VENICE: SCUOLA GRANDE OF SAINT ROCH

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ARCHBROTHERHOOD OF THE SCUOLA GRANDE OF SAINT ROCH

The Scuole in Venice were lay brotherhoods under the patronage of a Saint protector, striving towards penitence and devotion (Battuti Schools) or taking care of the interests of single arts or professions, or they were associations for foreign workers in town who needed assistance and to find a job. In 1400 the Scuole were divided into Scuole Grandi (St. Roch, St. Mary of Charity, St. Mark, St. Theodore, St. John the Evangelist and the Misericordia) and Scuole Minori, totalling about four hundred. Only few of them had a church and a seat of their own. Some Scuole still exist nowadays.

THE SCUOLA GRANDE OF SAINT ROCH AND CHURCH OF SAINT ROCH

The Archbrotherhood of the Scuola Grande of Saint Roch , recognized by the Council of Ten of the Republic of Venice in 1478 with its seat in St. Giuliano, then incorporated with another similar association near the Church of the Frati Minor (Frari), first moved to St. Silvestro and found its new definitive seat at the beginning of the 16th century.

It is the only brotherhood to have been spared by Napoleonic edicts and has continued its activity without interruptions up till modern times. It now counts about 350 capitular Brothers (women among them) who assemble in a General Council once a year under the guide of a Chancelry including the Guardian Grando, the Vicario, the Guardian da Matin, the Chancellor and eleven members.

THE GREAT UPPER HALL - TINTORETTO

The Archbrotherhood`s buildings are the Scuola Grande (visits upon payment), a monumental building dating back to the 16th century, the Church (free entrance) built at the end of the 15th century and reconstructed in the 18th century, and the Scoletta, which was the first seat of the Brotherhood built at the same time as the Church, and now open only on particular occasions.

Saint Roch was born in Montpellier in 1295 of a noble family and after studying medicine for a short period, he left all his riches to depart at the age of twenty as a pilgrim for Italy in order to help the plague-stricken at Acquapendente, Rome, Rimini, Cesena, Forli and in the end at Piacenza, where he fell sick himself; he recovered miraculously with the help of a dog who took bread to him in the forest. He returned to Montpellier but was not recognised by his family and he died in jail in 1327 aged only thirty-two. His deeds and goodness earned him veneration in France immediately and he was called upon as a protector against the pestilence which was raging through Europe. His cult was particulary felt in Venice, where his body was brought in 1485 and laid to rest in the church of the Archbrotherhood in 1520. After the great plague in 1576 he was proclaimed co-patron of the city and his Church become a place of pilgrimage every year for the Doge and the Nobles besides crowds of believers. Even nowadays, the 16th of August festivity is celebrated solemnly and a canopy called "Tendon del Doge" (the Doge`s canopy) is erected in St. Roch`s square between the Church and the Scuola.

THE SCUOLA GRANDE OF SAINT ROCH - INTERIOR

www.scuolagrandesanrocco.it

SCUOLA GRANDE OF SAINT ROCH

The building was started in 1515 by Bartolomeo Bon to whom we the ground floor. His work was continued by Sante Lombardo and after 1527 by Antonio Scarpagnino who finished the upper part and harmonised the facade with double rows of pillars. Following his death in 1549, the finishing details were executed by Giangiacomo dei Grigi.

THE GREAT UPPER HALL - TINTORETTO

The interior, two great halls plus a smaller one on the first floor called dell` Albergo, represented the typical structure of a Venetian Scuola, whose spaces were for Brotherhood and religious assemblies. The walls of these halls and the ceilings of those on the upper floor are completely covered by Tintoretto canavases (1518 - 1594). A Brother at the Scuola, he decorated the Albergo Hall from 1564 to 1567, went on with the Upper Hall from 1575 to 1581 and ended up his work with the Lower Hall from 1583 to 1587. All Tintoretto`s paintings are listed at the side here. Some other paintings by Titian, Tiepolo, Giorgione and Tintoretto himself displayed on easels are also noteworthy, besides Giovanni Marchiori`s dossals (1743) and the wooden sculptures by Francesco Pianta (17th century). On the great staircase, there are canvases by Pietro Negri (1673) and Antonio Zanchi (1666).

