Restored in 1984 with Save Venice general funds.

In 1504, Venetian architect and sculptor Antonio Lombardo received the commission to build a funerary chapel in the atrium of the Basilica of San Marco for Cardinal Giovanni Battista Zen, who died in 1501. In his will, Cardinal Zen expressed the desire for his tomb to be built in the Basilica, a project he presumably had already discussed; it was completely unprecedented to have a burial site inside the Basilica, however, as not even doges had been buried there. The location selected for the cardinal’s funerary chapel was the result of a clever compromise: technically it was not inside the Basilica, for it was situated within the narthex and created by walling in the porta da mar, or sea entrance, which faced the Piazzetta.

Antonio Lombardo is credited with both the design of the chapel and the bronze figures of the Madonna and Child. In 1506 Antonio left Venice to work in Ferrara and his collaborator Paolo Savin completed the chapel with the bronze figures of Saint Peter and Saint John, the Virtues, and the Effigy of Cardinal Zen.

The work was restored by conservator Ignazio Di Bella, with the guidance of project directors Francesco Valcanover and 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.

Antonio Lombardo (c. 1458 – 1516)
Madonna and Child
1504, bronze

Paolo Savin (active 1506 –1519)
Saints Peter and John the Baptist, Effigy of Cardinal Zen, and Virtues
1521, bronze

Basilica di San Marco: Homepage