Processional poles with mother-of-pearl decoration restored in 2003 with funding from the family and friends of Janet and Marvin Rosen.

Processional poles with copper decoration restored in 2006 with funding from the Oceanic Heritage Foundation.

Two sets of four processional poles are now displayed on the ground floor of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, flanking a sixteenth-century marble mantle and fireplace. Members of the confraternity carried these wooden poles during numerous religious ceremonies and processions throughout Venice. They were used to support a protective canopy for precious relics belonging to the scuola, including the famous miracle-working fragment of the True Cross that the scuola received in 1369. This relic was credited with many miracles, including the healing of a possessed boy at the Rialto — the subject of a painting commissioned by the scuola to Vittore Carpaccio that is currently being restored by Save Venice.

One set of four poles features a gilded layer of patterned copper over a wooden core with red-painted wooden handles. The striking spiral form of the second set of poles, each decorated with inlaid mother-of-pearl, was created using a common late Baroque technique of turning the wood on a lathe.

Under the guidance of project director Grazia Fumo of the Superintendency of Monuments of Venice, the poles with mother of pearl were restored by Capovilla Pruneri, and those with copper by the Arco snc. conservation firm.

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.

Unidentified artist
Processional Poles with Mother-of-Pearl Decoration
Seventeenth century, wood and mother-of-pearl
280 cm each (four in total)

Unidentified artist
Processional Poles with Copper Decoration
Seventeenth century, wood and copper
260 cm each (four in total)

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