The church of Santa Maria dei Carmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo or commonly "i Carmini" is a church in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district and overlooking Campo dei Carmini.
The building stands next to the Scuola Grande di Santa Maria del
Carmelo, also known as the Scuola dei Carmini. This charitable
confraternity was officially founded in 1597 and arose from a charitable
association of lay women, the Pinzòcchere dei Carmini. Members of this
lay group were associated as tertiaries with the nearby Carmelite
monastery.
A first church was founded in 1125 with the title
Santa Maria Assunta. Given to the Carmelites, it was completely rebuilt
starting from 1286 with the adjoining convent. Once again dedicated to
Santa Maria del Carmelo, it was consecrated in 1348.
The brick
facade with curvilinear pediments was rebuilt in the first decades of
the 16th century by Sebastiano Mariani and features five sculptures
probably by Giovanni Buora di Osteno. The presbytery and the other two
apsidal chapels were also rebuilt by Mariani between 1507 and 1514,
harmonizing the Gothic with the new Renaissance style.
The bell
tower, which threatened to collapse, was rearranged by Giuseppe Sardi in
1688, the cell and the cusp were struck and destroyed by lightning in
1756 and immediately rebuilt. In 1979 lightning again destroyed the
statue of the Madonna del Carmine, which was replaced in 1982 by the
work of Romano Vio.
The style is that of a typically Gothic factory which, due to
numerous subsequent interventions, has undergone changes. The plant has
an elongated basilica shape, with three naves with a transept and a deep
presbytery, on the sides of which chapels have been placed.
External
The facade is in Renaissance style with three curvilinear
pediments, attributed to Sebastiano da Lugano (1507-1514). On the
crowning one can admire the statues of the Redeemer, the Archangel
Gabriel, the Virgin and Saints Elias and Elisha, attributed to Giovanni
Buora. Above the portal we see a seventeenth-century statue in a niche:
the Madonna with Child. On the left side there is a portal with a
fourteenth-century prothyrum, decorated with venetian-Byzantine style
palmettes, paterae and panels.
The ancient bell tower, located
next to the church, was rebuilt in 1676 by Giuseppe Sardi. The
square-plan belfry is surmounted by an octagonal temple, on top of which
is the statue of the Madonna del Carmelo, a copy of the original
destroyed by lightning in 1979.
Internal
The counter-façade
features the funeral monument created by Francesco Contin and dedicated
to Jacopo Foscarini, procurator of San Marco and admiral of the Venetian
fleet, whose family lived in the building in front of the church façade,
on the other side of the rio.
Above the second altar is the
Nativity with saints (1509-1511) by Giambattista Cima da Conegliano and
on the third altar on the right is the Madonna del Carmelo with saints
(1597-1604 ca.) by Pace Pace. The statues of Virginity (left) and
Humility (right (1722-1773)) were completed respectively by Antonio
Corradini and Giuseppe Torretto. The bronze angel on the balustrade is
the work of Girolamo Campagna. The frontal wooden representation of the
Miracle of the Madonna (1724) was carved by Francesco Bernadoni, the
tabernacle by Giovanni Scalfarotto.
The ceiling is frescoed with
the Glorification of the Scapular (1709), by Sebastiano Ricci. The
stucco work was completed by Pietro Bianchini, to a design by Abbondio
Stazio di Massagno. In the fresco the angel supports the scapular and
the painted inscription indicates that it is an ornament of Mount
Carmel.
Between the entrance and the sacristy there is an altar,
which was created by associating the Fish Trades (1548) with a retable
of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (1541-1542) by Jacopo
Tintoretto, placed on the altar of the Purification of Mary.
In
the third chapel on the left is the Lamentation of the Death of Christ
(about 1476) by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. In front of the presbytery
are some paintings by Marco Vicentino, Palma il Giovane and Gaspare
Diziani.
The second altar has two statues of Elijah and Elisha,
made by Tommaso Ruer, in which Elijah is holding a flaming sword.
The first altar is adorned with the painting San Nicola in glory by
Lorenzo Lotto.
The highest register of the nave is covered with
24 large canvases, created between 1666 and the 1730s by artists such as
Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Gaspare Diziani, Girolamo Brusaferro and
Pietro Liberi. The choirs include three paintings (c. 1545) by Andrea
Meldolla.