Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Venice
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Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a church in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Venice, Italy. Also known as the "marble church", it is one of the best examples of the early Venetian Renaissance including colored marble, a false colonnade on the exterior walls (pilasters), and a semicircular pediment. The main altar is reached by a series of steps. The circular facade windows recall Donato Bramante's churches in Milan.
Built between 1481 and 1489 by Pietro Lombardo to house a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. The plans for the church were expanded in 1484 to include the construction of a new convent for nuns of St. Clare to the east. The convent was connected to the gallery of the church by an enclosed walkway that was later destroyed.
The interior is enclosed by a wide barrel vault, with a single nave. The naive is dominated by an ornamental marble stair rising between two pulpets, with statues by Tullio Lombardo, Alessandro Vittoria and Nicolò di Pietro. The vaulted ceiling is divided in fifty coffers decorated with paintings of the prophets's faces, a work by Girolamo Pennacchi's brother: Vincenzo dalle Destre and Lattanzio da Rimini.
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