Restored in 2009 with funding from Young Friends of Save Venice.

In 1843 the Parish of Ariano nel Polesine, near Rovigo in the southern part of the Veneto region, sold this painting to the Accademia Galleries in order to buy three new church bells. After the sale, the Accademia commissioned a copy of the painting, and sent it as a replacement to the Polesine church.

Garofalo’s composition is arranged in two registers: above, the Madonna and Child in Glory appear as a heavenly apparition, while below, the saints are firmly planted on the earth. A lyrical landscape that culminates in distant mountains, recalling the nearby Dolomites, fills the background. In the lower right-hand corner of the canvas, the artist included his signature and the year in which he painted the work: BENVENUTO GAROFALO P. MDXVIII.

Garofalo was born in Ferrara, where he worked for the Este court; he trained in Rome for several years and was especially influenced by the art of Raphael, and subsequently responded to the example of Venetian coloring. His work also shows the influence of his contemporary Dosso Dossi, a fellow painter of the Ferrarese school.

The painting was restored by conservator Lucia Tito of the CBC restoration firm, with the guidance of project director Claudia Cremonini 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.

Benvenuto Tisi, called il Garofalo (1481–1559)
Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Augustine, Peter, and Paul
1518, Oil on wood

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