Chiesa di San Stae

San Stae faces the Grand Canal with a sculptural Baroque façade and an interior distinguished by early-eighteenth-century painting. Its Venetian name refers to Saint Eustace, the church's dedicatee.

Why it matters

The presbytery's apostle cycle brings together works by Giambattista Tiepolo, Giambattista Piazzetta and Sebastiano Ricci. Their paintings offer different responses to sacred narrative within a shared decorative setting, supported by patrician patronage.

What to notice

Domenico Rossi designed the façade of 1709, enriched with sculpture by artists including Giuseppe Torretto, Antonio Tarsia, Pietro Baratta and Antonio Corradini. The single-nave interior has three chapels on each side. Among the apostle paintings are Tiepolo's Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, Piazzetta's Saint James and Ricci's Saint Peter Freed from Prison. Bartolomeo Letterini's Virtues occupies the presbytery ceiling.

Context and history

A medieval church preceded the rebuilding that produced the present interior around the turn of the eighteenth century. The façade and paintings belong to the subsequent enrichment of that setting. Mocenigo and Foscarini memorials connect its sacred decoration with the commemorative ambitions of Venetian families.