I Frari ★

The Titians, Bellini, and Donatello in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, Italy

Nothing against the "St. Mary in Glory" part of the name, but Venetians usually just call this famous church "I Frari."

That's because it was built by the frari (Venetian dialect for frati, or "brothers") of the Franciscan order.

Done in the 13th/14th–century Gothic style (and rebuilt in the middle 1400s), the interior of the church is plain and cavernous (90m long!) in the style typical of the simple Franciscans.

The carved marble rood screen in the center of the church and the 124 elaborate wooden stalls of the Monk's Choir beyond both date to late 15th century.

I Frari does manage, despite its spareness, to house several artistic masterpieces.

The Titians

There are two great works by Titian in the Frari. As there are surprisingly few true masterpieces by Titian anywhere in his own hometown, this is significant. It is also quite nice, since the painter himself is buried here (we'll get to that).

The most striking of the two is the Assumption of the Virgin, over the main altar, glowing with gold and painted in 1518.

In his Madonna di Ca' Pesaro (1519/26), on the left aisle, Titian broke with tradition (and presaged the baroque style) by not planting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus in the center of the painting surrounded by others, but rather placing them among the swirl of all the figures, allowing for a more dynamic composition.

Touchingly, Titian's wife actually posed for the figure of Mary, but sadly died soon afterward in childbirth.

Titian painted this work for the Pesaro family, long one of the richest in Venice (as a visit to their family palace, Ca' Pesaro, will prove).

This painting was commissioned by Jacopo Pesaro, Bishop of Paphos and commander of the Vatican fleet under Pope Alexander VI. (One assumes he is the man in the red robe kneeling before the gaggle of Pesaro family members in the bottom right corner—casting patrons as bystanders to holy events like this was a classic Renaissance fashion of simultaneously emphasizing their piousness while also showing off who paid for the painting.)

However, it was a later scion of the family, Giovanni Pesaro, who would eventually become doge (albeit breifly: September 1658–March 1659), and his ornate tomb now decorates the third bay on the left aisle of the church.

Bellini, Donatello, and Vivarini

The church's other masterworks include Giovanni Bellini's 1488 Madonna and Child triptych, in the sacristy (take the door on the right as you face the altar).

There are also several nice works by the Vivarini clan, and the only sculpture by Donatello in Venice: A very human-looking painted wood St. John the Baptist in the chapel just to the right of the main altar.

The tombs of Titian and Canova

The grandiose tombs of two famous Venetians are also here.

In the second bay on the left aisle is an un-missable cenotaph (monumental pyramid) honoring the Italian sculptor Canova, who died in 1822 after leading the Neoclassical revolution in art. His mummified heart is preserved in a porphyry urn inside.

Ironically, this tomb design was adapted, by Canova's students, from a monument the sculptor had intended for Titian's tomb—which is located directly across the nave. (Titian died in 1576 during a plague.)

However, the great painter's memorial—also designed by Canova's pupils—ended up instead as a classical-style archway topped by the winged lion of St. Mark.

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