San Sebastiano church in
Venice was built in the first half of the 16th century and finally consecrated
in 1548. However, a previous church existed in the same location, dedicated to
Saint Mary. When the new one was built, it was consecrated to San Sebastiano as
a thanksgiving for the end of a plague. This was not unusual in Medieval
Europe, and other Venetian churches have also been built with this purpose.
San Sebastiano church, in Dorsoduro district close to Zattere, is famous for containing the most important works by painter Paolo Caliari, better known as Veronese: a whole series of paintings and frescoes, including ceiling frescoes. Veronese was also buried into this church.
San Sebastiano church, in Dorsoduro district close to Zattere, is famous for containing the most important works by painter Paolo Caliari, better known as Veronese: a whole series of paintings and frescoes, including ceiling frescoes. Veronese was also buried into this church.
http://www.all-free-photos.com/show/showphoto.php?idph=PI65874&lang=en
The building of the current church and its monastery saw
the church's façade switched from facing the Campazzo San Sebastiano to the
current arrangement facing the canal. This work was carried out by Antonio
Abbondi, known as Scarpagnino, between 1506 and 1548. The church and the
convent next door were suppressed in 1810 by Napoleon and the convent was
partially demolished before being rebuilt in 1856. The building now houses the
University of Venice's department of literature and philosophy.
The façade is dominated by the two pairs of Corinthian
columns on each level, which support a large tympanum with statues of Saint
Jerome, Saint Catherine of Alexandria and, in the middle, Saint Sebastian. Almost
all the decoration of the interior is the work of Veronese - the paintings
around the choir and on the ceiling and the organ doors, the frescoed walls,
featuring figures and architecture, and the sacristy, which is earlier work. As
you go to the Madonna dell’Orto or the Scuola di San Rocco for Tintoretto and
to San Giorgio degli Schiavoni for Carpaccio, this church is where you come for
Veronese. This was his parish church, and tradition has it that he found refuge
in the monastery after killing a love rival. He began decorating it at the age
of 30, working here from 1555 to 1581. His commission came from the then prior
here, Bernardo Torlioni, who was also originally from Verona.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Sebastiano,_Venice
The ceiling shows scenes from the Life
of Esther and the gallery walls the Trial and Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The trompe l'oeil
painting here blends unnervingly smoothly with the architecture, which had been
finished only a few years before. You get the impression that the church was
built specifically to house the trompe l'oeil vistas and the combination of
art, sculpture and architecture is seamless. Veronese had trained as a
stonecutter too and designed the altar. He died in 1588 and was buried there
his tombstone is in the floor in front of the Lando Chapel. He was buried here
with his brother Benedetto Caliari, also a painter, who helped out here, being
responsible for the painted decoration on the ceiling.
The basic geometry of the sacristy ceiling established
the basic fields for pictorial decoration: a central square image flanked on
its sides by longer fields and punctuated at its corners by roundels; these
basic pictorial spaces are united by connecting ribs into a tightly knit whole.
A History of Western Architecture, 4th edition
by David Watkin.
Architecture in Italy, 1400-1500, By Ludwig H. Heydenreich
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