Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese, (1528-1588)
Eritrean Sibyl
1558, fresco
Save Venice is seeking a sponsor for this fresco as a part of the ongoing San Sebastiano restoration campaign. The cost to sponsor the Eritrean Sibyl is $15,000.
Paolo Veronese's decorative cycle continues on the murals on the walls of the nave of the church. In the spandrels on either side of the arch, opening onto the presbytery Veronese depicted the dialogue of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left side and Mary to the right. Extending to either side of the arch and around the upper walls of the nave is a frescoed frieze punctuated by pairs of spiral columns. Such columns have been associated with the divinely planned temple of Solomon; as such they assumed symbolic value as architectural signs of Divine Wisdom. In San Sebastiano, these units, along with the prophets and sibyls they frame, mediate between the Old Testament theme of the ceiling and the Christian narratives represented below. In the ancient world sibyls are seers, pagan counterparts to Old Testament prophets.
Cruise the Rhine with Save Venice
August 25 through September 1, 2013
Destinations include Colmar, Strasbourg, Heidelberg, St. Goarshausen, Bernkastel, Trier, Cologne, and Dusseldorf.
In addition, there will be a pre-cruise excursion to Nürnberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, and Rothenburg (August 20–25) and a post-cruise excursion to Amsterdam, Haarlem, and the Hague (Sept 1–4).
If you are interested in this trip please contact us at 212-737-3141 or newyork@savevenice.org
Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Unidentified artist, 16th century
Tomb Monument of Count Alvise Della Torre
16th century, oil on wood
Save Venice is seeking full funding for the restoration of the tomb monument of Count Alvise Della Torre. The restoration of this monument cannot begin until a sponsor is found.
High on the wall of the right-hand aisle of the Frari above the door leading to the cloister is a simple wooden casket. Behind it is a large painting depicting a pavilion-type canopy with curtains held back by two winged putti. Among the notable features of the painting are five coats of arms of the Della Torre family decorating the canopy and a skull dripping blood onto the casket. Darkened by age, the painting is now difficult to make out and goes largely unnoticed amongst the more prominent tombs that line the walls of the church at eye level.
For this long-forgotten monument commemorates a violent episode in the life of the most serene republic and offers a rare “window” into a time when the feudal ethos of the landed nobility of the Terraferma clashed with Venetian republican values. The episode involved two noble Friulian families: the Della Torre and the Savorgnani. In 1549, during Carnival, Conte Girolamo Della Torre was involved in an altercation in Padova with Giovanni and Tristano Savorgnan. Giovanni Savorgnan was badly injured. Della Torre was found guilty by the Council of Ten and sentenced to 10 years of exile in Crete. Although the sentence was surprisingly harsh, the Ten wished to make an example of Girolamo to discourage feuding by its unmanageable mainland nobility and refused to reduce it. On the eve of Girolamo’s departure to Crete, his brother Alvise, a prelate in the Friuli, and other relatives traveled to Venice to see him off. As their gondola was rowed past San Marcuola on the Grand Canal, they were ambushed by Tristan Savorgnan and a gang of rowdies. Alvise and his brother-in-law Giovanni Battista Colloredo, along with a canon from Cividale and two servants were murdered.
The two incidents of 1549 were the consequence of a long-running feud stemming from an equally bloody event in Udine in 1511, when partisans of the Savorgnan family had murdered the father of the Della Torre brothers. Nonetheless, the Venetian authorities were outraged by the multiple murders on the Grand Canal and banned Savorgnan and his henchman from Venetian territories for life and set a price on their heads. Alvise’s body was taken to the Frari for burial. The humble wooden casket, probably draped with a brocade cover, was installed high on the wall along with the painting. Most unusual, even unique, are the narrative scenes painted in grisaille on the bell-shaped cap of the canopy that depict Alvise’s assassination and the retrieval of his body from the Grand Canal. The ensemble was probably intended to be provisional until a permanent monument could be constructed, but it remains in place to this day. Its obscure placement has kept it safe from further damage, and cleaning might allow an attribution to be made and would reveal — indeed resurrect — a precious artifact of Venetian history.
