In March 2021, Jason Cardone, (B.A. Art History), presented a virtual visit to the Dalmatian School of Venice in 360 degrees.

This 16th-century church features paintings by Vittorio Carpaccio with stories of St. George, Tryphon, and Jerome. The religious, historic, and symbolic meaning of the paintings and the role of the Dalmatian community in Venice’s history will be the focus of the presentation.

 

 

 

Vittore Carpaccio was an Italian painter of the Venetian school, who studied under Gentile Bellini. He is best known for a cycle of nine paintings, The Legend of Saint Ursula. His style was somewhat conservative, showing little influence from the Humanist trends that transformed Italian Renaissance painting during his lifetime. He was influenced by the style of Antonello da Messina and Early Netherlandish art. For this reason, and also because so much of his best work remains in Venice, his art has been rather neglected by comparison with other Venetian contemporaries, such as Giovanni Bellini or Giorgione.

The Dalmatian School of Saints George and Tryphon is not a school in the modern sense. Like the many other scholae in Venice, it was a fraternal organization, founded in 1451 for the members of a specific community present in Venice for centuries. The people from the Dalmation coast across the Adriatic sea from Venice had been active, especially as sailors for generations in the Venetian navy.

Located off the beaten path in the sestiere of Castello, the charming Scuola Dalmata (Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni) houses one of the best-preserved and authentic interiors in Venice. Upon entering the Renaissance confraternity house of the Dalmatians, one is immediately immersed in the world of Carpaccio and his cycle of paintings that wrap around three walls of the room. Painted for the Scuola between 1502 and 1508,  the subject matter is divided into four mini-cycles: two paintings from the life of Christ; three canvases relating to the life of Saint Jerome, a native son and special protector of Dalmatia, including a scene of Saint Augustine experiencing a vision following Jerome’s death; three depicting the exploits of Saint George as a dragon-slayer; and a single scene from the life of Saint Tryphon, the patron saint of the town of Cattaro (Kotor) on the Dalmatian coast.