The Church of San Francesco della Vigna

The San Francesco della Vigna by Canaletto, private collection

The San Francesco della Vigna is located in the Castello district, a short distance from the Celestia ferry stop on the Fondamente Nuove.

According to legend, Saint Mark took refuge from a storm on the site of this church. During his stay he witnessed a vision of the future greatness of Venice in which it was prophesised that he would become the city's patron saint.

The first church on the site was constructed by Franciscan friars in the mid-13^th century.

By 1534 it was in urgent need of repair and Jacopo Sansovino, the architect of the Libreria Marciana in the Piazza San Marco, was commissioned to rebuild it. 

Sansovino designed a church which was harmoniously proportioned according to the strict mathematical principles of renaissance architecture.

The San Francesco della Vigna was the first renaissance church constructed in Venice and was completed in 1554.

The facade was added fifteen years later by Andrea Palladio. Palladio solved the problem of how to incorporate the nave and aisles within one unified facade by covering the former with a grand pediment and the latter with two symmetrical half-pediments.

Palladio later used the same technique when designing the facade of the San Giorgio Maggiore on the island of Giudecca.

The single nave of the church  is bordered by a series of magnificent funerary chapels which commemorate the families who financed the reconstruction of the church.

The Gritti, who were largest contributors, were rewarded with two splendid tombs on either side of the altar.

One of the chapels, dedicated to St. Jerome, is decorated with a series of early 16th century marble bas-reliefs of biblical prophets carved by Tullio and Pietro Lombardo.

The funerary chapel of the Sagredo family contains frescos by Giambattista Tiepolo which depict the Four Evanglists and various allegorical virtues. The Sagredi were a typical patrician family seeking to enhance their status through artistic patronage.

The church also houses paintings by Veronese, Giorgione and Giovanni Bellini amongst others. Its most famous picture is the "Madonna and Child" by the Franciscan friar, Antonio Falier da Negroponte.

 

The Madonna and Child by Antonio Falier da Negroponte, San Francesco della Vigna, Venice

This painting, which depicts the Virgin praying for spiritual guidance, combines a renaissance composition with a typically golden Byzantine palette.

The canvass is stitched with embroidered cloth which sparkles when illuminated from above. However, the painting can only be seen in all its glory if a coin is inserted in an adjacent meter.

The site of the church was once a vineyard. The monks still cultivate some vines in a closed cloister.

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