Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
without paying duties, they now house massive, thought-provoking installations in front
of cutaway views of passing ships.
Basilica di Santa
Maria della Salute
CHURCH
(La Salute; 041 241 10 18;
www.seminariovenezia.it
;
Campo della Salute 1b; admission free, sacristy
adult/reduced €3/1.50; 9am-noon & 3-5.30pm; Salute)
A monumental sigh of relief, this
splendid domed church was commissioned by Venice's plague survivors as thanks for sal-
vation. Baldassare Longhena's uplifting design is an engineering feat that defies simple
logic, and in fact the church is said to have mystical curative properties. Titian eluded the
plague until age 94, leaving a legacy of 12 masterpieces now in Salute's
sacristy
.
Gesuati
CHURCH
(Church of Santa Maria del Rosario;
www.chorusvenezia.org
; Fondamenta delle Zattere 918; admission €3,
with Chorus Pass free; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat)
No matter the weather outside, the outlook is de-
cidedly sunny inside this high-baroque church designed by Giorgio Massari. Luminous
late-afternoon skies surrounding St Dominic in Tiepolo's 1737-39 ceiling frescoes are so
convincing that you'll wonder whether you're wearing enough sunscreen. Striking a
sombre note on the left side of the nave, Tintoretto's 1565
Crucifixion
shows Mary faint-
ing with grief, but in the 1730-33
Saints Peter and Thomas with Pope Pius V,
Sebastiano
Ricci's chubby cherubs provide heavenly comic relief with celestial tumbling routines.
ART GALLERY
Magazzini del Sale
(
041 522 66 26;
www.fondazionevedova.org
; Zattere 266; donation suggested during shows;
dur-
ing shows 10.30am-6pm Wed-Mon; Zattere)
A recent retrofit designed by Pritzker Pr-
ize-winning architect Renzo Piano transformed Venice's historic salt warehouses into
Fondazione Vedova art galleries, commemorating pioneering Venetian abstract painter
Emilio Vedova. Fondazione Vedova shows are often literally moving and rotating:
powered by renewable energy sources, 10 robotic arms designed by Vedova and Piano
move major modern artworks in and out of storage slots.
