Save Venice is seeking sponsors for the conservation of Francesco Fontebasso’s Altarpiece of Saints Leonard, Lorenzo Giustiniani, Andrew, and Nicholas of Bari in the Church of San Salvador.

*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.

Restored in 1985 by Serafino and Ferruccio Volpin with the support of Save Venice. In 2026, the painting once again requires conservation, primarily to address the widespread growth of mold across the canvas.

Beside the imposing Funerary Monument to Queen Caterina Cornaro, a vivid gathering of saints animates the right transept of San Salvador. Painted by Francesco Fontebasso, the altarpiece brings together Saint Leonard, Saint Andrew, Saint Nicholas, and Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani in a composition rich in movement and color. The altar owes its present appearance to the Cornaro family, who commissioned a new structure in 1736 to replace an earlier wooden altar dedicated to Saint Leonard. Behind the original altar was a fresco by Francesco Vecellio, Titian’s brother, depicting the saint freeing prisoners. Although both the wooden altar and the fresco have disappeared, the story of Leonard’s miraculous liberation of captives lives on in Fontebasso’s painting, where the saint retains his place of honor at the center of the composition.

An early medieval hermit who lived in the late 5th century, Saint Leonard is remembered for his devotion to Scripture, his life of penance, and his extraordinary compassion for prisoners. According to his hagiography, Leonard obtained from Clovis, king of the Franks, the privilege of freeing any prisoners he encountered during his travels. This earned him the title “breaker of prisons, hope of captives.” His fame spread throughout medieval Europe, eventually reaching Venice, where scenes from his life were immortalized in the mosaics of the Basilica di San Marco.

At San Salvador, devotion to Saint Leonard was closely tied to a remarkable tradition linking Venice to the French city of Limoges. According to the story, sometime between the 12th and 13th centuries, two Venetian pilgrims stopped at an oratory dedicated to the saint near Limoges. There, they embraced a life of religious solitude and were soon joined by Augustinian canons from a nearby monastery. Fontebasso brings this episode into his painting through a subtle yet evocative detail: the two pilgrims appear in a marble relief depicted on the front of the altar against which Saint Leonard leans. Easy to overlook, this small scene connects the saint’s widespread European cult to the history of San Salvador, turning the painted altar into a visual reminder of the church’s spiritual origins.

Fontebasso brings these intertwined histories together in an altarpiece animated by gestures, symbols and exchanges of glances. At its center stands Saint Leonard, dressed as a hermit and accompanied by a book, a cross, and a chain, the latter recalling the votive offerings made by prisoners grateful for their liberation. To the right appears Saint Andrew the Apostle, whose presence recalls an even older layer of the church’s history: already in the medieval building, an altar and a statue had been dedicated to him. Nearby, Saint Nicholas, dressed as a bishop, presents one of the young women he rescued from poverty through his gift of three golden balls, here placed upon the Gospel.

On the left, Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani, distinguished by his blue shoulder cape, raises his eyes towards heaven, joining the prayers of Leonard and the angels dancing amid the luminous clouds above. The inclusion of Venice’s first patriarch was probably inspired by his relatively recent canonization and his ties to the canons of San Giorgio in Alga, a community also associated with Pope Eugene IV, an important benefactor of the Augustinians who served San Salvador. In this way, the painting brings together different centuries of Venetian devotion, presenting the saints not simply as individual figures, but as participants in a shared history of faith, charity and intercession.

The most urgent concern is the presence of mold across the painted surface, particularly around the figure of Saint Nicholas on the right. Once the mold has been treated and the painting’s condition stabilized, conservators will turn their attention to removing accumulated dust and grime, reducing discolored varnish, and reviewing areas of altered pictorial integrations that were made during previous restorations.

These interventions will help preserve the altarpiece for future generations while bringing back the luminosity, vibrant colors, and clarity that are so characteristic of Fontebasso’s painting.

Francesco Fontebasso (1709 – 1769)
Altarpiece of Saints Leonard, Lorenzo Giustiniani, Andrew, and Nicholas of Bari
1729, oil on canvas
347 x 195 cm

Bertoli, Bruno and Giandomenico Romanelli (eds.). Chiesa di San Salvador. Arte e devozione. Venice: Marsilio, 1997, pp. 36-37

Conn, Melissa and David Rosand (eds.). Save Venice Inc.: Four Decades of Restoration in Venice. Venice; New York: Save Venice Inc., 2011, p. 385

Magrini, Marina. Francesco Fontebasso (1707-1769). Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1988, p. 194 no. 179

Venice Restored, 1966-1986. The UNESCO campaign and the contribution of the private organizations. Milan: Electa, 1991, p. 157