Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
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Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. One of the greatest churches in the city, it has the status of a minor basilica
Minor basilica
Minor basilica is a title given to some Roman Catholic churches. By canon law no Catholic church can be honoured with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom....
. It stands on the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo
San Polo
San Polo is the smallest of the six sestieri of Venice, northern Italy, covering 86 acres along the Grand Canal. It is one of the oldest parts of the city, having been settled before the ninth century, when it and San Marco formed part of the Realtine Islands...
district. The church is dedicated to the Assumption
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
(Italian: Assunzione della Beata Virgine).
The Franciscans were granted land to build a church in 1250, but the building was not completed until 1338. Work almost immediately began on its much larger replacement, the current church, which took over a century to build. The campanile
Campanile
Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
, the second tallest in the city after that of San Marco, was completed in 1396.
The imposing edifice is built of brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
, and is one of the city's three notable churches built in the Italian Gothic
Italian Gothic architecture
The Gothic architecture appeared in Italy in the 12th century. Italian Gothic always maintained peculiar characteristic which differentiated its evolution from that in France, where it had originated, and in other European countries...
style. As with many Venetian churches, the exterior is rather plain. The interior contains the only rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
still in place in Venice.
The Frari is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Polo-Santa Croce-Dorsoduro. The other churches of the parish are San Barnaba, San Ludovico Vescovo, Santa Maria del Soccorso and Santa Margherita.
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490[1] – 27 August 1576[2] better known as Titian ( /ˈtɪʃən/) - the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school of painting - is interred in the Frari.
Works of art
- Giovanni BelliniGiovanni BelliniGiovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini, and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it...
, Madonna and Child with SS Nicholas of Bari, Peter, Mark and Benedict, the sacristy altarpiece - Bartolomeo BonBartolomeo BonBartolomeo Bon was an Italian sculptor and architect from Campione d'Italia.Together with his father Giovanni, he worked in Venice: they finished the decoration of the famous Gothic Ca' d'Oro and the marble door of the Basilica di Santa Maria dei Frari...
's workshop, figures of the Virgin and St Francis on the west front - Antonio and Paolo Bregno, tomb of Doge Francesco FoscariFrancesco FoscariFrancesco Foscari was doge of Venice from 1423 to 1457, at the inception of the Italian Renaissance.-Biography:Foscari, of an ancient noble family, served the Republic of Venice in numerous official capacities—as ambassador, president of the Forty, member of the Council of Ten, inquisitor,...
in the chancel (attributed; may actually be by Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino) - Lorenzo Bregno
- tomb of Benedetto Pésaro above the sacristy door
- tomb of Alvise Pasqualino on the west wall
- Girolamo CampagnaGirolamo CampagnaGirolamo Campagna was a Northern Italian sculptor.Born in Verona, he studied under Jacopo Sansovino and Danese Cattaneo, and completed many of the latter's works. He was responsible for the figure of Doge Leonardo Loredano on the tomb which Cattaneo made in Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice...
, statuettes of St Anthony of Padua and St Agnes on the water stoups in the nave - Marco Cozzi, choir stalls in ritual choir
- DonatelloDonatelloDonato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...
, figure of St John the Baptist in the first south choir chapel, Donatello's first documented work in Venice - Tullio Lombardo, tomb of Pietro Bernardo on the west wall (attributed; may actually be by Giovanni Buora)
- Antonio RizzoAntonio RizzoAntonio Rizzo is an Italian footballer who plays for Ravenna at Lega Pro Prima Divisione.-Early career:Rizzo started his career at A.S. Roma. He joined Serie C2 side Gubbio in co-ownership deal. In summer 2003, he joined Serie B side Fiorentina who promoted from Serie C2 in co-ownership for €77,500...
, tomb of Doge Niccolò Tron in the chancel - Jacopo SansovinoJacopo SansovinoJacopo d'Antonio Sansovino was an Italian sculptor and architect, known best for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. Andrea Palladio, in the Preface to his Quattro Libri was of the opinion that Sansovino's Biblioteca Marciana was the best building erected since Antiquity...
