St. John and Paul’s Hospital (Ospendale Santi Giovanni e Pauolo) in Venice
This is the first real active hospital where the portion I am studying of the building is open to the public. The hospital is associated like so many hospital institutions with a Church. The Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo is a Catholic Basilica and it is situated directly adjacent to the hospital at a 90 degree angle to it’s front entrance, with the two building’s front facades facing one another. The hospital is a Renaissance building located in the Castello district. It is just a short walk really from St Marc’s square. It began as a secular institution that’s mission was to provide charitable public assistance to those in need in the community. The facility, with origins as a Scuole Grandi” received lots of donations which afforded them the ability to build an ornate building with grandiose design and ornate façade of marble, which occurred in 1437 after a fire ravaged the site in 1485 and a redesign was directed by architect Pieto Lombardo ad Giovanni Burora, who included the statues from the prior building destroyed by fire. The façade was designed by Mauro Coducci, who contributed the arches to the façade.
There are statues under the arches, two lions guarding the entrance. The facility’s door and windows are embellished with ornate detail similar to the way a cathedral or basilica would be decorated. The building first became a hospital after the Republic fell in 1797 and the following Napoleanic sacking occurred in which the school was closed. It then became an Austrian military hospital then later a civilian hospital.
In 1478, the plague devastated Venice and the leaders of the Ministers of Health were given a lot of power within the community and they controlled Hospital, hygiene, food, beggars, prostutues, hotels, burials and associations of doctors and physicians. This concentrated focus on health grew the importance of health care focused especially on hospitals. (citation: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226740423_The_St_John_and_Paul_hospital_in_Venice)
When one first arrives within the hospital, it is a wide-open airy lobby with arches and a high ceiling that greets you. Today the lobby is filled with exhibits of art to engage people. When one purchases a ticket to the museum, one ascends a grand stair up to the historical library on the first floor of what was originally the School of St. Mark. There are also beautiful paintings on the walls all centered around St. Mark. The ceiling in this space is remarkable, it is warm and is carved inlaid with gold. There are glass showcases that display historic medical texts, graphic illustrated books, and early medical tools associated with the treatments and development within the hospital. I took a video to show the magnificence of this library.
As I walked further into the hospital, there were some history boards or exhibit boards along a walkway (in Italian). In the back hallway, the Corridor was very grand and had arched vaulted ceilings which were very stately in nature. At the end of the Hall was an interior façade which had statues on display which was very grand.
A courtyard connects the hospital’s public functions with the rest of the wings, and connects inhabitants to a garden, a fountain with walkways and a courtyard that is very beautiful. The connection one feels from being in the courtyard is serene and peaceful.
