Analysis of frescoes and roof repair undertaken in 1992 with Save Venice general funds.

The Oratory of Santo Stefano is all that remains of Murano’s church of Santo Stefano, founded in 1100 and consecrated in 1374. The church was abandoned and torn down between 1835 and 1860 in the aftermath of the Napoleonic suppression of ecclesiastic property in Venice and the lagoon.

Santo Stefano’s chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento (Holy Sacrament), built in the style of Jacopo Sansovino in 1541, was salvaged from destruction by Monsignor Giovanni Nichetti, who transformed it into an oratory in 1848. An atrium and an apse were added to the original rectangular chapel, creating a small standalone building. Frescoes in the oratory depict the Trinity, the Four Evangelists, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory, Saint Ambrose, and Saint Augustine. They are attributed to the painter Agostino Letterini and date to 1718-1722. The sixteenth-century flooring is decorated with geometric patterns in marble intarsia.

The oratory has a particular importance on the island of Murano, as the church of Santo Stefano once housed the confraternity of Saint Nicholas, dedicated to the patron saint of glassmakers.

The chemical analysis of the frescoes was carried out by the GER-SO firm of Rimini, and the scaffolding and roof repair were undertaken by Impresa Edile Veri of Venice, with the guidance of project director Francesco Rossitto of the Studio Tecnico, Venezia.

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.

Various artists
Oratory of Santo Stefano
Structure, 1541; frescoes, 1718-22; additions in 1848