Also known as just the Frari, the Basilica of the Glorious St. Mary is one of the three great shrines of Venice; the other two being the St. Mark's Cathedral and the Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin and was built between 1250 and 1338 by the Franciscan order, which was granted a plot of land in this part of the San Polo Sestiere. The Frari was the first church in Venice to be dedicated to the Madonna and today appears more like a museum than a religious edifice because of all the artistic gems it contains inside.
The basilica, though massive in its size, has a plain brick Gothic exterior with an unimposing façade. On the façade we see a simple rose window, as well as two oculi, while on the roof three statue-less tabernacles soar to the sky. The campanile, which is the second tallest belfry in the city after the one of the St. Mark's Cathedral, was erected in 1396.
The shrine's three-nave interior is completely different from its exterior. In fact, the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is one of, if not the, most sumptuous churches of Venice. It stretches 102 meters in length, a maximum of 48 meters in width and 28 meters in height. The high gothic vaults are connected by wooden ties (beams that help the vertical structures resist tension). The basilica has 17 monumental altars and its walls are covered with pictorial and sculptural masterpieces from various epochs of Venetian history.
The Frari's most original feature is the rectangular choir with its wooden stalls, which is the last of its kind in Venice. The choir is the ornate isolated section between the nave and the chancel, and is today used for public seating during musical performances. The basilica also possesses two important pipe organs built in the 18th century, which are also employed during concerts.
Among the most notable works of art that can be found in the basilica are Giovanni Bellini's colorful sacristy altarpiece, the Madonna and Child with Ss. Nicholas of Bari, Peter, Mark and Benedict; Donatello's polychromatic wooden sculpture of St. John the Baptist in the first chapel on the left; Paolo Veneziano's painting, Doge Francesco Dandolo and His Wife Presented to the Virgin by Ss. Francis and Elizabeth in the sacristy; Alessandro's Vittoria's marble statue of St. Jerome in the left nave; Alvise Vivarini's painting St. Jerome and other Saints in the right transept; Jacopo Sansovino's slightly damaged sculpture of St. John the Baptist in the Corner Chapel; and Titian's painting in the right nave, the Pesaro Madonna, depicting the presentation of nobleman Jacopo Pesaro to the Madonna by St. Peter. Last but not least, behind the main altar shines one of Titian's most famous paintings, the Assumption, in which the Virgin rises on a bed of angels from the Apostles on the ground into the outstretched arms of God the Father.
Yet, the greatest treasures lying in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari are the remains of four legendary Venetians: Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Foscari, Antonio Canova and Titian.
Although Claudio Monteverdi was born in Cremona, Lombardy, in 1567, when the region was under Spanish occupation, he moved to the Venetian Republic in 1613, assuming the position of the Kapellmeister at the St. Mark's Cathedral. Prior to becoming a Venetian citizen, he had worked at the court of Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua, where he had written his most celebrated opera, Orpheus. Orpheus is considered one of the first operas to be ever composed and one of the few works whose exact instrumentation at its premiere is known to us today. Subsequently, in Venice Monteverdi wrote the operas The Return of Ulysses and The Coronation of Poppea. He also wrote nine books of madrigals and endless compositions in the genre of sacred music. Having lost his wife and one of his three children, he was deeply religious and the motif of the afterlife frequently appears in his works. In the last years of his life he became a priest, though continued composing and giving concerts. He died in 1643 and was buried in the left transept of the Basilica.
Monteverdi's influence on world music was immense. Having been not only a composer but also a singer and a viol player, he had revolutionized certain aspects of composition, such as polyphony, counterpoint and basso continuo, the part that provides the harmonic structure and the continuity of the music.
Francesco Foscari's tomb is located on the right wall of the presbyter and was designed by Niccolo Fiorentini. Foscari was one of the most controversial, yet indeed greatest, doges in Venetian history. Belonging to one of Venice's oldest and wealthiest patrician families and being a brilliant orator, he had held all the expected government posts before being elected Doge in 1423. His main policy was to expand the Venetian mainland possessions towards Milan, with the hope of driving out the Visconti family. He also fought with the Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The wars between the Duchy of Milan and the Venetian Republic were long, brutal and costly. Although Venice managed to gain some important territories from Milan, such as Brescia and Bergamo, the price was high and Foscari's reputation was sinking. He even survived, barely, an assassination attempt, organized by one of his political rivals.
Foscari's career took a tumble when his only son Jacopo was accused of accepting improper gifts from the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti. The rebellious youth was exiled to the island of Nafplio, but a couple of years later was pardoned and allowed to return to Venice. However, when a member of the Maggior Consiglio, who had condemned Jacopo the first time, was assassinated, Jacopo was again arrested and this time exiled to Crete. There he conspired against the government, but was apprehended in time and finally jailed for life, dying in 1457. Meanwhile, back in the lagoon, Francesco Foscari was losing his ability as the head of state. Several months after Jacopo's death, the Council of Ten asked Francesco to resign. The doge had no choice but to obey. Heartbroken and deeply disturbed, Francesco Foscari died just two weeks after stepping down from office, having ruled his beloved republic for 34 years.
Today we can see an impressive sculpture dedicated to him above the Porta della Carta between the St. Mark's Cathedral and the Doge's Palace, in which he is humbly kneeling before the mighty lion of St. Mark. Foscari is also depicted in numerous paintings and even inspired Lord Byron's verse play, The Two Foscari: An Historical Tragedy.
By the left wall of the Basilica stands a marble pyramid. By its entrance lies a winged lion. Next to the lion is an angel. On the other side of the door a veiled figure is about to enter the pyramid. Above the entrance we read, "Canova." Inside the mausoleum rests the heart of one of the greatest sculptors who had ever lived.
