Chiesa di San Zaccaria (Church of St. Zacchary)

Description:

• Behind (east of) St. Mark's Basilica is a 9th-century Gothic church with its original 13th-century campanile and a splendid Renaissance facade designed by the Venetian architect Mario Codussi in the late 15th century. Of the interior's many artworks is the important Madonna Enthroned with Four Saints, painted by Giovanni Bellini in 1505. Art historians have long held this as one of Bellini's finer Madonnas. Ask the sacristan to see the Sisters' Choir, with works by Tintoretto, Titian, Il Vecchio, Anthony Van Dyck, and Bassano. The paintings aren't labeled, but the sacristan will point out the names of the artists. In the fan vaults of the Chapel of San Tarasio are the faded ceiling frescoes of the Florentine-born artist Andrea del Castagno, who was the first to bring the spirit of the Renaissance to Venice.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010