The Pellegrini 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.

Archival documentation confirms that the Pellegrini Chapel, alongside the Pisani Chapel, was constructed between 1552 and 1553. On June 18, 1553, stonemasons Antonio de Gazin, a former assistant of sculptor Alessandro Vittoria, and Hieronimo de Pozo were commissioned to build and decorate these two small chapels, which included crafting the steps (scalini), cornices (cornixe), friezes (frixi), architraves (argitravo), and vaults (volto). The document also specifies that the steps were to be made from red stone (piere rose) to match those they had previously made in the chapel of “clarissimo messer Marcantonio Grimani.” In contrast to the other side chapels in the church, the Pisani Chapel’s construction expenses were initially covered by the Hieronymite friars. Documents show that it was Torlioni who negotiated with the stonemasons, even though, at that time, he was no longer the prior of the San Sebastiano convent, having been reassigned as the rector of the Treviso province. Interestingly, Torlioni was able to persuade Grimani to reimburse the construction expenses for the two adjacent side chapels, amounting to a total of 112 lire and 3 soldi.

On 24 June 1557, the chapel’s patronage shifted to Vincenzo Pellegrini, a renowned orator and jurist of Dalmatia origins, praised by poet Ludovico Dolce as “orator clarissimo” (1562). Pellegrini commissioned from artist Andrea Meldolla, known as Schiavone, the frescoes of the chapel’s vault and the altarpiece portraying Christ in the guise of a pilgrim, accompanied by two disciples traveling the road to Emmaus. While drawing inspiration from the Gospel story of the Resurrected Christ’s appearance in Emmaus, the iconography of this painting is remarkably unconventional. Typically, artists would depict Jesus revealing his true identity while dining at the table with the two pilgrims. Schiavone, on the other hand, made a distinct choice by opting for an earlier passage from the Gospel: “he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country” (Mark 16:12). This choice was evidently a tribute to the patron’s surname, Pellegrini.

The attribution of the painting to Schiavone was initially made by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives (1568), and early accounts by Carlo Ridolfi’s Maraviglie dell’arte (1648) also praise its vibrant color palette. Much like the Grimani Chapel, the chapel’s ceiling is embellished with stuccowork designed by Alessandro Vittoria and frescoes illustrating three virtuous figures attributed to Schiavone.

The stuccowork and frescoes in the vault of the Pellegrini chapel were covered by several layers of dirt, grime, and overpainting from previous conservation treatments. Following a campaign of scientific analysis and test cleaning that identified the sixteenth-century decorative scheme and confirmed that this decoration was in good condition, conservators from the Co.New Tech firm meticulously removed the non-original layers, restoring the original pastel color palette and delicate details. The stonework of the altar was meticulously cleaned and repaired, and the crumbling plaster of the chapel walls was replaced.

The canvas altarpiece was suffering from considerable condition problems and had been heavily overpainted in a previous restoration attempt. Conservators from the CBC Conservation Firm removed the layers of oxidized varnishes and heavy overpainting, before filling any losses with more ideal conservation paints and applying a final protective varnish. The painting was reinstalled on the altar in December 2019.

Antonio de Gazin (active 16th century) and Hieronimo de Pozo (active 16th century)
Construction of the Pellegrini Chapel
1552 – 1553, marble and Istrian stone

Andrea Meldolla, known as Schiavone (c. 1510 – 1563)
Christ with Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus
c. 1557, oil on canvas
160 x 120 cm

Andrea Meldolla, known as Schiavone (c. 1510 – 1563) [attr.]
Three Figures of Virtues
c. 1557, fresco

Alessandro Vittoria (1525 – 1608) [attr.]
Stucco decoration of the vault
c. 1557, stucco

Augusti Ruggeri, Adriana and Simona Savini Branca. Chiesa di San Sebastiano: arte e devozione. Venice: Marsilio, 1994

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

Dal Borgo, Michela. Grimani, Marco Antonio. In Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 59. Rome: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, 2002, ad vocem. Link to the article

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

Splendori del Rinascimento a Venezia. Schiavone tra Parmigianino, Tintoretto e Tiziano. Milan: 24 Ore Cultura, 2015