_S. Moisè--S. Stefano--Site of the Aldine Press--Il Bovolo--S.
Vitale--S. Vio--The Salute--The Seminario_
From the S.W. angle of the Piazza a bustling street leads W. past S.
Moisè, a late seventeenth century church by A. Tremignan, whose amazing
façade was once thought beautiful. Traversing the Campi S. Maria
Zobenigo and S. Maurizio, we reach the large Campo Franc. Morosini. At
the N. end of the campo is the fine Gothic brick church of S. Stefano
(1294-1320). The principal portal and the windows of the W. front are by
the Massegne. The spacious interior contains several good Renaissance
monuments, the best being that of Jac. Suriano, L. of entrance; P.
Lombardo’s statues of SS. Jerome and Paul stand either side of the third
altar, L. aisle; those of the Baptist and St Anthony at either side of
the altar in the sacristy. The last is one of the master’s most perfect
works in Venice. Near these statues are Bart. Vivarini’s SS. Nicholas
and Lawrence. Morosini’s tomb is on the pavement of the nave. We quit
the church by the L. aisle, and enter the cloister, with some
fragmentary remains of Pordenone’s frescoes.
Crossing the cloister we emerge on the Campo S. Angelo, which we
traverse and walk along the Calle della Mandola to the Campo Manin, at
the farther end of which is the _Cassa di Risparmio_ (Savings Bank), on
the site of the old Aldine Press.
We retrace our steps, and before leaving the campo turn L. by the Calle
della Vida, again to the L., and on the R. down the Calle and Corte
Contarini del Bovolo reach a beautiful early Renaissance spiral
staircase and a Byzantine well-head. We return to the Campo Morosini, at
the farther end of which, on the R., is the church of S. Vitale (Vidal),
which has a late Carpaccio, S. Vitale on horseback, accompanied by
Valeria his wife, his sons Gervasius and Protasius, and other saints. We
cross the Grand Canal by the iron bridge, leave the Accademia to the R.,
turn E. by the calle Nuova S. Agnese, and, after crossing a bridge,
reach the church of S. Vio, demolished in 1813 and rebuilt in 1864. A
few of the fragments of Tiepolo’s house were incorporated in the new
building (p. 109). The church is only open once a year, S. Vio’s day,
but admission at other times may be obtained by applying at the stone
mason’s, next door. The Campo S. Vio is associated with one of the most
charming legends of Venice. Here lived the blessed Contessa
Tagliapietra, whose insistent devotion and frequent visits to a priest
at S. Maurizio, on the opposite side of the Grand Canal, were deemed
unseemly by her family. Entreaties proving vain, the ferrymen were
forbidden to row her across; whereupon the Countess took a thread, laid
it upon the waters, and crossed to her devotions without human aid.
[Illustration: PALAZZO CONTARINI, WITH SPIRAL STAIRCASE AND BYZANTINE
WELL-HEAD]
[Illustration: S. MARIA DELLA SALUTE]
We continue E. and after some turning of corners, pass a picturesque
little shrine at the end of the calle Barbaro. We cross the Ponte S.
Gregorio and at length reach the great plague church of the Salute. The
interior contains over the third altar L., Titian’s somewhat faded but
still beautiful Descent of the Holy Ghost. The Virgin is drawn from the
same model as that of the Assumption in the Accademia. The small ceiling
medallions behind the high altar, the four Evangelists and four Fathers
of the Church are also by Titian. The St Matthew is the artist’s own
portrait. Over the altar of the sacristy is Titian’s St Mark enthroned,
attended by SS. Sebastian, Roch, Cosimo, and Damian (1513), sadly spoilt
by restoration. The ceiling paintings--the Death of Abel, Abraham’s
Sacrifice (Isaac is a lovely child), and David and Goliath are in
Titian’s later manner (1543). The space between the windows on the R.
wall is covered by Tintoretto’s Marriage at Cana. It is described at
length by Ruskin in the Venetian index and is esteemed by the great
critic to be “perhaps the most perfect example which human art has
produced of the utmost possible force and sharpness of shadow united
with richness of local colour.” In the sacristy are also a St Sebastian
by Paris Bordone, and two small oval paintings to the R. of the altar,
SS. Augustine and Nicholas, usually assigned to Ant. and Bart. Vivarini,
attributed, however, by Mr Berenson to Giambono. In the ante-sacristy is
a fifteenth century pietà in relief and an early painting (1339), The
Virgin and Child with the kneeling donors, Doge Francesco Dandolo, and
the Dogeressa Elisabetta, with their name saints.
E. of the Salute is the Seminario with a small collection of sculpture
and pictures. Ascending Longhena’s noble staircase we enter the Galleria
Manfredini, which contains works by Filippino Lippi and Veronese, and
Giorgione’s Apollo and Daphne (p. 202), probably painted for the panel
of a _cassone_ (bridal chest). The ferry from the Salute or the Dogana
point will land us near the Piazza.