Venice - Confraternity House of San Marco

(Local Name: Scuola Grande di San Marco) The Scuola Grande di San Marco, adjoining the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, served the rich confraternity of goldsmiths and silk-merchants. Today it is a municipal hospital. The lower part of the building was begun about 1490 by Pietro Lombardo; his son Tullio did the reliefs and the two lions. Mauro Coducci finally completed the building in about 1500 by adding the upper part with its stepped round gables crowned with figures.

Although not as clear-cut as Santa Maria dei Miracoli nor as forceful as San Zaccaria, the splendid facade is, nevertheless, one of the outstanding examples of Venetian Renaissance architecture. The "trompe-l'oeil" effects on the ground floor, the fluid arches and the sculpture on the gables combine to fine effect.

The sculpture in the lunette of the doorway "St Mark with the Brethren of the Scuola" is attributed to Bartolomeo Bon who also worked on the Porta della Carta in the Doge's Palace.