Restored in 1998 with funding from Young Friends of Save Venice.

Born in Naples in 1634, Luca Giordano began to study painting with his father, who was a follower of Spanish painter Jusepe de Ribera. He then undertook a journey northward to Rome, Florence, and finally Venice, to study the works of Renaissance painters as well as those of his contemporaries. In Venice, Giordano’s approach to color was transformed through his encounters with paintings by such famed artists as Titian and Veronese.

Giordano produced three altarpieces for the church of Santa Maria della Salute depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. Of these three, only the Assumption of the Virgin was signed and dated to 1667; stylistic differences suggest that the other two paintings, the Birth of the Virgin and the Presentation of the Virgin, were in fact executed at a later date. In any case, all three works were completed by 1674.

Located over the third altar to the right after entering the church, the scene of the Birth of the Virgin shows Mary’s aged parents, Joachim and Anne, watching as midwives bathe the newborn baby. In the heavens above, God the Father observes the scene; he is surrounded by a host of angels.

Several pentimenti, or compositional changes made by the artist, were revealed during restoration, including an alternative version of Joachim’s head and several incomplete putti. The decision was made to leave them visible on the canvas, as a testimony to Giordano’s swift, improvisational technique.

The work was restored by conservators Walter and Valentina Piovan, with the guidance of project director Adriana 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.

Luca Giordano (1634–1705)
Birth of the Virgin
c. 1669, oil on canvas
522 x 260 cm