Santa Maria della Salute I
Il Redentore Giudecca (Wikipedia) Santa Maria della Salute Canal Grande (Wikipedia)
Luca Carlevarijs ‘The Piazzetta looking towards the Punta della Dogana‘ 1663-1730
The year 1630 witnessed another devastating plague outbreak that lasted for a period of sixteen months, claiming the lives of 46,490 individuals. As a response, the senate once more made the decision to construct a votive church. Due to the profound impact of the plague’s terror, it was deemed imperative that the church be devoted to Mary, recognized as the guardian of well-being and health. The prevailing fear surrounding the outbreak played a significant role in this decision. The San Rocco’s prosperity is not without reason, as it has earned its wealth through various means. Similarly, the construction of the votive church, Il Redentore, took place approximately fifty years prior, serving as another notable example. Palladio’s votive church strongly influenced the architectural design of The Salute, making it the 17th-century counterpart to Il Redentore.
“Because there was not the faintest form of medication, the effects of the plague were disastrous: after a few days, the carpenter and his entire family had died; within a week, dozens died in his neighbourhood; and a week later, there were hundreds of victims throughout the city. The aristocracy and the clergy did not escape it either: the doge and a large part of his family also perished from the disease. Handsome rewards were offered to those who could stop the epidemic. There was a recommendation that anyone sensing symptoms of the disease should drink half a litre of their own urine as soon as possible, suggesting an early suspicion that diseases could be fought by administering antibodies. But in those days, many sought true salvation in religion. For three days and three nights in a row, a procession went around Piazza San Marco, involving almost everyone who was not sick, and finally, on 22 November 1630, the Senate, through Doge Nicolò Contarini, promised to erect a church of unprecedented size and beauty for the Madonna if she would stop the epidemic and rid the city of the plague. And, indeed, barely a week after the procession, the disease did not seem to have spread any further, and a few weeks later it seemed to have been conquered.” Translated from: Luc Verhuyck ‘Venezia Anekdotische reisgids voor Venetië’ Athenaeum-Polak & van Gennep, Amsterdam 2011 p. 364
Santa Maria della salute and Punta della Dogana
Top Punta Top Salute
Michele Marieschi ‘The Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Salute’ c. 1738 – 1740
The Canal Grande with Santa Maria della Salute 20 August 2014
The Senate held a contest for the construction contract. Eleven designs were submitted. Two of them were seriously considered. One design in the shape of a basilica was from Antonio Smeraldi, named ‘Il Fracao’. His father built the Palladian facade of the San Pietro in Castello. The other design was a central-plan building by Longhena. Longhena attached a letter in which he spoke of ‘rotonda macchina.´ This word macchina means large building, but was also used to describe the famous regattas on the Canal Grande. The shape of the church was completely unique to Venice, since it looks like brightly decorated carousel. The church is an impressive edifice from every point you look at it.
Canaletto ‘Santa Maria della Salute’ before 1635 veduta
Just like the Senate argued for a long time about whether the Redentore should be a central-plan building like Palladio wanted or a basilica, it also discussed the Salute. There was no unanimity: Longhena received sixty-six and Il Fracao received thirty-nine votes. Baldassare Longhena (Wikipedia) was not an unknown. He had already rebuilt a church in Chioggia, the cathedral (Wikipedia), and built four important palazzi of Patricians. The old fashioned design by Il Fracao probably received support from conservatives in the Senate.
Santa Maria della Salute Other view
As soon as it became known that the Salute could be built, the myth about this St. Mary church arose. The priest Lorenzo Longo published a famous poem in 1644, exactly thirteen years after the foundations were laid. He wrote that the Doge saw Mary appear in a vision. The Holy Mother carried a church on her arms. Mary had whispered the design of the church to ‘il nuovo Palladio’ or Baldassare Longhena.
This myth reflected in the angels as stone cherubs on the church. According to Longo, the Salute was a symbol of independence of Venetian Christianity, which did not want to recognise the ecclesiastical power of Rome. According to the poem, four Venetian saints appeared next to Mary above the entrance. The church the poet and priest Lorenzo Longo describes, is also shown in a picture by Marco Boschini in 1644 (Wikipedia), the same year as the publication of the poem. The Order that ‘received’ the new church, was the ‘Padri Somaschi’, an Order that wasn’t very faithful to Rome. This Order played a big role in 1606 in the expulsion of Jesuits from the city. If Rome desperately needs La Serenissima in the battle against the Turks, Rome is flexible in regard to Venice: quid pro quo. The radicals in the Senate lost, the moderates who had better ties with Rome won. The Jesuits were allowed to return in 1657 (Il Gesuati). This political twist from the Senate can be found in the Iconography of the Santa Maria della Salute.
The iconography (meaning of the image) of the church was changed. The four Venetian saints – St. Sagredo, St. Magno, St. Lorenzo Giustiani and St. Emiliani – were replaced by angels. The lantern now depicted Mary with a crown with twelve stars. Mary is depicted on a crescent moon. This indicates that she is the full moon and thus immaculate, or immaculate conception. This is usually portrayed as a Mary standing on a crescent moon, on top of a globe, as she tramples a serpent with her foot. Mary on a crescent moon is described in Revelations 12: 1-2. That’s why this picture was always seen as a symbol of the immaculate conception. Above the pediment of the facade is also a Mary with child but then with a crown.
Despite this change in the iconography, it was clear from the start that the church would be devoted to Mary. Baldassare Longhena wrote the following about this in a memoranda in 1631: ‘The mystery contained in the dedication of this church to the Holy Mary, reminded me, with the limited talent God gave me, to build the church in the forma rotonda, which means in the shape of a crown.’
It was common to give churches devoted to Mary a central-build shape, especially in Byzantine style, such as the Santa Maria Formose. Longhena knew the central-build at Verona: the Madonna di Campagna (Wikipedia). They turned this church inside out. Longhena placed the cloister (in this case: tower gallery or walkway) inside the church instead of outside, with porticos in front. According to the Venetian myth about the origin of Venice, Mary protected the city. The protection of Mary over the city and health is inscribed in the middle of the floor of the nave, and reads: ‘UNDE ORIGO INDE SALUS‘ or where the source is, health and salvation come’. This refers to the origin of Venice under the protection of Mary.
The annual procession to the new church was laid on the twenty-first of November: the feast of the Presentation of Mary in the temple. Longo’s poem explains the fifteen steps of the stairs leading to the entrance of the Salute. This is the same number that’s mentioned in Salomon’s temple, described in the Bible. The Presentation of Mary would have taken place here.