The church of Santa Maria del Rosario represents one of the most ambitious Venetian projects of the first half of the 18th century. Erected by a community of observant Dominican fathers settled in the convent formerly belonging to the ancient Jesuit order, it constitutes the professional debut of architect Giorgio Massari (1687-1766) in the lagoon city. It is a relevant architecture for its time, as it reflects on the Venetian tradition by reemploying it with renewed awareness: the project avowedly borrows elements from Palladio's Redentore, but updates its lesson to seventeenth-century developments, arriving at a configuration more attentive to the problem of decoration, as well as a different perception of light, softer and more diffuse. Massari develops solutions between the scale of architecture and that of altars: the thesis traces his design choices, attempting to justify the decisions taken, from the planimetric organization down to the design of the most minute details. The study reconstructs the topographical evolution of the site on which the convent stands, paying attention to the decision-making processes leading to its modifications. Relative to the church building site (1725-43), it makes it possible to clarify which professional figures gravitated to it, what technologies were employed, what materials were sourced and from which suppliers. It contributes data about the wages of the workers, work tools, and contracts with craftsmen. This exercise is made possible by the presence, in the Venetian State Archives, of a pair of factory books that extensively document its accounts and that no study has so far systematically probed. The registers record, month by month, any payment bestowed: it is possible to reconstruct the close negotiations, to draw up lists of the types of stone, brick or lime used, observing the variations in their unit cost as the years go by. Nevertheless, the accounts return a curious glimpse into the daily life of an active and participating community, collaborating in the construction of a great collective work. The data collected from the factory books are systematized with bibliographical data found through the existing literature, as well as cross-referenced with correspondences entertained by patrons and other materials that have converged, following a nineteenth-century dispersal, in the Roman archives of the Curia generalizia of Santa Sabina and that of San Domenico in Bologna. The research work is nurtured through an accordion-like gymnastics, moving from the particular to the general, interweaving the study of specific monthly workings with that of Venetian society and architecture of the time. To the traditional tools of historical investigation he accompanies methodologies that encroach into the realm of data visualization. He also brings to light the existence of a lost wooden model, speculating on its function and appearance from the very few traces that have emerged. Once systematized, the information proves crucial in tracing the timing and seasonality of the construction process, clarifying the income of the commissioning fathers, identifying the determining personalities, and, last but not least, delineating the role of the architect himself as director of works, or the cultural references that justified his choices. Although Giorgio Massari signed numerous works, including villas, palaces and religious buildings throughout the territory of the Serenissima, his figure still remains neglected and problematic, complicit in a tacit censure by coeval critics, stemming, for example, from quarrels with his father Carlo Lodoli or resentment held by Tommaso Temanza. The value of this research, then, also lies in its ability to shed light and disclose an understanding - free of conditioning - of Massari's work in its historical and cultural context.
La chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario rappresenta uno dei più ambiziosi progetti veneziani della prima metà del Settecento. Eretta da una comunità di padri domenicani insediatasi nel convento già appartenuto all’antico ordine dei gesuati, essa costituisce l’esordio professionale di Giorgio Massari nella città lagunare. L’opera riflette sulla tradizione veneziana, reimpiegandola con rinnovata consapevolezza: il progetto mutua dichiaratamente elementi dal Redentore di Palladio, ma ne aggiorna la lezione agli sviluppi del Seicento, giungendo a una configurazione più attenta al problema della decorazione, nonché a una diversa percezione della luce, più morbida e diffusa. Massari mette a punto soluzioni tra la scala dell’architettura e quella degli altari: la tesi ne ripercorre le scelte progettuali, tentando di giustificare le decisioni intraprese, dall’organizzazione planimetrica sino al disegno dei dettagli più minuti. Lo studio ricostruisce l’evoluzione topografica del sito sul quale insiste il convento, ponendo attenzione ai processi decisionali che portano alle sue modificazioni. Relativamente al cantiere della chiesa (1725-43), permette di chiarire quali figure professionali gravitino al suo interno, quali tecnologie siano impiegate, quali materiali reperiti e da quali fornitori. Apporta dati circa gli stipendi delle maestranze, gli strumenti da lavoro, i contratti con gli artigiani. Tale esercizio è reso possibile dalla presenza, nell’Archivio di Stato veneziano, di una coppia di libri di fabbrica che ne documentano in modo estensivo la contabilità e che sinora nessuno studio ha mai sistematicamente scandagliato. Nei registri è annotato, mese per mese, qualsiasi pagamento elargito: è possibile ricostruire le trattative strette, stilare elenchi delle tipologie di pietra, di mattoni o di calce impiegate, osservandone le variazioni del costo unitario al passare degli anni. La contabilità restituisce, nondimeno, un curioso spaccato sulla vita quotidiana di una comunità attiva e partecipe, che collabora alla costruzione di una grande opera collettiva. I dati raccolti dai libri di fabbrica vengono messi a sistema con quelli bibliografici reperiti attraverso la letteratura esistente, nonché incrociati con le corrispondenze intrattenute dai committenti e altri materiali confluiti, in