|
|
|
|
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni Review
Read our Venice sights reviews. Or post your own.
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni
- Address: Calle dei Furlani, Castello 3259/a, Venice
- Phone: 041/5228828
- Category: Religious Sites
- Location: Castello
Fodor's Review:
Founded in 1451 by the Dalmatian community, which still owns it today, this scuola served as a social and cultural headquarters for migrants who crossed the Adriatic Sea from what is now Croatia. The small scuola is lavishly decorated, yet somehow unpretentious and harmoniously balanced. Not well known outside Venice, where he spent all his life, Vittore Carpaccio painted devotional teleri (large narrative canvases of legendary and religious scenes) against a background of Venetian architecture. He combined observation with fantasy, a sense of warm color with a sense of humor (don't miss the body parts in the dragon's lair). In Scuola di San Giorgio, Carpaccio concentrated on three saints especially venerated in Dalmatia: St. George, St. Tryphone, and St. Jerome. The two paintings to the left and the one opposite the entrance tell the story of St. George, who was passing through Selene (in Libya) when he found a beautiful virgin princess had been offered as a sacrifice to a dragon. The exuberant St. George Charging the Dragon is a contrast to the more somber baptism of the king and queen -- St. George wouldn't slay the dragon until the royals became Christians. In the central painting, the saint stands triumphantly over his adversary, while the king and queen, with their newly freed princess, look on. The fourth painting shows the child St. Tryphone freeing the emperor's daughter from the devil. Paintings five and six are called, respectively, the Agony in the Garden and the Calling of St. Matthew. The remaining three teleri are dedicated to St. Jerome, who in the seventh painting is about to take a thorn out of the lion's paw while monks flee in terror. The Funeral of St. Jerome and the Vision of St. Augustine follow. This last work -- especially vivid in detail -- is the faithful representation of the "office" of a 15th-century humanist. Augustine is writing a letter to his dear friend Jerome, when the latter appears and delivers the news that he'd died and gone to heaven.
The adjoining small room displays old garments and other objects used by the brotherhood. The first floor features many portraits of brothers and sisters. Try to visit in the morning, as the fraternal order sometimes closes the church in the afternoon for its own use.
- Cost: EUR 3
- Open: Apr.-Oct., Tues.-Sat. 9:30-12:30 and 3:30-6.30, Sun. 9:30-12:30; Nov.-Mar., Tues.-Sat. 10-12:30 and 3-6, Sun. 10-12:30; last entry 1/2 hr before closing
- Vaporetto: Arsenale/San Zaccaria
Get Advice From Other Travelers
- 8 days in Venice too long?
45 responses; most recent on 10/22/2008, 07:31 am - Mosquitoes in Venice..HOW BAD??
16 responses; most recent on 09/22/2008, 07:19 am - Help me budget my time in Venice..please
16 responses; most recent on 09/21/2008, 04:28 am - Flights to Venice cancelled - Dec in Venice, Vienna or Zermatt?
2 responses; most recent on 09/19/2008, 05:02 pm
Visit the Travel Talk forums for help on planning your trip >>
- Travel Deals
-
Venice, Florence & Rome trio w/flight$949+
go-today.com -
Reduced Europe fares w/Dublin & Paris$349 & up
Aer Lingus -
Round-trip winter Rome fares; limited seats$559+
Eurofly -
Flights to Venice, Naples & more (one-way)$315+
British Airways - More >>
Buy the Guidebook
-
$21.95
-
$11.95
Get the Fodor's Newsletter
Read the current issue
For more travel ideas, tips, and deals, sign up for the Fodor's newsletter here. Browse previous issues.
