Conservation in 2005 funded by the James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, trustee.

Venetian shipowner Giorgio Dragan commissioned this painting as the altarpiece for his family’s chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Carità. The composition follows the form known as a sacra conversazione (holy conversation), in which the enthroned Madonna and Child are surrounded by a group of saints in spiritual communication who generally bear some relationship to the saint to whom the altar was dedicated, or to the patron. To the left of the Virgin and Child are Saints Catherine, George, and Nicholas, and to the right are Anthony Abbot, Sebastian, and Lucy. Here, the clearly individualized features of Saint George have been interpreted as a portrayal of Giorgio Dragan. Cima da Conegliano often set such groups under an open baldachin or loggia, allowing more space for the landscape background with its celestial sky.

The painting was restored by conservator Lucia Tito of the CBC restoration firm, 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.

Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517)
Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine, George, Nicholas, Anthony Abbot, Sebastian, and Lucy (Dragan Altarpiece)
c. 1499-1501, tempera and oil on wood
420 x 225 cm

Gallerie dell’Accademia: Homepage

Gallerie dell’Accademia: Link to the Work

Humfrey, Peter. Cima da Conegliano. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983

Manieri Elia, Giulio, ed. Masterpieces Restored: The Gallerie dell’Accademia and Save Venice Inc. Venice: Marsilio, 2010, pp. 100-123