Abstract:Andrea Palladio’s San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore, both located in Venice, Italy, are known as pioneering church buildings. San Giorgio Maggiore was built around 1565 as a Benedictine monastery. Il Redentore was built around 1577 in thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague. Both were completed after the death of Palladio, and both show characteristics of ancient Roman temples and medieval churches. Through the reading of historical documents, combined with field investigation, this paper explores three aspects of their design. First, their location reflects the geography of Venice (the lagoon landscape and the Piazza San Marco/ St. Mark’s Square) and creates a “theater” image of St. Marco’s Bay. Second, the paper compares the different functions and viewing modes of the two churches, and analyzes the similarities and differences in the expression of their facades. Third, the paper contrasts the relationship between inside (interior space) and outside (fa?ade design) of the two churches with that of Il Gesù in Rome, to identify and describe them as paradigms of Palladian church architecture.
