Project Description

Frescoes of the Sacristy
Church of San Salvador, Venice

Project
Restoration of the Frescoes of the Sacristy

Location
Church of San Salvador, Venice

Project Director
Ministry of Culture, Monuments and
Fine Arts Office of Venice

Preliminary analysis
Arcadia Ricerche, Venice

Funding
Venetian Heritage

Start date
December 1999

End date
February 2000

Cost
4.880,00 €

During the 15th Century the Church of San Salvador, situated in the district of St. Mark, underwent important enlargements. However, it is the contributions of Jacopo Sansovino and Tullio Lombardo in the following century that granted the Church of San Salvador its actual facet. Venetian Heritage funded the restoration of the sacristy whose frescoes are attributed to Francesco Vecellio, brother of Titian, and portray images of birds, peacocks, and floral motifs. At the center of the vaulted ceiling, Christ the Saviour, surrounded by putti, raises his hand in a blessing act. The frescoes were severely damaged and showed white and other darkened areas, where the infiltration of rainwater had caused the formation of stains and discoloration.