THE CHURCH:
SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE
In October 1630, Venice was in the midst of a 16-month plague that had claimed a third of its population. The Venetian Senate decreed that if the city was delivered from the plague, a new church would be built and dedicated to Santa Maria, thought to be a protector of the Republic, and to be named della salute. In 1631, a competition was held for the design with the winner being Baldassare Longhena, a 26-year-old architect.
Longhena said of his design, “I have created a church in the form of a rotunda, a work of new invention, not built in Venice, a work very worthy and desired by many. This church, having the mystery of its dedication, being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, made me think, with what little talent God has bestowed upon me of building the church in the... shape of a crown.”
The dominant message of the church’s design was the perfection of the immaculate Virgin, conceived free of sin, in order to triumph over evil. Therefore, there is plenty of Marian symbolism with the dome her crown, the cavernous interior her womb and the eight sides of the building her infamous star. Residing above Venice, at the apex of the dome, is a statue of the Virgin. Furthermore, the miraculous origin is symbolised by stone cherubs on the waterfront, seen to support the platform on which the church stands, as if the church had been carried into place by angels. The octagonal church faces the eight winds and therefore serve as an inspiration for Venetian seafarers as a powerful symbol of the renewed self-confidence and economic strength of the Republic in the 17th century.
Longhena’s keen eye for detail is evidenced in the inscription at the centre of the nave, unde origo inde salus. This declares the Mary’s role in the origin of the city and from that, her salvation from the plague. Above the high altar is Giusto Le Court’s group of statues. Mary is flanked on one side by a personification of Venice, a young lady kneeling in adoration, and an old woman fleeing on the other, representing the plague.
Source: Tom Banwell, Flickr
Source: Enrique RG, Flickr
ARTE E CULTURA
ARTE E CULTURA