_The Frari--The Scuola and Church of S. Rocco_
In the “Speculum Perfectionis” is told how that St Francis on coming to
Assisi to hold the Chapter of the Order found there a great edifice of
stone and mortar, built by the citizens for the meeting place of the
brothers, instead of the rude wattle and daub barn in which they were
wont to assemble. And the saint, fearing lest the brothers might be
tempted to have similar great houses erected where they sojourned,
climbed to the roof with his companions, and began to strip off the
tiles and cast them to the ground, being minded to destroy the building
to the very foundation, nor did he desist until the soldiers forbade
him, declaring it to be the property of the town. Up to Doge Giacomo
Tiepolo’s time, as we have seen, the friars minor had no monastery in
Venice, but here, as elsewhere, the Franciscans were unable to resist
that unquenchable impulse in devoted human souls to raise temples made
with hands to the glory of God, and about 1230 or 1240 the great
monastery and church of Our Glorious Lady of the Friars were begun. The
church was opened for service in 1280, and rebuilt during the second
half of the fourteenth century. Santa Maria Gloriosa de’Frari may be
reached from the S. Tomà Pier on the Grand Canal. It is the largest
church in Venice, and one of the finest Gothic churches in Italy. Vasari
attributes the design to Nicolo Pisano. The campanile (1361-1396) was
erected by the Massegne. From the tracery of the lower windows in the
apse, Ruskin derives the tracery of the arcade in the Ducal Palace, the
circle of the quatrefoil falling between the arches when it had to
support the wall. Over the Porta de’Frari, leading to the left aisle, is
a beautiful relief of the Virgin and two angels and kneeling donors by
the Massegne.
The nobility and simplicity of the vast interior remind us of the great
friars’ churches in Tuscany and Umbria. Few Doges are buried here, the
monuments inside being chiefly to famous soldiers, admirals, statesmen
and artists. In the R. aisle is the Titian monument executed in 1852,
and on the third altar a fine statue of St Jerome by Aless. Vittoria,
said to have been modelled from the figure of Titian when he was 98
years old. On the R. wall of R. transept is the tomb of Jacopo Marcelle
(1484) in the style of the Lombardi. To the R. of entrance to the
sacristy is the beautiful late Gothic tomb, wrought by a Florentine
sculptor, of the Franciscan S. Pacifico (1437), under whom the church
was completed.
In the second chapel, R. of the choir, R. wall, is the tomb of the
Florentine ambassador, Duccio degli Alberti (1336) by a Tuscan sculptor,
noted by Ruskin as the first monument in Venice in which images of the
Virtues appear; L. wall, the noble and simple fourteenth-century tomb of
an unknown knight, “perfect Gothic form.” In the choir are two important
works attributed to Ant. Riccio. R. wall, the ornate monument of Doge
Francesco Foscari (pp. 141, 151) (1457); L. wall, the mausoleum of Doge
Nicolo Tron (1473). The transition of Gothic to Renaissance is admirably
illustrated in these two works. Titian’s Assumption stood formerly over
the high altar. L. aisle beyond the baptistery is the Renaissance tomb
of Jacopo Pesare (1547). The inscription states that the buried bishop
conquered the Turks in war, and was transported from a noble family
among the Venetians to a nobler among the angels. The monstrous pile of
masonry beyond the Titian altar-piece (p. 195), erected to Doge Giovanni
Pesaro (1659) by Melchior Barthel (a German) and Longhena, qualified by
Ruskin as a huge accumulation of theatrical scenery in marble, will
illustrate even more clearly than the Valier tomb in S. Zanipolo the
depths of bad taste to which monumental art had fallen in the
seventeenth century.
Turning to the pictures, we note two altar-pieces (1474) by Bart.
Vivarini, St Mark enthroned, and a Virgin and Child with Saints. In the
third chapel L. of the choir is Alvise’s Apotheosis of St Ambrose.
Within the sacristy is treasured Giov. Bellini’s altar-piece, the Virgin
and Child with four saints (L., St Nicholas and another; R., SS.
