Church of Santa Maria del Giglio

This ancient church was founded in the 9th century, but the present building is the result of reconstructing during the second half of the 17th century. The work of Giuseppe Sardi, the church façade is one of the most original and imaginative expressions of Baroque art in Venice and forms one large monument to the Barbaro Family, comprising portrait statues of the five brothers and relief maps of the various places in which Antonio Barbaro served the Venetian Republic.

The ceiling of the single nave interior is decorated with large canvasses by Antonio Zanchi, and on the inside wall of the church hang various fine paintings, including a noteworthy Via Crucis painted between 1755 and 1756 by some of the most gifted Venetian painters of the day (including Francesco Zugno, Gianbattista Crosato, Gaspare Diziani and Jacopo Marieschi among others). Another painting worthy of mention is Peter Paur Rubens' Madonna and Child and St. John the Baptist the only Venetian work by the Flemish artist. The church also contains J. Tintoretto's fine Four Evangelists (which now hang behind the altar but were originally the organ doors), along with works by Alessandro Vittoria, Sebastiano Ricci, Giambattista Piazzetta, Palma il Giovane and Gian Maria Morlaiter all of which go to make this building an extraordinary compendium of the Venetian art of its day.