The 2015 conservation of the four votive paintings from the Sotoportego di Corte Nova was funded by Matteo and Monica Carlotti, and the 2016 conservation of the Sotoportego was funded by Save Venice in collaboration with the Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali restoration school.

A Sotoportego (written with one “t” in Venetian dialect, as opposed to the double consonant in Italian) is a characteristically Venetian urban feature allowing public passage through the ground floor of a building, forming an underpass. The seventeenth-century Sotoportego di Corte Nova in the sestiere of Castello connects Calle Zorzi to the Corte Nova, near the churches of San Lorenzo 
and San Francesco della Vigna, and is unique as it also served as a votive chapel.

Much beloved by Venetians, the Sotoportego di Corte Nova is imbued with legends dating prior to the 1630 outbreak of the plague in Venice that led to the building of the church of Santa Maria della Salute. When terrible waves of the black plague spread throughout the city, only those who lived on the Corte Nova were protected, due to a sacred image of the Virgin painted by a resident of the Corte remembered by the name Giovanna.

A red slab of marble marks the point in the pavement near the center of the underpass where legend has it that the plague was stopped from entering the Corte, in front of the miraculous painting of the Virgin. Even to this day the red stone holds special meaning for Venetians, who will not step on it for fear of bad luck.

In the late seventeenth century or possibly in the early eighteenth, the Sotoportego was decorated with wood paneling and a painted and gilded coffered ceiling. Four votive paintings illustrating Venice struggling to overcome the plague through divine intervention and medical assistance were added. Two small, ornately carved marble frames were installed to house a small canvas of Venetian saint Lorenzo Giustinian with plague-protecting saints Rocco and Sebastian, and the painting of the Virgin.   Unfortunately, Giovanna’s original painting is now lost, and residents of the Corte have installed a modern copy in its place.

Other miracles in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were also credited to the Sotoportego. In 1849 and 1855, the residents of Corte Nova were spared from outbreaks of cholera, and from 1917 to 1918, they were protected from Austrian bombing during World War I.

An inscription above the north entrance to the Sotoportego recounts these miraculous events.

The Sotoportego di Corte Nova and its votive paintings were restored by students and professors from the Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali (IVBC) restoration school. Save Venice provided funding for the students in the third-year painting conservation course to gain hands-on experience in their chosen field.

Conservation began in 2015 with the four votive paintings from the underpass. These paintings had been removed and relegated to storage in the 1990s due to their poor condition. Once restored, they were given to the nearby church of San Francesco della Vigna as they were too delicate to return outdoors. Weather-proof photographic reproductions were made for the Sotoportego.

In 2016, the IVBC conservation students and professors concentrated their summer fieldwork on the restoration of the wooden elements of the Sotoportego that had fallen into a disheartening state of disrepair. The students worked diligently to remove layers of dirt, grime, and unsightly overpainting, revealing gilding, colorful marbles, jewel-toned painted trim work, and white Istrian stone. The rotting wooden paneling on the walls of the underpass was restored and finished with a natural wood stain. The lighting fixture of the Sotoportego was also repaired, guaranteeing that the underpass is illuminated at night. Once conservation was completed, the weather-proof reproductions of the votive paintings were installed.

In 2018, the painting of Saint Lorenzo Giustinian, thought to be long gone, was located in the Accademia Galleries’ deposits. The IVBC school restored the canvas so that it could join the other votive paintings in the church of San Francesco della Vigna, and a photographic reproduction was placed in the Sotoportego to complete the votive ensemble.

The restoration of the Sotoportego di Corte Nova was greatly appreciated by the local Venetian community, and was inaugurated on September 15, 2016 in a touching ceremony. The Association of San Francesco della Vigna awarded Save Venice, the IVBC restoration school, and Matteo and Monica Carlotti the “San Franciscan of the Year” prize in a ceremony in June 2016.

Detailed conservation reports, photos, and information that aid scholarly research are available upon request through the Venice office of Save Venice and the Rosand Library & Study Center at venice@savevenice.org.

Unidentified artist
Priest Comforting Plague Victims
Personification of Venice Enthroned Consults Doctors in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio
Personification of Venice Kneeling Before Christ and the Virgin Mary
Venetians Give Thanks Before a Votive Image of the Virgin Mary and Saints Roch and Sebastian
Seventeenth century, oil on canvas

The original paintings are now displayed in the church of San Francesco della Vigna. Weatherproof photographic reproductions are visible in the Sotoportego.