Benedict and Bernadine), and two of the most exquisitely charming angels
in Venetian art. All the master’s qualities are here in their highest
manifestation--maternal tenderness; fervent, grave and virile piety; and
the joy of childhood. The picture makes a direct appeal to our finer
emotions and the traveller will prefer to remain in silent and reverent
appreciation without further intrusion of guide or critic. The Titian
altar-piece in the choir screen aisle, painted for Bishop Jacopo Pesaro,
affords an admirable contrast to the Bellini. Progress even in art must
be paid for. Although perfect in technique, grand in composition, rich
in colour, it yet lacks the atmosphere of tranquil devotion of the
earlier master. The doughty bishop, who is seen kneeling to the left,
had the picture painted to commemorate a small naval victory that he
gained when in charge of a papal fleet over the Turks (p. 164). Above is
the Virgin and Child to whom St Francis commends the kneeling Pesaro
family. At the Virgin’s feet sits St Peter who turns from his reading to
look on the donor below. Behind the latter stands a knight in full
armour holding in his right hand the papal standard crowned by a sprig
of laurel, and grasping in his left hand two Turkish captives in chains.
The portraits of the Pesari are in Titian’s most perfect manner. This
was a favourite of Sir Joshua Reynolds who describes it at length in
“The Journey to Flanders and Holland.” Crossing the bridge opposite the
main portal and turning L. we reach the great Monastery now the Record
Office of Venice (Archivio Centrale). It contains the most famous
collection of state documents in the world. The custodian will admit the
traveller to the noble double cloisters. We return to the Porta dei
Frari and further to the W. find the Scuola and church of S. Rocco.
Towards the end of the thirteenth century a young noble of Montpellier
found himself the master of great possessions, and following the
injunctions of Christ sold all that he had and gave it to the poor. He
set forth as a pilgrim to Rome and on his way passed plague-stricken
cities where he devoted himself to the service of the hospitals and by
his tenderness, sympathy and fervent prayers wrought many wondrous
cures. At length on his return from Rome he was stricken himself at
Piacenza and a horrible ulcer broke out on his thigh. Wishing to spare
his fellow-sufferers the sound of his groans he dragged himself to a
ruined hut in a deserted place hard by, where angels tended his sores
and a dog brought him daily bread. When healed he went back to his
native city but arrived so changed by suffering that he was arrested as
a spy and cast into prison. One morning after he had languished there
for five years the jailer on entering his dungeon saw it flooded with a
bright light, the prisoner dead, and a writing which promised healing to
all stricken by plague who should call on his name. In 1485 some
Venetians disguised as pilgrims carried off the saint’s body to Venice;
the Church of S. Rocco was erected to contain it and a guild founded in
his name for the tending of the sick and the burial of the dead. The
church, entrusted to Bart. Buon of Bergamo, was built in the
fifteenth century. The Scuola was begun about the same time (1490) by
the same architect, carried on by the Lombardi and Scarpagnino (1524-37)
and completed about 1550. Here during eighteen years Tintoretto worked
on the stupendous series of paintings which decorate the interior. They
are fully described and vigorously appreciated and depreciated by Ruskin
in the Venetian Index. The Adoration of the Magi, in the lower hall,
facing the entrance, he esteems to be “the most finished picture in the
Scuola except the Crucifixion.”
[Illustration: SCUOLA DI S. ROCCA.]
From the first landing as we ascend the stairs may be seen to the L. an
early Annunciation by Titian, refreshing in its repose and simplicity;
R. is Tintoretto’s Visitation.
On the walls of the upper hall are continued the scenes of New Testament
history begun in the lower. They are unequal in merit, and include,
according to Ruskin, two of the worst Tintorettos in Venice: The Last
Supper and the altar-piece, S. Rocco in Glory. The ceiling, decorated
with scenes from Old Testament history, is painted with all the master’s
force and decorative science.
The Crucifixion in the Guest-Chamber on the same floor is justly
esteemed as Tintoretto’s greatest work. On it he concentrated all his
art and all his majestic power. It was his favourite work, and when
Carracci’s plate was brought to him for approval he fell on the
engraver’s neck and kissed him. Opposite the Crucifixion is the Christ
before Pilate; over the door, an Ecce Homo. The series closes with the
Christ bearing His Cross. The ceiling is decorated with the Apotheosis
of S. Rocco (p. 210) and other allegorical figures. The choir stalls in
the large hall are beautifully carved with scenes from the life, of S.
Rocco by Giovanni Marchiori. In the small room to R. of entrance is an
early Titian, Ecce Homo, and the death-mask of Doge Alvise Mocenigo with
his ducal cap.
CHURCH OF S. ROCCO.
Tintoretto has here dealt with the story of the saint in his most
unequal fashion. Not all his art can make the scenes of disease and
death envisaged in so realistic a manner other than disagreeable. We
turn from their contemplation with relief to the noble and stately SS.
Christopher and Martin by Pordenone and to the latest of miracle-working
pictures, Christ led to Execution, by Titian, in the chapel to the R. of
the choir. In the vestibule of the sacristy is Pordenone’s fresco, St
Sebastian.