Chiesa di San Pantalon

Venice


It's not the prettiest from the outside, but the bald brick facade of this 17th-century church (rent by a concerning crack), doesn't give any indication of the drama contained within. The entire ceiling is engulfed in a vast, overwhelming trompe l'oeil fresco by Gianantonio Fumiani, featuring a dark cacophony of saints and angels seemingly bursting through the roof. This extraordinary 1704 fresco may have been the artist's last: he's said to have fallen to his death while working on it.

Once you've uncrinked your neck, look for the magnificent gilded 14th-century crucifix to the right and, behind it, Veronese's last known work – a 1587 altarpiece of St Pantalon.

More treasures are to be found in the side chapels hidden to the left of the main altar (admission €1). The Holy Nail Chapel houses an extraordinarily vivid icon of the Coronation of the Virgin (1444) by Antonio Vivarini, with a bearded Heavenly Father sternly overlooking the ecstatic scene, backed by assembled ranks of day-glow angels and a swarm of naked cherubs. Behind it, the Loreto Chapel has the remains of 18th-century frescoes of the Madonna and Child by Pietro Longhi.