Veronese: The Stories of Esther Revealed
April 21 – July 24, 2011 at Palazzo Grimani
The exhibition Veronese: The Stories of Esther Revealed offers the literal once-in-a-lifetime occasion to examine Veronese's ceiling canvases at the same distance the painter enjoyed as he created them. Following the 2008-2010 treatment sponsored by Save Venice Inc., the paintings appear far closer to the artist's intentions than they had for more than a century. These fully autograph paintings show Veronese at a new level of mastery and should be seen as a watershed in the development of the Venetian ceiling. This exhibition allows us to be present at Paolo's breakthrough. –Frederick Ilchman, Co-Project Director, Save Venice Inc.
For more information and visiting hours please visit: http://www.palazzogrimani.org
Gallerie dell'Accademia
Palma il Vecchio, (c.1480-1528)
Saint Peter Enthroned with Saints Paul, Titian Bishop, Justine, John the Baptist, Mark, and Augusta
c.1520, oil on wood transfered to fiberglass and aluminum honeycomb panel
Restored in 2011 with funding from The James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee.
In 1821 the Accademia Galleries acquired this painting from a church in Fontanelle, a village near Oderzo in the Treviso area of the Veneto, in exchange for a sum of money and a painting by Francesco Montemezzano from the Accademia’s storage. Although it was originally attributed to Pordenone, upon its arrival in Venice art historians recognized it as a work by Palma il Vecchio, a Bergamo-born artist named Jacopo d’Antonio Negretti, who took the name of Palma in 1513. He eventually became known to art historians as “il Vecchio” to distinguish him from his great-nephew Palma “il Giovane” who was active as a painter a half-century later. The painting depicts Saint Peter enthroned surrounded by six saints, transforming a sacra conversazione in a kind of “All Saints” picture focusing on Peter’s leadership of the Church, as first bishop of Rome.
Project Director: Giulio Manieri Elia, Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice
Restorer: Sandra Pesso
Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese and workshop, (1528-1588)
Painted Wooden Ceiling
1555-1570, oil and gilding on wood
Restored from 2009 to 2011 with partial funding from the California Chapter of Save Venice Inc., Young Friends of Save Venice, Thaw Charitable Trust, Elizabeth Locke, Mr. and Mrs. Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Walter Mead, Beatrix Ost and Ludwig Kuttner, Irina Tolstoy and John G. Gans, the James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee, the Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Paul D. Kaplan, and the Venetian Club of Trinity College.
The ceiling of San Sebastiano is articulated by an elaborately decorated wooden framework that defines three main areas along its central axis. In addition to the three central paintings on canvas dedicated to the story of Esther, there are eight flanking wooden panels (oblongs and rectangles) depicting balustrades with putti, grotesques, and garlands, four monochrome roundels of virtues, and eight Winged Victory panels in the spandrels surrounding the oval canvases based on the model of ancient Roman triumphal arches. This richly gilded ceiling framework also includes a variety of painted decorative figures and motifs. The entire ceiling is framed by an elaborate wooden cornice, carved and painted with designs that mimic details from classical architecture. Gilded roses and acanthus leaves, dentils, and strings of pearl and olive-shaped beads over the ledge of the ceiling. The ceiling itself stands as a major monument in the development of the Venetian soffitto, the kind of segmented painted ceiling that was to serve as an important model for artists well into the seventeenth century and beyond.
Project Director: Amalia Donatello Basso, Superintendency of Monuments of Venice
Restorer: Egidio Arlango and the Arlango firm
Church of San Salvador
Vittore Carpaccio, (attr.) (ca.1460-1526)
The Supper at Emmaus
1513, oil on canvas
Restored in 1998 with funding from Mr. and Mrs. Donald Miller and the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc. in memory of Sydney J. Freedberg; Emergency maintenance in 2011 with funding from the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc. in memory of Sydney J. Freedberg
Few masterpieces of Venetian Renaissance painting have remained as shrouded in mystery as the monumental Supper at Emmaus, located in the chapel of the Santissimo, to the left of the high altar of San Salvador. In this depiction of the resurrected Christ dining with two of his apostles in a country inn at Emmaus, the supper is served on a rustic table within an elegant Venetian architectural setting. In addition to the two apostles, two contemporary figures are present — one in typical Venetian banker’s black seated on the Savior’s left and another wearing a turban on his right. The painting is first recorded in Francesco Sansovino’s 1581 guide to the to the city of Venice in which he lists it as a work by Giovanni Bellini. However, its unusual character prompted even early scholars to doubt this attribution and, over the centuries, it has been attributed to a number of painters. More recently it has been thought to be a poor copy of a Bellini. During restoration, previous overpainting was removed, revealing an extraordinarily high-quality painting with the date 1513, and experts now believe it is the work of Vittore Carpaccio that he painted for Girolamo Priuli.
