Santa Maria degli Angeli, Renaissance church in Murano, Italy.
Santa Maria degli Angeli is a single-nave church on Murano, entered from the campo through a corridor; over the courtyard door is an Istrian marble relief of the Annunciation. Its ceiling carries 39 painted roundels of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists' symbols, Church Fathers and angels around the Coronated Virgin, attributed to Pier Maria Pennacchi or Nicolò Rondinelli (1520). The church has five altars, with Il Pordenone's Annunciation (1537) at the high altar.
A Venetian noblewoman donated land in 1188 for a monastery, after which construction began and the church was reconsecrated in 1529. The centuries between saw phases of development and renewal that shaped the building as it stands today.
The monastery housed nuns from Venice's noblest families, a practice that enriched the church. Doge Agostino Barbarigo placed two daughters there and left it Bellini's Madonna with the Doge, painted in 1488 and now in San Pietro Martire. The church is no longer a parish church and can be visited only by appointment.
The church sits on the northern edge of Murano island and is reachable by water taxi or vaporetto boat from Venice. Water travel is the natural way to reach this location since the island is surrounded by canals.
The entrance displays a marble bas-relief from Istria showing the Annunciation, while the high altar holds a painting of the same theme by Il Pordenone. This repetition of the same religious moment in different locations creates a visual thread running through the building.
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