download description 111.74 Kb

The church of San Giobbe owes its foundation to the charitable will of the priest Giovanni Contarini, who in 1378 built a home for poor folk beside an oratory dedicated to Saint Job the Prophet. Some years after Contarini’s death the oratory was entrusted to the Friars Minor who began the construction of a new building in the Gothic style and of a convent. In the course of the XV century the church, which had become famous for the preaching of Fra Bernardino of Siena, was largely rebuilt in Renaissance style by the will of, and with money offered by, the Doge and humanist Cristoforo Moro.

Reconsecrated in 1493 it assumed the dual dedication to Saints Job and Bernardino. The transformation of the church was mostly the work of the architect Pietro Lombardo and represents one of the very first examples of Renaissance architecture in Venice, with clear Tuscan influences that find their maximum expression in the Martini Chapel, whose domed vault with glazed terracotta decorations is attributed to Luca della Robbia. The interior, with a single nave, is characterized by the extremely fine decoration of pillars and molding by Pietro Lombardo. In the course of the XVI century the church was enriched with paintings by the most famous Venetian painters of the time, some of which are still in place (Bonifacio de’ Pitati, Savoldo, Vivarini, Previtali), while others, of immense value, are today exhibited in the Gallerie dell’Accademia (Bellini, Carpaccio, Basaiti).