Santa Maria Formosa

Venice, Italy

Santa Maria Formosa was erected in 1492 under the design by Renaissance architect Mauro Codussi. It lies on the site of a former church dating from the 7th century, which, according to tradition, was one of the eight founded by San Magno, bishop of Oderzo. The name 'formosa' relates to an alleged appearance of the Holy Virgin disguised as a voluptuous woman.

The plan is on the Latin cross, with a nave and two aisles. The two façades were commissioned in 1542, the Renaissance-style one facing the channel, and 1604, the Baroque one facing the nearby square.

The artworks in the interior include the St. Barbara polyptych by Palma the Elder, one of his most celebrated works. The Conception Chapel houses a triptych of Madonna of Misericordia by Bartolomeo Vivarini (1473), while in the Oratory is the Madonna with Child and St. Dominic by Giambattista Tiepolo (18th century). There is also a Last Supper by Leandro Bassano.

The dome of the church was rebuilt in after falling during an earthquake in 1688.

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Address

Castello 5255, Venice, Italy
See all sites in Venice

Details

Founded: 1492
Category: Religious sites in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Michael Finnegan (9 months ago)
Amazing food, amazing service, great atmosphere and very kind staff. Made for a great family meal in Venice - great selection of both food and wine.
e tradecom (e-tradecom) (2 years ago)
Nice church and the entrance is not the one next to the canal. You can get a city museum church pass for this and other famous ones like Doge Palace… the ceiling is a bit plain compared to others, but I like the Last Supper painting. You get a guide from the church ticket office in multiple languages.
Hana Neua (2 years ago)
Beautiful church. Is accessible by chorus card. chorus card is recommendable if u like churches plan to visit more than four from chorus card list. U can also visit palazzo grimani and acqua alta bookshop and fond.querini stampalia near here
Cody P (2 years ago)
We only poked our heads inside the church for just a minute, but the outside is certainly a wonder to behold. The church offers wonderful pictures from multiple angles.
József Böröndi (2 years ago)
Nagyon szép templom! The Venetian term “mascaron” indicates stone figures with monstrous and grotesque features, inserted on the keystones of portals, wells or bridges, for ornamental and superstitious use. The ancient function of the “mascarons” with frightening sneers or monstrous features, half human and half beast, carved in the facades of palaces and churches, was to scare away the evil demons or even the devil. In particular, the sacred places were equipped with stone guardians often placed near the bell towers so that they could guard against the evil presences that, attracted by the sound of the bells, would create havoc among the population. One of the most famous mascarons is certainly the one that decorates the entrance portal of the bell tower of Santa Maria Formosa, known as “El Mascaron”. Its purpose was to frighten the devil but surely it succeeded in scaring the English writer John Ruskin, author of the beautiful book “The Stones of Venice”, who described it in this way: “a head – huge, inhuman and monstrous – leering in bestial degradation, too foul to be either pictured or described, or to be beheld for more than an instant…..” “El Mascaron” at first sight is undoubtedly impressive. Observing with care the traits of the monstrosity, in the end the thought runs more towards the terrible malformation that struck this unfortunate person, rather than to a form of wickedness where the external ugliness plays to raise the sense of terror. Isn’t it true that behind such inclemency on the part of “Mother Nature” hid the purity and the soul’s generosity of Quasimodo? Curiosity: even now in Venice, when you see a woman using too much make-up, so much so that she looks like a mask, you say “par un mascaron”.
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