Santa Maria della Pietà
The church of Santa Maria della Pietà (also known as Santa Maria della Visitazione) was designed by Giorgio Massari and built between 1745 and 1760. It has an oval interior and ceiling is vaulted and decorated by Gianbattista Tiepolo with a painting depicting The Coronation of the Virgin (1755).
There are two organ-lofts and choir galleries on three sides of the church (each screened by gilded ironwork grilles) for the musicians, who were all female. The façade wasn't completed until 1906.
The church stands next to what was once the site of the famous Ospedale della Pietà (which brought up and educated abandoned baby girls), one of the four ospedali grandi, a quartet of charitable institutions, each attached to a church. (The other three were the Ospedale degl'Incurabili, the Ospedale dei Derelitti and the Ospedale di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti).
Each of the ospedali provided their most talented female charges with an extremely high level of musical training. The girls, known as figlie del coro, gave public concerts in a bid to raise funds and attract new patronage.
The Ospedale della Pietà, which is the most famous of the four institutions will, forever, be linked with the name of the great Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). Vivaldi worked at the ospedale, in various capacities, on and off throughout much of his career. He composed countless pieces of music, both instrumental and choral, for the extremely accomplished female musicians in his charge.
There are two organ-lofts and choir galleries on three sides of the church (each screened by gilded ironwork grilles) for the musicians, who were all female. The façade wasn't completed until 1906.
The church stands next to what was once the site of the famous Ospedale della Pietà (which brought up and educated abandoned baby girls), one of the four ospedali grandi, a quartet of charitable institutions, each attached to a church. (The other three were the Ospedale degl'Incurabili, the Ospedale dei Derelitti and the Ospedale di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti).
Each of the ospedali provided their most talented female charges with an extremely high level of musical training. The girls, known as figlie del coro, gave public concerts in a bid to raise funds and attract new patronage.
The Ospedale della Pietà, which is the most famous of the four institutions will, forever, be linked with the name of the great Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). Vivaldi worked at the ospedale, in various capacities, on and off throughout much of his career. He composed countless pieces of music, both instrumental and choral, for the extremely accomplished female musicians in his charge.
