Chiesa di San Nicolò

The Dominican church of San Nicolò is one of Treviso's major medieval monuments. Begun in 1304 with support from Pope Benedict XI, it is a broad preaching hall with fourteenth-century frescoes, including a monumental Saint Christopher; the nearby former convent chapter house preserves Tomaso da Modena's signed 1352 portrait cycle of Dominican scholars.

Why it matters

The Dominicans arrived in Treviso in 1221 and received land and resources from the commune in the 1230s. The present church was begun in 1304 under Niccolò Boccasini, the Treviso-born friar who became Pope Benedict XI, and was nearing completion by the end of the fourteenth century. Frescoes attributed to Tomaso da Modena's school include the monumental Saint Christopher on a nave column. In the adjacent former convent chapter house, Tomaso painted and signed a cycle of forty distinguished Dominicans in 1352, an important milestone in European portraiture.

What to notice

The tall, open nave was designed for preaching. Fourteenth-century fresco panels attributed to Tomaso da Modena's school remain on the columns; on the third column, a large Saint Christopher carries the blessing Child across the water. Marco Vecellio's 1607 altarpiece is in the transept, and a Madonna and Saints panel is in the Monigo chapel. The former convent chapter house, now within the seminary complex, contains the 1352 cycle of friars reading, writing and studying.

Context and history

The Dominicans first built a conventual church around 1230 on land granted by Treviso's commune. The present church, begun under Benedict XI, was nearly finished by the late fourteenth century. The order left in 1810 during the Napoleonic suppressions; the buildings later housed the diocesan seminary. An Austrian-era restoration was completed in 1854. During the First World War, the church was used as a military warehouse. Its medieval frescoes survive alongside later canvases by Palma il Giovane, Antonio Zanchi and other seventeenth-century Venetian painters.