Other Restorations
Church of San Samuele | Church of San Lio | Monumental Arch | Cornaro Chapel | Saint Mark Healing the Cobbler Anianus | Four Wooden Poles | Façade of Scuola Dalmata | Sarcophagus of Giovanni Priuli | Marco Polo Arch | Tombstones, New Jewish Cemetery, Lido |   Bernabò Chapel and Relief of the Coronation of the Virgin | Photographs of Venetian Architecture and Sculpture  |  19th-Century Glass-Plate Negatives of Venice from the Ferdinando Ongania Collection  |  St. Martin and the Beggar  | Madonna with Child and St. Peter |  Crucifix

  

Monumental Arch in the Public Gardens of Castello

Artist:Attributed to Michele Sanmicheli, mid-16th century
Location:Public Gardens, Castello
Media:Istrian stone, marble
Proposed treatment:Structural repair and restoration
Sponsor:The California Chapter, Save Venice Inc.

The impressive Monumental Arch located near the canal entrance of the public gardens of Castello was once part of the church of St. Anthony Abbot, destroyed in 1810 to make room for the park designed by Gianmaria Selva. The rich and elaborate interior of the church is best known today by Vittore Carpaccio's 1515 painting in the Accademia Gallery. Some important artistic works from the church were salvaged, including the arched entrance to the chapel dedicated to the Madonna built for Doge Pietro Lando (1462-1545). Traditionally believed to be the work of Sanmicheli (who worked in Venice from 1529 to 1569), the arch was re-composed outdoors in 1822, twelve years after the chapel's destruction. In preparation for its relocation, a brick supporting structure was added to the Istrian stone arch, and some damaged decorative elements were modified.

The dramatic restoration of the arch, classified as a priority project by Venice officials, has brought new dignity to Pietro Lando's monumental structure. Prior to restoration, the University of Architecture of Venice produced detailed photogrametric surveys of the arch. The Edilrestauri restoration firm cleaned and consolidated the stonework under the direction of Emanuela Zucchetta of the Superintendency of Environmental and Architectural Heritage of Venice. The stability of the arch has now been insured by the replacement of the rotting bricks of the nineteenth-century supporting structure.