I Frari

The church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, Italy

* Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Campo dei Frari 3072, San Polo.
Vaporetto: San Tomà (walk straight ahead on Calle del Traghetto, then turn right and left across Campo San Tomà; walk as straight ahead as you can, on Ramo Mandoler, then Calle Larga Prima, and turn right when you reach beginning of Salizada San Rocco).
tel. +39-041-275-0462
www.chorusvenezia.org
Open 9am–6pm (Sunday 1–6pm)
Adm

Frari tours
• Venice Rialto Market, San Polo and Frari Church Walking Tour
• Context: Power and Glory in Renaissance Art: Titian and Tintoretto
• San Polo Walking Tour - Merchants, Courtesans and Painters
• Context: Daily Life in Venice for Families

Sights nearby
*** Scuola Grande di San Rocco (museum)

Where to eat nearby
Pizzeria Da Sandro [meal]
Pizzeria Ae Oche [light meal]
Cantina Do Spade [light meal/snack]

Hotels nearby
Hotel Tivoli
Hotel Locanda Matir
Hotel Locanda Gaffaro
Reid Recommends ** Pensione Guerrato
Reid Recommends * Hotel Antica Locanda Sturion
Reid Recommends * Hotel San Cassiano Ca' Favretto

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The church of I Frari in Venice.
The church of I Frari in Venice.Nothing against the "St. Mary in Glory" part of the name, but Venetians usually just call this famous church "I Frari." That's because it was built by the frari (Venetian dialect for frati, or "brothers") of the Franciscan order.

Done in the 13th/14th–century Gothic style (and rebuilt in the middle 1400s), the church is plain and cavernous in the style typical of the simple Franciscans but does house two Titian masterpieces (which are actually in short supply here in the master's hometown).

The most striking of the two is the Assumption of the Virgin, over the main altar, glowing with gold and painted in 1518. In his Madonna di Ca' Pesaro, on the left aisle, Titian's wife posed for the figure of Mary, then died soon afterward in childbirth.

The church's other masterworks are Giovanni Bellini's 1488 Madonna and Child triptych, in the sacristy (take the door on the right as you face the altar), and the only work by Donatello in Venice, a very human-looking painted wood St. John the Baptist in the chapel just to the right of the main altar. In the center of the church, the carved marble rood screen and 124 elaborate wooden stalls of the Monk's Choir beyond are both late 15th century.


Giovanni Bellini's 1488 Madonna and Child triptych in I Frari church.
Giovanni Bellini's 1488 Madonna and Child triptych in I Frari church.The grandiose tombs of two famous Venetians are also here. Just inside the door to the left is a monumental pyramid honoring the Italian sculptor Canova, who died in 1822 after leading the Neoclassical revolution in art (his mummified heart is preserved in a porphyry urn).

Ironically, this tomb design was adapted, by Canova's students, from a monument the sculptor had intended for Titian (who died in 1576 during a plague), located right across the nave.

However, the great painter's memorial—also designed by Canova's pupils—ended up instead as a classical-style archway topped by the winged lion of St. Mark.

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This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

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