The church of San Giobbe is a Catholic place of worship in Venice. It is located in the Cannaregio district overlooking the square of the same name, known as Sant'Agiopo in Venice, on the left bank of the Cannaregio canal at the height of the Tre Archi bridge. The church is part of the Chorus Venezia association.
The first hospice, with the annexed small oratory still present,
built in this area dates back to 1378. It was Giovanni Contarini who
wanted to build it in an area owned by him, near his home, for the poor.
It was his daughter Lucia, with the help of the Observant Friars
Minor, who built the first hospice dedicated to St. Job, which in a few
years became the current church.
But above all, it was two
personalities who gave the impetus to the construction of the new
temple: the Franciscan friar San Bernardino of Siena, who preached in
the city before dying in 1444, and the future doge Cristoforo Moro, a
great Venetian benefactor. The latter, in 1471, three months before his
death, donated 10,000 gold ducats for its completion.
The work
began in 1450 and was consecrated in 1493.
The church is what
remains of the Franciscan convent of San Giobbe and San Bernardino da
Siena, which ceased to exist on May 31, 1810 when the friars were forced
to concentrate in the cloistered complex of San Francesco della Vigna.
The convent church first became a branch of the parish of San Geremia,
(now the Sanctuary of Lucia) to resume parish autonomy in 1952.
The altarpieces by Marco Basaiti, Giovanni Bellini, and Vittore
Carpaccio were transferred in 1815 to the Gallerie dell'Accademia in
Venice at the behest of the Austrian government.
The convent originally extended up to the Rio della Crea and had,
since 1500, land cultivated with vineyards.
By decree dated 23
April 1810, the Franciscan assets were confiscated by the Royal State
property and from 28 October 1810 the area became the seat of the
Imperial Royal Botanical Garden of Venice for use by the Imperial Royal
Liceo Convitto di Santa Caterina entrusted to the chemist professor
Francesco Duprè . Much of the convent was demolished in 1812. In 1815
the garden was entrusted to the Bavarian gardener Giuseppe Ruchinger.
1887 was the turning point for this area adjacent to the former
convent because, at the request of the Italian Government, the botanical
garden was sold to the Berliner Maschinenbau for the construction of a
torpedo factory which operated only until 1901. It was a feat industrial
of strategic importance so much so that on May 3, 1887, the first stone
of the torpedo factory was laid by the royal family of Italy: Umberto I
of Savoy and his wife Margherita of Savoy.
From 1902 the area of
the former torpedo factory was purchased by an electricity company of
the future Cellina Sade group. Throughout the 20th century, with
modifications and adaptations, the complex remained operational with
production activities (a thermoelectric plant) and distribution of
electricity (coming from the Malnisio Montereale Valcellina plant) and
from the specialist technical units of the Sade group (as recalled by
the inscription in marble above the entrance obtained from the wall in
the small square facing the church) and by Enel with its Measurements
and Testing Service.
The two architects Antonio Gambello and Lorenzo di Gian Francesco
were the authors of this structure. The bell tower was finished in 1464
with the belfry opened by elegant Gothic mullioned windows in Istrian
stone.
To embellish the interior, the great sculptor Pietro
Lombardo was called.
His is also the entrance portal full of
Christian allegories that reproduce the apotheosis of the Franciscan
spirit. From the jambs you can see decorations that, starting from the
bottom, change from thorny tufts to flowers and fruits, surrounded by
feeding animals. All Christian allegories: up to the eagle, the biblical
symbol of rebirth and resurrection. Inside the lunette is the bas-relief
with Saints Francis and Job receiving glories and sufferings from
heaven. On the top of the arch that encloses it and on the sides of the
arch were the statues of three sublime saints of the Franciscan order:
San Bernardino of Siena, San Ludovico of Tolosa (known as Sant'Alvise in
Venice) and Sant'Antonio of Padua.
Inside a single nave, an
asymmetry can be seen: the left wall is full of chapels while the right
side is linear with four altars. This is because on the right side the
church rested on the pre-existing convent.
The altars are, in
order:
Altar of the Foscari family, with the painting San Pietro
d'Alcantara and other saints by Antonio Zucchi, 1750
Altar dedicated
to Saint Job, with the painting by Lattanzio Querena Theophany of Saint
Job, 1822
Altar of the Sanudo family by Bonifacio de' Pitati Virgin
and Child in glory with other saints, 1543
Altar of the Confraternity
of gondoliers and boatmen of the Marghera ferry, with the work of Paris
Bordon Saints Andrew, Peter and Nicholas of Bari, 1565
There are
five chapels:
chapel of San Luca, or by Pietro Grimani, with a work
by Tullio Lombardo: San Luca between two angels;
chapel of Giovanni
Martini, Tuscan family, the ceiling entirely covered with ceramic
decorations with four roundels of the Evangelists at the corners and the
Redeemer among the angels in the center is the work of the della Robbias
chapel of the Cendon family, presents a Via Crucis by Antonio Zucchi;
chapel of the Foscari family, presents a painting from 1696 depicting
St. Anthony of Padua;
sepulchral chapel of the Novara merchant
Bernardino Testa 1548, also known as San Diego due to the devotional
school present 1610
Several Venetian patricians are buried in
this church: on the sides of the presbytery Francesco Marin, 1502, and
on the right Pietro Corner, 1586; at the foot of the altar dedicated to
San Bernardino of Siena, we also find the tomb of Cardinal Marco Antonio
Da Mula, 1570, work of the workshop of Alessandro Vittoria. In front of
the altar, in the middle of the main chapel, under a seal, the doge
Cristoforo Moro (1390-1471) is buried, who in his will expressed the
desire that the church itself be called, from that moment on, San Giobbe
and San Bernardino in devotion to the Sienese saint.
After the
second altar there is a funeral monument dedicated to René de Voyer de
Paulmy d'Argenson, ambassador of Louis XIV of France in Venice.
The presbytery is preceded by a triumphal arch, surrounded by statues of
the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin of the Annunciation. It is
perfectly square in shape and four columns can be seen on the sides.
Overlooking the whole is a semi-dome with the statues of the four
evangelists, attributed to Pietro Lombardo.
The sacristy houses
the oil on panel painting by Andrea Previtali Madonna and Child with
Saints John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria executed in 1504.