, damaged figure of St John the Baptist on the font in the Corner Chapel - TitianTitianTiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
- AssumptionAssumption of the Virgin (Titian)Assumption of the Virgin is a large oil painting by Italian Renaissance artist Titian, executed in 1516-1518. It is located on the high altar in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, being the largest altarpiece in the city.-History:...
, the altarpiece of the high altar and the largest altarpiece in Venice - Pesaro MadonnaPesaro MadonnaThe Pesaro Madonna is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Titian, commissioned by Jacopo Pesaro, whose family acquired in 1518 the chapel in the Frari Basilica in Venice for which the work was painted, and where it remains today...
on the north wall of the nave
- Assumption
- Paolo VenezianoPaolo VenezianoPaolo Veneziano, also Veneziano Paolo or Paolo da Venezia was a medieval painter from Venice. He has been called "the most important Venetian painter of the 14thcentury"....
, Doge Francesco Dandolo and His Wife Presented to the Virgin by SS Francis and Elizabeth in the sacristy - Alessandro VittoriaAlessandro VittoriaAlessandro Vittoria was an Italian Mannerist sculptor of the Venetian school, "one of the main representatives of the Venetian classical style" and rivalling Giambologna as the foremost sculptors of the late 16th century in Italy....
- figure of The Risen Christ on the west front
- figure of St Jerome on the south wall of the nave
- Alvise VivariniAlvise VivariniAlvise or Luigi Vivarini, , was an Italian painter, the leading Venetian artist before Giovanni Bellini. Like Bellini, he was part of a dynasty of painters. His father was Antonio Vivarini and his uncle, with whom he may have trained, was Bartolomeo Vivarini...
, St Ambrose and other Saints in the north transept chapel, his last work - Bartolomeo Vivarini
- St. Mark Enthroned in the Capella Corner in the north transept
- Madonna and Child with Saints, altarpiece in the third south choir chapel
Funerary monuments
- Francesco BarbaroFrancesco BarbaroFrancesco Barbaro was an Italian politician, diplomat, and humanist from Venice, a member of the patrician Barbaro family. He is interred in the Church of the Frari, Venice.- Family :...
(1390–1454) humanist and senator. - Pietro Bernardo (d.1538) (senator)
- Antonio CanovaAntonio CanovaAntonio Canova was an Italian sculptor from the Republic of Venice who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh...
(only his heart is buried here; the tomb, realised by his disciples, is based on the drawing of Canova himself for an unrealised tomb for TitianTitianTiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
) - Federico Corner
- DogeDoge of VeniceThe Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
Francesco DandoloFrancesco DandoloFrancesco Dandolo was the 52nd Doge of Venice. He ruled from 1329 to 1339. During his reign Venice began its policy of extending its territory on the Italian mainland.- Family :...
(in the chapter house) - Doge Francesco FoscariFrancesco FoscariFrancesco Foscari was doge of Venice from 1423 to 1457, at the inception of the Italian Renaissance.-Biography:Foscari, of an ancient noble family, served the Republic of Venice in numerous official capacities—as ambassador, president of the Forty, member of the Council of Ten, inquisitor,...
(d.1457) - Jacopo Marcello
- Claudio MonteverdiClaudio MonteverdiClaudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
one of the greatest composers of the 17th Century - Beato Pacifico (founder of the current church)
- Alvise Pasqualino (d.1528) (Procurator of Venice)
- Benedetto Pésaro (d.1503) (general)
- Doge Giovanni PesaroGiovanni PesaroGiovanni Pesaro was the 103rd Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on April 8, 1658 until his death. The Cretan War was ongoing for the entirety of his brief reign....
- Bishop Jacopo Pésaro (d.1547)
- Paolo Savelli (condottiere) (the first Venetian monument to include an equestrian statue)
- TitianTitianTiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
(d. 1576) - Melchiorre Trevisan (d.1500) (general)
- Doge Niccolò Tron