Save Venice is seeking a sponsor for the conservation of Jacopo Sansovino’s Madonna and Child.

*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.

Born and trained in Florence but artistically matured in Rome, architect and sculptor Jacopo Sansovino moved to Venice in 1527, following the sack of Rome by the troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Two years later, Sansovino was appointed proto—chief architect of the Republic. His elegant and monumental classicism, deeply rooted in the traditions of Tuscany and Rome, profoundly transformed the architectural landscape of the Serenissima Repubblica, including Piazza San Marco, symbolically recasting Venice as a new Rome.

Created in Venice around 1550, this exceptionally rare cartapesta (papier-mâché) relief of the Madonna and Child shows Sansovino’s mastery of the Roman High Renaissance style and marks a clear departure from earlier Quattrocento models. At least ten known replicas of this Madonna type survive in museums and private collections around the world, including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Museo del Bargello in Florence, and the Museo del Cenedese in Vittorio Veneto. The latter—signed by the artist and first documented in 1660—is painted white, with traces of gold along the border of the Virgin’s mantle, lending it the appearance of marble. Considered the prototype for all surviving replicas, the Vittorio Veneto relief may well be the very one mentioned in a 1551 letter by typographer Francesco Marcolini, who expressed awe at the beauty of a cartapesta Madonna and Child that Sansovino had gifted to poet Pietro Aretino. So struck was Aretino by the piece that he later cited it as proof that Sansovino, in this medium, had outshone even Michelangelo.

Although inspired by the relief in Vittorio Veneto, the Correr replica stands apart through its polychromy, reflecting Sansovino’s desire to create a more lifelike and emotionally image—one likely intended for private devotion. In this version, the Virgin is adorned with a white headdress, a red dress trimmed in gold, and a flowing blue mantle, while the Child is loosely draped in a red cloth, emphasizing his tender vulnerability. Despite these differences, the Correr relief retains strong iconographic ties to the Vittorio Veneto Madonna. One striking detail is the delicate indication of the Virgin’s ear beneath her headdress—a subtle yet deliberate motif that echoes Sansovino’s Madonna and Child stucco relief from Pontecasale (early 1550s), now housed in the Pinacoteca Civica in Vicenza. Likewise, the relaxed, twisting posture of the Christ Child recalls the bronze Nichesola Madonna (early 1530s) in the Cleveland Museum of Art, further reinforcing the continuity of Sansovino’s artistic vocabulary across media and decades.

A closer look at the Correr Madonna reveals a fascinating detail: the relief was crafted using multiple piece-molds, a technique that speaks to both its complexity and the ingenuity of its making. While the original piece-molds was likely cast by Sansovino himself, it was probably his assistants who poured repulped paper—produced by soaking or boiling paper in a mixture of water and flour—into the molds to ensure every detail was captured. Once dried, the cartapesta elements were carefully removed from the individual molds and assembled. The reverse was then reinforced with strips of canvas, while the front received a coating of plaster preparation before being painted, likely by the master himself.

Until 1920, the Correr Madonna and Child adorned a capitello—a small outdoor altar—embedded in an external wall in Corte Scotti, a private courtyard near Campo San Luca, in the San Marco district. Given its exposure to humidity and damp conditions, it is remarkable that the relief has survived almost intact. The cartapesta relief shows considerable damage, including signs of a past infestation by wood-boring insects, visible cracks, areas of paint loss, and deteriorated inpainting from earlier restoration attempts. Conservation efforts will begin with gentle surface cleaning to remove accumulated dust and grime, followed by the consolidation of the fragile paint layer. Previous inpainting, now aged and unstable, will be carefully removed, and the surface will be reintegrated using reversible, water-based conservation paints.

Jacopo Sansovino (1486 – 1570)
Madonna and Child
1550, papier-mâché
120 x 90 cm

Avagina, Elisa M. and Vittorio Pianca (eds.). Jacopo Sansovino a Vittorio Veneto. Il rilievo in cartapesta della Madonna col Bambino. Treviso, Canova, 2006

Bonelli, Massimo and Maria Grazia Vaccari (eds.). Iacopo Sansovino. La Madonna in cartapesta del Bargello. Restauro e indagini. Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2006

Boucher, Bruce. The Sculpture of Jacopo Sansovino. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1991, 2 vols.