seguito a una dispersione ottocentesca, nell’archivio romano della Curia generalizia di Santa Sabina e in quello di San Domenico a Bologna. Il lavoro di ricerca si alimenta attraverso una ginnastica a fisarmonica, spostandosi dal particolare al generale, intrecciando lo studio delle specifiche lavorazioni mensili con quello della società e dell’architettura veneziana del tempo. Ai tradizionali strumenti di indagine storica accompagna metodologie che sconfinano nell’ambito della visualizzazione dei dati. Fa emergere, inoltre, l’esistenza di un modello ligneo perduto, speculando sulla sua funzione e sul suo aspetto a partire da pochissime tracce emerse. Una volta sistematizzate, le informazioni si rivelano cruciali nel tracciare tempi e stagionalità del processo costruttivo, chiarire gli introiti dei padri committenti, identificare le personalità determinanti e, non da ultimo, delineare il ruolo dello stesso architetto in quanto direttore dei lavori, o i riferimenti culturali che giustificano le sue scelte. Nonostante Giorgio Massari abbia firmato numerose opere, tra ville, palazzi ed edifici religiosi in tutto il territorio della Serenissima, la sua figura rimane tuttora trascurata e problematica, complice una tacita censura da parte della critica coeva, scaturita ad esempio dai diverbi con il padre Carlo Lodoli o dal risentimento serbato da Tommaso Temanza. Il valore di questa ricerca risiede allora anche nella capacità di fare chiarezza e dischiudere una comprensione - scevra di condizionamenti - del lavoro di Massari nel suo contesto storico e culturale.
Giorgio Massari e la chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario. Storia di un cantiere veneziano del Settecento / Felicioni, Marco. - (2023 Oct 12). [10.25432/felicioni-marco_phd2023-10-12]
Giorgio Massari e la chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario. Storia di un cantiere veneziano del Settecento
FELICIONI, MARCO
2023-10-12
Abstract
The church of Santa Maria del Rosario represents one of the most ambitious Venetian projects of the first half of the 18th century. Erected by a community of observant Dominican fathers settled in the convent formerly belonging to the ancient Jesuit order, it constitutes the professional debut of architect Giorgio Massari (1687-1766) in the lagoon city. It is a relevant architecture for its time, as it reflects on the Venetian tradition by reemploying it with renewed awareness: the project avowedly borrows elements from Palladio's Redentore, but updates its lesson to seventeenth-century developments, arriving at a configuration more attentive to the problem of decoration, as well as a different perception of light, softer and more diffuse. Massari develops solutions between the scale of architecture and that of altars: the thesis traces his design choices, attempting to justify the decisions taken, from the planimetric organization down to the design of the most minute details. The study reconstructs the topographical evolution of the site on which the convent stands, paying attention to the decision-making processes leading to its modifications. Relative to the church building site (1725-43), it makes it possible to clarify which professional figures gravitated to it, what technologies were employed, what materials were sourced and from which suppliers. It contributes data about the wages of the workers, work tools, and contracts with craftsmen. This exercise is made possible by the presence, in the Venetian State Archives, of a pair of factory books that extensively document its accounts and that no study has so far systematically probed. The registers record, month by month, any payment bestowed: it is possible to reconstruct the close negotiations, to draw up lists of the types of stone, brick or lime used, observing the variations in their unit cost as the years go by. Nevertheless, the accounts return a curious glimpse into the daily life of an active and participating community, collaborating in the construction of a great collective work. The data collected from the factory books are systematized with bibliographical data found through the existing literature, as well as cross-referenced with correspondences entertained by patrons and other materials that have converged, following a nineteenth-century dispersal, in the Roman archives of the Curia generalizia of Santa Sabina and that of San Domenico in Bologna. The research work is nurtured through an accordion-like gymnastics, moving from the particular to the general, interweaving the study of specific monthly workings with that of Venetian society and architecture of the time. To the traditional tools of historical investigation he accompanies methodologies that encroach into the realm of data visualization. He also brings to light the existence of a lost wooden model, speculating on its function and appearance from the very few traces that have emerged. Once systematized, the information proves crucial in tracing the timing and seasonality of the construction process, clarifying the income of the commissioning fathers, identifying the determining personalities, and, last but not least, delineating the role of the architect himself as director of works, or the cultural references that justified his choices. Although Giorgio Massari signed numerous works, including villas, palaces and religious buildings throughout the territory of the Serenissima, his figure still remains neglected and problematic, complicit in a tacit censure by coeval critics, stemming, for example, from quarrels with his father Carlo Lodoli or resentment held by Tommaso Temanza. The value of this research, then, also lies in its ability to shed light and disclose an understanding - free of conditioning - of Massari's work in its historical and cultural context.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Felicioni_Giorgio Massari e la chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario.pdf
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Descrizione: Giorgio Massari e la chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario. Felicioni Marco, tesi di dottorato
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