4.The façade of the Church of Saint Roch.

5. Interior of the Church of Saint Roch.

The façade (see fig. 4) is enriched by many important sculptures. The lunette Glory of Saint Roch by Giovanni Marchiori (a copy; the original can be found inside the chapel of San Pio X) is above the entrance. Two statues by the same artist are placed at the sides, S. Pietro Orseolo and S. Gherardo Sagredo. In the central panel, Saint Roch helping the sick is represented, the work of Morlaiter, one of the most important sculptors of the Eighteenth century in Venice, and who was also responsible for the statues of Beato Pietro Acotanto and of S. Gerolamo Emiliani positioned on the coping. In the lateral niches, S. Lorenzo Giustiniani and S. Gregorio Barbarigo by Antonio Gai can be seen. The statue of Saint Roch is by Giuseppe Bernardi, known as Torretti.

In the interior (see fig.5), on the walls of the entrance hall and on the sides of the portal, there are two niches with the statues of David and Goliath and St. Cecilia, sculpted by G. Marchiori (1743).

Above the portal, a church organ can be seen, built by Nacchini in 1742 and completely renovated by Gaetano Callido in 1768: the display comprises of 21 pipes, the keyboard is composed of 45 keys and there are 17 pedals. The marble choir is supported by four columns and embellished by friezes, festoons and musical angels, all the wooden sculpture is by Giovanni Marchiori and has a pyramidal prospect without the usual tromboncini at the base. A second detachable choir, in wood, is currently stored and awaiting restoration. To the sides of the organ the portals of the old organ, painted by Tintoretto between 1577 and 1584, can be found: the left one represents The Annunciation, and the right one, Saint Roch presented to the Pope. The two upper lunette, painted by Giuseppe Angeli, show, to the left, The translation of the body of Saint Roch to Venice, and to the right The vote of the Doge and the Patriarch at San Rocco (remade in 1865 by Vincenzo Azzola).

At the centre of the aisle, in front of the inner door, stands a seventeenth century processional crucifix.
Entering the church and proceeding to the left, one first observes the altar of St. Elena, featuring an altar piece by Sebastiano Ricci: St. Elena finds the wood of the Cross. In the centre of the wall positioned very high are two doors of an antique cupboard, representing St. Martin and St. Christopher, which were painted by Pordenone flanked by two frescoes from the same artist which complete the scene. Lower down we find a canvas by G. Fumiani, Christ expels the merchants from the temple: the central panel of the ceiling is by the same author and is dedicated to the Charity of Saint Roch. The Annunciation by F. Solimena constitutes the altar piece of the second altar.

In the side chapel to the left of the presbytery, the altar is dedicated to the Sacred Sacrament. The tabernacle from the beginning of the 17th century is ornamented by small statues of the scuola by Alessandro Vittoria. The railing of the balustrade is from the seventeenth century and embossed in copper.

The main altar, enriched by multi-coloured marble and by sculpture, is the work of Venturino Fantoni with the help of his sons, Giovanni, Bernardino and Giacomo (known as Colonna). On the altar stands the urn which conserves the body of the saint. The statues of the Angel, of the Madonna Annunciata, of St. Pantaleone, and of the Blessing Father God, are attributed to Bartolomeo Bergamasco. The statues of St. Roch, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Sebastian and St. John the Baptist are instead attributed to Giovanni Maria Mosca. The bronze candelabra on the lateral balustrades are precious. On the sides of the altar there are two pairs of putti frescoed by Pordenone. The wooden altar frontals on the walls of the choir are by G. Marchiori. The dome and the presbytery were frescoed by Pordenone, but in the course of the centuries they were damaged and subsequently repainted by G. Angeli, who probably continued the themes: in the apse bowl: The Transfiguration, in the pendentives: The Evangelists, in the tambour: Episodes from the Old Testament and in the dome: The Eternal Father in his Glory. The four canvases placed on the walls of the presbytery are the work of Tintoretto although for several years critics differed as to the dating. It is almost certain that the canvas Saint Roch healing victims of the Plague was executed in 1549. In it Tintoretto experimented with perspective and intensity of luminescent effects which was very original for its time. The other three canvases had been painted by 1567; but, while in the two upper canvases (Saint Roch healing the animals and Saint Roch in prison is comforted by the angel) an intervention by the workshop is probable. The painting Saint Roch struck by the Plague, which illustrates the period of the Saint's detention when he was accused of being a spy, is certain to be the work of the maestro. Stylistically the architectural setting with a landscape view of the painting Saint Roch struck by the Plague, is valuable; the canvas Saint Roch in prison, when compared to the juxtaposed Saint Roch healing victims of the Plague, is witness to the mature artist both in the setting and in the complexity of the light. The presbytery is surrounded by a balustrade and closed by a brass gate of the beginning of the past century.

In the right side chapel is the altar dedicated to St. Pius X, portrayed with two confratelli in the altar-piece painted by F. Carena in 1951-1954. The two wooden statues at the sides of the altar, St John the Baptist and St Joseph with Baby Jesus, are attributed to Giovanni Marchiori. On the left side the original lunette by Giovanni Marchiori, Gloria di San Rocco, was placed on the main portal, where today there is a modern replica. Below, the tablet by Schiavone, which used to cover the urn of Saint Roch on the main altar and which illustrates episodes of the life of the Saint: the capture, the imprisonment, the death of Saint Roch. In this chapel Giorgione's Christ carrying the Cross, which waas initially exhibited and considered miraculous for a long time, is now kept in the Upper Hall of the Scuola.

On the right wall of the church, the second altar is dedicated to Saint Anthony and the altar-piece The miracle of Saint Anthony is the work of F. Trevisani; the first altar bears the piece by Sebastiano Ricci showing St. Francis of Paola reviving the dead child. Between the two altars, at the centre of the wall, are two canvases by Tintoretto: Saint Roch captured at the battle of Montpellier, painted in 1582-84, with a possible intervention of the workshop, and Christ healing the paralised of 1559. This latter canvas was originally divided in two parts and destined to decorate the doors of the big wardrobe containing the ex voto and was placed in natural juxtaposition to the doors painted by Pordenone for the other closet of the church. Tintoretto imitated the architectural framing in which he inserted a noisy crowd which seemed to come out of the pictorial plane - a typical effect of the mannerism but, in part, unusual for the maestro’s style. The canvas was subjected to numerous restorations over the centuries and was even altered in its proportions by the folding of a 30 cm fascia along the superior edge. This intervention, which cut the columns' capitals, altered the perspective flight of the ceiling; this mutilation was remedied during the 1981 restoration during the mannerism exhibition in Venice.

In the corridor leading to the Sacristy (not open to visitors) a restored fresco attributed to Pordenone portrays St. Sebastian and the Monument of Pellegrino Baselli Grillo of 1517, by unknown Venetian sculptor, is also attributed to Bartolomeo Bon.

The Sacristy is a pretty eighteenth-century building by G. Fossati and rich in stuccoes, paintings and altar frontals. On the ceiling: St. Roch in Glory and at the corners Charity, Faith, Hope, The good works, Angel with dog, and Angel with book, by F. Fontebasso, surrounded by stuccoes by Andrea Solari.