Chapter XXII: Section VII: The Frari--The Scuola and Church of S. Rocco

In the “Speculum Perfectionis” is told how that St Francis on coming to Assisi to hold the Chapter of the Order found there a great edifice of stone and mortar, built by the citizens for the meeting place of the brothers, instead of the rude wattle and daub barn in which they were wont to assemble. And the saint, fearing lest the brothers might be tempted to have similar great houses erected where they sojourned, climbed to the roof with his companions, and began to strip off the tiles and cast them to the ground, being minded to destroy the building to the very foundation, nor did he desist until the soldiers forbade him, declaring it to be the property of the town. Up to Doge Giacomo Tiepolo’s time, as we have seen, the friars minor had no monastery in Venice, but here, as elsewhere, the Franciscans were unable to resist that unquenchable impulse in devoted human souls to raise temples made with hands to the glory of God, and about 1230 or 1240 the great monastery and church of Our Glorious Lady of the Friars were begun. The church was opened for service in 1280, and rebuilt during the second half of the fourteenth century. Santa Maria Gloriosa de’Frari may be reached from the S. Tomà Pier on the Grand Canal. It is the largest church in Venice, and one of the finest Gothic churches in Italy. Vasari attributes the design to Nicolo Pisano. The campanile (1361-1396) was erected by the Massegne. From the tracery of the lower windows in the apse, Ruskin derives the tracery of the arcade in the Ducal Palace, the circle of the quatrefoil falling between the arches when it had to support the wall. Over the Porta de’Frari, leading to the left aisle, is a beautiful relief of the Virgin and two angels and kneeling donors by the Massegne.

The nobility and simplicity of the vast interior remind us of the great friars’ churches in Tuscany and Umbria. Few Doges are buried here, the monuments inside being chiefly to famous soldiers, admirals, statesmen and artists. In the R. aisle is the Titian monument executed in 1852, and on the third altar a fine statue of St Jerome by Aless. Vittoria, said to have been modelled from the figure of Titian when he was 98 years old. On the R. wall of R. transept is the tomb of Jacopo Marcelle (1484) in the style of the Lombardi. To the R. of entrance to the sacristy is the beautiful late Gothic tomb, wrought by a Florentine sculptor, of the Franciscan S. Pacifico (1437), under whom the church was completed.

In the second chapel, R. of the choir, R. wall, is the tomb of the Florentine ambassador, Duccio degli Alberti (1336) by a Tuscan sculptor, noted by Ruskin as the first monument in Venice in which images of the Virtues appear; L. wall, the noble and simple fourteenth-century tomb of an unknown knight, “perfect Gothic form.” In the choir are two important works attributed to Ant. Riccio. R. wall, the ornate monument of Doge Francesco Foscari (pp. 141, 151) (1457); L. wall, the mausoleum of Doge Nicolo Tron (1473). The transition of Gothic to Renaissance is admirably illustrated in these two works. Titian’s Assumption stood formerly over the high altar. L. aisle beyond the baptistery is the Renaissance tomb of Jacopo Pesare (1547). The inscription states that the buried bishop conquered the Turks in war, and was transported from a noble family among the Venetians to a nobler among the angels. The monstrous pile of masonry beyond the Titian altar-piece (p. 195), erected to Doge Giovanni Pesaro (1659) by Melchior Barthel (a German) and Longhena, qualified by Ruskin as a huge accumulation of theatrical scenery in marble, will illustrate even more clearly than the Valier tomb in S. Zanipolo the depths of bad taste to which monumental art had fallen in the seventeenth century.

