Last Friday, I set out to identify and analyze the architectural features of a single campo in Venezia. I chose the Campo San Rocco, located behind the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in San Palo. There are two churches here, the Baroque-style Chiesa di San Rocco and the Gothic-style Frari (not visible in this picture, but visible in a later photo of its apse). The Chiesa di San Rocco (right of picture) and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (center left) share a similar Baroque design influenced by Renaissance style as well as a common builder, the Scuola di San Rocco. The chiesa is a special place in the city, as it was widely believed that San Rocco helped deliver the city from a plague. Perhaps this is why two white lines extend from the chiesa into the campo, as if to impart order to the tangled campo and focus importance on the church. However, the space is unquestionably dominated by the massive Frari church. The Frari faces away from the campo and is not quite aligned with it, thus seeming to reduce the importance of the campo. The grand design of the San Rocco buildings contests this, and the overall effect on the campo is ambiguous. Most surrounding buildings are simple residences with stores on the pianterrano. The greenery next to the Frari blends very well with the white of the chiesa and scuola, creating a pleasant atmosphere reminescent of an idealized Roman Forum or urban version of a Renaissance landscape. Despite this, the adjacent, complex, and not quite perpendicular facades of the San Rocco buildings, the somewhat small and disorganized triangular shape of the campo, the imposing Frari church, and the throng of tourists, create a somewhat jumbled and claustrophobic space.
This confusing, pleasant and yet nervous aura is the overall impression of the compo; however, I have gone beyond this and have examined the small architectural details that oftentimes get lost in the larger interactions of buildings and styles. Below are some of the features found in the Campo San Rocco.
A calle exiting the campo. This calle is rather small, but gives a good impression of the type of pathways entering and exiting the campo.
A sorteportego (a tunnel through a building that allows a calle to pass). Because it has a building on top of it and is somewhat hidden, a sorteportego adds more complexity to a space than a regular calle would.
A biforate window, with three corbels underneath and Doric capitals on the pilasters
Balustrade on a residential building on the campo. Notice the lintel of the window directly below the balustrade
A tondo
Two cusps on the intrados of an ogee arch, on a building overlooking the campo. Ogee archs are common throughout the campo, especially on the Frari where they often function as part of a complex biforate window.
Cupola on a nearby camponile, as seen from the campo
This is the entrance to Chiesa di San Rocco. Directly above the door is a lunette filled by a relief sculpture of San Rocco working among the sick. The door is surrounded by an aedicle, composed of two Corinthian pilasters and a pediment on top. The aedicle is flanked by two Corinthian columns supporting an entablature, itself supporting the second story.
The uppermost entablature of the Chiesa di San Rocco. The lower horizontal lines form the architrave; above this is the frieze, a repeating motif. Crowning the whole ensemble is an elaborate cornice containing repeated corbels. A pediment can be seen in the lower left of the photograph.
Highly decorated corbel on the Chiesa di San Rocco
An exedra containing a stature of a saint, surrounded by an aedicle, and supported by two corbels beneath the bases of the pilasters
Interesting lunette window on the Chiesa di San Rocco
Dentilled molding on the underside of the cornice. Above is the statue of a saint and below is a Composite capital.
Elaborate Composite column on the Scuola Grande dei San Rocco. Each comparable column on the facade contains unique sculpted figures in the capital.
A segmental pediment as part of an aedicle on the Scuola. Notice the composite style pilasters on either side of the aedicle.
Barrel vault on the Scuola
Small portico next to the barrel vault on the Scuola
Crockets on the extrados of an ogee arch on the Frari (around the corner from the campo)
An oculus on the Frari
Example of a single quaterfoil on the Frari
The apse of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Due to its size, the Frari dominates the campo and partially encloses it.
Camponile of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, located above the transept. The nave stretches forward to the right of the photograph.
View of the nave of the Frari (Camponile and transept are to the left). Notice the three bays on the side of the nave, separated by piers, as well as the abundance of oculus windows. The church is in the Gothic style. (picture taken from the adjacent Campo di Frari, located on the opposite side of the Frari from the Campo San Rocco)
Example of a spandrel on the Frari. The spaces between the two window arches, the walls, and the lintel are the spandrels. In this case, they contain elaborate windows.
Although I was unable to take photos, there are also additional architectural details, as well as beautiful paintings and works of art, within the Chiesa di San Rocco. These include a chancel and pendantives.
Looking at the details of Venice, architectural or otherwise, adds whole new layers and complexities to what is experienced. Features of buildings that once blended together to create a nameable whole are now split into smaller units, bring out even smaller features that can be analyzed and enjoyed. Noticing details thus greatly multiplies the beautiful, and ugly, aspects of the city. In the Campo di San Rocco, the facades of the chiesa and scuola at first hit me as an beautiful but unintelligible mass of stonework. After examining them more closely, I could see the way the individual parts of the facade worked together to create a very complex symmetry that I could not previously see.
