The conservation of Donato Tomb has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Linda Cheverton Wick and Walter Wick.

The door on the south wall, connecting the church of San Sebastiano to the sacristy (as well as the cloister and the monastery), was built at the expense of the Hieronymites friars between 1542 and 1544. Located between the Grimani Chapel and the Lando Chapel, this door features above it the rectangular sarcophagus in Verona marble of noblemen Lorenzo and Pietro Donato, sons of Andrea and nephews of Francesco, the Venetian consul to Alexandria of Egypt in 1472.

In 1536, Piero bequeathed 25 golden ducats to the friars of San Sebastiano in exchange for his burial within the church. The sarcophagus was installed on the wall in 1539 by Lorenzo and Piero, as documented by the inscription on the marble plaque: “LAURENTIO DONATO / PETRUS FRATER / POSUIT ET SIBI / ANN MD XXXVIIII.”

In his final will, dictated from his deathbed on November 21, 1544, Piero bestowed upon the San Sebastiano friars an additional 291 ducats. Two days later, on November 23, Pietro passed away, and his body was buried the following day. This information is documented in an existing archival record housed in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia, which reads: “On November 23rd, 1544, Magnificent Sir Pietro Donato died, and on the 24th, he was laid to rest in his tomb positioned above the door leading to the sacristy.”

When building the organ between 1559 and 1569, Veronese also painted two monochrome canvases flanking the Donato Tomb, depicting two angels holding a skull and extinguished torches. The paintings are currently undergoing conservation treatment by Save Venice.

The Verona marble sarcophagus was in a reasonably well-preserved condition, although the surface was greatly obscured by dust and grime, with some signs of deterioration evident in the joint fills between the individual pieces. The two Donato coats of arms, made from a soft carved stone, suffered from the effect of long-term exposure to rising damp due to their proximity to the deteriorating stone portal underneath. Both shields had remnants of gilding and polychrome decoration, possibly dating back to their original creation, and this decoration was obscured by surface grime and lifting and flaking.

Donato Tomb
ca. 1542-1544, Verona marble
Church of San Sebastiano

Archivio di Stato di Venezia. Chiesa di San Sebastiano, b. 24.

Cicogna, Emmanuele Antonio. Delle inscrizioni veneziane, vol. IV. Venice: Giuseppe Picotti Stampatore, 1834.

Ranieri, Paola. La chiesa di San Sebastiano a Venezia: la rifondazione cinquecentesca e la cappella di Marcantonio Grimani. “Venezia Cinquecento,” 24, 2002, pp. 5-139.

Salomon, Xavier, Davide Gasparotto, Gabriele Matino, and Melissa Conn. The Church of San Sebastiano in Venice: A Guide, Venice: Marsilio, 2024.