Chiesa della Madonna dell’Orto

One of Venice’s best-kept secrets, this elegantly spare 1365 brick Gothic cathedral dedicated to ferrymen, merchants and travellers (hey, that’s you) was the object of Tintoretto’s attention for decades. No wonder: he lived just over the footbridge from here. Tintoretto and his family were buried in the corner chapel, and he saved some of his best work for the apse here. His golden-tinged Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple shows throngs of star-struck angels and mortals vying for a glimpse of Mary, while in his 1546 Last Judgment, lost souls attempt to hold back a teal tidal wave while an angel rescues one last person from the ultimate acque alte (high tides). Tintoretto is not usually considered a great Venetian colourist, but this evocative use of colour to heighten his signature drama reveals Titianesque talents.