San Giorgio Maggiore, Venezia

Speranza



The facciata of this island church, at once light and majestic, was completed in 1575 by Scamozzi, who like Palladio came from Vicenza, to a design by Palladio dating from fifteen years earlier.

The church shows the architect not merely following classical tradition, but continuing it.

The motif of the pllared and pedimented temple front is used twice in an outstandingl original composition.

It is as though one facciata were superimposed over another, an effect that is enhanced by the two colossal parallel Corinthian cornices, the lower of which, running right across the front, invites the eye to complete the pediment behind the centre gable.

The frontispiece with its high pedestalled coluns is not only an ingenious piece of designing already hinting at the later achivements of Baroque architects, it is also fully expressive of the nave and aisles behind it.