The Garzoni Chapel conservation was generously funded by the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc.

The construction of the Church of San Sebastiano began in 1506, and the main structure was nearly completed by 1548, when Bernardo Torlioni, a bishop from Verona, became prior of the church. According to documentation published by Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna, under Torlioni’s leadership, a fundraising campaign was launched to support the struggling Hieronymite order. This campaign also involved the construction of six side chapels, three on each side of San Sebastiano’s nave, with the support of wealthy nobles and other influential individuals. In exchange for their contributions, these benefactors were granted burial rights for their families in the respective chapels they sponsored. Additionally, donors were responsible for financing and commissioning the decoration of their chapels, a customary practice in Venetian churches.

On December 14, 1544, nobleman Girolamo Garzoni was granted the first chapel on the right side of the nave, with its altar dedicated to the Holy Cross. Archival documentation notes that Garzoni was required to have the chapel built “in accordance with the order and design of the others.” According to some scholars, this reference demonstrates that the Garzoni Chapel was expected to follow the design of the apsidal chapels, the Virgin Annuciate (Lando) Chapel and the Saint Jerome Chapel, both built between 1526 and 1532. An alternative theory rather argues that the new chapel had to align with the Grimani Chapel, situated across the nave, which had already been designed by 1544. By mid 16th century, the chapel was probably concluded, as Paolo Veronese’s Crucifixion was located above the altar. In his rendition of the subject, Veronese depicts the fainting Virgin illusionistically intersected by the Cross, a visual metaphor that could allude to Mary as the Mother of the Cross, the very source of Redemption. Some twenty years later, in 1582, the renowned Bolognese artist Agostino Carracci engraved the Garzoni Crucifixion, demonstrating how the fame of this painting had already extended throughout Italy.

On February 4th, 1709, the chapel was ceded to an order of nuns dedicated to Saint Joseph known as the Congregazione delle Dame di San Giuseppe. According to the agreement, the nuns were allowed to renovate the whole chapel, except for Veronese’s Crucifixion, which “has to remain above the altar and cannot be moved.” The inscription above the altar, dating to 1710, commemorates the nuns’ patronage. The chapel was ambitiously redecorated in a Baroque style using colorful marbles, ornate stuccowork, frescoes, sculptures, and reliefs. The large statues of Saint Joseph and Saint Anne that adorn the altar, along with the oval reliefs on the walls, are attributed to sculptor Pietro Baratta.

Prior to treatment that began in January 2019, the Garzoni Chapel was in the most perilous state of conservation of all of the chapels due to the effects of rising damp and salt deposits. The corrosive salt threatened the permanent loss of many details on the precious marble sheeting on the walls. The elaborate early 18th-century stucco decorations in the vault of the chapel were completely obscured by a thick layer of surface grime and several small pieces had become detached and risked falling off completely.

Treatment first began with a comprehensive desalination cycle of the marble elements on the walls of the chapel. These pieces were carefully dismantled and emerged in baths of de-ionized water for several weeks in order to remove the embedded salts inside the marble. The heavily deteriorated side brick walls of the chapel were also replaced. The stuccowork and frescoes on the vault of the ceiling were cleaned in situ, removing centuries of dirt and grime, and revealing the original bright colors. The black and white marble of the altar and frame were also cleaned.

The altarpiece by Paolo Veronese had undergone conservation treatment fairly recently and was in good condition, therefore additional treatment was not needed.

Paolo Veronese (1528 – 1588)
Crucifixion
1560-1565, oil on canvas
260 x 125 cm

Pietro Baratta (1659–1729)
Construction and decoration of the chapel
c. 1710, marble and stuccowork

Cicogna, Emmanuele Antonio. Delle inscrizioni veneziane, vol. IV. Venice: Giuseppe Picotti Stampatore, 1834

Coke, Richard. Paolo Veronese: Piety and Display in an Age of Religious Reform. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001

Gentili, Augusto and Michele Di Monte. Veronese nella chiesa di San Sebastiano. Venice: Marsilio, 2005

Ranieri, Paola. “La chiesa di San Sebastiano a Venezia: la rifondazione cinquecentesca e la cappella di Marcantonio Grimani.” Venezia Cinquecento, 12, 24 (2002): 5-140

Salomon, Xavier, Davide Gasparotto, Gabriele Matino, and Melissa Conn. The Church of San Sebastiano in Venice: A Guide, Venice: Marsilio, 2024