Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice
Coordinates: 45°26′21″N 12°20′32″E / 45.4392°N 12.3421°E
The Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, known in Venetian as San Zanipolo, is a church in the Castello sestiere of Venice, Italy.
One of the largest churches in the city, it has the status of a minor basilica. After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's doges were held here, and twenty-five doges are buried in the church.
Description[]
The huge brick edifice was designed in the Italian Gothic style, and completed in the 1430s. It is the principal Dominican church of Venice, and as such was built to hold large congregations. It is dedicated to John and Paul, not the Biblical Apostles of the same names, but two obscure martyrs of the Early Christian church in Rome, whose names were recorded in the 4th century but whose legend is of a later date.
In 1246, Doge Jacopo Tiepolo donated some swampland to the Dominicans after dreaming of a flock of white doves flying over it. The first church was demolished in 1333, when the current church was begun. It was not completed until 1430.
The vast interior contains many funerary monuments and paintings, as well as the Madonna della Pace, a miraculous Byzantine statue situated in its own chapel in the south aisle, and a foot of Saint Catherine of Siena, the church's chief relic.
Santi Giovanni e Paolo is a parish church of the . Other churches of the parish are San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, the Ospedaletto and the .
The Renaissance Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (1483), by Andrea del Verrocchio, is located next to the church.
The belltower has 3 bells in D major.
The facade of Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
Bel-gable
Interior of the church.
Chapel of the Rosary.
Notable artists[]
- Giovanni Bellini (SS Vincent Ferrer, Christopher and Sebastian in the south aisle)
- Bartolomeo Bon (the great west doorway)
- Cima da Conegliano or Giovanni Martini da Udine (Coronation of the Virgin in the south transept)
- Lorenzo Gramiccia (Madonna del Rosario in Capella di Trinita)
- and (tomb of Doge Tommaso Mocenigo in the north aisle)
- Gregorio Lazzarini (sala S. Tommaso)
- Pietro Lombardo (tombs of Doge Pietro Mocenigo on the west wall and Doges Pasquale Malipiero and Nicolo Marcello in the north aisle; tomb of Alvise Diedo in the south aisle)
- Tullio Lombardo ( and Alessandro Leopardo?) (tomb of Doge Andrea Vendramin on the north wall of the choir)
- Lorenzo Lotto (St Antonine in the south transept)
- Rocco Marconi (Christ between SS Peter and Andrew in the south transept)
- Giuseppe Maria Mazza (five large bronze reliefs depicting the miracles of Saint Dominic in the Chapel of San Dominico)
- Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (St Dominic in Glory on the ceiling of the Capella di San Domenico)
- Alvise Tagliapietra, reliefs in the Chapel of the Rosary
Giovanni Bellini (SS Vincent Ferrer, Christopher and Sebastian
Bartolomeo Bon (the great west doorway)
Cima da Conegliano Coronation of the Virgin
Lorenzo Gramiccia Madonna del Rosario
tomb of Tommaso Mocenigo
Rocco Marconi Christ between SS Peter and Andrew
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta St Dominic in Glory
- Veronese (The Assumption, The Annunciation and The Adoration of the Magi on the ceiling of the Capella del Rosario; The Adoration of the Shepherds in the Capella del Rosario). The famous The Feast in the House of Levi, painted for the refectory, is now in the Accademia Gallery.
- Alessandro Vittoria (St Jerome in the north aisle)
- Alvise Vivarini (Christ carrying the Cross in the sacristy)
- Bartolomeo Vivarini (Three Saints in the north aisle)
Veronese The Annunciation
Veronese The Assumption
Veronese The Adoration of the Shepherds
Alessandro Vittoria St Jerome
Alvise Vivarini Christ carrying the Cross
Bartolomeo Vivarini Three Saints
- The Capella del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary)
- Built in 1582 to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, contained paintings by Tintoretto, Palma the Younger, Titian (The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr) and Giovanni Bellini, among others, but they were destroyed in a fire in 1867 attributed to anti-Catholic arsonists.