GROUND FLOOR HALL

The Annunciation
The Adoration of the three Magi
The Flight into Egypt
The Slaughter of the Innocents
St. Mary Magdalen
St. Mary of Egypt
The Presentation in the Temple
The Assumption

The Annunciation (1583 - 1587)

The Adoration of the three Magi (1582)

The Flight into Egypt (1582 - 1587)

The Slaughter of the Innocents (1582 - 1587)

St. Mary Magdalen (1582 - 1587)

St. Mary of Egypt (1582 - 1587)

The Presentation in the Temple (ca 1587)

The Assumption (1582 - 1597)

THE GREAT UPPER HALL

St. Sebastian
St. Roch
Adam and Eve
Moses saved from the waters
The three children in the furnace
Adoration of the shepherds
Christ tempted by Satan
Moses strikes water from the rocks
The pillar of fire
God appears to Moses
The baptism
Christ heals the paralytic
Jonah emerges from the whale
Sampson brings out water from the jawbone of an ass
Samuel and Saul
The miracle of the bronze serpent
Jacob`s ladder
The vision of the Prophet Ezekiel
The resurrection
The ascension
The sacrifice of Isaac
The fall of manna in the desert
Elijah on the chariot of fire
The vision of Jeremiah
Elijah is fed by the angels
Elisha distributes bread
Agony in the garden
The resurrection of Lazarus
The Passover
Daniel saved by angels
Abraham and Melchizedeck
The last supper
Multiplication of bread and fishes
The vision of St. Roch

A) Bellini (?), Christ in devotion, B) Tiziano, The Annunciation C) Tintoretto, Visitation
D) Giorgione, Christ carrying the cross E) Tiziano, God and angels F) Domenico Tintoretto, Christ between St. Roch and St. Pantalon G) Tintoretto, Portrait of a man H) Tiepolo, Hagar and Ishmael
I) Tiepolo, Abraham visited by the angels

St. Sebastian

St. Roch

Adam and Eve

Moses saved from the waters

The three children in the furnace

Adoration of the shepherds

Christ tempted by Satan

Moses strikes water from the rocks

The pillar of fire

God appears to Moses

The baptism

Christ heals the paralytic

Jonah emerges from the whale


Sampson brings out water from the jawbone of an ass

Samuel and Saul

The miracle of the bronze serpent

Jacob`s ladder

The vision of the Prophet Ezekiel

The resurrection

The ascension

The sacrifice of Isaac

The fall of manna in the desert

Elijah on the chariot of fire

The vision of Jeremiah

Elijah is fed by the angels

Elisha distributes bread

Agony in the garden

The resurrection of Lazarus

The Passover

Daniel saved by angels

Abraham and Melchizedeck

The last supper

Multiplication of bread and fishes

The vision of St. Roch

A - Bellini (?), Christ in devotion

B - Tiziano, The Annunciation

C - Tintoretto, Visitation

D - Giorgione, Christ carrying the cross

E - Tiziano, God and angels

F - Domenico Tintoretto, Christ between St. Roch and St. Pantalon

G - Tintoretto, Portrait of a man

H - Tiepolo, Hagar and Ishmael

I - Tiepolo, Abraham visited by the angels

THE ALBERGO HALL

The albergo hall

CEILING:

St. Roch in glory
Autumn
Feminine figure
Felicity
Feminine figure
Winter
Liberality
Allegory of the Charity Guild
Hope
Spring
Allegory of St. Mark`s Guild
Allegory of the Misericordia (Mercy) Guild
Allegory of St. John`s Guild
Summer
Faith
Allegory of St. Theodore`s Guild
Kindness

WALLS:

Ascent to Calvary
"Ecce Homo" (The Crowning with thorns)
Christ before Pilate
A prophet
The Crucifixion (monumental)
A prophet

CEILING: