GESUATI

The church of 'il Gesuati', also called 'Santa Maria del Rosario' is an 18th century church in the Sestieri Dorsoduro, facing the Giudecca canal in Venice.
The present church was built in 1726-1736 by the Dominican order, at a site previously owned by the ''Order of the Poveri Gesuati'' (Jesuates). This 14th century order of friars, founded in Siena, attended to the poor. They are distinct from the Jesuit (Gesuiti) order. The order was ultimately abolished by Pope Clement IX on the 6th December 1668 and their possessions were confiscated by the Republic, then engaged in fighting against the Turks. The Gesuati possessed the smaller church Santa Maria della Visitazione on the Zattere.
The architect was Giorgio Massari, and resembles Andrea Palladio's church of Il Redentore. The sculpture was completed by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter. Ceiling paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo represent the life of San Domenico and the Institution of the Rosary, including "Ascent into Heaven of St Dominic", "Introduction of the Rosary by Mary", "St Dominic giving a Blessing", and "Madonna in Glory". In the third chapel on the left is a ''Crucifixion'' by Tintoretto, in the first chapel is Tiepolo's ''Three saints''. The altar-pieces "St Dominic" (ca. 1743; second altar on the right) and "Dominicans" (third altar on the right) are by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta and Sebastiano Ricci was responsible for the altar-piece "Pope Pius V and Saints" (ca. 1732-34; first altar on the left).

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