The Chiesa di Santa Maria del Giglio is a church in

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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Chiesa di Santa Maria del Giglio Venezia - Carolus Barbaro

The church, whose name translates into ''St. Mary of the Lily'' referring to the flower classically depicted as being presented by the Angel

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

during the Annunciation), is more commonly known as Santa Maria Zobenigo after the Jubanico family who founded it in the 9th century. The edifice is situated on the Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo, west of the

Piazza San Marco Piazza San Marco (; vec, Piasa San Marco), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as ''la Piazza'' ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (exc ...

. It was rebuilt by Giuseppe Sardi for Admiral

Antonio Barbaro Antonio Barbaro (died 1679) was a Venetian general and governor, a member of the patrician Barbaro family of Venice (now Italy). Barbaro lived at a time when Venice had a maritime empire in the Mediterranean. He served in Candia (now Heraklion), Cr ...

between 1678 and 1681 and has one of the finest Venetian Baroque facades in all of Venice. The church is now part of the parish of San Moisè.

Exterior

The exterior lacks any Christian image statues or reliefs. It shows the marble relief maps of various places in which Antonio Barbaro served, including

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-Italian writer * César di Candia, Uruguayan journalist and wr ...

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of t ...

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 ...

, Corfu and

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertain ...

. His own statue, as the chief benefactor, in the center, sculpted by Josse de Corte, is flanked by representations of Honour, Virtue, Fame and Wisdom. The other statues are his brothers. At the top of the facade is the Barbaro family arms carved in relief.

Interior

The nave ceiling is decorated with a large canvas by Antonio Zanchi. Along the nave are painted depictions of the ''Via Crucis'' (1755–1756) or ''

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imita ...

'' by various artists, including Francesco Zugno,

Gianbattista Crosato Giovanni Battista Crosato (1686 – July 15, 1758) was an Italian painter of quadratura, active in the 18th century in Piedmont. He was born in Venice, where he had likely his first training. By 1733 he had moved to Turin, where he was recruited ...

, Gaspare Diziani, and

Jacopo Marieschi Jacopo Marieschi (1711–1794) was a Venetian history painter. Formerly he was confused with the prominent vedute painter, Michele Marieschi, his close contemporary.Martineau, Jane, and Robison, Andrew, ''The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eightee ...

. To the right of the nave entering, the Molin chapel contains a ''Madonna and Child with Young St John'', the only painting by the Flemish painter

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition ...

in Venice. That chapel also has a painting of ''St Vincent Ferrer'' (1750) by

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (also called Giambattista Piazzetta or Giambattista Valentino Piazzetta) (February 13, 1682 or 1683 – April 28, 1754) was an Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes. Biography Piazzetta was ...

and

Giuseppe Angeli ''Immaculate Conception with Saints'' (ca 1760) Giuseppe Angeli (Venice 1709- Venice, 1798) was an Italian painter of the late- Baroque, known for depicting both genre and religious subjects. Biography He trained in the studio of Giambattista P ...

. The altar has flanking statues depicting the ''Annuciation'' by Heinrich Meyring. Behind the high altar, in the sanctuary are paintings of the ''Evangelists'' by

Jacopo 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 ...

. The organ shutters include works by

Alessandro Vittoria Alessandro Vittoria funerary monument - San Zaccaria, Venice Alessandro Vittoria (1525–1608) was an Italian Mannerist sculptor of the Venetian school, "one of the main representatives of the Venetian classical style" and rivalling Giambo ...

. Other paintings in the church are by

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Corton ...

and

Palma the Younger Iacopo Negretti (1548/50 – 14 October 1628), best known as Jacopo or Giacomo Palma il Giovane or simply Palma Giovane ("Young Palma"), was an Italian painter from Venice and a notable exponent of the Venetian school. After Tintoretto's death ...

. Giovanni Maria Morlaiter has an additional sculpture found in the second chapel to the right of ''San Gregorio Barbarigo''. Another painting by Tintoretto, ''Christ with two Saints'' in the north aisle, has been damaged by restoration. Interior of Santa Maria del Giglio (Venice)

Interior of Santa Maria del Giglio (Venice)

In fiction

The church and its parish feature in the novel''

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. Published in 2004, it is an alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Its premise is that magic once existe ...

'' by

Susanna Clarke Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is an English author known for her debut novel '' Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternative history. Clarke began ''Jonathan Strange'' in 1993 and worked on it during h ...

; The titular Mr. Strange stays in a house near Santa Maria Zobenigo when he is cursed causing perpetual night to descend on the parish.Clarke, ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'', Ch. 63. The church is mentioned in chapter IX, page 77 of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

's 1950 novel, '' Across the River and Into the Trees''. Part of the action in Nicolas Remin's novel ''Venezianische Verlobung'' takes place in Santa Maria Zobenigo. The Church is mentioned in Those Who Walk Away by Patricia Highsmith, which is set in Venice.

References

External links

Satellite image from Google Maps Chorus Venezia entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Zobenibo Roman Catholic churches in Venice 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1681 Baroque architecture in Venice 1681 establishments in Italy