The church of San Cassiano (San Cassian in Venetian) is a Catholic place of worship in Venice, located in the San Polo district, not far from Ca' Corner della Regina.
The church was probably built in the 10th century, even if some sources report the existence of a church dating back to 726 on the same site; originally the church was dedicated to Santa Cecilia. In 926 there was a fundamental reconstruction by the Michiel, Miani, Miotto families. In 1105 a serious fire damaged it. In 1188 the church was received under the protection of the Holy See and was also dedicated to San Cassiano. Further reconstructions followed. The official consecration dates back to 25 July 1367. In 1611 the last reconstruction was carried out which, however, only involved the interior of the church. In the 19th century it was decided to dismantle the portico that flanked the facade.
Externally, the church of San Cassiano is presented in a sober
Baroque style. The main facade, with slightly accentuated salient
features, is devoid of any decorations and is covered with gray plaster,
with the exception of the lower part of the sector corresponding to the
central nave, which has a plinth in stone blocks.
The right side,
on the other hand, is divided into three sectors by four Tuscan
pilasters which ideally support the crowning cornice; in each of them
there is a large lunette window. To the left of the church stands the
Romanesque bell tower, from the 13th century, with a belfry that opens
onto the outside with a three-mullioned window on each side, this final
part of the bell tower dates back to 1350 and is in Byzantine-Gothic
style.
The interior of the church of San Cassiano, richly decorated with
Baroque stuccos, has a rectangular plan with three naves of the same
height covered with a cross vault and divided by two rows of marble
Corinthian columns.
An initial itinerary involves the observation
of the barrel-vaulted ceiling, painted by Costantino Cedini (painter
between the 18th and 19th centuries of Tiepolo influence) with the Glory
of Saint Cecilia and Saint Cassiano. In front of and behind the large
ceiling painting we find two monochromes by Cedini representing the
Martyrdom of Saint Cassiano and the Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia. By the
same author are also the two monochromes that overlook the two chapels
on the sides of the presbytery. The one on the right represents the
Samaritan woman at the well, the one on the left Agar with the angel and
Ishmael.
In the presbytery, there is the valuable high altar,
with statues and reliefs, by the German Enrico Merengo (Heinrich
Meyring); the marble frontal presents the three reliefs: the Supper at
Emmaus, the Last Supper, Christ in the house of the Pharisee Simon, by
Tommaso Rues. The altarpiece houses the altarpiece by Tintoretto
depicting the Resurrection of Christ with the saints Cassiano and
Cecilia. Always on the sides of Jacopo Tintoretto we find on the right
The Descent into Limbo, on the left The Crucifixion. These works were
commissioned by the School of the Blessed Sacrament. Above the lateral
altarpieces by Tintoretto dominate two lunettes painted by an uncertain
author, perhaps Costantino Cedini, dedicated to the cult of the Blessed
Sacrament.
The side chapel to the right of the chancel is known
as the Chapel of the Visitation, in homage to the School of the
Visitation. Here we find three works by Leandro Bassano: above the altar
The meeting of Elizabeth and Mary, on the left The Annunciation to San
Zaccaria, on the right The birth of John the Baptist. The twelve
confreres of the School are also portrayed. The episodes are taken from
the Gospel of Luke. The Chapel is dominated by a domed ceiling painted
by an unknown artist (Cedini?).
The side chapel to the left of
the presbytery, rich in polychrome marble, was ordered by Abbot Carlo
del Medico in 1756, also with the support of the Scuola del Santissimo
Sacramento. At the top center between white clouds appears the triangle
symbol of the Trinity. Above the altar we find the altarpiece by
Marianna Angeli Pascoli (1790-1846) which represents the Madonna and
Child with Margherita Maria Alocoque and other French saints. Margherita
Maria Alacoque was a French saint who founded the cult of the Sacred
Heart in the last decades of the 1600s.
Resuming the internal
path of the church we must return to the right aisle where we see a
discreet altarpiece by Rocco Marconi with San Giovanni Battista between
the saints Peter, Paiolo, Marco and Girolamo. The altar was erected by
the Scuola degli Osti. The second altar is a relatively recent work,
even if embellished with precious marbles and an elegant sculpture of
the Immaculate Virgin. The altar was erected after the Napoleonic phase.
In the third altar we find a beautiful wooden crucifix from the
sixteenth century. In the space behind was the famous altarpiece by
Antonello da Messina, commissioned by Pietro Bon, known as the San
Cassiano altarpiece; what remains is now in Vienna at the
Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Moving on to the left aisle in the
first altar is the altarpiece by Matteo Ponzone which represents Christ
on the cross and four saints at his feet: Lorenzo, Domenico, Francesco
and Bernardo. In 1652 the Chapter of the church allowed the Minelli
family of Bergamo to build this altar in thanksgiving for joining the
Venetian nobility. After passing the door of the sacristy and the
baptismal font, we find the second altar with the altarpiece by
Lattanzio Querena, depicting Saint Anthony receiving the Child Jesus
from the Angel.
Returning to the door of the sacristy, you enter
a unique environment in Venice: the chapel of San Carlo Borromeo, also
known as the chapel of Abbot Carlo del Medico who commissioned it in
1746. An example of a rococo environment, on the ceiling we see a fresco
by Giambattista Pittoni Glory of Saint Cecilia and Saint Cassiano. By
the same author is the small altarpiece above the altar with the Virgin
and Child and Saints Carlo Borromeo and Filippo Neri. The extremely
elegant chapel is surrounded by wooden dossals, above which on the right
we find a Martyrdom of San Cassiano by Antonio Balestra and an Oration
in the Garden by Leandro Bassano.
The parapet of the choir loft is decorated with three paintings by
Andrea Meldolla, known as lo Schiavone (Zara, 1510 – Venice, 1563) with
Stories from the life of San Cassiano. The pipe organ is the work of
Pietro Nacchini opus 80, from 1734, later reformed and restored by
Angelo and Agostino Callido and restored in 2004 by Franz Zanin.
The instrument has an integrally mechanical transmission, with two
keyboards, both with first is octave scavezza, of 57 notes each, and a
lectern pedalboard of 21 notes (the 21st notes activates the Drum)
constantly joined to the manual also with first octave scavezza .
The wooden case, painted in imitation marble, is crowned by a
semicircular pediment supported by two Corinthian pilasters, one on each
side. The exhibition is made up of 23 main pipes with shield mouths
aligned horizontally and arranged in a single cusp with lateral wings.
For the technical characteristics of the organ, see the diagram at the
end of the paragraph.
Next to the choir loft on the right and
left walls are two lunettes, painted in oil on canvas by Andrea
Schiavone: on the right an episode from the Story of Jephthah, on the
left the Judgment of Solomon.