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Venice
had four hospitals, of which the Ospedaletto
(the small one) for the elderly and infirm,
next to the church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti,
was founded in 1528. From the 17th century
onwards, each of these hospitals developed
a choir and hence a need for decorous spaces
in which to receive the nobility of Venice
and honoured foreigners. During the 18th
century, partly thanks to the influence
of Antonio Vivaldi -who was maestro di cappella
at another of the four, the Pietà-
instrumental music also became popular in
these hospitals; thus it was that, in the
1770s, the authorities of the Ospedaletto
decided to make their facilities like those
of the other hospitals' and engaged the
architect Matteo Lucchesi to convert a disused
kitchen beyond the Court of the Four Seasons
into a Music Room.
Entry to the Sala della Musica is still
through the hospital, which is administered
by the Istituzioni di Ricovero e di Educazione
(IRE), and which stands beside the church
with its elaborate façade by Longhena,
also restored since 1969. In 1979 the frescoed
ceiling of this exquisite little room was
threatened with collapse; a programme of
repair was arranged with the IRE and the
Superintendency for Monuments, in which
twelve international committees collaborated
between 1987 and 1991. The work won a Europa
Nostra award in 1994.
The entire structure needed attention: the
roof was restored; the brickwork of the
outside walls were patched up to 2m.; the
floor, walls and sagging ceiling were consolidated
and cleaned. Every aspect of the oval interior
received specialist attention: the furniture,
the stucco work, the trompe l'oeil architectural
frescoes by Antonio Mengozzi Colonna, the
ceiling and the principal fresco, the Concerto
delle Putte of 1776-77 by Jacopo Guarana,
a follower of G B Tiepolo.
DIRECTION OF WORKS: Superintendency for
the Environmental and Architectural Heritage
CONSERVATORS
Frescoes: Gea and Stefano Provinciali |
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