Santa Maria della Pietà or della Visitazione
Riva degli Schiavoni, Castello
Venice, September 2013
“Famous as the church of the Ospedale della Pietà, the orphanage where Vivaldi taught and for whose talented girls he composed most of his concerti and oratorios. The complex had been enlarged in 1388, and modernised in 1493 and 1515. The current building dates from a rebuilding of the chapel of the Pietà between 1745-60 on a new site. It was finished well after Vivaldi's death, but it is possible that the composer advised the architect, Giorgio Massari, on the positioning of the choirs and the use of a vestibule to provide a barrier to the noises of the Riva. Massari had won a competition in 1735 to provide plans for the reconstruction of the whole complex, but only the church was ever built. The façade was finally finished in 1906.” (La Pietà, The Churches of Venice)
Viva Vivaldi!
ReplyDelete