User:Veronikamykh/Il Redentore

The Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore (English: Church of the Most Holy Redeemer), commonly known as Il Redentore, is a 16th-century Roman Catholic church located on Giudecca (island) in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, in the city of Venice, Italy.

It was designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and built as a votive church to thank God for the deliverance of the city from a major outbreak of the plague. Located on the waterfront of the Canale della Giudecca, it dominates the skyline of the island of Giudecca. The location of the church was carefully planned in accordance with already existing Palladio's chuch San Giorgio Maggiore and Palazzo Flangini Fini. It is a member of the Chorus Association of Venetian churches and contains a number of paintings by artists including Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese and Francesco Bassano.

Contents

 * 1History
 * 2Exterior
 * 3Interior
 * 3.1Art work

History[edit]
Il Redentore was built as a votive church in thanksgiving for deliverance from a major outbreak of the plague that decimated Venice between 1575 and 1576, in which some 46,000 people (25–30% of the population) died. The Senate of the Republic of Venice commissioned the architect Andrea Palladio to design the votive church. The church was designed three years prior to architect's death and evoked a lot of arguments regarding its plan. Though the Senate wished the Church to be square plan, Palladio designed a single nave church with three chapels on either side. Some believe that Palladio actually produced two different models for the church. Its prominent position on the Canale della Giudecca gave Palladio the opportunity to design a facade inspired by the Pantheon of Rome and enhanced by being placed on a wide plinth. Some say that the plan of Il Redentore was also inspired by the design of Roman baths. The church was placed in the position which is clearly visible from Piazza San Marco, which was social and administrative center of the city. 15 steps were required to reach the church's entrance, a direct reference to the Temple of Jerusalem and complicit with Palladio's own requirement that "the ascent (of the faithful) will be gradual, so that the climbing will bring more devotion".

The cornerstone was laid by the Patriarch of Venice Giovanni Trevisano on 3 May 1577 and the building was consecrated in 1592. At the urgent solicitations of Pope Gregory XIII, after consecration the church was placed in charge of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. A small number of Friars reside in the monastery attached to the church.

Every year the doge and senators walked across a specially constructed pontoon bridge from the Zattere to Giudecca to attend Mass in the church. The Festa del Redentore remains a major festival in the Venetian calendar, celebrated on the third Sunday in July. A huge firework display on the previous evening is followed by a mass procession across the pontoon bridge.

Exterior[edit]
Il Redentore has one of the most prominent sites of any of Palladio's structures, and is considered one of the pinnacles of his career. It is a large, white building with a dome crowned by a statue of the Redeemer. On the façade a central triangular pediment overlies a larger, lower one. Building has white, centralized, temple-front facade that makes the building stand out. The rest of the building is made out of the brick, which creates the contrast between the front and back. This classical facade recalls Palladio's façade for San Francesco della Vigna, where he used an adaptation of a triumphal arch. Il Redentore does not have a continuous entablature that moves across the structure. Rather than that central door and two wings have different entablatures. That creates the effect of the church having one full temple front facade, and two receding half facades. Palladio is known for being highly rationalistic and applying rigorous geometric proportions to his façades and that of this church is no exception. The facade was carefully aligned with neighboring waterways: the Grand Canal and Giudecca canal. His architecture carried the idea of "controlling disorderness". The overall height is four-fifths that of its overall width whilst the width of the central portion is five-sixths of its height. Moreover, composite pilasters and half columns frame the central door.

As Venice has always been a very international city, it has been suggested that there are some Turkish influences in the exterior, particularly the two campanili which resemble minarets.

Interior[edit]
As a pilgrimage church, the building was expected to have a long nave, which was something of a challenge for Palladio with his commitment to classical architecture. The result is a somewhat eclectic building, the white stucco and gray stone interior combines the nave with a domed crossing in spaces that are clearly articulated yet unified. The church followed an all white interior decoration, similarly to all the counter-reformation churches. An uninterrupted Corinthian order makes its way around the entire interior. Building features vaulted spaces and clerestory windows. The vault has been widely criticized because it appears to be a lot lower that it is traditionally supposed to be. Il Redentore does not follow a traditional basilica plan, but instead it consists of a domed structures that is joined to a basilica. The facade also does not correspond with the height of the nave. Palladio also included anattic which was very untraditional for Venetian churches or Palladio's previous designs. The interior of the church bears a lot of similarities to the Roman pantheon. Attic as one of them as similarly to Pantheon it is a short projection from thewall above the portico.

Art work[edit]
Il Redentore contains paintings by Francesco Bassano, Lazzaro Bastiani, Carlo Saraceni, Leandro Bassano, Palma the Younger, Jacopo Bassano, Francesco Bissolo, Rocco Marconi, Paolo Veronese, Alvise Vivarini and the workshop of Tintoretto. The sacristy also contains a series of wax heads of Franciscans made in 1710.

The church was painted by Canaletto a number of times, including one held at Woburn Abbey, England.


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 * 5) ^ Weissmüller, Palladio in Venice, p. 118
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 * 7) ^ Constant 1993, pp. 122–124
 * 8) ^ File:The Night of the Redentore,1995, oil on canvas, 79'x110', Sergio Rossetti Morosini.jpg
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