Chiesa di Santa Maria Formosa

The church of Santa Maria Formosa, built in 1492, is Mauro Codussi's architectural masterpiece and marks the introduction of the full spatial vision embodied in the Tuscan Renaissance in Venice. The Latin-cross layout, with central nave and two side aisles, respects the foundations of the original 7th-century church partially maintaining the visibility of the remaking from the IX century during which the church endowed the cupola and a Greek-cross layout. Codussi's Greek-cross layout creats a well-articulated centre-focussed space in which the complex roofing of vaults and cupolas seem to float above the steady light that flows in through the deep windows of the main walls.