civic monument.

Façade

The façade is built with brilliantly white Istrian marble, which is first collected during the abbacy of Michele Alabardi. The construction, however, had only begun during Jacopo Felice da Brescia's abbacy in 1599, twenty years after Palladio's death; the project raised a significant debt of 6,000 ducats. The execution of the façade has gone through levels of alternation in its decade-long construction, but the product mostly parallels Palladio's initial concept. It and represents Palladio's solution to the difficulty of adapting a classical temple façade to the form of the Christian church, with its high nave and low side aisles, which had always been a problem. Palladio's design highlights what he classifies as classical architectures' "aspect", which emphasizes "the first impression that the temple makes on the person who approaches it." Given the church's unique location and the long history it bears, the façade design needs to match the urban setting and to be visible from a distance. As evident in his report of 1567, Palladio wanted to use piers with engaged colossal order to replace the columns. The eventual solution superimposed two facades, one with a wide pediment and architrave, extending over the nave and both the aisles, apparently supported by a single order of pilasters, and the other with a narrower pediment (the width of the nave) superimposed on top of it with a giant order of engaged Corinthian columns on high pedestals. Use of individual pedestals for portico columns could be traced to the Temple of Minerva as Assisi, but Palladio enlarged the scale, which strengthened the sense of elevation. After Palladio's death, swags were added below the high pediment, in between the columns, showing influence of Baroque architecture. This solution is similar to Palladio's slightly earlier façade for San Francesco della Vigna, where the other parts of the church had been designed by Sansovino. On either side of the central portal are statues of Saint George and of Saint Stephen, to whom the church is also dedicated.

Façade of the dormitory wing is designed by Giovanni Buora. It features three semicircular tympana, which is a result of the designer's aesthetic preferences but does not reconcile with the main structure.

Interior

The interior of the church is very bright, with massive engaged columns, barrel vaults, round arches, and pilasters on undecorated, white-surfaced stucco walls. The interior combines a long basilican nave with a cruciform plan with transepts. A retrochoir, likely attributed to Palladio's original design, is situated in an apse beyond the raised presbytery, behind the high altar. Palladio's employment of semi-circular colonnade above the choir was influenced by Roman thermal structures as well as circular temples.

Two very large paintings by Tintoretto relate to the institution of the Eucharist and are placed on either side of the presbytery, where they can be seen from the altar rail. These are The Last Supper and The Jews in the desert (which shows them collecting and eating the manna, a gift of God to the Israelites in the desert after they escaped Egypt, and it foretells the gift of the Eucharist).

Interior: The nave, looking east towards the high altar

In the Cappella dei Morti (Chapel of the dead) is a painting of the Entombment of Christ, also by Jacopo Tintoretto.

The Benedictine monks kept control of chapels in the church and did not sell them to families to decorate and embellish as they pleased, as was done in many Venetian churches. They had income from property and were in a stronger position. Some altars were given over to distinguished families but the decoration was controlled by the monks. The chapel to the right of the high altar belonged to the Bollani family (Domenico Bollani had been ambassador to Edward VI in England in 1547 and later a Bishop). Work on this chapel was delayed after the death of Domenico Bollani and it was still unfinished in 1619, with a poor painting as the altarpiece. Another painting was substituted in 1693, but it was not until 1708 that it acquired the important work now seen there, which is the Virgin and Child with Saints by Sebastiano Ricci.

The altar to the left of the sanctuary was the responsibility of the Morosini family. The altar is dedicated to St Andrew (in memory of a deceased son of Vincenzo Morosini) and the altarpiece is by Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto showing the Risen Christ and St Andrew with Vincenzo Morosini and members of his family.

The altars in the transepts were retained by the monks. In the south transept is a painting by Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto of the Coronation of the Virgin with Saints.

On the first altar on the right of the nave is the Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacopo Bassano. On the left is the Miracle of the immobility of Santa Lucia (she was condemned to prostitution but by a miracle it was found impossible to move her) by Leandro Bassano. There are other paintings in the monastery building.

Improvement was made on the refectory during Palladio's arrival in 1560. With classical cornice, cross vaulting, and thermal windows, the refectory shows influence of a Roman bath, and Paolo Veronese's Marriage at Cana is placed at the end of the room; the transitional space from the cloister to the refectory is raised by a staircase, furthering the sense of elevation inside the architectural space.