Antonio Canova was born in 1757, in the north of the Venetian Republic, in a little town called Possagno, not far from the Alps. His father died when he was three and his mother remarried, leaving young Antonio at the care of his paternal grandparents. Both his father and grandfather had been stonecutters. The boy was attracted to marble immediately and spent all his time studying his grandfather's art. Soon Antonio was noticed by the Venetian nobility and was given his first commissions, which he carried out in his workshop in a monastery. Although he was very studious at the academy, he relied more on the imitation of nature and the observation of human forms in their natural context. Among his most important early works are Orpheus and Daedalus and Icarus. After completing his studies in Venice, Canova moved to Rome, where his career really took off. His first major work in the Eternal City was Theseus and the Minotaur, demonstrating his ability in portraying man as the dominator. Subsequently, he was employed by a succession of popes, for whom he produced monuments and cenotaphs. By that time his name had spread throughout Europe and there was not a monarch on the continent who was not asking Canova to move to his court. But the sculptor declined, saying that he could not live without his native Italy. He did travel however - to Paris, to Vienna, to London, leaving crowds speechless, not only in front of the subtle, delicate forms of his sculptures, but also in front his refined and gentle air. In 1815 Pope Pius VII asked Canova to go to Paris and retrieve the most significant Italian artworks appropriated by Napoleon after his occupation of Italy. Canova executed his mission gracefully and successfully, although he had also satisfied the French emperor on an earlier occasion by creating a statue or two of him. Canova spent his last years between Rome and Possagno, having acquired a glorious reputation - he was considered the embodiment of Neoclassicism. His most famous works are the sculpture of Napoleon's sister Polina, today at the Galleria Borghese in Rome; Perseus with the head of Medusa, today in the Vatican; Psyche revived by Cupid's Kiss, today found at the Louvre; and the Three Graces, which today stands in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Canova passed away in Venice, in the autumn of 1822, and received a state funeral. After Canova's heart was interred in the basilica, his body was taken to his hometown of Possagno and buried in a temple of his design. The mausoleum that stands in the Frari containing his heart is also his work. However, it was not built for him. It was originally built to accommodate the remains of the artist who rests on the other side of the shrine, Tiziano Vecellio.
Titian was not only a genius in the ordinary meaning of the word; he was a genius in the sense that he and his work represented the prevalent spirit of his age, the zeitgeist of 16th century Europe. "The sun amidst small stars," as Titian was called by his contemporaries, eclipsed everyone during his lifetime, in Italy and beyond. The authority of his art was as influential as that of any powerful monarch; his understanding of human nature was as perspicacious as that of any of the great philosophers; and his riches were as enormous as those of the wealthiest patrician families.
Born around 1490 in the Venetian Alps, in the tiny village of Pieve di Cadore, into a family of notaries, Titian arrived in Venice at the age of twelve and joined the workshop of the Bellini family. He then became the assistant, but also rival, of Giorgione, with whom he painted the famous frescoes for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi by the Rialto Bridge. In fact, if Giorgione had not died young, it is possible that Titian would not have been the only sun in the firmament of 16th century painting.
By the time he was twenty, Titian's popularity was spreading fast and he was receiving private commissions from all parts of the Venetian Republic. He also became superintendent of the government works, charged with completing paintings left unfinished by the deceased Giovanni Bellini. It was at this time that he painted his best paintings of the Venetian Doges, having set up his studio by the Church of San Samuele. The painting that marked his maturity as an artist and made him the undisputed master of his generation was precisely the Assumption of the Virgin, which hangs behind the Frari's main altar. He continued developing his technique, one based on faithfully capturing the texture of materials and the play of colors, by painting portraits, mythological scenes, as well as Christian themes and subjects.
By this time he had had three children with his housekeeper-turned-wife, Cecilia. Unfortunately, Cecilia died giving birth to their daughter, Lavinia. When Titian and his children moved into his new home on the northern banks of Venice, in front of the present-day island of San Michele, he asked his sister to come down from Cadore and take care of the family. It was in that home, called Ca' Grande, that Titian would throw extravagant parties entertaining his friends Pietro Aretino and Jacopo Sansovino, as well as any foreign dignitary who happened to be passing through Venice at the time.
By the mid 16th century there was not a pope or king who did not wish to be immortalized by Titian's brush. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sat at least three times for Titian, making him a Count Palatine and Knight of the Golden Spur, that is, a nobleman of the Holy Roman Empire. When Charles' son Phillip II became King of Spain, the first thing he did to commemorate his ascension to the throne was to have Titian paint his portrait. Basically, if you were a monarch and you still did not have Titian paint you, you risked losing your credibility.
Titian's wealth could be compared today to that of a world famous rock star. No painter - from his works alone - had ever been, or would probably ever be as rich as him. Surprisingly, his riches did not suppress his genius, as is often the case. On the contrary, his status only provided him with more and more opportunity to study the environment, the human physiognomy and the human soul.
The last twenty-five years of his life were spent quietly in the lagoon, carrying out commissions for Phillip II. His eye as an observer had become more scrutinizing, more self-critical; his backgrounds were darker and more monotone; his religious scenes more agonizing. His beloved daughter Lavinia died in 1560 during childbirth and death became the principle, though not always apparent, prism through which he looked at the world.
In the summer of 1576 Titian fell victim to the plague that was raging through Venice. His son Orazio died shortly afterwards. His beautiful house on the northern shores of the city was looted by thieves. The artist's body was laid to rest in the basilica in a modest tomb. In the beginning of the 19th century Antonio Canova designed a funeral monument for Titian, which, paradoxically, was used to give shelter to his own remains. The sepulcher that we see today was built by Canova's students, Luigi and Pietro Zandomeneghi. However, with Titian being an icon of Venetian culture himself, a plain little plaque with only his name would have been just as monumental.