Restored in 2005 with funding from The James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee.

The subject of this work, Lorenzo Giustinian (1381–1456), is a much-venerated Venetian saint. Signed in 1465, this painting is the first securely dated work by Gentile Bellini, painted only nine years after Blessed Lorenzo Giustiniani had died in 1456. Known for having co-founded the congregation of the Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga (1404), for which he served as the first prior, in his life, Giustiniani was elected bishop of San Pietro di Castello in 1433 and patriarch of Venice in 1451.

In the painting, Giustiniani is portrayed in profile, in the act of blessing. His aged features may have been derived from an image created by Gentile’s father, Jacopo Bellini, for Giustinian’s tomb in the church of San Pietro di Castello. The patriarch is shown with a halo around his head, even though he wouldn’t be canonized until 1690. Such a peculiar iconography demonstrates that shortly after Giustiniani’s death Venetians had already begun to sanctify their patriarch.

The painting once belonged to the church of Santa Maria dell’Orto. It is believed that it originally functioned as a processional banner (penelo in Venetian) and that it was commissioned by the Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga, who had administered the church of Santa Maria dell’Orto since 1461.

The painting was restored by conservators Giulio Bono and Pierangela Formaggini, with the guidance of project director Giulio Manieri Elia 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.

Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 1507)
Blessed Lorenzo Giustinian
1465, egg tempera on canvas
221 x 155 cm

Gallerie dell’Accademia: Homepage

Gallerie dell’Accademia: Link to the Work

Corti, Laura. Annotazioni iconografiche su Lorenzo Giustiniani. Guidarelli, Gianmario, Michel Hochmann, and Fabio Tonizzi, eds. La chiesa di San Pietro di Castello e la nascita del patriarcato di Venezia. Venice: Marcianum Press, 2018, pp. 41-60

Manieri Elia, Giulio, ed. Masterpieces Restored: The Gallerie dell’Accademia and Save Venice Inc. Venice: Marsilio, 2010, pp. 84-99