San Zaccaria
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The church of San Zaccaria (San Zacaria) was once attached to one of the most influential convents in Venice, to which only daughters of the most important patrician families were admitted.
The Benedictine convent was established in 829 and its abbess was always the sister or a close relative of the doge. Once a year, on September 13th, the anniversary of its consecration, the doge, accompanied by the entire Signoria, would visit the church. Agostina Morosini, an early abbess of the convent, is said to have given Doge Pietro Tradonico (836/7-864) the first corno ducale, the famous headpiece, which was worn by every subsequent holder of the office. The original Romanesque church was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 14th century. The church's grand façade was commissioned in the 15th century and the chosen architect was Antonio Gambello. However, Gambello died in 1481 having completed only the first storey. His successor was Mauro Codussi, a leading architect of the late 15th/early 16th century. The interior of the church comprises a nave, two aisles and a polygonal apse with an ambulatory, the only one of its kind in Venice. The columns in the nave sit on high octagonal pillars, which, in turn, rest on beautifully carved marble bases. San Zaccaria is home to one of the most beautiful paintings of the Renaissance, Giovanni Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece, signed and dated 1505. Following Napoleon's conquest of Venice, the altarpiece was removed to Paris, where it was transferred from panel to canvas. The great Mannerist sculptor Alessandro Vittoria (1525-1608) is buried in San Zaccaria. His remains are interred under a black tombstone in the ambulatory. For some reason the tomb bears the date 1605, even though Vittoria died in 1608. Off the south aisle is the entrance to the chapels of St Athanasius and St Tarasius. The Cappella di San Tarasio is also known as the Cappella d'Oro. |
San Zaccaria
San Zaccaria Altarpiece, Giovanni Bellini, 1505
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