Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
ZANIPOLO
When the Dominicans began building Zanipolo in 1333 to rival the Franciscans'
Ba-
silica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
(
Click here
) , the church stirred passions more com-
mon to Serie A football than architecture. Both structures feature red-brick facades
with high-contrast detailing in white stone. But since Zanipolo's facade remains unfin-
ished, the Frari won a decisive early decision with its soaring grace and Titian's
As-
sunta
altarpiece. Over the centuries, Zanipolo has at least tied the score with its pan-
theon of ducal funerary monuments and the variety of its masterpieces.
Named after two minor martyrs of early Christian Rome, Santi Giovanni e Paolo -
elided to San Zanipolo in Venetian dialect - the structure was designed to make worship-
pers feel small and reverential. Little can prepare you for its cavernous interior (90m by
38m), suffused by a soft pink glow.
Architecture
Built in classic Italian Gothic style, the basilica could accommodate virtually the entire
population of 14th-century Castello. Its 33m-high nave is reinforced by a clever series of
cross-beams - necessary because of Venice's waterlogged soil. Typical of Italian Gothic
and different from French Gothic, its exteriors and interiors have a barnlike simplicity.
Rarest of all is the surviving 15th-century stained glass in the south transept. Created on
Murano, it richly illuminates designs by Bartolomeo Vivarini and Girolamo Mocetto.
Tombs of the Dogi
For centuries, Zanipolo was the site of doges' funerals, and the walls are punctuated by 25
of their lavish tombs. From Pietro Lombardo's three-tier monument celebrating the Ages of
Man for Pietro Mocenigo (1406-76) to the Gothic tomb of Michele Morosini (1308-82)
and Andrea Tirali's bombastic
Tomba dei Valier
(1708), they provide an overview of the
stylistic development of Venetian art.
Bellini's Triptych
In 1867, a fire destroyed paintings by Tintoretto, Palma di Giovanni, Titian and Bellini.
Anti-Catholic arson was suspected, but nothing was proved. A second Bellini polyptych,
