Images of Santa Maria della Salute by Baldassare Longhena,

begun 1631. Digital Imaging Project: Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-modern. Scanned from slides taken on site by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton College. (original) (raw)

Distant view of the front and the rear of the two-domed church

(front photographed by my mother, M. Mildred Miller) An ex vota church, built in gratitude for the end of the plague (thus the name), it is situated on a narrow peninsula between the Grand Canal and the Canale delle Zattere. A series of steps lead dramatically from the water to the entrance.

This wonderful post-modern picture of Santa Maria from the eastern side of the Ponte del' Accademia was taken in April 1998 by Geoff Offermann who generously contributed it for viewing at this site. He owns the copyright and should be contacted directly if you are interested in the use of his photograph: Geoff Offermann

The two photographs below were contributed to my site by Russell Hackworth. He owns the copyright and should be contacted directly if you are interested in the use of his photograph: Russell Hackworth

Views of the front facade from the Grand Canal

(photographed by my mother, M. Mildred Miller)

Views of the front facade from an angle

The front octagonal unitThe main part of the church is an octagon surmounted by a large dome. This central plan is complicated by an altar area added at the end of a longitudinal axis also surmounted by a smaller dome.

The two-story chapels of the interior extending off from the ambulatory provide a rich undulating movement to the exterior.

The entrance, modeled on a classical triumphal arch, and a detail of the sixteen volutes abuting the octagonal tambour and supporting a statue

The dome of the interiorThe interior is less dramatic and colorful than is usual in Baroque churches. Figures of the prophets stand above the tall Corinthian columns in the angles of the octagon. An ambulatory surrounds the octagon with rectangular chapels at each axis except for the entrance and altar.