Fodor's Expert Review Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista

This scuola was founded in the 13th century, but the actual building is the work of various Venetian Renaissance architects and dates from the 15th century. In the 1480s the architect Pietro Lombardo finished the school's most beautiful and important architectural feature, the outdoor atrium and gateway that separate the complex from the campo adjoining it. Shortly after, in 1498, the architect Mauro Codussi finished work on a double staircase connecting the upper and lower halls. It is illuminated by a mullioned window on the landing between the two flights of stairs, an architectural device much used by Codussi. Carpaccio and Gentile Bellini painted their cycle of the miracle of the holy cross, now in the Accademia museum, originally for the Scuola di San Giovanni.