Restored with funding from the 1995 Save Venice Regatta Week Gala Art Auction.

These painted and gilded leather panels cover the fronts of the six altars of the church of the Santissimo Redentore on solemn feast days. The decorative motifs of fruit and flowers are associated with the symbols of sin and redemption, in keeping with the church’s dedication to Christ the Redeemer. A drawing in the Correr Museum of eight studies for altar fronts led to the attribution of the panels to Francesco Guardi, one of the great painters of the Venetian Settecento; he would have collaborated with a cuoridoro, an artisan specializing in leatherwork, for the creation of the panels.

In addition to financing the restoration of these rare and delicate works, Save Venice also commissioned a special cabinet for storing the panels when not in use.

The panels were restored by conservator Marina Lucia Regni, with the guidance of project director Fiorella Spadavecchia of the Superintendency of Fine Arts 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.

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) [attr.]
Six Painted Leather Panels
Third quarter of the eighteenth century, oil paint and gilding on leather
99 x 223 cm each

Chorus Association: Church of the Santissimo Redentore