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

This marble bust of the Madonna at San Giovanni in Bragora is a fine example of the delicate and expressive qualities of Rococo sculpture produced in Venice in the early eighteenth century. Although some scholars have attributed the work to Paolo Groppelli because of its similarity to his sculpture of the Virgin of the Rosary (now in Croatia), the bust is more generally thought to be the work of Giovanni Maria Morlaiter.

The Madonna’s long neck and her tender smile establish the grace and sweetness of the image, and the elaborate folds of the drapery convey a sense of movement. Busts of this nature were used on church altars or in other places of private devotion to instill a sense of prayer and meditation. Today the bust adorns the altar dedicated to San Giuseppe da Copertino in the left nave of the church.

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 and Giovanni Maria Morlaiter’s Apparition of the Christ Child, both at the Istituto Canal-Marovich, as well as 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 Sandro Sponza 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) [attr.] or Paolo Groppelli (1677–1751) [attr.]
Madonna
Early eighteenth century, Carrara marble
75 x 50 x 21 cm

San Giovanni Battista in Bragora: Homepage (in Italian)

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