Scuola degli Albanesi, Renaissance guildhall in San Marco, Venice, Italy
The Scuola degli Albanesi is a confraternity building at San Marco 2762, calle del Piovan, in the sestiere of San Marco. Its late 15th-century structure, completed in 1497, includes the main hall known as the Albergo and a ground-floor stone altar. The facade, redone around 1531-1532, carries four Lombardesque reliefs and a large relief of the siege of Scutari. The building is now a private residence.
The guildhall was founded in 1442 as a gathering point for the Albanian Christian community in Venice. It relocated several times before settling at its eventual location in the mid-15th century.
The Scuola's patrons were Saint Gall, the Madonna del Buon Consiglio (called "Our Lady of Scutari", protectress of Albania) and Saint Maurice. From 1567, as members declined, the chapter admitted "Italians of every nation" and alternated the offices of Gastaldo and Vicario between Albanians and Italians; dowries went to one Albanian and one Italian girl.
The building at 2762 Calle del Piovan, in the San Marco sestiere, is a private residence and cannot be entered. The stone altar on the ground floor and the four Lombardesque reliefs on the facade are visible from the street. The Carpaccio canvases painted for the Albergo are now in museums in Venice, Milan and Bergamo.
On the upper façade, a large relief shows Sultan Mehmed II watching the castle of Scutari (Shkodër), which fell in 1479; the Loredan and Da Lezze coats of arms beside it honour the defenders of the 1474 and 1479 sieges. The four Lombardo-school reliefs below place the Virgin and Child between Saints Gallo and Maurizio.
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