San Sebastiano: Veronese's Church
Why is it significant?
From outside, San Sebastiano is a modest Renaissance church on a quiet canal at the western end of Dorsoduro. Nothing prepares you for what is inside: a building painted almost entirely by one man, ceiling, walls, organ shutters and altar, as if you had stepped inside his head.
Key Facts
| Place | San Sebastiano: Veronese's Church |
|---|---|
| Address | Campo San Sebastiano, Dorsoduro 1687, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 45.43160, 12.31830 |
| Part of Walk | Art on the Water: Dorsoduro, the Accademia and the Zattere in Venice |
| Generated | Generated |
From outside, San Sebastiano is a modest Renaissance church on a quiet canal at the western end of Dorsoduro. Nothing prepares you for what is inside: a building painted almost entirely by one man, ceiling, walls, organ shutters and altar, as if you had stepped inside his head.
The man was Paolo Caliari, called Veronese because he came from Verona. He arrived in Venice young, and one of his first big Venetian commissions, in 1555, was the ceiling of the sacristy here, followed by the ceiling of the nave. The prior of the monastery was a fellow Veronese, and the painter kept coming back, covering the church with colour over the course of roughly a decade.
Look up at the nave ceiling. It tells the story of Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people, and Veronese paints it from below, so that you see the horses, the king and the queen in steep perspective, as if they were standing on a balcony just above you. On the walls of the chancel you meet the saint himself, Sebastian, in huge canvases of his trials and martyrdom. The colours are his famous ones: silvery whites, deep greens, the shimmering pink and gold silks of the Venetian aristocracy.
Veronese loved this church so much that he chose to be buried here. He died in 1588, and his tombstone lies near the organ that he himself painted, with his portrait bust above it. In a city full of famous graves there is something moving about a painter resting under his own ceilings, in a church he turned into a single great work.
Before you leave, notice how few people are here. The quiet is part of the gift. Now walk north past the church of the Angelo Raffaele, then follow the calli east until you reach a tall building with a white Baroque front, at the corner of a long, lively campo.