Restored in 2004 with funding from Reagan Silber and an anonymous donor in honor of Terisio Pignatti.

This painting depicting Saint John with Saints Peter and Paul at the church of San Pietro di Castello was restored in honor of renowned Venetian art historian Terisio Pignatti. In his 1976 monograph on Paolo Veronese, Pignatti observes that some scholars consider the painting to be the work of the master, while others attribute it to a member of his workshop, possibly Francesco Montemezzano. Originally on the Trevisan Altar, erected in 1581, the work is currently displayed above the door of the entrance to the Lando Chapel.

At the center of the canvas, Saint John the Evangelist looks upward at an angel who appears from the heavens. Accompanied by his symbolic beast, the eagle, the saint holds his open Gospel on his lap and a chalice in one hand that contains a snake — a reference to an episode from the life of Saint John, in which he was given a cup of poisoned wine that he blessed, transforming the poison into a snake that then emerged from the cup. On the ground below him, Saint Paul holds his book of Epistles on the right, while Saint Peter clasps the keys to the Church on the left. Although he is not the central figure, Peter’s presence in the picture is prominent, appropriately so for a painting housed in a church that was not only dedicated to him, but which also served as the cathedral of Venice.

Upon learning that this painting was restored in his honor, Terisio Pignatti wrote to Save Venice: “I cannot but accept with enthusiasm this decision which links my modest personality to such masterpieces like this one. You can imagine how proud I am to feel such a close relation to one of the paintings of the painter I studied and loved with all my heart. My pleasure from your original initiative brings once more the blessed Save Venice to the front line.”

The work was restored by conservators Serafino and Marco Volpin, with the guidance of project directors Sandro Sponza of the Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice and Emanuela Zucchetta 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.

Paolo Veronese (1528–1588) [attr.]
Saint John with Saints Peter and Paul
c. 1581, oil on canvas
320 x 165 cm

Chorus Association: Church of San Pietro di Castello

Pignatti, Terisio. Veronese. 2 vols. Venice: Alfieri, 1976.

Rosand, David. Véronèse. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2012.