Parrocchia di Santa Maria Formosa — Attraction in Venice

The church of Santa Maria Formosa built in 1492, is Mauro Codussi's architectural masterpiece and marks the introduction of the full spatial vision embodied in the Tuscan Renaissance in Venice. The Latin-cross layout, with central nave and two side aisles, respects the foundations of the original 7th-century church which, according to tradition, was one of the eight founded by San Magno, bishop of Oderzo. The name "formosa" ( in latin "beautiful") relates to an alleged appearance of the Holy Virgin disguised as a voluptuous woman. The church is partially maintaining the visibility of the remaking from the 9th-century during which the church enriched with the cupola and a Greek-cross layout. For the external façades, commissioned by the Cappello family, two different styles were chosen, the classical-style façade giving onto the Canal, built in 1542, and the Baroque façade giving onto the small campo in 1604. The interior of the church is beautiful and richly decorated with many magnificent works by famous masters of painting and sculpture. One of the works of art in the church which should not be missed is the "Saint Barbara Polyptych" by Jacopo Palma il Vecchio (1523 ca.), located in the chapel of the Scuola dei Bombardieri, the piece of art that first gave recognization to the artist's name within the city. Opposite it, hangs Leandro Bassano's sombre "Last Supper" (end of the XVI century), whilst in the chapel of the Conception we are find the famous "Triptych of Virgin Mary of Mercy" (1473), which reveals the clear influence of the Mantegna style on Murano artist Bartolomeo Vivarini. While in the Oratory we were delighted with the painting “The Madonna with Child and St. Dominic” by Giambattista Tiepolo...

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The Venetian term “mascaron” indicates stone figures with monstrous and grotesque features, inserted on the keystones of portals, wells or bridges, for ornamental and superstitious use. The ancient function of the “mascarons” with frightening sneers or monstrous features, half human and half beast, carved in the facades of palaces and churches, was to scare away the evil demons or even the devil. In particular, the sacred places were equipped with stone guardians often placed near the bell towers so that they could guard against the evil presences that, attracted by the sound of the bells, would create havoc among the population. One of the most famous mascarons is certainly the one that decorates the entrance portal of the bell tower of Santa Maria Formosa, known as “El Mascaron”. Its purpose was to frighten the devil but surely it succeeded in scaring the English writer John Ruskin, author of the beautiful book “The Stones of Venice”, who described it in this way: “a head – huge, inhuman and monstrous – leering in bestial degradation, too foul to be either pictured or described, or to be beheld for more than an instant…..” “El Mascaron” at first sight is undoubtedly impressive. Observing with care the traits of the monstrosity, in the end the thought runs more towards the terrible malformation that struck this unfortunate person, rather than to a form of wickedness where the external ugliness plays to raise the sense of terror. Isn’t it true that behind such inclemency on the part of “Mother Nature” hid the purity and the soul’s generosity of Quasimodo? Curiosity: even now in Venice, when you see a woman using too much make-up, so much so that she looks like a mask, you say “par...

Nota come Santa Maria Formosa, la chiesa della purificazione di Maria occupa una vasta porzione dell'estesissimo omonimo campo, potendo offrire allo sguardo dei viandanti veneziani e non due eleganti facciate realizzate in stili affatto diversi tra loro e un bel campanile che svetta imperioso verso l'azzurro cielo. L'interno, la cui visita costituisce gioia e gaudio artistico per gli amanti delle decorazioni pittoriche in cui il sacro è eletto a motivo di elevato sentimento religioso, costituisce uno dei maggiori vanti per l'associazione Chorus che ne cura la fruibilità per tutti coloro che amano le chiese veneziane. Il viandante di turno resta folgorato in estasiata ammirazione del polittico di Palma il vecchio le cui sei figure sono racchiuse all'interno di una monumentale struttura marmorea. Il quattrocentesco trittico del Vivarini che narra le storie della Vergine con al centro raffigurata la Madonna della misericordia, costituisce uno dei massimi vertici pittorici dell'artista muranese. L'ultima cena di Leandro Bassano fa della circolarità della composizione pittorica la forma in cui ruota l'intera azione convergente verso il centro. Il viandante, apparentemente pago di una visione superficiale delle opere d'arte, completa il giro delle cappelle rinnovando gli sguardi sul colore accesso che gli artisti hanno inteso profondere sulle composizioni. Poiché il fine dell'artista è accendere una piccola fiamma in colui che ammira...