Restored in 1996 with funding from The James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee, and Mr. and Mrs. Donald Miller.

A chapel dedicated to Saint John the Almsgiver inside the church of San Giovanni in Bragora was built starting in 1481 to house the saint’s relics, which had been conserved in the church since the thirteenth century. Alvise Vivarini’s painting of the Savior Blessing originally hung in the chapel, over Saint John’s fifteenth-century reliquary container, of which only the carved cover survives to this day. Devotion to the Almsgiver was strong from the outset, and only continued to grow over the centuries; in 1616 a confraternity dedicated to the saint was founded within the church.

After 1743 the chapel was completely redecorated, possibly by architect Giorgio Massari, who belonged to the Bragora parish. His style is reflected in the use of sumptuous colored marbles on the altar and walls. The vault stuccoes are typical eighteenth-century Venetian work, and the wooden benches in the chapel date from the late eighteenth-century redecoration as well.

The chapel 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.

Various artists
Chapel of San Giovanni Elemosinario
1743

San Giovanni Battista in Bragora: Homepage (in Italian)

San Giovanni Battista in Bragora: Chapel of Saint John the Almsgiver (in Italian)