Restored in 2001–04 with funding from the California Chapter of Save Venice, Inc.

Restored in 2024 with funding by from The Versailles-Giverny Foundation: link

The scuole grandi, or great confraternities, of Venice, such as the Scuola Grande di San Marco and Scuola Grande di San Rocco, were well known not only for their religious, civic, and social achievements, but also for their architectural and artistic commissions. Many minor confraternities (scuole piccole) also existed in Venice, and while these could be dedicated to religious causes like the scuole grandi, they could also be reserved for members of specific trade and craft guilds, or for the ethnic communities present in Venice, such as the Greeks, Albanians, and Slavs (Dalmati).

The Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, or the Scuola Dalmata, was established in the fifteenth century by the Dalmatian Slavs (called “Schiavoni”) who lived in Venice. In 1551, on the one-hundredth anniversary of their founding, the Scuola Dalmata hired Giovanni de Zon, head architect of the Arsenale, to rebuild the façade of their confraternity in Castello; his design follows the style of Jacopo Sansovino.

Two sculptural reliefs framed by Ionic columns are the focal point of the façade’s decoration. The lower relief, carved by Pietro da Salò, depicts Saint George fighting the dragon to liberate the princess. Above this image, another relief depicts the Madonna and Child flanked by Saints Catherine and John the Baptist, who presents a knight of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem to the Virgin.

The façade was restored by conservator Ottorino Nonfarmale, with the guidance of project director 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.

Giovanni de Zon (active mid-sixteenth century)
Façade of the Scuola Dalmata
1551, Istrian stone

Emanuela Zucchetta, “The Restoration of the Façade of the Scuola Dalmata” (2004)

Scuola Dalmata di Venezia