Restored in 2000 with funding from The James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee.

This tender and skillfully executed sculpture depicting the Apparition of the Christ Child to Saint Anthony of Padua was produced by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter; it is now held at the Istituto Canal-Marovich, on the site of the ex-church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Cannaregio. For much of the eighteenth century, Morlaiter was one of the major sculptors working in Venice. By the 1730s, Morlaiter had mastered his technique, and it was around this time that he sculpted this work for the church of Santa Lucia, which was demolished to make room for the construction of Venice’s railway station.

Saint Anthony gazes affectionately at the Christ Child, and his finely carved robe and the rosary beads around his waist create a sense of movement. The Christ Child returns the pious gaze; his arms direct attention to a book, as though instructing Saint Anthony to read it. The base of the composition features busts of cherubs and decorative ornamentation.

The attention to detail and the refined surface of the marble in this work demonstrate Morlaiter’s proficiency with marble and his artistic ability. He would go on to complete numerous sculptures for other churches in Venice, including Santa Maria del Rosario (known as the Gesuati), Santa Maria della Salute, San Rocco, and San Geremia.

The sculpture was featured in the exhibition I Tesori della Fede (Treasures of the Faith), which was organized by the Catholic Diocese of Venice for the Jubilee Celebration in 2000. It is among the works restored by Save Venice for the occasion, which include Pietro Baratta’s Pietà, also at the Istituto Canal-Marovich; the Bust of the Madonna at San Giovanni in Bragora, possibly by Morlaiter; and the Saint Sebastian relief at Santi Apostoli.

The sculpture was restored by conservator Toto Bergamo and the Sansovino restoration firm, with the guidance of project director Adrianna Augusti 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.

Giovanni Maria Morlaiter (1699–1781)
Apparition of the Christ Child to Saint Anthony of Padua
1729-1730, Carrara marble
103 cm

Mason Rinaldi, Stefania and Renato Polacco, eds. I tesori della fede. Oreficeria e scultura dalle chiese di Venezia. Venice: Marsilio, 2000.