Scuola Grande Di San Rocco

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Lonely Planet review

Scarpagnino's Renaissance façade (exhibiting a hint of the baroque to come), with its white-marble columns and overbearing magnificence, seems uncomfortably squeezed into the tight space of the narrow square below it. Whatever you make of the exterior of this scuola dedicated to St Roch, nothing can prepare you for what lies inside.

St Roch was born in 1295 in Montpellier, France, and at the age of 20 began wandering through southern France and Italy helping plague victims. He died in 1327 and a cult soon developed to celebrate his memory. His body was transferred to Venice as a kind of plague-prevention measure in 1485 (you can never be too careful when it comes to the plague).

After winning a competition (Veronese was among his rivals), Tintoretto went on to devote 23 years of his life to decorating the school. The concentration of more than 50 paintings by the master is altogether too much for the average human to digest.