Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni
Open: Mon. (13.30-17.30). Tue.-Sat. (09.30-17.30). Hols. (09.30-13.30). €5.
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The Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, also known as the Scuola Dalmata dei SS. Giorgio e Trifone, was founded in 1451, with Saint George, Saint Tryphon and Saint Jerome as its patron saints. Their scuola was not a particularly prosperous institution, as we can see from the relatively modest building in which it is housed, the work of Giovanni de Zan.
The room on the ground floor of the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni is decorated with a series of paintings (1502-08) by Vittore Carpaccio, which depict scenes from the lives of the confraternity's three patron saints. Perhaps, the most famous painting in the cycle is The Vision of St Augustine, in which the eponymous saint is portrayed as the Greek humanist and scholar, Cardinal Bessarion. St Augustine is about to reply to a letter which he has received from St Jerome, when a miraculous voice informs him that the latter has just died. The painting contains probably the most famous image of a dog in Renaissance art. The Sala dell'Albergo, on the upper floor, has a wooden ceiling decorated by Bastian de Muran. The walls are hung with paintings by the school of Palma il Giovane. At the altar is an image of Saint George flanked by gilt panels of Saint Jerome and Saint Tryphon. The Sansovino-inspired façade was added in 1551 and bears two bas-reliefs. The upper relief depicts the Madonna and Child with Two Saints and a Donor, sculptor unknown, and dates back to the 14th century, the lower relief depicts St George and the Dragon, the work of Pietro da Salò, a pupil of Jacopo Sansovino. |
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni
The Vision of Saint Augustine by Carpaccio
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