The Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, known in Venetian as San Zanipolo, is a church in the
Castello ''sestiere'' of
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.
One of the largest churches in the city, it has the status of a
minor basilica
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...
. After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice's
doges were held here, and twenty-five doges are buried in the church.
Description
The huge brick edifice was designed in the
Italian Gothic style, and completed in the 1430s. It is the principal
Dominican church of Venice, and as such was built to hold large congregations. It is dedicated to
John and Paul
John and Paul ( Latin: ''Ioannes, Paulus'') are saints who lived during the fourth century in the Roman Empire. They were martyred at Rome on 26 June. The year of their martyrdom is uncertain according to their ''Acts''; it occurred under Juli ...
, not the Biblical Apostles of the same names, but two obscure martyrs of the Early Christian church in Rome, whose names were recorded in the 4th century but whose legend is of a later date.
In 1246, Doge
Jacopo Tiepolo donated some swampland to the Dominicans after dreaming of a flock of white doves flying over it. The first church was demolished in 1333, when the current church was begun. It was not completed until 1430.
The vast interior contains many funerary monuments and paintings, as well as the ''
Madonna della Pace'', a miraculous
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
image situated in its own chapel in the south aisle, and a foot of
Saint Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena ( Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church. ...
, the church's chief
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
.
Santi Giovanni e Paolo is a parish church of the
Vicariate of San Marco-Castello. Other churches of the parish are
San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, the
Ospedaletto and the
Beata Vergine Addolorata.
The Renaissance
Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (1483), by
Andrea del Verrocchio
Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a sculptor, Italian painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...
, is located next to the church.
The belltower has 3 bells in D major.
Exterior of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) from Campo San Zanipolo.jpg, The facade of Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
Exterior of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Campanile a vela.jpg, Bel-gable
Santi Giovanni e Paolo Venice interior 01.jpg, Interior of the church.
Veneto Venezia5 tango7174.jpg, Chapel of the Rosary.
Notable artists
*
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his fath ...
(''
Saint Vincent Ferrer Altarpiece'' in the south aisle)
*
Bartolomeo Bon
Bartolomeo Bon (also spelled Buon; died after 1464) was an Italian sculptor and architect from Campione d'Italia. His career spans the transition between Venetian Gothic architecture and the rather late start of Venetian Renaissance architecture. ...
(the great west doorway)
*
Cima da Conegliano or
Giovanni Martini da Udine (''Coronation of the Virgin'' in the south transept)
*
Lorenzo Gramiccia (''Madonna del Rosario'' in Capella di Trinita)
*
Piero di Niccolò Lamberti and
Giovanni di Martino (tomb of Doge Tommaso Mocenigo in the north aisle)
*
Gregorio Lazzarini (sala S. Tommaso)
*
Pietro Lombardo
Monument of the Doge Pietro Mocenigo 1481
:''Pietro Lombardo is also the Italian version of the name of the theologian Peter Lombard.''
Pietro Lombardo (1435–1515) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect; born in Carona (Ticino), he ...
(tombs of on the west wall and Doges Pasquale Malipiero and Nicolo Marcello in the north aisle; tomb of Alvise Diedo in the south aisle)
*
Tullio Lombardo ( and
Alessandro Leopardo?) ( on the north wall of the choir)
*
Lorenzo Lotto
Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpieces, religiou ...
(''
St Antoninus Giving Alms'' in the south transept)
*
Rocco Marconi (''Christ between SS Peter and Andrew'' in the south transept)
*
Giuseppe Maria Mazza
Giuseppe Maria Mazza (13 May 1653 – 6 June 1741) was one of the leading sculptors of Bologna, Italy, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was trained as a painter, but is best known for his fine sculptural work in terracotta and stucco ...
(five large bronze reliefs depicting the miracles of
Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scienti ...
in the Chapel of San Dominico)
*
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (''St Dominic in Glory'' on the ceiling of the Capella di San Domenico)
*
Alvise Tagliapietra, reliefs in the Chapel of the Rosary
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his fath ...
(''SS Vincent Ferrer, Christopher and Sebastian'')
Facade of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Portal.jpg,
(the great west doorway)
Right transept of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Cima da conegliano, incoronazione della vergine.jpg,
''Coronation of the Virgin''
Trinity Chapel Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Madona del Rosario Lorenzo Gramiccia (XVIIIe seconda metà).jpg,
''Madonna del Rosario''
Interior of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Monumento del doge Tommaso Mocenigo - Pietro Lamberti e Giovanni di Martino da Fiesole.jpg,
tomb of Tommaso Mocenigo
Right transept of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - Christ between Sts Peter and Andrew by Rocco Marconi.jpg,
''Christ between SS Peter and Andrew''
Interior of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - The Glory of St. Dominic by Piazzetta.jpg,
(''The Assumption'', ''The Annunciation'' and ''The Adoration of the Magi'' on the ceiling of the Capella del Rosario; ''The Adoration of the Shepherds'' in the Capella del Rosario). The famous ''
.
*
;The Capella del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary)
:Built in 1582 to commemorate the victory of
'') and Giovanni Bellini, among others, but they were destroyed in a fire in 1867 attributed to anti-Catholic arsonists.
were held in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Twenty-five doges are buried in the church, including:
*
(d. 1249)
*
(d. 1253)
*
(d. 1268)
*
(d. 1275)
*
(d. 1361)
*
(d. 1368)