Restored from 1974–1975 with funding from the Boston Chapter of Save Venice Inc.

This small chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was built between roughly 1471 and 1476 for the Martini family, wealthy members of a colony of silk merchants who moved to Venice from their native Tuscany. The dome of the chapel, its underside decorated with diamond-shaped glazed terracotta tiles made by the Della Robbia workshop in Florence, sets it apart from other Renaissance chapels in Venice.

Save Venice founder John McAndrew suggested in his book Venetian Architecture of the Early Renaissance that the entire dome of the chapel was constructed in Florence and carried over the Apennine Mountains to Venice to be installed over the chapel. Prof. McAndrew also concluded that Florentine craftsmen were responsible for the carved architectural details of the dome, as they were executed with a technique different from that of Venetian sculptors working at this time. This type of chapel decoration was common during this period in Florence, but was a novelty for Venice.

The unique glazed terracotta dome features five roundel reliefs that depict the Blessing Christ surrounded by the Four Evangelists, all of which are set within frames decorated with the Della Robbia studio’s characteristic garlands of fruit and foliage. A dynamic field of repeating green, yellow, and black cubes fills the remainder of the surface of the dome between the roundels; this geometric pattern used in ancient Rome was reintroduced in Florence in the early fifteenth century.

During the Venetian revolution against the Austrians in 1848–1849, an Austrian bomb launched from Mestre landed near this church, causing numerous cracks throughout the chapel.

The dome was restored by conservators Francesco Zerbo and Jolando Francalancia, with the guidance of project director Renato Padoan of the Superintendency of Monuments 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.

Andrea della Robbia (1435–1525) [attr.] and workshop
Glazed Terracotta Dome of the Martini Chapel
1471-1476, glazed terracotta

Chorus Association: Church of San Giobbe

Ralph Lieberman, “Some Family Chapels in Renaissance Venice” (2001)

Gentilini, Giancarlo. I della Robbia: la scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento, vol. 1. Florence: Cantini, 1992.