Besides expanding the aesthetic universe of Venice, looking at details expands appreciation and understanding. Seeing each unique capital on the facade of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco made me realize that each one was painstakingly carved by hand, each stoneworker leaving his unique actions and intentions somewhere on the building. Multiplying this by the vastness of the Venetian creation, one sees a breathtaking human endeavor. Hundreds of thousands of hours of lives were spent shaping the city from the mud, and real individuals left their mark on every stone laid and on each tondo sealed into a wall. That sense of communion with the anonymous, unknown individual responsible for a particular detail of a building or campo is something very special. Looking at the details of Venice has given me that opportunity, and has allowed me to flesh out and multiply the richness of the city.
This confusing, pleasant and yet nervous aura is the overall impression of the compo; however, I have gone beyond this and have examined the small architectural details that oftentimes get lost in the larger interactions of buildings and styles. Below are some of the features found in the Campo San Rocco.
A calle exiting the campo. This calle is rather small, but gives a good impression of the type of pathways entering and exiting the campo.
A sorteportego (a tunnel through a building that allows a calle to pass). Because it has a building on top of it and is somewhat hidden, a sorteportego adds more complexity to a space than a regular calle would.
A biforate window, with three corbels underneath and Doric capitals on the pilasters
Balustrade on a residential building on the campo. Notice the lintel of the window directly below the balustrade
A tondo
Two cusps on the intrados of an ogee arch, on a building overlooking the campo. Ogee archs are common throughout the campo, especially on the Frari where they often function as part of a complex biforate window.
Cupola on a nearby camponile, as seen from the campo
This is the entrance to Chiesa di San Rocco. Directly above the door is a lunette filled by a relief sculpture of San Rocco working among the sick. The door is surrounded by an aedicle, composed of two Corinthian pilasters and a pediment on top. The aedicle is flanked by two Corinthian columns supporting an entablature, itself supporting the second story.
The uppermost entablature of the Chiesa di San Rocco. The lower horizontal lines form the architrave; above this is the frieze, a repeating motif. Crowning the whole ensemble is an elaborate cornice containing repeated corbels. A pediment can be seen in the lower left of the photograph.
Highly decorated corbel on the Chiesa di San Rocco
An exedra containing a stature of a saint, surrounded by an aedicle, and supported by two corbels beneath the bases of the pilasters
Interesting lunette window on the Chiesa di San Rocco
Dentilled molding on the underside of the cornice. Above is the statue of a saint and below is a Composite capital.
Elaborate Composite column on the Scuola Grande dei San Rocco. Each comparable column on the facade contains unique sculpted figures in the capital.
A segmental pediment as part of an aedicle on the Scuola. Notice the composite style pilasters on either side of the aedicle.
Barrel vault on the Scuola
Small portico next to the barrel vault on the Scuola
Crockets on the extrados of an ogee arch on the Frari (around the corner from the campo)
An oculus on the Frari
Example of a single quaterfoil on the Frari
The apse of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Due to its size, the Frari dominates the campo and partially encloses it.
Camponile of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, located above the transept. The nave stretches forward to the right of the photograph.
View of the nave of the Frari (Camponile and transept are to the left). Notice the three bays on the side of the nave, separated by piers, as well as the abundance of oculus windows. The church is in the Gothic style. (picture taken from the adjacent Campo di Frari, located on the opposite side of the Frari from the Campo San Rocco)
Example of a spandrel on the Frari. The spaces between the two window arches, the walls, and the lintel are the spandrels. In this case, they contain elaborate windows.
Although I was unable to take photos, there are also additional architectural details, as well as beautiful paintings and works of art, within the Chiesa di San Rocco. These include a chancel and pendantives.
Looking at the details of Venice, architectural or otherwise, adds whole new layers and complexities to what is experienced. Features of buildings that once blended together to create a nameable whole are now split into smaller units, bring out even smaller features that can be analyzed and enjoyed. Noticing details thus greatly multiplies the beautiful, and ugly, aspects of the city. In the Campo di San Rocco, the facades of the chiesa and scuola at first hit me as an beautiful but unintelligible mass of stonework. After examining them more closely, I could see the way the individual parts of the facade worked together to create a very complex symmetry that I could not previously see.
Besides expanding the aesthetic universe of Venice, looking at details expands appreciation and understanding. Seeing each unique capital on the facade of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco made me realize that each one was painstakingly carved by hand, each stoneworker leaving his unique actions and intentions somewhere on the building. Multiplying this by the vastness of the Venetian creation, one sees a breathtaking human endeavor. Hundreds of thousands of hours of lives were spent shaping the city from the mud, and real individuals left their mark on every stone laid and on each tondo sealed into a wall. That sense of communion with the anonymous, unknown individual responsible for a particular detail of a building or campo is something very special. Looking at the details of Venice has given me that opportunity, and has allowed me to flesh out and multiply the richness of the city.
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