San Giobbe Altarpiece, Giovanni Bellini, 1487 ca.
Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice

Venetian Heritage will fund the restoration of the San Giobbe Altarpiece, made by Giovanni Bellini around 1487.
The artwork is the first venetian altarpiece to be set inside a church and not have a landscape as a background. It depicts a sacred conversation: the Madonna with Child on a high blue and white marble throne surrounded by saints Francesco, Giovanni Battista, and Giobbe on her left and to her right the saints Domenico, Sebastiano, and Ludovico from Toulouse. At her feet rest three musician angels.
After doing a preliminary cognitive campaign, restorers will proceed with a first structural consolidation intervention of the wooden support of the blade. Then the state of adhesion of the surface will be verified and, if necessary, further fixing of the pictorial film will be carried out.
They will continue with the cleaning of the painting, and the possible removal of altered varnishes, retouches, and underlying stuccos resulting from previous restorative works. The work will eventually be subjected to a final painting, before being permanently exhibited in the Gallerie dell’Accademia.