The Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore ( en, Church of the Most Holy Redeemer), commonly known as Il Redentore, is a 16th-century

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

located on

Giudecca Giudecca (; vec, Zueca) is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, in northern Italy. It is part of the '' sestiere'' of Dorsoduro and is a locality of the ''comune'' of Venice. Geography Giudecca lies immediately south of the central islands of Ve ...

(island) in the ''

sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, Mi ...

'' of Dorsoduro, in the city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, Italy. It was designed by Italian Renaissance architect

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...

and built as a votive church to thank God for the deliverance of the city from a major outbreak of the plague. Located on the waterfront of the

Canale della Giudecca The Giudecca Canal ( vec, Canal de ła Zueca) is a body of water that flows into the San Marco basin in Venice, Italy. It is one of the major canals in the city, it bisects the ''sestieri'' of Dorsoduro, separating Giudecca island and district fr ...

, it dominates the skyline of the island of

. It is a member of the

Chorus Association The Chorus Association of Venetian Churches (Italian: ''Chorus Associazione per le Chiese del Patriarcato di Venezia''), often shortened to Chorus Association, is a cultural conservation organisation working within the city of Venice in Italy. It wo ...

of Venetian churches and contains a number of paintings by artists including

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...

, Paolo Veronese, and Francesco Bassano.

History

Il Redentore was built as a

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

church in thanksgiving for deliverance from a major outbreak of the plague that decimated Venice between 1575 and 1576, in which some 46,000 people (25–30% of the population) died. The Senate of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

commissioned the architect

to design the votive church. Though the Senate wished the Church to be square plan, Palladio designed a single nave church with three chapels on either side. Its prominent position on the

gave Palladio the opportunity to design a facade inspired by the Pantheon of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and enhanced by being placed on a wide plinth. 15 steps were required to reach the church's entrance, a direct reference to the

Temple of Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...

and complicit with Palladio's own requirement that "the ascent (of the faithful) will be gradual, so that the climbing will bring more devotion".Weissmüller, ''Palladio in Venice, p. 118 The cornerstone was laid by the

Patriarch of Venice The Patriarch of Venice ( la, Patriarcha Venetiarum; it, Patriarca di Venezia) is the ordinary bishop of the Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few patriarchs in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church (currently three other Latin ...

Giovanni Trevisano on 3 May 1577 and the building was consecrated in 1592. At the urgent solicitations of

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

, after consecration the church was placed in charge of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. A small number of Friars reside in the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

attached to the church. Every year the

doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

and senators walked across a specially constructed

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

from the Zattere to Giudecca to attend Mass in the church. The

Festa del Redentore The Festa del Redentore is an event held in Venice the third Sunday of July where fireworks play an important role. The Redentore began as a feast – held on the day of the Feast of the Most Holy Redeemer – to give thanks for the end of the te ...

remains a major festival in the Venetian calendar, celebrated on the third Sunday in July. A huge firework display on the previous evening is followed by a mass procession across the pontoon bridge. The church was the scene of vandalism on 15–16 May 2022 after a group of three people – who were later arrested after being identified on CCTV footage – painted a three meter wide portion of the front facade of the church with pink paint as well as an equation of some sorts on top of the pink. A local tried removing the paint using water, but was unsuccessful in their efforts and only allowed the paint to permeate the stone it was displayed on. The restoration is now being handled by government art officials.

Exterior

Il Redentore has one of the most prominent sites of any of Palladio's structures, and is considered one of the pinnacles of his career. It is a large, white building with a dome crowned by a statue of the Redeemer. On the façade a central triangular pediment overlies a larger, lower one. This classical feature recalls Palladio's façade for

San Francesco della Vigna San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, northern Italy. History Along with Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, this is one of two Franciscan churches in Venice. The site, originally a vineyard (''v ...

, where he used an adaptation of a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cro ...

. Palladio is known for applying rigorous geometric proportions to his façades and that of this church is no exception. The overall height is four-fifths that of its overall width whilst the width of the central portion is five-sixths of its height. It has been suggested that there are some oriental influences in the exterior, particularly the two campanili which resemble minarets.

Interior

As a pilgrimage church, the building was expected to have a long nave, which was something of a challenge for Palladio with his commitment to classical architecture. The result is a somewhat eclectic building, the white stucco and gray stone interior combines the nave with a domed crossing in spaces that are clearly articulated yet unified. An uninterrupted Corinthian order makes its way around the entire interior.

Art work

Il Redentore contains paintings by Francesco Bassano,

Lazzaro Bastiani Lazzaro Bastiani (1429 – 5 April 1512) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was born in Padua. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, for the Procura ...

, Carlo Saraceni,

Leandro Bassano Leandro Bassano (10 June 1557 – 15 April 1622), also called Leandro dal Ponte, was an Italian artist from Bassano del Grappa who was awarded a knighthood by the Doge of Venice. He was the younger brother of artist Francesco Bassano the Younge ...

, Palma the Younger,

Jacopo Bassano Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Trained in the workshop of his father, Francesco t ...

, Francesco Bissolo, Rocco Marconi, Paolo Veronese,

Alvise Vivarini Alvise or Luigi Vivarini (1442/1453–1503/1505) was an Italian painter, the leading Venetian artist before Giovanni Bellini. Like Bellini, he was part of a dynasty of painters. His father was Antonio Vivarini and his uncle, with whom he may ha ...

and the workshop of

. The sacristy also contains a series of wax heads of Franciscans made in 1710. The church was painted by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

a number of times, notably in a painting currently held at

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Gallery

file:Chiesa del Redentore (Venice) Interior.jpg, Interior view file:Chiesa_Redentore_pianta_Bertotti_Scamozzi_1783.jpg, Plan of the church (1783) file:Chiesa Redentore sezione 1 Bertotti Scamozzi 1783.jpg, Longitudinal section (1783) file:Chiesa Redentore sezione 2 Bertotti Scamozzi 1783.jpg, Transversal section (1783) file:Chiesa del Redentore (Venice).jpg, Il Redentore and Canale della Giudecca

Notes

References

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External links

Great BuildingsSatellite image from Google Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redentore Roman Catholic churches in Venice

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Dorsoduro 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1592 Renaissance architecture in Venice Church buildings with domes Plague churches