Maintenance in 2012 with funding from The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc.; initial restoration in 1990 with funding from Lily Auchincloss.

Located beneath an underpass (sottoportego) leading from Campo San Silvestro to the San Silvestro vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal, this once-hidden fresco attributed to Battista Franco was rediscovered beneath layers of grime and carbon deposits from a chimney that once burned coal nearby. The restored scene gives us a glimpse of the kind of outdoor fresco decoration that once transformed walls throughout Venice.

This depiction of the Madonna and Child with Saint Nicholas of Bari and Saint Francis probably served as an ex-voto — a devotional offering — that at night would have been illuminated by candles, providing light and heavenly protection against danger to those who traveled through the dark passageway. The best-conserved part of the fresco is a colorful section of the cape of Saint Nicholas and the landscape at the lower right; until the restoration, this section of the painting had been covered by a large wooden beam that kept it protected from the elements, thus preserving its original color.

The fresco was restored by conservator Andrea Libralesso, with the guidance of project director Grazia Fumo 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.

Battista Franco (c. 1510–1561) [attr.]
Madonna and Child with Saint Nicholas of Bari and Saint Francis
c. 1550s, fresco