Description
The Church of San Giorgio in Braida is a large Renaissance church on the Adige, in Veronetta, the bank opposite the historic center. It holds a masterpiece by Paolo Veronese, an enormous dome by Michele Sanmicheli and a bell tower left half built.
The work to seek out is the Martyrdom of Saint George by Paolo Veronese, in the apse: the saint has an arm that seems to hang unnaturally. It is not the painter's mistake: during the First World War the canvas, put in safekeeping in Florence, tore right there and was imperfectly repaired.
Veronese had painted it when he returned to his native city, long since left for Venice, to marry Elena Badile, daughter of his first teacher. Above the entrance door, instead, is a Baptism of Christ by Tintoretto.
In the presbytery, on either side, two large canvases: the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes by Paolo Farinati, painted when he was already 79, and the Fall of the Manna by Felice Brusasorzi.
Along the single nave open eight chapels, four on each side, with white marble altars. Under the choir loft is a Madonna in Glory by Moretto. Scipione Maffei and Goethe also praised the works of art in this church.
The dome is by Michele Sanmicheli: at 14 meters in diameter it recalls the style of Rome, where he had worked, but it is covered in lead sheets and has a lantern, as in Palladio's domes. Its oculus opens 34 meters above the floor.
Outside is the bell tower, left half built. It was designed by Bernardino Brugnoli, a relative and pupil of Sanmicheli, but work stopped at the base and the first order. Why? Perhaps so as not to rise above the Lamberti Tower, perhaps for military reasons, perhaps for lack of money.
The origin dates to 1046, when Pietro Cadalo, bishop of Parma and future antipope, founded a Benedictine monastery at his own expense. After a period of decline under the Scaligeri, it passed to the canons of San Giorgio in Alga, who built the present building.
When the congregation was suppressed in 1668, the complex was sold at auction: the Serenissima needed money for the War of Candia against the Ottomans. The nuns of Santa Maria in Reggio bought it.
On the plaster of the canonry next door, to the left of the church, you can still see the bullet holes from a clash between French and Austrian soldiers in October 1805. A plaque in the middle recalls the event.
The work to seek out is the Martyrdom of Saint George by Paolo Veronese, in the apse: the saint has an arm that seems to hang unnaturally. It is not the painter's mistake: during the First World War the canvas, put in safekeeping in Florence, tore right there and was imperfectly repaired.
Veronese had painted it when he returned to his native city, long since left for Venice, to marry Elena Badile, daughter of his first teacher. Above the entrance door, instead, is a Baptism of Christ by Tintoretto.
In the presbytery, on either side, two large canvases: the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes by Paolo Farinati, painted when he was already 79, and the Fall of the Manna by Felice Brusasorzi.
Along the single nave open eight chapels, four on each side, with white marble altars. Under the choir loft is a Madonna in Glory by Moretto. Scipione Maffei and Goethe also praised the works of art in this church.
The dome is by Michele Sanmicheli: at 14 meters in diameter it recalls the style of Rome, where he had worked, but it is covered in lead sheets and has a lantern, as in Palladio's domes. Its oculus opens 34 meters above the floor.
Outside is the bell tower, left half built. It was designed by Bernardino Brugnoli, a relative and pupil of Sanmicheli, but work stopped at the base and the first order. Why? Perhaps so as not to rise above the Lamberti Tower, perhaps for military reasons, perhaps for lack of money.
The origin dates to 1046, when Pietro Cadalo, bishop of Parma and future antipope, founded a Benedictine monastery at his own expense. After a period of decline under the Scaligeri, it passed to the canons of San Giorgio in Alga, who built the present building.
When the congregation was suppressed in 1668, the complex was sold at auction: the Serenissima needed money for the War of Candia against the Ottomans. The nuns of Santa Maria in Reggio bought it.
On the plaster of the canonry next door, to the left of the church, you can still see the bullet holes from a clash between French and Austrian soldiers in October 1805. A plaque in the middle recalls the event.