The Church of San Pietro di Castello and the birth of the Patriarchate
of Venice

by Michel Hochmann, Gianmario Guidarelli, Fabio Tonizzi

The research project "Chiese di Venezia. Nuove prospettive di ricerca"
(Churches of Venice. New Research Perspectives), promoted by the Studium
Generale Marcianum and representing one of the activities of the ISSR
San Lorenzo Giustiniani, consists in a long-term program of
multidisciplinary conferences, each focused on a particular church of
Venice.
The project aims at promoting the combination of the different
disciplines in order to understand the complex phenomena and dynamics of
which Venetian churches, in their articulate reality and manifold
meanings, have been catalyst elements for centuries.
Besides facing in an innovative way the study of the churches of Venice,
"releasing" the potentialities of each discipline through their mutual
comparison, the project takes up the challenge of reaching a wider
public than just the specialist one, whose contributions, constituting a
central aspect, are collected in a special series of volumes edited by
Marcianum Press.

After the study of the churches of San Bartolomeo (2011), of the Scalzi
(2012), of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti (2013) and of San Zaccaria
(scheduled for 2014), the conference of 10-11-12th December 2015 will be
dedicated to the study of the church of San Pietro di Castello.
In the context of the urban development of Venice, the Olivolo Island,
set at the extreme peripheral area of the town, was appointed to be the
see of the Bishop's complex (including the cathedral, the bishop's
palace and the residences of the canons) since the 9th century. Since
1451, when the island was chosen to be the seat of the Patriarch of
Venice, a series of urban and architectural renewals led to a complete
restoration of the complex by Mauro Codussi, Andrea Palladio, Francesco
Smeraldi, Gerolamo Grappiglia and Baldassarre Longhena.
The conference will concentrate on the transformation from the
Episcopate of Castello to the Patriarchate of Venice, in the framework
of Renaissance Venice, and will focus the attention on the early
patriarchs, particularly on Lorenzo Giustiniani. The figure of the
proto-patriarch of Venice, who played a fundamental role in the history
of the local Church, will be studied not only in the context of the
changing fortunes of the Venetian Church of the 15th century but also in
the wider context of the changing fortunes of the whole town during 16th
and 17th centuries, when the process of canonization and the following
worship of the Saint represented the key to discover the relationship
between Church and state.
The conference intends to reconsider, from a multidisciplinary point of
view, the role of the Patriarchate in the history of the town, starting
from the church of San Pietro di Castello in its architectural
consistency, passing on to the following decoration campaigns and
getting to the 17th century rebuilding.

In particular, the following topics will be analysed:
- The area of the parish: social and pastoral aspects
- The curia: the patriarchal palace and the residences of the canons.
Historical-architectural aspects, fortunes of the chancellery and life
of the familia patriarchalis
- The Giustinianean Reform in the context of the Italian Church of 15th
century
- Worship and music in San Pietro di Castello
- The church's interior decoration between the 15th and 16th century
- The façade: sacred liturgy and urban ritual
- The worship of Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani: religious and civil rituals.
The worship of the Saint in the area of the Republic: prayers, churches,
place names and festivals dedicated to San Lorenzo Giustiniani outside
Venice
- The iconography of Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani
- Seventeenth-century church: the chancel (architecture, painting,
sculpture), the Vendramin Chapel and Luca Giordano. The interior
decoration of the church.


Proposals, accompanied by a brief abstract (200 words, max 1200
characters) and by a one-page cv, will have to be submitted sending an
e-mail to chiesediveneziamarcianum.it by 15th June 2014.
Successful applicants will be notified by 31st July 2014.