San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti is an ancient church 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, M ...

of Castello,

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

, northern

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 re ...

, with a facade facing a Rio of the same name. It now serves as the

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of the Civic Hospital of Venice.

History

By 1224, a hospital for

lepers Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

, dedicated to St Lazarus, patron saint of those afflicted with the disease, was found adjacent to the church of San Trovaso in the sestiere of

Dorsoduro Dorsoduro is one of the six sestieri of Venice, in northern Italy. Dorsoduro includes the highest land areas of the city and also Giudecca island and Isola Sacca Fisola. Its name derives from the Italian for "hard ridge", due to its comparati ...

. In 1262, a

Leper Colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

was quarantined to an island in the Lagoon, then called Isola di San Lazzaro. In 1500, funds left over after the construction of the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, were allocated to build an adjacent leper Hospital of San Lazaro, ''Ospedale di San Lazaro e dei Mendicanti''. It was one of the four main hospitals (

Ospedali Grandi The four great Venetian Ospedali (Ospedali Grandi, also referred to as the Ospedali Maggiori) - the Ospedale della Pietà, the Ospedale degl'Incurabili, the Ospedale di Santa Maria dei Derelitti, and the Ospedale di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti - were ...

) in Venice. The term ''Mendicanti'' could be derived from two sources: first in 1601, the Mendicant Friars commissioned building of this church from the architect

Vincenzo Scamozzi Vincenzo Scamozzi (2 September 1548 – 7 August 1616) was an Italian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most important figure th ...

. Second, the hospital appears to have served as a shelter for beggars (mendicanti), as well as lepers. The father of

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

taught violin at the music school here from 1689 to 1693. Like the

Ospedale della Pietà The Ospedale della Pietà was a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice. Like other Venetian ''ospedali'', the Pietà was first established as a hospice for the needy. A group of Venetian nuns, called the Consorelle di Santa Maria dell’Um ...

, it took in abandoned girls who studied music and were trained to sing and play. The church still has a metal grille behind which the orphan girls (''figlie del coro'' in Italian) sang. For this church, the composer

Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...

wrote the oratorios '' Sisara'' (based on story of

Sisera Sisera ( he, סִיסְרָא ''Sîsərā'') was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor, who is mentioned in of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by the forces of the Israelite tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali under the comm ...

1793), ''

Tobiae matrimonium ''Tobiae matrimonium, actio sacra pro filiabus chori S. Lazari'' is a 1794 oratorio by Simon Mayr to a Latin libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa Giuseppe Maria Foppa (Venice, 12 July 1760 – Venice, 1 March 1845) was an Italian librettist. He wrote ...

'' (1794) and ''

David in spelunca Engaddi ''David in spelunca Engaddi'' (“David in the Cave of Engedi”) is a 1795 oratorio by Simon Mayr. The librettist is unknown, but is possibly Giuseppe Maria Foppa Giuseppe Maria Foppa ( Venice, 12 July 1760 – Venice, 1 March 1845) was an Ita ...

'' (1795).

Description

Completed by 1631, the nave has no flanking aisles, but does have choir galleries. Scamozzi also designed the cloister of the adjacent hospital. The canal-facing facade, designed by Antonio Sardi, was not completed until 1673 by his son

Giuseppe Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

. The south side of the bell-tower has a sundial. In the interior, the right wall, is a ''Crucifixion'' and ''Virgin and St John'' by

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian chees ...

, and in the second altar is a ''

Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...

and the 11 thousand Virgins'' by

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 with ...

. The church contains the ornate funeral monument, completed by

Sardi The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) is the principal research institute of the Government of South Australia, with a network of research centres, laboratories and field sites both in metropolitan Adelaide and through ...

, and dedicated to the condottiero Tommaso Alvise Mocenigo, represented as the admiral who died defending the then-Venetian Candia (

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

) from the Ottomans in 1654, during the

Cretan War (1645–1669) The Cretan War ( el, Κρητικός Πόλεμος, tr, Girit'in Fethi), also known as the War of Candia ( it, Guerra di Candia) or the Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice and her allies (chief among ...

. Other funeral monuments were designed by

Baldassare Longhena Baldassare Longhena (1598 – 18 February 1682) was an Italian architect, who worked mainly in Venice, where he was one of the greatest exponents of Baroque architecture of the period. Biography Born in Venice, Longhena studied under the architec ...

. The church also has a funeral monument for a member of the Rezzonico family. The interior decoration (1634–37) was designed by Francesco Contin.

Sources

*Derived from Italian Wikipedia entry.
Churches of Venice Website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazzaro dei Mendicanti Roman Catholic churches in Venice 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Baroque architecture in Venice Religious buildings and structures completed in 1631 1224 establishments in Europe 1631 establishments in Italy 13th-century establishments in the Republic of Venice