Restored in 2004 with Save Venice general funds.

The dramatic crucifix of the church of San Domenico in Chioggia is the most revered work of art in the city, a fishing community located on the southern tip of the Venetian lagoon. Its image of the sacred Corpus and Cross is often painted on the sails and boats of Chioggia’s fishermen. The crucifix emphasizes the suffering of Christ and prompts the devout viewer to meditate upon his sacrifice. From the angular lines of his emaciated body to the rivulets of blood that stream down his face and neck, drawn by the crown of thorns upon his head, the pathos of the work is palpable. Experts who had the opportunity to study the crucifix during its restoration consider it to likely be the work of an artist from Strasbourg, and to date to the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, although there are several persistent folk traditions regarding its origin.

According to one legend, it was made by Christ’s covert disciple Nicodemus, and was transported to Venice at the request of the thirteenth-century saint Peter Martyr, but washed ashore in Chioggia during a shipwreck before its arrival in Venice. Another myth claims that it was one of four crucifixes made by Saint Luke and kept in Constantinople until 1453, when the city fell to the Ottoman Turks; at that time Christian soldiers threw the cross into the sea to prevent its destruction by the ‘infidels,’ and it eventually floated it to Chioggia, as if guided by divine will.

The work was restored by conservators Giovanna Meneghazzi and Roberto Bergamaschi, with the guidance of project director Luca Caburlotto 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.

Unidentified artist
Crucifix
Fourteenth century (?), polychromed wood
450 x 330 cm (Cross)
270 cm (Christ)