San Cassiano

Map.

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"This church must on no account be missed, as it contains three Tintorets, of which one, the Crucifixion, is among the finest in Europe." John Ruskin

San Cassiano (San Cassian) was founded in the 10th century on the site of an oratory dedicated to Saint Cecilia. In 1105 the church was rebuilt after a fire and, in 1611, it was given its present form, a nave and two aisles.

San Cassiano is home to three paintings by Tintoretto, The Crucifixion, The Resurrection and, the rarely depicted, The Descent into Hell (1568). The paintings were commissioned by the Scuola del Sacramento di San Cassiano and we see the bearded heads of three members of its governing board in the lower right-hand corner of the painting of The Descent into Hell. The two semi-naked figures are, of course, Adam and Eve. 

The Descent into Hell, Tintoretto, 1568