Restored in 1997 with funding from Serena Harding-Jones, William Lese, and Lucinda Harding-Jones Lese in memory of Michael R.  Harding-Jones and Ruth E. Lese.

This altar front was given to the Museo Provinciale di Torcello in 1888 by private art collector Cesare Augusto Levi. The center of the field is occupied by the Madonna of the Rosary, surrounded by scrolling tendrils, roses, and putti — all of which support the theory that the work was produced for a church dedicated to the rosary, such as Santa Maria del Rosario in Chioggia. The blue background was added in the nineteenth century.

Some scholars have concluded that the letters “Ao” and “Gi”, above the putti on either side, are the initials of the Bishop of Chioggia, Antonio Grassi, who most likely commissioned this work during a campaign to redecorate the Chioggia church while he was Bishop, between 1696 and 1715.

The work was restored by conservator Maximilian Leuthenmayr, with the guidance of project director Ettore Merkel of the Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice.

For select projects, conservation dossiers in Italian containing limited textual and photographic documentation may be available for consultation by appointment at the Venice office of Save Venice and the Rosand Library & Study Center. For inquiries, please contact us at venice@savevenice.org.

Unidentified sculptor
Altar Front Depicting the Madonna of the Rosary
c. 1706, carved lime wood with polychromy and gilding
94 x 250 cm

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