Another of the Scuole Grandi nestles in a line of drab buildings very near to the Frari - the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista , founded in 1261 by one of the many flagellant confraternities that sprang up at that time. The quickest way to get to it is to take the bridge covering the Frari’s facade, turn left and then left again, then second right into Calle del Magazzen - the Scuola is halfway down on the left.

This institution’s finest hour came in 1369, when it was presented with a relic of the True Cross , an item that can be seen to this day in the first-floor Oratorio della Croce . The miracles effected by the relic were commemorated in the Oratory by a series of paintings by Carpaccio, Gentile composer and others, now transplanted to the Accademia.

Nowadays the delights of the Scuola are architectural. The courtyards are something of a composite: the mid-fifteenth-century deception of the Scuola incorporates two mid-fourteenth-century reliefs, and the screen of the outer courtyard was built in 1481 by Pietro Lombardo . The latter is one of Venice’s pleasantest surprises - approached from the train station direction it just looks like any old brick wall, but round the other side it reveals itself to be as delicate a piece of marble carving as any church interior could show. Inside, a grand double staircase built by Codussi in 1498 rises to the main hall and the Oratorio; the climb is more enjoyable than its culmination, as the hall is clad with lifeless paintings, many showing scenes from the life of Saint John, most of them by Domenico Tintoretto. The Scuola is open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 12.30pm; ring for admission - they might balk at letting you into the Oratorio, but there shouldn’t be any problem about getting a look at the Codussi bits, unless one of the Scuola’s frequent conferences is in progress.

The church of San Giovanni Evangelista is one of the select band of religious buildings in Venice that are of no interest whatsoever