Not far from the train station and Piazzale Roma are some of the most imposing and masterpiece-rich buildings in all of Venice: the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and-a few steps from its apses-the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. This was once a suburban area devoted to wool processing, trades of which numerous nizioleti still tell us: Campo de la Lana, Rio dei Garzoti, Calle Sechera, Chiovere and others.
Basilica of the Frari
The bulk of the fourteenth-century Basilica dei Frari spans a length of one hundred and four meters and is one of the most genuine examples of Italian Gothic; the dizzying height, characteristic of this style, is balanced by a particularly wide hall, and the tall trefoil windows apparently served as a model for the external loggias of the Doge’s Palace. Like any Franciscan building, the basilica appears sober and does not show off marbles or mosaics. Of surprising richness, however, is the interior: a veritable treasure chest of sculptural and pictorial works.
Among its aisles and in the apsidal chapels we can see some of the most significant pictorial masterpieces of the Venetian 16th century (not only the two works by Titian but we also find Vivarini and Giovanni Bellini), sculptures by Sansovino and Donatello, the structure of the historiated wooden choir reserved for the monks and contained in a marble structure-a unique example in the city-and the sumptuous funerary monuments of doges and artists.
Great School of San Rocco
Leaving the church and walking along its left side along its entire length, one reaches the San Rocco Complex which, unlike the Frari, dazzles with the opulence of its marbles. The Scuola Grande – home to the largest of the Venetian confraternities – dominates the field with its sumptuous 15th-century facade, but it is but a prelude to what will be seen inside.
It is rightly nicknamed “Tintoretto’s Sistine Chapel,” because he was entrusted-not always limpidly and correctly-with the entire painted decoration. The huge chapter house contains one of the richest and most complex pictorial cycles in the city, not to mention the Hall of the Hotel, which houses-among others-the grandiose Crucifixion.
At San Rocco, Tintoretto-the greatest Venetian painter of the late 16th century-completed his definitive masterpiece, which cost him decades of intensive work and represented his personal and profound theological interpretation in images. Absolutely not to be missed are the strange-and at times disturbing-wood carvings by Francesco Pianta that decorate the stalls reserved for the brethren.
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