Turning to the pictures, we note two altar-pieces (1474) by Bart. Vivarini, St Mark enthroned, and a Virgin and Child with Saints. In the third chapel L. of the choir is Alvise’s Apotheosis of St Ambrose. Within the sacristy is treasured Giov. Bellini’s altar-piece, the Virgin and Child with four saints (L., St Nicholas and another; R., SS. Benedict and Bernadine), and two of the most exquisitely charming angels in Venetian art. All the master’s qualities are here in their highest manifestation--maternal tenderness; fervent, grave and virile piety; and the joy of childhood. The picture makes a direct appeal to our finer emotions and the traveller will prefer to remain in silent and reverent appreciation without further intrusion of guide or critic. The Titian altar-piece in the choir screen aisle, painted for Bishop Jacopo Pesaro, affords an admirable contrast to the Bellini. Progress even in art must be paid for. Although perfect in technique, grand in composition, rich in colour, it yet lacks the atmosphere of tranquil devotion of the earlier master. The doughty bishop, who is seen kneeling to the left, had the picture painted to commemorate a small naval victory that he gained when in charge of a papal fleet over the Turks (p. 164). Above is the Virgin and Child to whom St Francis commends the kneeling Pesaro family. At the Virgin’s feet sits St Peter who turns from his reading to look on the donor below. Behind the latter stands a knight in full armour holding in his right hand the papal standard crowned by a sprig of laurel, and grasping in his left hand two Turkish captives in chains. The portraits of the Pesari are in Titian’s most perfect manner. This was a favourite of Sir Joshua Reynolds who describes it at length in “The Journey to Flanders and Holland.” Crossing the bridge opposite the main portal and turning L. we reach the great Monastery now the Record Office of Venice (Archivio Centrale). It contains the most famous collection of state documents in the world. The custodian will admit the traveller to the noble double cloisters. We return to the Porta dei Frari and further to the W. find the Scuola and church of S. Rocco.

Towards the end of the thirteenth century a young noble of Montpellier found himself the master of great possessions, and following the injunctions of Christ sold all that he had and gave it to the poor. He set forth as a pilgrim to Rome and on his way passed plague-stricken cities where he devoted himself to the service of the hospitals and by his tenderness, sympathy and fervent prayers wrought many wondrous cures. At length on his return from Rome he was stricken himself at Piacenza and a horrible ulcer broke out on his thigh. Wishing to spare his fellow-sufferers the sound of his groans he dragged himself to a ruined hut in a deserted place hard by, where angels tended his sores and a dog brought him daily bread. When healed he went back to his native city but arrived so changed by suffering that he was arrested as a spy and cast into prison. One morning after he had languished there for five years the jailer on entering his dungeon saw it flooded with a bright light, the prisoner dead, and a writing which promised healing to all stricken by plague who should call on his name. In 1485 some Venetians disguised as pilgrims carried off the saint’s body to Venice; the Church of S. Rocco was erected to contain it and a guild founded in his name for the tending of the sick and the burial of the dead. The church, entrusted to Bart. Buon of Bergamo, was built in the fifteenth century. The Scuola was begun about the same time (1490) by the same architect, carried on by the Lombardi and Scarpagnino (1524-37) and completed about 1550. Here during eighteen years Tintoretto worked on the stupendous series of paintings which decorate the interior. They are fully described and vigorously appreciated and depreciated by Ruskin in the Venetian Index. The Adoration of the Magi, in the lower hall, facing the entrance, he esteems to be “the most finished picture in the Scuola except the Crucifixion.”

From the first landing as we ascend the stairs may be seen to the L. an early Annunciation by Titian, refreshing in its repose and simplicity; R. is Tintoretto’s Visitation.

On the walls of the upper hall are continued the scenes of New Testament history begun in the lower. They are unequal in merit, and include, according to Ruskin, two of the worst Tintorettos in Venice: The Last Supper and the altar-piece, S. Rocco in Glory. The ceiling, decorated with scenes from Old Testament history, is painted with all the master’s force and decorative science.

The Crucifixion in the Guest-Chamber on the same floor is justly esteemed as Tintoretto’s greatest work. On it he concentrated all his art and all his majestic power. It was his favourite work, and when Carracci’s plate was brought to him for approval he fell on the engraver’s neck and kissed him. Opposite the Crucifixion is the Christ before Pilate; over the door, an Ecce Homo. The series closes with the Christ bearing His Cross. The ceiling is decorated with the Apotheosis of S. Rocco (p. 210) and other allegorical figures. The choir stalls in the large hall are beautifully carved with scenes from the life, of S. Rocco by Giovanni Marchiori. In the small room to R. of entrance is an early Titian, Ecce Homo, and the death-mask of Doge Alvise Mocenigo with his ducal cap.

CHURCH OF S. ROCCO.

Tintoretto has here dealt with the story of the saint in his most unequal fashion. Not all his art can make the scenes of disease and death envisaged in so realistic a manner other than disagreeable. We turn from their contemplation with relief to the noble and stately SS. Christopher and Martin by Pordenone and to the latest of miracle-working pictures, Christ led to Execution, by Titian, in the chapel to the R. of the choir. In the vestibule of the sacristy is Pordenone’s fresco, St Sebastian.