Restored in 2002 with funding from Norman A. Kurland and Deborah A. David through the California Chapter of Save Venice Inc.

Jacopo Palma il Giovane was one of the last great protagonists of the Venetian Renaissance and among the most prolific painters in the Venetian lagoon. He left his mark in Venice with a large number of works commissioned for churches, confraternities, the Palazzo Ducale, and other official buildings. In 1620 Palma drew up a contract with the Dominican friars of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in which he obtained the right to be entombed in their church. Palma’s funerary monument was completed in 1621, seven years before the artist’s death, and stands over the sacristy doorway designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1605.

The monument incorporates three terracotta portrait busts in scalloped niches, a painting by Palma il Giovane, and an inscription. The busts pay tribute to Palma’s illustrious artistic heritage, for they depict, from left to right: his uncle Palma il Vecchio; the great master, Titian; and himself. The bust of Titian has been attributed to Alessandro Vittoria, whereas Giacomo Alberelli sculpted the representations of Palma and his uncle. In the painting above the door, Palma depicts two personifications of Fame, proclaiming the glory of the three painters; these allegorical figures grasp the trunk of a palm tree, a pun on the name of Palma. Lastly, the inscription identifies all three artists by name and commemorates their ‘shared glory,’ identifying Palma il Giovane as the heir to their artistic legacy in perpetuity.

The sculptural busts and portal were restored by conservators from the Lares srl. restoration firm, and the painting by Serafino and Marco Volpin, with the guidance of project directors Emmanuela Zucchetta of the Superintendency of Monuments of Venice and 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.

Jacopo Palma il Giovane (1548/50–1628)
Allegory of Fame
1621, oil on canvas
290 x 410 cm

Giacomo Alberelli (c. 1570–1644)
Busts of Jacopo Palma il Vecchio and Jacopo Palma il Giovane
c. 1621, terracotta

Alessandro Vittoria (1525–1608) [attr.]
Bust of Titian
Early seventeenth century, terracotta

Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548–1616)
Sacristy Portal
1605, Istrian stone and marble

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

Rosand, David. “Palma Il Giovane as Draughtsman: The Early Career and Related Observations.” Master Drawings 8, no. 2 (1970): 148-223.