News & Stories

Save Venice is pleased to report that the work to restore the Italian Synagogue in the Jewish Ghetto in Venice continues. The conservation of the synagogue, known as the Scuola Italiana, was adopted in June 2019 in anticipation of Save Venice’s 50th Anniversary in 2021. Our efforts are undertaken in partnership with the Jewish Community of Venice’s impressive campaign to restore and revitalize the Jewish Museum and historic synagogues of the Ghetto.

Founded in 1575 for the Italian-speaking Jews who worshipped in the Italkim rite, the Scuola Italiana’s interior is primarily decorated in wood and reflects successive Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical styles.

Following the installation of scaffolding on the exterior in December 2021, conservators from the Lares Restauri firm have begun restoring the building’s brick and plaster exterior. Inside, they are methodically dismantling the synagogue’s wooden decorative elements, which will be treated for an infestation of wood-boring insects and restored. Within the coming weeks, the modern 1970s terrazzo panel floor will be removed, so that the elaborate, but heavily damaged, 18th-century terrazzo floor beneath it can undergo conservation treatment.  Subsequent phases will concentrate on the 19th-century stucco work on the walls, the wooden columns of the bimah whose faux-marble designs are obscured by layers of brown overpaint, and the heavily tarnished bronze lamps and chandeliers.

Save Venice is also supporting the renovation of the Jewish Museum, thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the Jerome Levy Foundation. The museum’s collection was put in storage and the building was gutted to make way for a new museum layout between the German and Canton Ashkenazi synagogues that will include remodelled gallery spaces, a bookshop and a café, as well as an elevator and updated electrical, heating, cooling, and security systems.

We look forward to sharing more exciting updates as these works progress throughout 2022.

Save Venice thanks the donors to the 50th Anniversary Campaign:

ITALIAN SYNAGOGUE DONORS
GRAND BENEFACTORS | Mary & Howard S. Frank
LEAD BENEFACTORS | Shari & Ed Glazer; Tina & Jeffrey Bolton; Barbara & Amos Hostetter
PRINCIPAL FUNDERS | The Blavatnik Family Foundation; Alan & Caroline Howard; Sandra Rotman
BENEFACTORS | Christopher Todd Page in Memory of Jeremy Freeman; Lizzie Asher
PATRONS | Barbara & Bruce Berger; Merle Chambers in Honor of Tina Walls; Sherry & Larry S. Davis; Mr. & Mrs. José A. Esteve; Richard & Patricia Jesurum Jay; Henry & Elaine Kaufman Foundation, Inc.; Cat Jagger Pollon in Memory of Arbit Blatas and Regina Resnick; WDF Director Discretionary Philanthropic Fund
SUPPORTERS | The Husock-Henschel DAF Fund; Babette Henschel and Bernard Husock; The Lunder Foundation through Peter and Paula Lunder in honor of Frederick Ilchman; and Connie Simmons and James D. Krugman

With additional support from the Young Friends of Save Venice; The Gottsegen Family Foundation; Albert Kalimian in honor of Manda Kalimian; Dr. Alice T. Friedman; Lauren Gross; Barbara Smith; and John H. Wilson III and Annasue McCleave Wilson

50TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN DONORS
Donors who provided support for the Italian Synagogue and Torcello
LEAD BENEFACTORS | The Manitou Fund through Nora McNeely Hurley Silo
PRINCIPAL FUNDERS | Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg; Amy Harmon; and Tina Walls
BENEFACTORS | Amy and David Abrams in honor of Anne Hawley and her impressive efforts to support the conservation of Venice art and architecture; and BVLGARI
PATRONS | Molly and David Borthwick; and Mary Ellen Oldenburg