The church of San Simeone Profeta, commonly known as San Simeone
Grande or San Simeon Grando, is a religious building in the city of
Venice, located in the Santa Croce district.
The name "Grande" is
used to distinguish it from the nearby church of Santi Simeone e Giuda
which, before the eighteenth-century reconstruction, was smaller.
It would have been founded in 967 by the Ghisi, Adoldi and Briosi
families. Originally it must have been a very modest building, it seems
made of straw and wood, because it was built in a peripheral and rural
area. After a disastrous fire, in 1150 it was rebuilt in stone and at
the same time it was raised to a parish church.
Between 1807 and
1810 the Napoleonic edicts sanctioned its suppression and it became a
branch of the nearby San Simeon Piccolo. This provision was revoked in
1810, when new provisions decreed the reacquisition of the title of
parish to San Simeone prophet and the annexation to it of the parish
district of Santi Simeone e Giuda, previously suppressed.
The foundation dates back to the 10th century, but over time the
building has undergone numerous interventions; particularly in the 17th
century, when the original floor was covered by a new floor at a higher
level. Traces of the original floor were found during the restoration
works of 1839.
The current building is flanked on the left by a
portico (sotoportego) and has a basilica plan. The facade, in
neoclassical style, dates back to 1861.
The interior has three
naves, with ancient columns, rebuilt in the early eighteenth century by
the architect Domenico Margutti. Inside, to the right of the entrance,
is the Presentation in the Temple with the portraits of the patrons, by
Jacopo Palma il Giovane.
In the right aisle is the recumbent
statue, later adapted on a sarcophagus that was not his, which tradition
attributes to Blessed Simeon, based on an inscription dated 1317; the
statue is believed to be the work of a master, a certain Marco Romano.
In the second altar of the left aisle there is a painting by Jacopo
Tintoretto, depicting The Last Supper, "a subject dear to the painter,
repeated numerous times with new, daring conceptions: the parts
unscathed by bad restorations reveal the imprint of the master (1560
c.)", while the Annunciation, previously attributed to Palma il Giovane
(late 16th century), is recognized as a work by the painter Blanc (16th
century).