SAN ZANIPOLO, Right Side

You've almost reached the end of the right nave; the last chapel awaits you with a sumptuous Baroque art complex that forms the devotional heart of the Basilica of San Zanipolo. Indeed, it is dedicated to the founder of the Dominican order which the basilica belongs to. The chapel is from the first half of the 1700s and contains bronze reliefs and paintings focusing on the life of St. Dominic, who was born in a Spanish village and died in Bologna in 1221. And now look up and immerse yourself in the spectacular painting on the ceiling: it's the Glory of St. Dominic by Giambattista Piazzetta, one of the greatest painters of the rich 18th-century Venetian school. The painting has a spiral pattern that forces your glance upwards. Start looking at the painting by first looking at the friars and nuns in the foreground, then continue with the figure of St. Dominic being raised by the angels towards the Madonna, then continue looking upwards to the blinding light surrounded by angel musicians singing celestial songs. The effect of ascending to the sky is obtained without any architectural structures and without the reckless use of perspective, thanks only to refined pictorial strategies and the beauty of a color that becomes clearer and clearer in a very effective and theatrical way.

Now pause the audio guide and go to The Alms of Sant'Antonino by Lorenzo Lotto....