Longhena before Salute: The Cathedral at Chioggia

Abstract

Baldisera Longhena's cathedral at Chioggia (1624-84) was the Venetian architect's first major ecclesiastical commission. Archival documents provide a detailed account of the debate over reconstruction and the subsequent building history, including particulars of finance and the role of the architect. The interior of the cathedral reveals Longhena's distinctive use of color and architectural vocabulary. In siting the building, Longhena developed a sophisticated relationship between the architectural form, its urban context, and function, features which adumbrate many of the important innovations in his later church of Santa Maria della Salute (1631-87). The present study discusses the cathedral of Chioggia in relation to contemporary Venetian architecture, and its similarity to the cathedral of Venice is addressed. The way the building worked in relation to ritual and Chioggia's function as entry to Venice are examined.