The conservation of the high altar and Veronese’s presbytery paintings was funded by Richard and Nancy Riess in memory of Susan Fash Bateman

The conservation of the Saint Mark the Evangelist lunette was funded by Dr. Rosemary Mazanet

The high altarpiece of San Sebastiano, depicting the Virgin and Child in Glory with Saints Sebastian, Francis, Peter, John the Baptist, Catherine, and Elizabeth, was painted by Paolo Veronese in 1562. He also designed the elaborate sculptural frame that surrounds it and is integrated with the altar. The altarpiece is divided into two registers. In the lower register, the saints look upward as they all partake in a shared and yet intimately personal vision of the Madonna and Child, who appear against a celestial cloudburst in the sky above them. The holy figures are accompanied by an ensemble of musical angels who perform on stringed instruments. In the lower register, Saint Sebastian is shown in the pose of his first martyrdom, bound to a column and shot through with arrows that still pierce his flesh. The inclusion of Elizabeth among the saints points to the patron of the work, Lise (Elisabetta) Soranzo.

The high altar is flanked by frescoed depictions of hermit saints Paul and Onophrius, with small narrative scenes from each saint’s life above their respective figures.

The pictorial program of the presbytery continues with Veronese’s two lateral canvases depicting scenes from the life of Saint Sebastian, completed by 1565: they represent Marcus and Marcellinus Led to Martyrdom and the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. On the left, the brothers Marcus and Marcellinus are condemned to death after professing their belief in Christ. Although they waver in their dedication and consider recanting, Sebastian convinces them otherwise, strengthening their faith and inspiring the conversion of their families. Across the presbytery, on the right wall, the second martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is depicted. After the miraculous healing of his wounds inflicted by the arrows, he was sentenced to bludgeoning. His foreshortened body is framed by the triumphal arch in the background, and a ray of heavenly light descends toward him, as if to signal his imminent martyrdom.

High on the walls of the presbytery, four canvases depicting the Evangelists fill the lunettes around the lateral oculus windows. On the right wall, the paintings of Saint Mark and Saint Luke are works by Paolo Veronese and his talented workshop, while the two canvases of Saint John and Saint Matthew on the left wall are 17th-century replacements of Veronese works that are now lost.

The conservation of the presbytery area began in May 2016 and was completed in the fall of 2017. Veronese’s altarpiece was first moved to a side chapel in the church to undergo conservation treatment by the Egidio Arlango restoration firm while they simultaneously restored the marble and Istrian stone altar and the flanking frescoes of Saint Paul and Saint Onophrius.

Wood conservator Mauro Vita then carefully removed and restored the elaborately carved wooden dossals, while project engineers verified the condition of the presbytery’s brick walls to check for any signs of rising damp and salt deposits that could pose a threat to the dossals and other nearby artworks.

Following the completion of this phase, conservators from the CBC firm restored the two monumental lateral canvases depicting scenes from the life of Saint Sebastian, revealing a broad range of brilliant colors typical of Paolo Veronese’s palette.

The Four Evangelists in the lunettes around the windows in the presbytery were suffering from tension issues and structural deformities caused by the deterioration of the materials added to the back of the paintings when they were re-lined in the 1960s. Conservator Matteo Rossi Doria, who is specialized in the relining process, carefully removed the problematic modern lining before adding a new more suitable one. Each lunette’s stretcher was also replaced, improving the structural stability of the canvas given its complex shape. After the relining process was complete, conservators from the Arlango and CBC firms removed the thick layer of oxidized varnishes and inpainted any losses to the pictorial surface.

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
Virgin and Child in Glory with Saints Sebastian, Francis, Peter, John the Baptist, Catherine, and Elizabeth
1562, oil on canvas

Paolo Veronese
Marcus and Marcellinus Led to Martyrdom
1565, oil on canvas

Paolo Veronese
Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
1565, oil on canvas

Paolo Veronese
Saint Paul
1560s, fresco

Paolo Veronese
Saint Onophrius
1560s, fresco

Paolo Veronese
Saint Mark the Evangelist
1560s?, oil on canvas

Paolo Veronese
Saint Luke the Evangelist
1560s?, oil on canvas

Giovanni Antonio Fumiani
Saint Matthew the Evangelist
17^th century, oil on canvas

Giovanni Antonio Fumiani
Saint John the Evangelist
17^th century, oil on canvas