The paved square — or “campo” — around the Church of Santa Maria Formosa, affectionately known as La Serenissima, the serene one, is one of dozens hidden among the tangled streets of Venice. During the debauched 18th century, the sisters wore pearls and entertained gentlemen, as depicted in “The Nuns’ Parlor at San Zaccaria” (1750), by Francesco Guardi on display at the Ca’ Rezzonico Museum on the Grand Canal. The walls of the nave and choir chapel of San Zaccaria are covered with paintings, mostly by 16th- and 17th-century masters, including Giovanni Bellini’s “Virgin and Child With Saints and Angel Musicians” (1506), taken to Paris as booty during the Napoleonic wars, but returned to Venice in 1816. Guidebooks pay scant attention to Campo San Barnaba, on the western side of the Grand Canal, because the 18th-century church of the same name is somewhat forlorn.

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