Giovanni Scalfarotto - architect

Grandiose church renovation is one of Venice’s best-known sights

The church of San Simeon Piccolo is situated
opposite Venice's Santa Lucia railway station

Giovanni Scalfarotto, a Venetian architect remembered essentially for just one project, was born on this day in 1672.

The son of a bricklayer, Scalfarotto spent much of his career as a site foreman or supervisor around Venice and nearby towns, usually involved with relatively minor restoration work, although he advised on the domes of San Giorgio Maggiore and San Marco as a consultant.

The exception was his work on the church of Saints Simeone and Giuda Apostoli, also known as San Simeon Piccolo, on the Grand Canal, in a restoration project that spanned 20 years between 1718 and 1738 and created what is today arguably one of Venice’s most recognisable visual symbols. 

Likely originally to have been a three-nave basilica built parallel to the canal, the church was transformed under Scalfarotto, who created a central rotunda beneath an enormous oval dome in green copper topped by a temple-shaped lantern, accessed through a Corinthian portico mounted on a flight of steps leading to the water’s edge.

The design had echoes of the Pantheon in Rome, of Antonio Palladio’s Redentore in Venice and his Tempietto in Maser, Baldassare Longhena’s Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice and the twin churches of Piazza del Popolo in Rome, designed by Carlo Rainaldi.

When the age of the railways reached Venice with the construction of Santa Lucia railway station in the 1860s, the position of San Simeon Piccolo on the Grand Canal, directly opposite the entrance to the station, meant that for hundreds, and ultimately thousands of tourists who arrive in Venice by train every day, it was the first thing their eyes were drawn to as they stepped out into the sunshine.

Given that he was in his 40s when he began work on the church and had only a relatively modest career behind him, many experts have cast doubt on whether the design can be reliably attributed to Scalfarotto.

The twin churches of Piazza del Popolo in Rome
possibly influenced the design of San Simeon Piccolo

But even if he had been merely executing ideas put forward by others, the successful completion of a project of such complexity was a notable achievement in itself.

Scalfarotto - sometimes spelled Scalferotto or Scalfurotto - was born in the parish of San Pantalon, the second son of Tommaso, a bricklayer originally from Valmarino, about 80km (48 miles) north of Venice, in the province of Treviso.

By his early 20s, Giovanni Scalfarotto was himself working in Venice as a bricklayer or mason. His training was probably provided by his father and his older brother, Bartolomeo. He is thought likely to have become interested in architecture and design through his friendship with Andrea Musalo, a Greek mathematician, engineer and architectural theorist who was based in Venice.

His career appeared to move to another level after he had travelled to Rome in 1711 with a group of Baroque artists and craftsmen that included Domenico Rossi, a Swiss‑Italian architect whose major designs included the magnificent, sculpturally theatrical façade of the church of San Stae, the Jesuit church of Santa Maria Assunta and Ca’ Corner della Regina.

On his return to Venice, Scalfarotto began to take on bigger projects involving his own designs, although few of them saw fruition. He also married Domenico Rossi’s daughter, Caterina, with whom he had three children. When Caterina died, he was married for a second time to Marina, daughter of the architect Andrea Tirali, who recommended him to be elected as ‘proto’ of the monasteries - a kind of master builder or chief engineer in charge of appraisals and reports on the state of churches and monasteries in Venice.

Scalfarotto’s name is engraved on the internal architrave of the portico in front of church of San Simeon Piccolo, which remains known as such even though the nearby church of San Simeone Grande was dwarfed by the 'smaller' church's rebuild. 

It is known that, in 1721, he was appointed foreman of the restoration project at San Simeon Piccolo by the church chapter, raising doubts about his role as an independent designer of the building. There are suggestions that, as foreman, he may have received suggestions about design from his client and drafted the project based on those ideas, rather than executing his own original ideas. 

Information about Scalfarotto in later life became sparse, although it is known that, between 1748 and 1750, after having lived in the parish of Sant’ Agnese in a house possibly owned by Andrea Musalo’s brother, he moved to Santa Maria Formosa, where he lived comfortably until his death in October, 1764. He was buried in the church of Santa Maria Formosa.