Project Director: Ettore Merkel, Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice
Restorer: Ottorino Nonfarmale
UNESCO Program-Association of International Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice
Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese, (1528-1588)
Archangel Gabriel and Virgin Annunciate
1558, fresco
Restoration underway in 2012 with funding from the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc.
Paolo Veronese's decorative cycle continues on the murals on the walls of the nave of the church. In the spandrels on either side of the arch, opening onto the presbytery Veronese depicted the dialogue of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left side and Mary to the right. Extending to either side of the arch and around the upper walls of the nave is a frescoed frieze punctuated by pairs of spiral columns. Such columns have been associated with the divinely planned temple of Solomon; as such they assumed symbolic value as architectural signs of Divine Wisdom. In San Sebastiano, these units, along with the prophets and sibyls they frame, mediate between the Old Testament theme of the ceiling and the Christian narratives represented below. In the ancient world sibyls are seers, pagan counterparts to Old Testament prophets.
Project Director: Amalia Donatello Basso, Superintendency of Monuments of Venice
Restorer: Egidio Arlango and the Arlango firm
Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese, (1528-1588)
King David
1558, fresco
Restoration underway in 2012 with funding from David and Katherine McRae through the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc.
Paolo Veronese's decorative cycle continues on the murals on the walls of the nave of the church. In the spandrels on either side of the arch, opening onto the presbytery Veronese depicted the dialogue of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left side and Mary to the right. Extending to either side of the arch and around the upper walls of the nave is a frescoed frieze punctuated by pairs of spiral columns. Such columns have been associated with the divinely planned temple of Solomon; as such they assumed symbolic value as architectural signs of Divine Wisdom. In San Sebastiano, these units, along with the prophets and sibyls they frame, mediate between the Old Testament theme of the ceiling and the Christian narratives represented below. In the ancient world sibyls are seers, pagan counterparts to Old Testament prophets.
Project Director: Amalia Donatello Basso, Superintendency of Monuments of Venice
Restorer: CBC Restoration Firm and Arlango Restoration Firm
Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese, (1528-1588)
Samian Sibyl
1558, fresco
Restoration underway in 2012 with funding from Carla Comelli and Marco Pecori
Paolo Veronese's decorative cycle continues on the murals on the walls of the nave of the church. In the spandrels on either side of the arch, opening onto the presbytery Veronese depicted the dialogue of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left side and Mary to the right. Extending to either side of the arch and around the upper walls of the nave is a frescoed frieze punctuated by pairs of spiral columns. Such columns have been associated with the divinely planned temple of Solomon; as such they assumed symbolic value as architectural signs of Divine Wisdom. In San Sebastiano, these units, along with the prophets and sibyls they frame, mediate between the Old Testament theme of the ceiling and the Christian narratives represented below. In the ancient world sibyls are seers, pagan counterparts to Old Testament prophets.
Project Director: Amalia Donatello Basso, Superintendency of Monuments of Venice
Restorer: Egidio Arlango and the Arlango firm
Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese, (1528-1588)
Cumana and Tiburtina Sibyls
1558, fresco
Restoration underway in 2012 with funding from The Thompson Family Foundation
Paolo Veronese's decorative cycle continues on the murals on the walls of the nave of the church. In the spandrels on either side of the arch, opening onto the presbytery Veronese depicted the dialogue of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left side and Mary to the right. Extending to either side of the arch and around the upper walls of the nave is a frescoed frieze punctuated by pairs of spiral columns. Such columns have been associated with the divinely planned temple of Solomon; as such they assumed symbolic value as architectural signs of Divine Wisdom. In San Sebastiano, these units, along with the prophets and sibyls they frame, mediate between the Old Testament theme of the ceiling and the Christian narratives represented below. In the ancient world sibyls are seers, pagan counterparts to Old Testament prophets.
