Save Venice is seeking sponsors for the conservation of Carletto Caliari’s Four Angels Bearing the Instruments of the Passion.

*Published sponsorship costs are subject to change due to conservation plan modifications and fluctuations in exchange rates.

Please contact kim@savevenice.org today for more information and the latest cost estimates.

Carletto Calliari, the gifted son of Paolo Veronese, painted these four canvases for the church of San Nicolò della Lattuga, where they formed part of an ambitious decorative program for the presbytery devoted to Christ’s ministry, Passion, and the promise of redemption. The ensemble also included Veronese’s Crucifixion (currently available for sponsorship) along with other paintings that once adorned the presbytery.

The origins of San Nicolò della Lattuga stretch back to 1332, when Nicolò Lion, procurator of San Marco, founded the church in gratitude for a miraculous recovery from a grave illness. According to local tradition, the cure came through a remedy made from lettuce—lattuga in Italian—giving the church the distinctive name by which it became known. Nestled behind the Franciscan basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, San Nicolò della Lattuga occupied a modest but significant place within Venice’s sacred landscape. In the late 16th century, the church was rebuilt and reconsecrated, culminating in 1582 with an ambitious campaign of decoration entrusted, among others, to Paolo Veronese and his workshop. The presbytery became the focal point of this renewal, its paintings conceived as part of a carefully orchestrated visual program that engaged in dialogue with Titian’s renowned Madonna and Child with Saints, painted between 1522 and 1526 for the high altar and now preserved in the Vatican Pinacoteca. The church was suppressed under Napoleonic rule in 1806 and subsequently demolished; today, its memory survives in Calle di San Nicolò, a narrow alley behind the Frari that marks the area where the building once stood.

The Four Angels Bearing the Instruments of the Passion have been attributed to Veronese’s son, Carletto Caliari, since the 17th century. Early descriptions of San Nicolò della Lattuga record them as part of the decorative ensemble surrounding the high altar, adorning the monumental stone framework created to house Titian’s altarpiece. Arranged on two piers, they were paired with Paolo Veronese’s Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, now in the collection of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, and with two sibyls by Jacopo Palma il Giovane, now lost. Rising to a height of at least twenty feet, the entire structure must have ranked among the most imposing and visually spectacular altar ensembles in Venice.

Each canvas features a youthful angel presenting objects associated with the Passion. Shown either nude or clad in red or green tunics, the angels are paired with distinct groups of symbolic instruments that recall key moments of Christ’s suffering. In the first canvas, an angel appears to fasten a rope around the column of the Flagellation and is accompanied by an iron gauntlet, the rooster, the ladder, and the spear of Longinus. In the second, an angel displays the Veil of Veronica alongside scourges and ropes, the reed bearing the sponge, and the dice cast for Christ’s garments. The third putto appears among Christ’s seamless robe, a hammer, pincers, and nails, while the fourth presents a torch and the crown of thorns together with Pontius Pilate’s basin and water pitcher.

Viewed within the wider context of the presbytery, these paintings functioned as visual counterparts to the larger narrative scenes. By isolating the instruments of the Passion and presenting them as devotional emblems, they distilled the story of Christ’s suffering into a series of potent symbols readily recognizable to worshippers. Together with Veronese’s Crucifixion and the other paintings that adorned the presbytery—including the Last Supper, Christ before Pilate, the Baptism of Christ, and the Temptation of Christ—they formed part of a carefully orchestrated decorative program centered on Christ’s earthly ministry, Passion, and the promise of redemption.

The four paintings are currently veiled by heavily discolored varnish layers that have darkened the surfaces and muted the depth, contrast, and tonal relationships of the compositions. Small paint losses, abrasions, and other surface irregularities are also visible throughout. All four canvases have been double-lined, probably with a traditional paste adhesive, while two include substantial canvas inserts from earlier structural repairs. The inpainting associated with these repairs is clearly distinguishable from the original paint in both texture and tone.

Treatment will begin with a careful assessment of the linings, inserts, joins, deformations, and overall stability of the previous structural repairs. The discolored varnishes will then be removed in a controlled and gradual manner, making it possible to identify and evaluate earlier retouching more accurately. Unstable areas will be secured as needed, and losses and past pictorial integrations will be addressed selectively, with the goal of recovering greater clarity and visual coherence while preserving the original paint and historically significant material.

Carletto Calliari (1570 – 1596)
Four Angels with the Instruments of the Passion
1588, oil on canvas
295 x 63 cm

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