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 Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

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 ...

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, ገብር� ...

during the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

), 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 Giuseppe Sardi (1680 – documented until 1768) was an Italian architect active in Rome. He was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche which was then part of the Papal States. Known primarily for his church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Marino o ...

for Admiral Antonio Barbaro 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,

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 the ...

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 Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

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, enterta ...

. His own statue, as the chief benefactor, in the center, sculpted by

Josse de Corte 250px, ''Queen of Heaven expelling the Plague'', Main altar, Salute Josse de Corte (1627–1679) was a Baroque Flemish sculptor, born in Ypres, but mainly active in Venice after 1657. History He is also known as ''Giusto Le Court'' ''Giusto Co ...

, 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 Antonio Zanchi (; 6 December 1631 – 12 April 1722) was an Italian painter of the Baroque, active mainly in Venice, but his prolific works can also be seen in Padova, Treviso, Rovigo, Verona, Vicenza, Loreto, Brescia, Milano, and Bergamo, a ...

. 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 Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

'' by various artists, including

Francesco Zugno Francesco Zugno ( c. 1708–1787) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period who had a successful career in Venice. Life Francesco Zugno was born in Venice in 1709 and probably died there in 1787. The Zugno were an ancient Venetian family and ...

, Gianbattista Crosato,

Gaspare Diziani Gaspare Diziani (1689 – 17 August 1767) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque or Roccoco period, active mainly in the Veneto but also in Dresden and Munich. The artist's canvas is the largest painting of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersb ...

, 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 traditio ...

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. The altar has flanking statues depicting the ''Annuciation'' by

Heinrich Meyring Heinrich Meyring/ Heinrich Meiering (1628 – 11 February 1723) was a German sculptor, active mainly in Venice and the Veneto. He is also known as ''Enrico Merengo'' or ''Arrigo Merengo''. Meyring was born in Rheine, Westphalia. He is cons ...

. 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 with ...

. 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 Giamb ...

. 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 Cortonesqu ...

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 Giovanni Maria Morlaiter (15 February 1699 – 22 February 1781) was an Italian sculptor of the Rococo or late-Baroque, active mainly in his native Venice. Biography Almost all the sculpture in the church of the Gesuati, Venice is the work of M ...

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 existed ...

'' 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 her ...

; 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 ''Across the River and Into the Trees'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1950, after first being serialized in ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine earlier that year. The title is derived from the last ...

''. 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