The church of the Pietà or of Santa Maria della Visitazione is a Catholic place of worship in the city of Venice, located in the Castello district.
The current church was built between 1745 and 1760, based on a
project by Giorgio Massari (1687-1766). The facade, however, remained
unfinished until the beginning of the 20th century: it was, in fact,
only in 1906 that the completion works proceeded according to the
drawings of the original project, with the only variant of the upper
ornament (a marble cross in the center of the top, instead of three
statues, one in the center and two on the sides).
The previous
building, which was destroyed due to deterioration due to time, stood on
the right side of the current church.
The church is so named
because it is located next to the old orphanage, located in calle della
Pietà, where during the 18th century Antonio Vivaldi lent his work. A
plaque from 1548 is affixed to the outside of the church, threatening
curses and excommunications, inflicted by God himself, against those who
abandoned their children in the nearby Pietà orphanage, if they had the
means to support them.
Between 2014 and November 2021, the facade
of the church underwent major restoration and consolidation works.
The interior has an ovoid plan, characterized by two choirs with
wrought iron gratings, which develop along the side walls. The ceiling
of the main entrance houses a fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo, La
Fortezza e la Pace.
On the right side, in the first altar, is the
altarpiece Virgin with Putto and Four Saints, created by Francesco
Daggiù, belonging to the school of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Also
from the Piazzetta school is the altarpiece on the second altar, San
Spiridione making water spring from a flame, by Domenico Maggiotto.
The marble altar of the main chapel dates back to the eighteenth
century and is characterized by a rich Baroque tabernacle, surrounded by
gilded bronze figures, made by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter (The Archangels
Gabriel and Michael), Antonio Gai (San Marco) and Giovanni Marchiori
(St. Peter). The altarpiece depicts The Visitation; the work was begun
by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, who however died before completing it,
and was then completed by Giuseppe Angeli, his pupil. On the ceiling
there is another fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo, The Theological
Virtues, painted between 1754 and 1755.
On the left side, the
first altar houses another painting by Giuseppe Angeli, San Pietro
Orseolo receives the habit of San Romualdo, while on the second altar
there is a Christ on the Cross and Three Saints by Antonio Marinetti.
Above the entrance door of the choir there is a painting by Moretto,
Supper in the house of Simone the Pharisee, from 1544, which was
originally located in the convent of San Fermo and Rustico di Monselice.
The ceiling of the choir is decorated with another fresco by Tiepolo,
the Triumph of Faith.