Keep a little mystery in your trip planning: Explorer Picture Mode shows a stylized version of every place instead of the real photo, so you can go by the description and reviews first and picture it your own way -- reveal the real photo any time by flipping the switch off, or just for one place at a time from its own page.
Create a free account to pick your own style (Vintage, Oil Painting, Black & White) and have it remembered next time you visit.
The building's design passed through several hands over the 16th century, which shows in its facade: paired columns, round-arched windows, and a run of statuary that together read as more layered than a single-architect building usually does. Antonio Scarpagnino, who took over construction partway through, is generally credited with the grand double staircase leading up to the Sala Superiore.
Like other Venetian scuole (lay confraternities), the building follows a two-hall plan: a ground-floor hall and a larger upper hall, connected by that staircase and lit by tall windows along both levels. The upper hall's flat wooden ceiling, entirely filled with Tintoretto's paintings, is the building's defining architectural feature as much as a decorative one -- the room was effectively designed as a frame for the cycle that would eventually cover it.
Be sure to admire the Salla dell’Albergo paintings, which include “The Glorification of St. Roch', “Christ before Pilate” and “The Crucifixion”. The ceiling of the Sala Superiore is adorned with scenes from the Old Testament, while the walls feature those from the New Testament. Through these works, the entire biblical story from Fall to Redemption is on display, with mirrors positioned to help visitors view them.
Other works of note in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco include paintings by Titian and Palma il Giovane, together with ornate 17th-century wooden panels by Francesco Pianta in the Chapter House. Don’t miss a visit to the adjacent chapel of San Rocco, which also features works by Tintoretto.