Restored in 2004 with partial funding from the James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee, and the Oceanic Heritage Foundation.

During the conservation campaign of the Bernabò Chapel, restorers also began the process of removing fourteen layers of plaster from the church’s cupola in search of Sebastiano del Piombo’s lost frescoes. Instead, they recovered frescoes depicting the Evangelists John, Matthew, and Mark in three of the cupola’s spandrels. The fourth spandrel, which would have represented Saint Luke, is lost; it was probably destroyed when repairs were made on the adjacent bell tower. Each of the Evangelists is framed by a fictive oculus window that looks out onto blue sky mottled with clouds, as if the viewer were gazing up into the heavens. They are identifiable through the symbolic creatures that function as their attributes: the eagle is that of Saint John, the angel of Saint Matthew, and the lion of Saint Mark.

These frescoes of the Evangelists are of outstanding quality and are rare examples of Venetian wall paintings from the first decades of the sixteenth century; they could be the work of an artist working in the circles of Giovanni Bellini or Bartolomeo Montagna. The costly materials that were employed, such as gold leaf and lapis lazuli, confirm the importance of this commission.

The frescoes were restored by conservators from the Co. New Tech restoration firm, 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.

Unidentified artist
Saints John, Matthew and Mark
c. 1504, fresco