• 
  The Last Supper by Jacopo Tintoretto (in the presbytery)
• 
  The Jews in the desert by Jacopo Tintoretto (in the presbytery)
• 
  Entombment of Christ by Jacopo Tintoretto (in Cappella dei Morti)
• 
  Madonna enthroned with Saints by Sebastiano Ricci (in Bollani chapel to right of high altar)
• 
  Risen Christ & St Andrew with Morosini family by Jacopo & Domenico Tintoretto (above Morosini altar to left of sanctuary)
• 
  Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacopo Bassano (1st altar on right in the nave)
• 
  Miracle of the immobility of Sta Lucia by Leandro Bassano (1st altar on left in the nave)

In fiction

Artist Hirohiko Araki features the church in chapter 516 of his long-running manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure :(within the story arc Golden Wind). Bruno Bucciarati, caporegime of the Passione, an Italian mafiacriminal organization, and Trish Una, daughter of the organization's Don, receive instructions to ascend the bell tower by lift to meet the boss. However, the Don attacks the pair in the elevator before they reach the top of the bell tower, and Bucciarati pursues him to a confrontation in the church's basement ossuary. Giorno Giovanna revives the severly wounded Bucciarati in the retrochoir, and boss' view is blocked by the high altar, allowing the former to escape from the church.

Edward Morgan Forster mentions San Giorgio Maggiore in the chapter "On Beauty" of his novel A Passage to India, where the novel's hero Cyril Fielding contrasts what he perceives as lack of equilibrium in Indian buildings with the perfection of Italian architecture:

and then came Venice. As he landed on the piazzetta a cup of beauty was lifted to his lips, and he drank with a sense of disloyalty. The buildings of Venice, like the mountains of Crete and the fields of Egypt, stood in the right place, whereas in poor India everything was placed wrong. He had forgotten the beauty of form among idol temples and lumpy hills; indeed, without form, how can there be beauty? Form stammered here and there in a mosque, became rigid through nervousness even, but oh these Italian churches! San Giorgio standing on the island which could scarcely have risen from the waves without it, the Salute holding the entrance of a canal which, but for it, would not be the Grand Canal!

— E. M. Forster, A Passage to India (1924)

See also

• San Giorgio Maggiore (Monet series)
• History of early modern period domes

References

• Boucher, Bruce Andrea Palladio: the Architect in his Time. Abbeville Press, 1998.
• Cooper, Tracy E. Palladio's Venice: Architecture and Society in a Renaissance Republic. (Yale University Press. New Haven & London. 2005)
• Cooper, Tracy Elizabeth. "The History and Decoration of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice." Order No. 9024523 Princeton University, 1990. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 16 Nov. 2020.
• Goy, Richard Venice, the City and its Architecture. Phaidon. 1997.
• Guerra, Andrea, and Michael Haggerty. “Movable Façades: Palladio's Plan for the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice and Its Successive Vicissitudes.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 61, no. 3, 2002, pp. 276–295. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/991783. Accessed 16 Nov. 2020.
• Hartt, Frederick; David G. Wilkins (2006). History of Italian Renaissance Art. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice-Hall.
• Honour, Hugh The Companion Guide to Venice. (2nd edition, 1977)
• Lieberman, Ralph. Renaissance Architecture in Venice, 1450-1540. New York, N.Y.: Abbeville, 1982. Print.
• Palladio, Andrea, Beltramini, Guido, and Burns, Howard. Palladio. London : New York: Royal Academy of Arts ; Distributed in the United States and Canada by Harry N. Abrams, 2008. Print.
• Perocco, Guido & Salvadori, A. Civiltà di Venezia Vol 1: Le Origini e il Medio Evo. (4th edition. Venice, 1986)
• Savoy, Daniel. “Palladio and the Water-Oriented Scenography of Venice.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 71, no. 2, 2012, pp. 204–225. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jsah.2012.71.2.204. Accessed 17 Nov. 2020.
• Sutton, Ian (1999). "The Renaissance: Ancient Rome 'Reborn'". Western Architecture: From Ancient Greece to the Present. World of Art. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 147. ISBN 0-500-20316-4.
• Touring Club Italiano Guida d’Italia del Touring Club Italiano – Venezia. 3° ed. ISBN 978-88-365-4347-2
• Vianello, S. (a cura di) Le chiese di Venezia. (Electa, 1993) ISBN 88-435-4048-3

External links

• Artworks in San Giorgio Maggiore
• Architectural plan of San Giorgio Maggiore
• Church of Santa Giustina