Campo Santa Maria Formosa, with its church
of the same name, offers a taste of Venetian life

Travel tip:

Campo Santa Maria Formosa, at the heart of the parish where Giovanni Scalfarotto spent his later years, is one of Venice’s most atmospheric squares, one in which the city’s layers of history bump into daily life in a generous open space. It is rare among squares in Venice, often tight and enclosed, in that it opens out in multiple directions, creating a sense of breadth and light that feels unexpected in the dense fabric of Castello. Palaces sit shoulder to shoulder with humbler residential buildings amid the commanding presence of the church that gives the square its name. The church of Santa Maria Formosa, where Scalfarotto is buried, is said to have been founded in the seventh century and rebuilt in the 15th century as a landmark of early Renaissance architecture in Venice. The church is unusual in having two façades, each addressing a different side of the square, one serene and classical, the other more theatrical, adorned with sculptural flourishes.  The Campo feels like a crossroads of Venetian life, with children playing, local people going about their daily business and visitors enjoying a break from the crowds of Piazza San Marco, which is barely five minutes’ walk away. 

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Castelbrando, which now contains a luxury hotel,
stands guard over the village of Cison di Valmarino

Travel tip:

Valmarino - Cison di Valmarino to give its full name - is a village about 40km (24 miles) north of Treviso in the characterised by arcaded streets, stone houses, and a landscape shaped by vineyards and wooded hills. It sits at the foot of the Prealps along the Strada del Prosecco, and today is recognised as one of I Borghi più belli d’Italia and a Touring Club Bandiera Arancione destination. Its position gives it a distinctive blend of Venetian, Alpine, and agricultural character. The village was once the seat of the historic County of Valmareno, which included two castles and 20 villages. From 1439 it belonged to the Brandolini family, who shaped the area’s political and architectural identity for centuries. Part of their legacy is perched above the village on a limestone ridge in the shape of Castelbrando, one of Veneto’s most imposing castles, enclosing nearly 2,000 years of history. Today it functions as a hotel, museum complex, and cultural venue, accessible by funicular. The village lies in the heart of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG zone, with numerous cellars offering tastings. Local food specialities include spiedo, a traditional slow‑roasted meat dish cooked for at least seven hours, and local speciality biscuits called Buzholà.

Stay in Cison di Valmarino with Expedia

More reading:

Andrea Palladio, the stonecutter who became a giant of architecture

How Giorgio Massari built on Palladio’s legacy in Venice

The magnificent Venetian church built to commemorate deliverance from the plague

Also on this day:

1598: The birth of astronomer Giovanni Riccioli

1923: The birth of tenor Gianni Raimondi

1927: The birth of soprano Graziella Sciutti

1954: The birth of racing driver Riccardo Patrese

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Giorgio Massari - architect

Work in 18th century Venice had echoes of Palladio

The Chiesa dei Gesuati is seen by
many as Massari's masterpiece 

The architect Giorgio Massari, who designed a number of significant churches and palaces in Venice in the 18th century, was born on this day in 1687.

Massari’s legacy in Venice includes the imposing Palazzo Grassi on the Grand Canal and the church of Santa Maria del Rosario, commonly known as the Gesuati, on the Giudecca Canal, which is acknowledged as his masterpiece.

He redesigned Santa Maria della Visitazione - known as the Pietà - the church on the Riva degli Schiavoni famous for its association with the great Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote some of his most famous music while working as a violin teacher at the adjoining orphanage.

Outside Venice, Massari designed villas and churches around Brescia, Treviso and Udine. 

His designs, especially his churches and villas, were often influenced by the work of the 16th century Classical architect Andrea Palladio and by Massari’s fellow Venetian, the Baroque sculptor and architect Baldassare Longhena.

Massari was born in the San Luca parish of the San Marco sestiere. His father, Stefano, was a carpenter from a village near Brescia in Lombardy. 

Little is known of his early life, although it is thought he may have studied under the supervision of Antonio Gaspari, who may himself have learned from Longhena.

Although it is likely that he had worked on other projects, the first to have been attributed to Massari is a house now known as the Villa Lattes at Istrana in the province of Treviso, which he designed in around 1712 for a wealthy merchant, Paolo Tamagnin.

Massari's Palazzo Grassi, on the Grand Canal,
has many features of the Classical design style

His reputation grew through his successes in both civil and religious architecture, which included the Palladian-style Villa Corner at Cavasagra, also in Treviso province, and the Oratory of Santa Maria della Salute in Badia Polesine, near Rovigo, which combined elements of Palladian, Rococo and neoclassical.

