Madonna dell'Orto
Open: Mon-Sat: 10-17. €2.50.
Map
Map
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The beautiful Gothic church of Madonna dell'Orto was built in the middle of the 14th century, but its richly ornamented façade only dates back to the 15th century.
The church was founded by Marco Tiberio, the head of the Order of the Umiliati, and originally dedicated to Saint Christopher, whose statue surmounts the entrance. It was only after 1377, when a 'miracle-working' statue of the Virgin and Child (the work of Giovanni de Santi) was placed in the church that it came to be known as the Madonna dell 'Orto. The statue had stood in Giovanni de Santi's vegetable garden (orto), hence the church's new name. The Umiliati were expelled in 1460 and the church passed to a succession of different monastic orders before becoming a parish church in 1876. The interior takes the form of a nave, two aisles, and a long polygonal chancel. On either side of the High Altar are two vast paintings by TIntoretto, each about fifty feet high. On the left wall is The Worship of the Golden Calf (1560-62), while on the right wall is The Last Judgement (1560-62). Tintoretto is buried in the chapel to the right of the chancel. Above the entrance to the Cappella di San Mauro, hangs Tintoretto's painting of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple (1553-56). The chapel, itself, is home to the 'miracle-working' statue of the Madonna and Child. In addition to several other paintings by Tintoretto, the Madonna dell'Orto boasts a beautiful altarpiece by Cima da Conegliano. The church's campanile, one of the great landmarks of the northern part of Venice, was completed in 1503. |
Madonna dell'Orto
St Christopher by Bartolomeo Bon
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