Project Director: Amalia Donatello Basso, Superintendency of Monuments of Venice
Restorer: Egidio Arlango and the Arlango firm
Scuola Grande di San Marco
Domenico Tintoretto, (c. 1560-1635)
Apparition of Saint Mark
Early 1600s, oil on canvas
Restoration Pending for 2012
Ending Domenico’s Saint Mark series is this Apparition, recording the miraculous moment when Saint Mark’s misplaced body reveals itself in Basilica San Marco in the form of a hand emerging from the wall in a saintly glow. A fire in 976 had destroyed the first church dedicated to Saint Mark and in 1063 Doge Contarini demolished the sanctuary and replaced it with a larger basilica. When the new church was completed in 1094, the saint’s body could not be located. It was feared to have been consumed by fire in 976 or long forgotten. During a gathering in the new church for prayer and lamentation, one of Saint Mark’s arms emerged on the south side of the church, revealing the sacred relic. Witnessing the scene are Venetian senators and confratelli (members) of the Scuola Grande di San Marco, contemporaries of the artist, immortalized in portraits. This painting is shown in a photograph prior to restoration.
Church of San Sebastiano
Paolo Veronese, (1528-1588)
Prophet Isaiah
1558, fresco
Restoration underway in 2012 with funding from the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc.
Paolo Veronese's decorative cycle continues on the murals on the walls of the nave of the church. In the spandrels on either side of the arch, opening onto the presbytery Veronese depicted the dialogue of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left side and Mary to the right. Extending to either side of the arch and around the upper walls of the nave is a frescoed frieze punctuated by pairs of spiral columns. Such columns have been associated with the divinely planned temple of Solomon; as such they assumed symbolic value as architectural signs of Divine Wisdom. In San Sebastiano, these units, along with the prophets and sibyls they frame, mediate between the Old Testament theme of the ceiling and the Christian narratives represented below. In the ancient world sibyls are seers, pagan counterparts to Old Testament prophets.
Project Director: Amalia Donatello Basso, Superintendency of Monuments of Venice
Restorer: Egidio Arlango and the Arlango firm
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Sala dell'Albergo (Room XXIV)
Titian
Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
1534-1538, oil on canvas
Restoration in Progress as of 2010 with partial funding from the Arthur Loeb Foundation, the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation, Richard K. Riess, Anne Fitzpatrick Cucchiaro and Stephen Cucchiaro through the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc., and Thomas Schumacher and Matthew White. In recognition of Prof. David Rosand's life-long involvement with Titian’s great painting, and years of service to Save Venice, the Board of Directors has dedicated Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple to him, with deep admiration and affection.
Titian executed the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple between 1534 and 1538 for the entrance wall of the Sala dell’Albergo, and it has remained in situ ever since. In this painting, Mary ascends the steps of the Temple of Solomon, accompanied by a solemn procession. The inclusion of portraits of the governing board of the confraternity and the giving of alms to the begging mother with a child in her arms are explicit references to the scuola and its dedication to charity. In late September 2010, this large canvas, over twenty-six feet long, was removed from the wall and transported to the Misericordia restoration laboratory in Venice for conservation treatment that is expected to take nearly two years.
Restorer: Giulio Bono and Erika Bianchini (Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple), Matteo Rossi Doria (preparation of Titian canvas for transport and restoration) Roberto Saccuman (ceiling, staircase), Thomas Charles Nelson (room framing), Uni.S.Ve.(logistics), Matteo De Fina (photographic documentation)
Project Director: Matteo Ceriana and Maria Chiara Maida, Superintendency of Fine Arts and State Museums of Venice
Un Ballo in Maschera
A Masked Celebration of Carnival
On Monday, April 2, 2012, join supporters of Save Venice at 583 Park Avenue in New York City for Un Ballo in Maschera, a masked ball unlike any other.
Cocktails will be followed by a seated dinner and dancing.
Proceeds from the event will support restoration work in Venice.
For more information, please contact Save Venice at 212-737-3141.
Save Venice Inc: Four Decades of Restoration in Venice
Illustrating more than 400 restoration projects completed in the past 40 years
Four Decades of Restoration in Venice is available in three versions
• Softcover: $65
• Hardcover with sleeve: $200
• Special Limited Edition: $1000
Hardcover copy in a red Venetian silk-covered box with a vermeil Nardi plaque of the Lion of Venice
To purchase, contact us at 212-737-3141 or newyork@savevenice.org
Gift wrapping and shipping available
President's Day Weekend Gala
February 17, 18 & 19 2012
The California Chapter of Save Venice
Warmly invites you to
The Fellini Ball & La Dolce Vita Weekend 2012
Three Days and Nights of Galas and Balls in Beverly Hills to benefit the on-going restoration of art and architecture in Venice, Italy by Save Venice, Inc.
