The stone organ balcony and side portal entrance, as well as the wooden organ case and framing were restored in 2011 with Save Venice general funds.

The colorful and intricately carved side portal entrance and organ balcony was completed around 1530 for the church of San Salvador. The structure was commissioned by Girolamo Priuli, whose coat of arms appears in the central coffer of the underside of the parapet, and was likely executed by Gugliemo de’ Grigi, who also created San Salvador’s high altar and the Saint Jerome altar, both of which have been restored by Save Venice as well.

The structure recalls a triumphal arch, with its paired composite columns on either side supporting an entablature from which the balcony rises upon monumental curving brackets. The statues of Saint Jerome and Saint Lawrence installed within niches on either side of the structure, between each pair of columns, are respectively attributed to Danese Cattaneo and Giacomo Fantoni Colonna, both pupils of famed Renaissance architect Jacopo Sansovino, who was also active at San Salvador.

The painted organ shutters (restored by Save Venice in 1994) were completed between 1530 and 1534 by Francesco Vecellio, the elder brother of Titian. Prior to this restoration, the shutters had been reinstalled incorrectly, with the exterior and interior sides reversed. Conservators thus took advantage of the scaffolding positioned for the organ loft restoration and returned the shutters to their original positions, such that the majestic scenes of the Resurrection and Transfiguration are now visible when the organ is played during church services.

The work was restored by the conservation firm Sansovino Restauro di Francesco Grimaldi e Antonio Casellati, with the guidance of project director Annalisa Bristot 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.

Guglielmo dei Grigi, called Il Bergamasco (c. 1485–1550) [attr.]
Organ Balcony and Side Portal Entrance
c. 1530, Istrian stone and marble

Bisson, Massimo. Meravigliose macchine di giubilo. L’architettura e l’arte degli organi a Venezia nel Rinascimento. Venice: Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 2012.