Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 041 271 14 11;
www.querinistampalia.it
; Campiello Querini Stampalia 5252; Rialto, San Zaccaria)
In 1869 Conte Giovanni Querini Stampalia made a gift of his ancestral
palazzo
to the city
on the forward-thinking condition that its 700-year-old library operate late-night openings.
Downstairs savvy drinkers take their
aperitivi
(predinner drinks with snacks) with a twist
of high modernism in the Carlo Scarpa-designed
garden
, while the
palazzo
's temporary
contemporary shows add an element of the unexpected to the silk-draped salons upstairs.
Enter through the Mario Botta-designed QShop to get a free pass to the cafe and its
GOOGLE MAP
(adult/reduced €10/8; 10am-6pm Tue-Thu & Sun, to 10pm Fri & Sat; Rialto, San
Zaccaria)
here. Located in the duke's apartments, the museum reflects the 18th-century
tastes and interests of the count: Meissen and Sèvres porcelain, marble busts and some
400 paintings. Of these, Gabriela Bella's (1730-99)
Scenes of Public Life in Venice
are
the most engaging. They document winningly naive scenes of the city during the period,
including the frozen lagoon in 1708 and the courtesans' race on the Rio de la Sensa. In
summer the
palazzo
hosts chamber-music concerts on Friday and Saturday. Tickets cost
€3.
Chiesa di San Francesco
della Vigna
CHURCH
( 041 520 61 02;
www.sanfrancescodellavigna.it
; Campo San Francesco della Vigna 2786;
9.30am-12.30pm & 3-6pm Mon-Sat, 3-6pm Sun; Celestia, Ospedale)
Designed and built
by Jacopo Sansovino with a facade by Palladio, this enchanting Franciscan church is one
of Venice's most underappreciated attractions. The Madonna positively glows in Bellini's
1507
Madonna and Saints
in the
Cappella Santa
, just off the flower-carpeted
cloister
, while
swimming angels and strutting birds steal the scene in the delightful
Virgin Enthroned,
by
Antonio da Negroponte (c 1460-70). Bring €0.20 to illuminate them.
Palladio and the Madonna are tough acts to follow, but father-son sculptors Pietro and
Tullio Lombardo make their own mark in the
Cappella Giustiniani
with their fabulous 15th-
century marble reliefs that recount the lives of Christ and an assortment of saints.
Out the back, the
campo
(field) makes a sociable setting for Venice's best annual block
party, the
Festa di Francesco della Vigna
, with wine and rustic fare; it's usually held the third
week in June.