Chapel of the Rosary
Lady of the Rosary Giovanni Dureghello
David by Alessandro Vittoria
Isaiah by Alessandro Vittoria
Libyan Sibyl by Alessandro Vittoria
Delphic Sibyl by Alessandro Vittoria
Siding wooden altar by Giacomo Piazzetta
Martyrdom of St Christina by Sante Peranda
Dead Christ Giovanni Battista Zelotti
Miracle of St Dominic Alessandro Varotari
St Michael Vanquishing the Devil Bonifacio de' Pitati
Funerary monuments[]
After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's doges were held in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Twenty-five doges are buried in the church, including:
- Jacopo Tiepolo (d. 1249)
- Marino Morosini (d. 1253)
- Reniero Zeno (d. 1268)
- Lorenzo Tiepolo (d. 1275)
- Giovanni Dolfin (d. 1361)
- Marco Cornaro (d. 1368)
Tomb of Jacopo e Lorenzo Tiepolo
Tomb of Marino Morosini
Monument Giovanni Dolfin
Tomb to Marco Corner
- Michele Morosini (d. 1382)
- Antonio Venier (d. 1400)
- Michele Steno (d. 1413)
- Tommaso Mocenigo (d. 1423)
- Pasquale Malipiero (d. 1462)
- Nicolo Marcello (d. 1474)
- Pietro Mocenigo (d. 1476)
- Andrea Vendramin (d. 1478)
Monument to Michele Morosini
Tomb of Antonio Venier
Monument to Michele Steno
Monument to Pasquale Malipiero
Monument to Nicolo Marcello
Monument to Pietro Mocenigo
Monument to doge Andrea Vendramin
- Giovanni Mocenigo (d. 1485)
- Leonardo Loredan (d. 1521)
- Alvise I Mocenigo (d. 1577)
- Sebastiano Venier (d. 1578)
- (d. 1658)
- Silvestro Valier (d. 1700)
Monument to Giovanni Mocenigo
Monument to Alvise Mocenigo
Funeral monument of Sebastiano Venier
Funeral monument of Bertuccio Valier
Funeral monument of Silvestro Valier
Other people buried in the church include:
- (d. 1617), general
- Gentile Bellini (d. 1507), artist
- Giovanni Bellini (d. 1516), artist
- (d. 1508), senator
- (poet)
- Marco Antonio Bragadin (d.1571), general, flayed alive by the Turks - the tomb contains only his skin
- (d. 1384), general
- , commander-in-chief
- Marino Faliero (d. 1355), the 55th Doge of Venice, beheaded
- (d. 1346), sea captain
- Pompeo Giustiniani (d. 1616), condottiere
- Palma the Younger (d. 1628), artist
Monument to Orazio Baglioni
Monument to Giambattista Bonzio
Monument to Bartolomeo Bragadin
Monument to Marcantonio Bragadin
Monument to Giacomo Cavalli
Monument to Marco Giustiniani della Bragora
Monument to Pompeo Giustiniani
Monument to Palma il Giovane
- Vettor Pisani (d. 1380), admiral
- Niccolò Orsini, (d. 1510), commander-in-chief
- (d.1511), condottiere
- (d. 1528)
- Edward Windsor, 3rd Baron Windsor (d. 1574)
- Vincenzo Benedetti, (d. 1658)
Monument of Admiral Vettor Pisani
Tomb of Niccolò Orsini di Pitigliano
Tomb of Leonardo da Prato
Monument to Alvise Trevisan
Tomb of Edward Windsor
See also[]
- Italian Gothic architecture
- List of Doges of Venice
- Lost artworks
- Sant'Anastasia (Verona) — similar Dominican church in Verona.
- History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice). |
- Official website (in Italian)
- Roman Catholic churches completed in 1430
- 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
- Basilica churches in Venice
- Dominican churches
- Gothic architecture in Venice
- Churches in Castello, Venice
- Church buildings with domes
- Minor basilicas in Veneto