The restoration of the San Giobbe Altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini is underway in Venice

Painted during the 1480s for the Venetian church of San Giobbe, the altarpiece Madonna and Child Enthroned, Musician Angels and Saints Francis, John the Baptist, Job, Dominic, Sebastian and Ludovico da Tolosa (called the San Giobbe Altarpiece) represents a decisive turning point in the history of the Venetian altarpiece. Bellini goes beyond the traditional polyptych structure and conceives a unitary space: an illusionistic apse covered by a coffered vault within which the Madonna and Child sits on a throne surrounded by saints from different eras – Francis, John the Evangelist, Job, Dominic, Sebastian and Ludovico da Tolosa – gathered in a meditative suspension outside of time. The rigorous perspective construction, the lowered point of view and the silent monumentality of the figures create a pictorial space that seems to prolong the real space of the viewer.

Having entered the public collections in 1815 after being removed from the church for conservation reasons, the altarpiece is today preserved in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. The work is considered one of the masterpieces of Bellini’s maturity and is cited with great admiration already in ancient sources, including Marcantonio Sabellico, Marin Sanudo, Giorgio Vasari and Francesco Sansovino.

Over time, the monumental wooden support, composed of thirteen poplar planks glued horizontally, has shown structural criticalities – cracks, tensions and weakenings – which have also affected the stability of the pictorial film. Various interventions carried out between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries responded to the conservative needs of the moment, but progressively generated new tensions. The restoration started today was therefore born from the need to address these problems in an organic way, intervening both on the support and on the painted surface in full respect of the original material.

The diagnostic investigations conducted in recent years – from infrared reflectography, which returned the preparatory drawing, to stratigraphic analyzes – have confirmed the refinement of Bellini’s pictorial technique: a plaster and glue preparation, a thin clear primer based on white lead and a palette rich in even precious pigments, applied with an apparently simple technique but capable of an extraordinary luminous intensity.

Given the complexity and size of the work, it was decided not to transfer the shovel to the laboratory. The room that hosts it has been temporarily redesigned to accommodate a specially designed restoration site, capable of guaranteeing adequate operating conditions without interrupting the museum itinerary. The laboratory thus becomes a visible and accessible space, where the public will be able to observe the restorers at work and closely understand conservation practices.

«With this project – declares the director of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, Giulio Manieri Elia – the museum takes an important step in the direction of transparency and sharing of museum work. Restoring the San Giobbe Altarpiece in front of the public means not only taking care of one of the absolute masterpieces of our collection, but also showing how scientific knowledge, responsibility for conservation and dialogue with visitors can become an integral part of the museum experience.»

The project is developed under the guidance of director Manieri Elia, the direction of the restoration work is entrusted to Francesca Bartolomeoli and Roberta Battaglia, while the technical coordination of the laboratory setup and the painting’s handling phases is handled by Maria Antonietta De Vivo and Francesca Bartolomeoli. The restoration is co-financed by the Gallerie dell’Accademia and Venetian Heritage thanks to the contribution of Roger Thomas and Arthur Libera. The total cost of the project is 500,000 euros.

«Supporting the restoration of the San Giobbe Altarpiece – states the director of Venetian Heritage Toto, Bergamo Rossi – means contributing to the protection of a fundamental work for the history of Venetian art and for the understanding of Giovanni Bellini’s pictorial evolution. The collaboration with the Gallerie dell’Accademia demonstrates how the dialogue between public institutions and international patronage can generate projects of great scientific and cultural value.» The restoration thus represents not only a conservation intervention of great importance, but also an opportunity to share with the public the protection work that makes it possible to transmit the artistic heritage to future generations. An open construction site that transforms conservation into visible experience, knowledge and collective responsibility. (by Paolo Martini)