Restored in 1987 with Save Venice general funds.

Jacopo Sansovino was one of the most prominent architects and sculptors active in Venice at the middle of the sixteenth century. The richly decorated funerary monument to Doge Francesco Venier (reigned 1554–1556), crafted from precious polychrome marble and Istrian stone, is a fine example of his work during the final period of his career.

An effigy of the deceased doge lies atop a sarcophagus in the central bay of the monument, the architecture of which recalls a triumphal arch in all its classical grandeur; the doge is depicted in gilded ceremonial robes and the characteristic ducal cap. Set into niches within the flanking bays are sculptures representing the theological virtues of charity and hope. To the left, Charity is represented in her traditional guise, as a mother with multiple children. Hope, her hands crossed piously, turns inward and lifts her gaze toward he effigy of the doge, her pious longing an expression on behalf of the deceased.

In the lunette above is a moving Pietà that implicitly represents the third theological virtue, faith; it includes a votive representation of the doge to the right, his hands raised in prayer, and his name saint, Francis, to the left. The relief has been attributed to Alessandro Vittoria, possibly in collaboration with Sansovino himself.

The work was restored by conservators Serafino and Ferruccio Volpin, with the guidance of project director Ettore Merkel 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 Sansovino (1486–1570)
Funerary Monument to Doge Francesco Venier
1556-1561, marble and Istrian stone
1200 x 890 cm

Boucher, Bruce. The Sculpture of Jacopo Sansovino. 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.