The Scuole Piccole of Venice are

confraternities A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most ...

in the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. Unlike the more famous ''

Scuole Grandi The Scuole Grandi (literally 'Great Schools', plural of ) were confraternity or sodality institutions in Venice, Italy. They were founded as early as the 13th century as charitable and religious organizations for the laity. These institutions had ...

'', membership in them was not restricted to citizens and indeed some of them were formed specifically for foreigners. Most ''Scuole'', the ''scolae communes'', were devoted to a particular saint or devotional cult, but some, the ''scuole delle arti'', were associated with specific crafts or

trade guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

, and often obligatory for the members of that trade. The confraternities were officially divided into ''Piccole'' 'small' and ''Grandi'' 'great' in 1467. By the fall of the Republic, there were 925 ''scuole piccole''."The Scuole", ''The Churches of Venice''

/ref> Almost all scuole, ''grandi'' and ''piccoli'', were suppressed by

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

, the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

Viceroy of Italy, in 1806–1807. Besides commissioning some artworks for their own meeting houses—though not on the scale of the ''Scuole Grandi''—many ''scuole'' also donated

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

s to churches.Peter Humfrey, "Competitive Devotions: The Venetian ''Scuole Piccole'' as Donors of Altarpieces in the Years around 1500", ''The Art Bulletin'' 70:3:401-423, Some ''Scuole Piccoli'' had dedicated meeting houses; many did not, and met in parish or conventual churches. Some of the meeting places of these confraternities have been preserved.

List

* Scuola degli Albanesi *

Scuola dei Greci The Scuola dei Greci (literally, ''School of the Greeks'') was the confraternity of the Greek community in Venice. Its members were primarily Greeks, but also included Serbs. History The '' Scuole Piccole'' were confraternities located in Ven ...

* Scuola dei Mercanti *

Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni The Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice, northern Italy, was one of the city's confraternity, confraternities, a Scuole Piccole of Venice, scuola piccola located in the sestiere (neighborhood) of Castello, Venice. Its building has bee ...

* Scuola di Sant'Orsola

Bibliography

* Richard MacKenney, "The Scuole Piccole of Venice: Formations and Transformations", in Nicholas Terpstra, ed., ''The Politics of Ritual Kinship: Confraternities and Social Order in Early Modern Italy'', 2000, , p. 172 * Associazione Culturale Venezia Arte, Cultura e Turismo, "Scuole Grandi and Scuole Piccoli in Venice"

* Jonathan Glixon, ''Honoring God and the city: music at the Venetian confraternities, 1260-1807'', 2002,

Notes

Confraternities Buildings and structures in Venice Republic of Venice {{Italy-hist-stub