Highlights will include:
The Vincente Minnelli Ball in Beverly Hills
Small VIP Tours of Film Studios and Private Art Collections
The Fellini Ball at the Beverly Hills Hotel
Luncheon at a Private Mid-century Residence in LA
For more information please call the Save Venice office at 212 737 3141
The Wooden Ceiling of the Sala dell’Albergo in the Scuola della Carità
Restored by Save Venice
Exhibition from September 20th, 2011 to January 22nd, 2012
Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venezia
The restoration campaign of the Sala dell’Albergo in the Gallerie dell’Accademia began in Fall 2010 and is financed by the American committee Save Venice Inc. with generous contributions from the Arthur Loeb Foundation, Richard K. Riess, and Anne and Stephen Cucchiaro through the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc.
The restoration campaign concentrates on the extraordinary fifteenth-century wooden ceiling, decorated with gilded and painted carvings, and the canvases that adorn the walls: the celebrated Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple by Titian, the Marriage of the Virgin by Giampietro Silvio, and the Annunciation by Girolamo Dente. These last two paintings will be returned to their original positions after being kept in storage for over a century. The fifteenth-century wooden spiral staircase, the space above the room once used to hold the Scuola’s archives, and the decorative paneling of the Sala dell’Albergo are all undergoing conservation treatment on site in the Accademia.
Other notable artworks in this room include Giovanni d’Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini’s 1446 triptych of the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, a fifteenth-century reliquary that Cardinal Bessarione donated to the Scuola, and a portrait of Cardinal Bessarione painted in the sixteenth-century. These have been moved for display in other gallery rooms in the Accademia for the duration of the restoration of the Sala dell’Albergo. Save Venice’s restoration of the Sala dell’Albergo and its artworks coincides with the global renovation of the Accademia Galleries, financed by the Italian government. The museum will nearly double its exhibition space when work on the building is fully completed in 2012.
On the occasion of the completion of the albergo’s wooden ceiling, the Gallerie dell’Accademia has organized a special exhibition featuring five 15th-century low relief wooden ceiling roundels, displayed at ground level in the albergo room. The recently restored ceiling, ornately decorated in painted and gilded wood and gesso, complements the exhibition space.
Monday, September 26, 2011, at 6:30pm
The 40th Annual General Meeting of Save Venice Boston will take place at the Chilton Club, 287 Dartmouth Street, at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.
Per our by-laws, the Annual General Meeting is open free of any charge.
Cocktails 5:45pm: If you would like to join the Executive Committee, before the meeting, from 5:45 to 6:30pm, for wine and hors d'oeuvres, there will be a charge of $25. Please send your check to: Susan Angelastro, 65 Mount Vernon Street #8, Boston MA 02108, by Monday, September 19th. The Chilton Club requires coat and tie for gentlemen, appropriate attire for women and will not allow any payment to be made at the Club.
As in the past, the evening consists of two parts. The first comprises a short session of the Annual General Meeting, at which time we will present an account of our activities since the AGM of 2010 and a financial statement. Also, the slate of officers for the 2011-12 Executive Committee will be presented by the Nominating Committee.
Following the meeting, there will be an extremely interesting, illustrated lecture by the Associate Director of Save Venice in Venice, Melissa Conn, who will discuss the current restoration process of the very important Veronese decorative cycle in the Church of San Sebastiano as well as future restoration projects that could be undertaken in the church.
Publication:
Marcianum Press
La Basilica dei Ss. Giovanni e Paolo: Pantheon della Serenissima
To be published in 2012
To be published in 2012 by Marcianum Press with funding from various Venetian institutions including a contribution from Ronald Lee Fleming through the Boston Chapter of Save Venice
This monograph published by Marcianum Press is dedicated to the Venetian church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, known as the ‘Pantheon of the Serenissima’. Over the centuries this church became the largest mausoleum and monument dedicated to Venice’s Doges, military leaders, heroes, and noble citizens who were buried here and honored with spectacular monuments. This volume narrates the complete history of this church and its artworks from the 13th to the 19th centuries and features many works that were restored by Save Venice Inc.