In 1550 a wooden statue of Christ was unearthed, probably buried to preserve it from military incursions.
The locality where the statue was unearthed is now called "the Christ," but at the time of the discovery it was known as Arzere di Donna Anna. There stood a small church, mentioned as early as 1088, dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, to which the statue may have belonged, fortunately prudently buried: the building was in fact destroyed and the work may have been saved, but its memory was lost. Pietro Dotto had a new chapel erected; in 1624 the oratories and adjoining funds were purchased by the Venetian Giovanni Mazzocco, who embellished the oratory of Christ by having its vault painted with frescoes of the Venetian school of 1624 (reworked later) portraying scenes from the Passion of Jesus and the Life of the Virgin and the Evangelists in the vault.
By will, in 1751 the property was transferred to the Scuola di San Rocco of Venice, which had the first span of the portico decorated-perhaps by Tiepolesco's Giuseppe Angeli-which, in the meantime, had been leaning against the chapel to provide shelter for the many worshippers. After a period of neglect, restorations were carried out between 2000 and 2003, restoring the shrine to its former glory.
As for the venerated statue, displayed within the same oak chest in which it was buried, it represents the Savior surrounded by the instruments of passion, engraved on the pillars of the shrine.
Among the works of art, hanging along the left wall of the nave are the four surviving canvases of a cycle of ten (the others were stolen) painted in 1676 by the German master Michael Ritter and having as its subject several episodes from the life of Jesus including the Healing of the paralytic lowered from the roof and the Washing of the Feet.
The sanctuary is open for Holy Mass every Sunday afternoon, but is also attended in the evening of the first Thursday of each month.
Possibility of opening by reservation.
