Chiesa di Santo Stefano

Santo Stefano is a large Gothic church founded by the Augustinian Hermits in Venice. Its timber roof, marble portal and art-filled sacristy preserve successive contributions to a building whose chancel extends over a canal.

Why it matters

The church combines the spatial scale of a monastic foundation with a long history of artistic commissions. Its musical associations include the burial of Giovanni Gabrieli, giving it a place in Venice's history of sound as well as painting and sculpture.

What to notice

Columns divide the nave from the aisles beneath the timber roofing, whose form recalls an inverted ship's hull. The marble portal is attributed to Bartolomeo Bon. The inlaid wooden choir dates to 1488. Tintoretto's sacristy paintings include the Last Supper, the Washing of the Feet and Christ in Gethsemane; sculpture includes Tullio Lombardo's Saint Sebastian and Canova's memorial to Giovanni Falier.

Context and history

Founded in the thirteenth century, the church was enlarged and reshaped in the later Middle Ages. Its bridged chancel responds to the constrained canal-side site. The monastery was suppressed in the Napoleonic period, but the church and its accumulated artistic heritage survived.