VENETIAN RENAISSANCE PAINTING – This tour gives the opportunity to art lovers to see some of the most significant Venetian paintings still on their original settings.

In the enormous Franciscan church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari – universally known as ‘Frari’ = friars – it is possible to decipher the dynamics of family patronage, understanding the meaning and functions of altarpieces and monuments.

The two major painters here are Titian and Giovanni Bellini.

Titian painted two absolute masterpieces, the Assumption of the Virgin for the main altar and the Pala Pesaro for the Pesaro family of San Stae. The great painter is also buried here.

Giovanni Bellin produced the magnificent Triptych of the Sacristy for the San Beneto branch of the Pesaros.

The Frari contains an enormous number of paintings, sculptures, tombs, and is famous for its splendid 15th century wooden choir. Not far away is the imposing façade of the Scuola Grande San Rocco. It was the seat of a wealthy and influential lay fraternity whose purpose was to assist its members in difficult circumstances, with a special accent on helping during the epidemics.

St Rock, whose body is preserved in the adjoining church, was one of the most invoked protectors from the plague. It is the only Scuola Grande that was not suppressed (and looted) by Napoleon, and is still an active institution today.

The great genius here is Jacopo Tintoretto. His cycle of canvases, fruit of 24 years of collaboration with the brotherhood, is considered the painter’s most important group of works. The great artist enjoyed a great freedom of expression and produced some of his most evocative and powerful visions here.