San Marcuola shrine (Churches in Venice)

San Marcuola shrine

Shrines with mosaics inside of them aren't that common, but there are a few of them around Venice. I posted a few a while back, and here's another one I found last year.

This one's in Cannaregio, and the mosaic is a copy of a sacred image of Madonna Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows) that can be found in the nearby church of San Marcuola. The owner of the house where the shrine is (on Calle Lombardo) commissioned the mosaic from the Orsoni family in 1970. The Orsoni are well-known mosaic artists who offer classes and also have a B&B in Venice. On one of the Venice episodes of her travel show, Samantha Brown took a mosaic class from them, and it looked like a lot of fun.

I wonder what the little padlock hanging beneath the shrine is for? Another note about this shrine - you can see where a graffiti "artist" wrote "Ciao!" on the base but someone has tried to clean it off. Venice has a graffiti problem, for sure, but it's unusual to see graffiti on a street shrine.

Comments (4)

Kathy (Trekcapri):

Hi Annie, that is a very beautiful and lovely shrine. I'm curious about that lock too. Now I'll have to look for that Samantha Brown episode. That would be so fun taking a mosaic class. And it would be a cool souvenir to take home what you created yourself.

Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful photo.

Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | November 9, 2011 11:14 AM

Posted on November 9, 2011 11:14

Annie:

Hi Kathy, I'm pretty sure she did at least two episodes about Venice; I think the mosaic class was in the second one which was more about "off the beaten path" Venice. I think you'd enjoy watching it.

Maybe someone will know what the padlock means!

Posted by Annie | November 9, 2011 12:09 PM

Posted on November 9, 2011 12:09

sandrac:

What a beautiful shrine! I really love mosaics, and with so many historic examples in Venice, this sytle of shrine really is well suited for the city!

Posted by sandrac | November 9, 2011 3:30 PM

Posted on November 9, 2011 15:30

Annie:

Sandra, I agree. I'm surprised there aren't more of them.

Posted by Annie | November 10, 2011 9:25 AM

Posted on November 10, 2011 09:25

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Churches in Venice

Mosaics, marble, and miracle-working Madonnas. Stories and reflections about art, travel, and sacred spaces in Venice and beyond.