The church of San Giuseppe di Castello (Sant′Isepo in Venetian) is a religious building in the city of Venice, located in the Castello district, near the Napoleonic gardens. The church is part of the Chorus Venezia association.
In 1512 the construction of a church was authorized by decree of the
Senate, with an adjacent convent of the Augustinian nuns.
Until
then, there were still small islands surrounded by marshland, which was
reclaimed to build new settlements, on the ancient islands of Secco
Marina, Paludo, Rio Terà, etc.
The church was entrusted to the
Augustinian Order until 1801, when Napoleon suppressed it and the
monastery. Subsequently it was given over to the Salesian nuns of the
Visitation, who brought with them from France the relic of the heart of
St. Francis de Sales. In 1912 the nuns left Venice for Treviso and gave
the convent to the Municipality, which was adapted as a school building
and the church became a subsidiary of the basilica of San Pietro di
Castello.
In 1923 it was elevated to a parish church by Cardinal
Pietro La Fontaine, detaching it from St. Peter's. From 1966 it was
assigned to the Salesians of Don Bosco.
The walls of the church were already finished in 1525, together with
the adjoining convent. 1543 is the year of dedication to St. Joseph. On
the jamb of the entrance door we read: «To God, to the Virgin Mary, to
the country in the year 1543 consecrated».
In 1563 the church was
finished thanks to the donation of the Grimani family, who had the high
altar built there and then, in 1595, the funeral monument to Doge Marino
Grimani, by Cesare Groppo.
In its external part, the building is
very poor, in a classical style, with lateral pilasters supporting a
modest tympanum. On the other hand, the entrance portal is significant,
also wanted by the Grimani family, with the work by Giulio Del Moro
Adoration of the Shepherds in the centre.
The interior consists
of a single nave, with a presbytery, apse and two small chapels. On the
right wall three altars, while on the left only two, with the enormous
mausoleum to Doge Marino Grimani and his wife Morosina Morosini. The
designer of the whole has traditionally been considered Vincenzo
Scamozzi, however recent research tends to attribute the work to the
architect and proto of Venice Francesco Fossati. The sculptures are by
Gerolamo Campagna, while the bronze reliefs are by Cesare Groppo.
The room is dominated by the barco, that is a gallery connected to
the convent, which allowed the nuns to access the church without meeting
the other religious.
The ceiling frescoed in 1660-1663 by Pietro
Ricchi known as il Lucchese, depicts, in the central tondo, San Giuseppe
in Gloria and, on the sides, the glory of Santa Monica. The composition,
with a surface area of no less than 540 m2, illusively doubles the
volume of the church upwards with the illusionistic architecture of the
Bolognese Gianantonio Torri.
Note also the paintings by Paolo
Veronese placed in the presbytery: Adoration of the shepherds and San
Girolamo.
Of note are some frescoes by Jacopo Palma il Giovane.
On the first altar on the right, the work by Tintoretto and his son
Domenico: Senator Bon in prayer before the Archangel Michael who drives
away Lucifer.
On the left side you can see the marble altar
sculpted by Domenico Grazioli da Salò depicting The Nativity,
commissioned by the Admiral of the Serenissima Giovanni Vrana.
Particularly interesting is the frontal of the altar which offers a
significant historical document as it depicts the deployments of the
galleys in the battle of Lepanto.