San Francesco della Vigna

Open: 8-12.30/15-19. 
​Map

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In 1253 Marco Ziani bequeathed a vineyard to the Franciscans to enable the order to build a church and a convent, hence the name, San Francesco della Vigna. 

Two hundred years later the 13th century church was pulled down and, in 1534, Doge Andrea Gritti (who was later buried in the church) laid the foundation stone of the present structure, the work of Jacopo Sansovino (with the help of Francesco Zorzi). 

The façade, which was added by Palladio between 1568 and 1572, bears bronze statues of Moses and Saint Paul (1592), the work of Tiziano Aspetti. It was funded by Giovanni Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia, whose symbol is an eagle (which we see in the centre of the pediment).  

The interior of the church is made up of a broad nave (flanked by side chapels), two transepts and a long chancel. 

San Francesco della Vigna contains numerous works of art, including the Dolfin Madonna by Giovanni Bellini (and assistants?) in the Sacristy and the Montefeltro altarpiece by Alessandro Vittoria in the second chapel on the left. 

Not to be missed:

• Tucked away in a chapel in the south transept is a beautiful life-size altarpiece of the Madonna and Child Enthroned (c. 1455) by Fra Antonio da Negroponte, his only confirmed work. The painting stands halfway between the worlds of Gothic and Renaissance art. The incongruous lunette, depicting God the Father, was added by a later artist. 
• The Badoer-Giustiniani Chapel, which lies to the north of the chancel, was designed by Sansovino in the 1530s. It is decorated with a beautiful series of bas-reliefs and an altarpiece, the work of the Lombardo family of sculptors.

The campanile, one of the tallest in Venice, was built in 1581 and remodelled in 1758. San Francesco della Vigna also boasts two beautiful cloisters. ​

San Francesco della Vigna

Cloister, San Francesco della Vigna