Restored in 2003 with funding from Dr. and Mrs. Randolph H. Guthrie, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Nersesyan, and Mr. and Mrs. George C. White.

This relief sculpture attributed to Pietro Lombardo graces a building in Campo San Tomà that was once the headquarters of the shoemakers’ guild, the Scuola dei Calegheri. This confraternity, founded in Venice in 1383, built its meeting hall between 1446 and 1478. The term calegheri, meaning “cobbler” in the Venetian dialect, originated from the Latin word caliga, which was a type of sandal worn in ancient Rome — a detail that is directly related to the subject of this relief.

The sculpture, which decorates the portal of the scuola, depicts one of the miracles of Saint Mark, Venice’s patron saint: in Alexandria, the saint healed the hand of the cobbler Anianus, who injured his palm with an awl while repairing Mark’s sandals. After his miraculous healing, Anianus converted to Christianity and eventually became Patriarch of Alexandria and a saint himself. Anianus’ body was brought to Venice in 1128, joining Saint Mark’s remains, which had already been transported from Alexandria to Venice in 828. Subsequently, Anianus became the patron saint of Venetian shoemakers, due undoubtedly to his prestigious association with the Evangelist and patron saint of Venice.

Traces of the original polychromy and gold leaf give this relief sculpture a unique pictorial quality. Typically, paint pigments and gilding do not survive prolonged exposure to the harsh elements of Venice’s lagoon climate, making this relief a rare surviving example of painted outdoor sculpture in Venice. The quality of the relief’s composition has prompted some scholars to believe that Giovanni Bellini may have designed it, as Bellini is known to have collaborated with sculptor Pietro Lombardo and members of the Lombardo workshop.

The work was restored by conservator Anna Keller, with the guidance of project director Grazia Fumo 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.

Pietro Lombardo (c. 1430–1515) [attr.]
Saint Mark Healing the Cobbler Anianus
c. 1474, Istrian stone