The Church of San Sebastiano

The facade of the San Sebastiano by Scarpagnino

The church of San Sebastiano is located in the Dorsoduro district on the banks of the Rio di San Sebastiano, approximately one hundred metres from its junction with the Canale della Giudecca.

The site was formerly occupied by a hospice established in 1393 by Fra' Angelo, a Corsican friar belonging to the Order of San Girolamo. 

An oratory was added to the hospice in 1396. The oratory was enlarged and transformed into a church between 1455 and 1468.

This church was dedicated to the martyr Saint Sebastian who was the captain of Emperor Diocletian's bodyguard. Saint Sebastian was sentenced to death in 287 AD after he became a Christian and refused to abandon his faith.

Saint Sebastian is commonly depicted tied to a tree and shot with arrows.

The architect Antonio Abbondi, better known as Scarpagnino, was commissioned to redesign the church in 1506. He added a classical facade which adheres to the strict mathematical principles of early renaissance architecture.

He also altered the axis so that the church could be entered from the bridge over the Rio di San Sebastiano which now faces the principal entrance. The alterations were not completed until 1548.

The church, laid out in the form of a Latin cross, possesses a single nave which is preceded by an atrium and choir.

The atrium and choir of the San Sebastiano. Image published under  GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2 or later

The San Sebastiano is notable as the former parish church of Paolo Cagliari, otherwise known as Veronese, who  decorated it with 55 paintings between 1555 and his death in 1588.

The church possesses the most extensive collection of Veronese paintings ever assembled in a single location. For this reason it has been placed under the custodianship of CHORUS, a Venetian foundation dedicated to the conservation and maintenance of exceptional religious monuments.

The ceilings of the sacristy and the nave, chancel, organ panels and high altar are decorated with richly coloured frescos depicting the Coronation of the Virgin and the Four Evangelists.

Several friezes also narrate the story of Esther, the Persian Queen who saved the Jews from persecution. The right wall of the apse is covered by a fresco illustrating the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, and the nave doors depict the Presentation to the Temple.

The Coronation of the Virgin by Veronese, San Sebastiano, Venice

The San Sebastiano is not an art gallery. The paintings are not disparate works conceived in isolation, but were planned as one homogeneous display. The artist cleverly uses the architectural features of the church to create a harmonious unity.

Veronese is buried in the church. His tomb, which bears his coat-of-arms, is located near the entrance to the sacristy beneath a marble effigy of the painter carved by Matteo Cornero.

The church also contains a 16th century altarpiece by Titian depicting Saint Nicholas, and a spectacular monument to Bishop Livio Podacattaro by Jacopo Sansovino.

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