He began work on the Gesuiti church after the original architect had died. The project was only in its infancy and the Dominican friars who commissioned the building were so impressed with Massari’s plans that they ditched the drawings left behind by the first architect.

Situated on Fondamenta Zattere in the Dorsoduro sestiere, looking out over the broad Giudecca Canal, the Gesuati pays homage in its design to Palladio’s San Giorgio Maggiore, the landmark church on the small island at the eastern tip of the Giudecca, with its facade of Corinthian columns topped by a triangular pediment.

With its dome and twin adjoining bell towers, meanwhile, it compliments Palladio’s Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore, which overlooks the Giudecca Canal from the opposite bank.

Also in Dorsoduro, Massari worked extensively on Ca’ Rezzonico, a monumental Baroque palace on the Grand Canal that had been designed by Baldassarre Longhena in 1649 but abandoned after the family who commissioned it fell on hard times. Massari was invited to complete the project more than 100 years later after it was bought by Giambattista Rezzonico, whose family were from the Como area of Lombardy.

It was while he was finishing the Ca’ Rezzonico that Massari was hired to design a new Palazzo Grassi on behalf of the Grassi family, who had acquired the building in 1655. The new palace based on Massari’s designs was constructed between 1748 and 1772. Designed along academic classical lines, it was the last grand palazzo built on the Grand Canal before the fall of the Venetian Republic.

Massari's villas, such as the Villa Giovanelli near
Padua, often echoed the style of Andrea Palladio

Massari’s involvement with the church of Santa Maria della Visitazione, known as La Pietà, which is situated only a short distance from Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace, apparently began after he won a competition to redesign it, in 1736. It is thought that he spoke to Vivaldi, who was the choirmaster, about the acoustics, although work did not begin until four years after the composer’s death.

The facade, which again has echoes of Palladio in its Corinthian columns and triangular pediment, was not actually finished until the early 20th century, although it is faithful for the most part to Massari’s design.

Other works in Venice attributed to Massari include the church of San Marcuola on the Grand Canal in Cannaregio and the facade of what is now the Academy of Fine Arts in Dorsoduro.

Outside Venice, he designed churches in Brescia and its province, in Scorzè near Treviso, and in Udine. He also contributed to the renovation of the cathedrals in Udine and Padua.

When Paolo Tamagnin died in 1734, Massari married his widow, Pisana Bianconi, and settled with her in a house in the Castello sestiere that had been owned by her late husband.

Widowed in 1751 without children, Massari died in 1766 at the age of 79. His body was buried in the Tamagnin tomb in the church of San Giovanni in Bragora in Castello.

Massari finished the Ca' Rezzonico palace in
accordance with Baldassare Longhena's designs

Travel tip:

Ca’ Rezzonico, which Massari finished according to the designs of Baldassare Longhena, displays paintings by the leading Venetian painters of the 18th century, including Francesco Guardi and Giambattista Tiepolo. The latter was commissioned to paint the ceilings of two salons in 1758, to celebrate the election of Carlo, the younger brother of Giambattista Rezzonico, as Pope Clement XIII, and the marriage of Ludovico Rezzonico to Faustina Savorgnan, uniting the two richest families in Venice. The last of the Rezzonico family to live in the palace died in 1810, since when it has been bought and sold many times. The English poet Robert Browning died in the Ca’ Rezzonico in 1889 at the time it was owned by his son, Robert Barrett Browning. For a period in the 20th century it was the home of Cole Porter, the American composer and songwriter, who rented it for $4,000 a month. Nowadays, it houses the Museum of 18th Century Venice, hosting many precious examples of the furniture and decorations of the period, it has a wealth of Venetian paintings, including works by Tiepolo, Canaletto and Guardi.

The interior of San
Luca Evangelista

Travel tip:

The church of San Luca Evangelista in the San Marco sestiere, where Giorgio Massari was baptised, can be found on Rio de San Luca, a side canal off the Grand Canal behind Palazzo Grimani di San Luca. The church itself, which dates back to the 11th century, when it was the family place of worship for the Dandalo and Pizzamano families.  It has a simple facade but a richly decorated interior that features frescoes by Sebastiani Santi and altarpieces by Paolo Veronese and Palma il Giovane. 

Also on this day:

54: The death of Roman emperor Claudius

1815: The execution of Joachim Murat, former King of Naples

1884: The birth of anarchist Mario Buda

1899: The birth of sportsman and entrepreneur Piero Dusio

1985: The death of silent movie star Francesca Bertini

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