Restored in 2006 with funding from an anonymous donor in honor of Frederick Ilchman.

Jacopo Palma il Giovane’s Christ in Glory with Saints Mark, Peter, and Paul was painted in 1614 for the high altar of the chapter hall of the Scuola Grande di San Marco. Both Domenico Tintoretto and Palma il Giovane submitted sketches to the Scuola in an attempt to gain the commission, and it was ultimately awarded to Palma.

In the upper portion of the painting, Christ appears in glory, surrounded by heavenly light, billowing clouds, and a host of playful putti, or small angels. Directly below Christ sits Saint Mark, the patron saint of both the Scuola and the city of Venice; he is seated in an elevated and thus privileged position, above Saints Peter and Paul — patron saints of Rome and of the Catholic church — who appear on either side of him. A Venetian cityscape fills the canvas beneath the saints, offering a view of Venice as it looked during Palma’s day.

Heir to a glorious tradition exemplified by Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, and his great uncle Palma il Vecchio, Palma il Giovane sought to assume the mantle of leadership of the Venetian tradition, an ambition documented in the monument he designed for himself in the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

The work was restored by conservators Serafino and Marco Volpin, with the guidance of project director Cristina Dossi 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.

Jacopo Palma il Giovane (1548/50–1628)
Christ in Glory with Saints Mark, Peter, and Paul
1614, oil on canvas
670 x 332 cm

Scuola Grande di San Marco: Historical Introduction

Scuola Grande di San Marco: Images of the Rooms of the Scuola

Mason Rinaldi, Stefania. Palma il Giovane: l’opera completa. Milan: Alfieri, 1984.

Matino, Gabriele and Cynthia Klestinec, eds. Art, Faith and Medicine in Tintoretto’s Venice. Venice: Marsilio, 2018.