Santa Maria dei Miracoli.
There is hardly any travel guide that does not describe the charming little church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli as a jewel box. The building indeed has a splendid exterior made of polychrome marble, and in that respect somewhat resembles the basilica of San Marco. So the term “jewel box” is justified but visitors should keep in mind that it is a jewel box that has been almost entirely emptied. Works by Giovanni Bellini, Titian and Marco Basaiti are all gone. If they have been preserved – and several have not – they can be admired in museums. As a consequence, Santa Maria dei Miracoli can feel rather void. This is no doubt different when the little church is used for weddings. Apparently, Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a popular venue for getting married, and this is also a fact mentioned by almost every travel guide.
The history of the church goes back to 1408. In that year an icon was completed for a certain Francesco Amadi. The painter was Niccolò di Pietro, a Venetian who must not be confused with the Florentine painter Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (see Murano: Santi Maria e Donato). It was not long before several miracles were attributed to the icon, so Amadi had a small sanctuary built for this Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Between 1481 and 1489 this sanctuary was replaced by the present church, which was designed by Pietro Lombardo (ca. 1435-1515). Along with the polychrome marble of the exterior, it is a sculpture of the Madonna and Child above the entrance that catches the eye. It was made by Giovanni Giorgio Lascaris (died 1531), whose name betrays that he was of Greek extraction. Another clue is that he worked under the alias Pyrgoteles, a reference to a Greek sculptor from the fourth century BCE.
The interior with the marble panels basically dates from the second half of the nineteenth century, which the church was transformed into what it is today. The decorations are certainly not ugly, and here and there we still see some of the original artworks. Examples are the beautiful sculptures on the balustrade by Tullio Lombardo (ca. 1455-1532), a son of Pietro. They represent Saint Franciscus of Assisi, Saint Clare of Assisi, the Virgin Mary and Saint Gabriel the Archangel. On either side of the stairs to the raised choir are statues of Franciscus and Clare, made by Girolamo Campagna (1549-1625). Given the presence of these two saints, it should not come as a surprise that Santa Maria dei Miracoli has a Franciscan connection. For a long time the church was used by Poor Clares. The sixteenth-century ceiling has been decorated with dozens of panels featuring Biblical figures. It was painted by Pier Maria Pennacchi (ca. 1464-1515), a painter from Treviso.
Sources: ANWB travel guide Venice (2016), p. 41, Capitol travel guide Venice & Veneto (2012), p. 142, The Churches of Venice: Cannaregio: Miracoli and the information panels in the church.
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