Page "Santa Maria della Salute" Paragraph 3

Beginning in the summer of 1630, a wave of the plague assaulted Venice, and until 1631 killed nearly a third of the population.

In the city 46, 000 people died whilst in the lagoons the number was far higher, some 94, 000.

Repeated displays of the sacrament, as well as prayers and processions to churches dedicated to San Rocco and San Lorenzo Giustiniani had failed to stem the epidemic.

Echoing the architectural response to a prior assault of the plague ( 1575 – 76 ), when Palladio was asked to design the Redentore church, the Venetian Senate on October 22, 1630, decreed that a new church would be built.

It was not to be dedicated to a mere " plague " or patron saint, but to the Virgin Mary, who for many reasons was thought to be a protector of the Republic.