This article examines the role of architectural patronage at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and explores the relationship between building and charity. The San Rocco confraternity hall underwent many changes during its design and construction phases, suggesting that confraternity members were uncertain about the role it should play and the message it should send. Specific events point to a conflict during construction phases. One faction of members wanted a simple, sober building in accordance with evangelical austerity, while the other aspired to grandiloquent architecture. This article examines these conflicts in the relationship between architecture, ritual and institutional ideology.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Guidarelli, G., (2025), "Architecture and Charity. Paradoxes and Conflicts in the Construction of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice (1517–1560)", HSSCommons: (DOI: )

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1. Confraternitas

Original publication: Guidarelli, Gianmario. “Architecture and Charity. Paradoxes and Conflicts in the Construction of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice (1517–1560).” Confraternitas 21 (2): 2011. 17-30. DOI: . This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Iter Canada / Confraternitas. Copyright © the author(s). Their work is distributed by Confraternitas under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For details, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.