Located at the southern end of the area of Rivo Alto called “Gemino,” the church is said to have been founded in antiquity by Saint Magnus (8th century). The arrival of relics of Saint John the Baptist in the 10th century and those of Saint John the Almsgiver in the 13th encouraged further development of the site. In the Renaissance, the church was rebuilt, affecting also its relationship to the campo (i.e. piazza). Prominent figures in this transformation included Pope Paul II Barbo, the future doge Andrea Gritti, the painters Cima da Conegliano and Alvise Vivarini, and the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria. In this period the church also became ever more connected to the area’s economic activities, thanks to the presence of confraternities such as the ropemakers and sand merchants; the campo, in the meantime, became a space for festivals, theatrical performances and, later, for popular games. Also noteworthy was the presence of foreign communities in the area, such as Greeks, Slavs, Friulians and the Knights of Malta. Church and campo were thus representative of the urban fabric of Venice, in which the local and the international were inseparable. In the 18th century, the church and parish were marked by the activity of Antonio Vivaldi, followed by the playwright Giacinto Gallina in the 19th. Densely populated, the area remained a lively neighborhood until the second world war and the closing of the Arsenal. In this period the church also underwent a number of important restorations

The conference can only be attended and followed in person: two days in the classroom (Ca’ Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin) and a final session on site in the church. Sessions will not be recorded.

PROGRAM

14 DECEMBER 2023 Morning
Ca’ Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin
1 SESSION “La chiesa, il campo, la parrocchia”
Chair: Matteo Casini

9.30 Welcome
10.00 Lorenzo Buonanno, Matteo Casini (University of Massachusetts, Boston): introduction
10.30 Jean-François Chauvard (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne): “Spaccati di vite di forestieri attorno a San Giovanni in Bragora a fine Cinquecento”
11.15 Break
11.30 Isabella Cecchini (CNR-ISEM Istituto di Storia dell’Europa Mediterranea, Roma): “La composizione sociale della parrocchia attraverso i censimenti del 1624, 1632 e 1642
Discussion

14 DECEMBER Afternoon
Ca’ Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin
2 SESSION “La presenza straniera e la Riva”
Chair: Reinhold C. Mueller

14.30 Despina Vlassi (già Bibliotecaria/archivista dell’Istituto Ellenico di Venezia): “L’inserimento dei Greci nel tessuto socio-economico della parrocchia di San Giovanni in Bragora (XVI-XVIII sec.)”
15.00 Jasenka Gudelj (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia): “Il fonte battesimale di San Giovanni in Bragora: un modello fortunato”
15.30 Discussion
15.45 Break
16.00 Danai Thomaidis (Princeton University): “Il volto greco di San Giovanni in Bragora: identità e sincretismo sacrale nello spazio urbano ed ecclesiastico”
16.30 Deborah Howard (University of Cambridge): “La Riva degli Schiavoni: in che senso zona portuale?”
17.00 Discussion

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15 DICEMBRE 2023 Morning
Ca’ Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin
3 SESSION “L’arsenale, le arti, e le confraternite”
Chair: Matteo Ceriana

9.00 David Celetti (Università degli Studi di Padova): “La confraternita dei filacanevi all’Arsenale. Aspetti di storia economica, sociale e urbana”
9.30 Nicolas Moucheront (Università Iuav Venezia -EHESS Paris): “Una piccola corporazione edile, l’arte dei sabbioneri tra Cinque e Seicento”
10.00 Riccardo Tonin (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia): “Bragora 1515. Il nuovo trittico di Francesco Bissolo per l’arte dei sabbioneri”
10.30 Discussion
10.45 Break

4 SESSION “L’architettura”
Chair: Matteo Ceriana

11.00 Joanne Allen (American University): “The Marble Choir Precinct in San Giovanni in Bragora”
11.30 Paola Placentino (Università degli Studi di Padova): “L’architettura della chiesa”
12.00 Chiara Ferro (Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Venezia): “Novecento: Venezia “tardogotica”, riscoprire un’identità per la Chiesa di San Giovanni in Bragora tra antichità e restauro”
12.30 Discussion

15 DICEMBRE 2023 Afternoon
Ca’ Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin
5 SESSION “L’arte”
Chair: Lorenzo Buonanno

15.00 Maria Bergamo (Università Iuav Venezia) e Delphine Lauritzen (UMR Orient et Méditerranée, Université Sorbonne): “Cieli aperti e iconografie angeliche nel Battesimo di Cima da Conegliano in San Giovanni in Bragora”
15.30 Lisa Boutin Vitela (Cerritos College, Norwalk, California): “Marking the Baptism: Cima da Conegliano’s Bowl and Venetian Material Culture”
16.00 Discussion
16.15 Break
16.30 David P. Bardeen (CASVA, National Gallery of Art, Washington / Department of Art History, UCLA): “Cima’s Cross: The Material and Spiritual Poetics of Wood in San Giovanni in Bragora”
17.00 Arianna Favaretto Cortese (Università degli studi di Verona): “Leonardo Tedesco intagliatore di San Lio. Il Crocifisso di San Giovanni in Bragora nel panorama veneziano tra XV e XVI secolo”
17.30 Discussion
18.00 Conferenza: “La Bragora in musica ai tempi di Vivaldi” Federico Maria Sardelli

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16 DICEMBRE 2023, Morning
Chiesa di San Giovanni in Bragora

Session “in situ”. Discussion of the themes that emerged during the conference with the participation of Diego Sartorelli (Archivio Storico del Patriarcato, Venezia), Rosella Mamoli Zorzi (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia), Micky White (studiosa indipendente).
Debate with the conference speakers. Chairs: Lorenzo Buonanno e Matteo Casini
12.30 Concert: Ufficio di San Giovanni Elemosinario, Paola Talamini & Coro Gregoriano della Scuola Diocesana di Musica Antica di Venezia

For information: https: //www.chiesedivenezia.eu
chiesediveneziagmail.com
The conference is curated by Lorenzo Buonanno and Matteo Casini.