Project Description

Main Portal of the Church of Sant’Elena, (ca. 1467)
Church of Sant’Elena, Venice

Project
Restoration of the Main Portal

Location
Church of Sant’Elena, Venice

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

Contractors
Il Cenacolo s.r.l., Venice;
ALtech s.r.l., Venice

Funding
Mr. and Mrs. Donald K. Miller;
Venetian Heritage

Start date
April 2002

End date
November 2002

Cost
60.600,00 €

The Church of Sant’Elena, built in gothic style during the 11th century, was dedicated to the Empress Elena, mother of Constatino. Venetian Heritage funded the restoration of the monumental sculpture at the entrance of the Church which commemorates the Venetian Admiral Vittore Cappello. Dating around 1467, the sculpture is made of Istrian stone and marble, it is worked entirely in the round. After many years of neglect it was in urgent need of both surface and structural restoration. Most of the surface damage was due to years of environmental pollution; the marble sculptures had blackened and showed signs of disintegration and in some places fragments had actually been lost. In the past this work was erroneously attributed to Antonio Rizzo and Antonio Dentone. However, Dr. Anne Markham Schulz’s studies attributed it to Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino, whose sculpture played an influential role in Dalmatian art. An example of his work is the Orsini Chapel in Trogir, where he was the master responsible for its construction, and which has been restored with funds from Venetian Heritage.