VENICE.- Save Venice announced the completion of the conservation of the majestic 15th-century Funerary Monument to Doge Francesco Foscari in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

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A Life of Doge Francesco Foscari

Explore Renaissance Venice through the life of Doge Francesco Foscari, revealing politics, power, family, civic identity, and the making of a remarkable city.

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History

When, on November 4, 1457, Francesco Foscari’s dead body was carried across Venice under a canopy of cloth gold, the whole city came out to see the spectacle. Foscari had been deposed just a few days before, on 22 October 1457, but his sudden illness and death had aroused wide public sympathy. On that cold, Winter morning, the new doge Pasquale Malipiero with the Signoria, the clergy, the scuole grandi, the nobles, and the citizens of Venice, lined up to escort Foscari on his last journey to the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. After the funeral oration by historian Bernardo Giustinian, the remains were inhumed in the church. The tomb, which was going to occupy the right-hand wall of the Frari’s chancel, would be erected by Francesco Foscari’s wife Marina Nani and his brother Marco Foscari in the following years, probably between 1457 and 1461.

Over five centuries later, the monument to Francesco Foscari still stands against the right wall of the Frari’s presbytery, surrounded by a frescoed wall hanging decorated with the family arms. In the middle of the wall, under a tent of honor held apart by two warriors, the recumbent statue of Doge Foscari rests on a sarcophagus. Four female personifications of the cardinal virtues (Fortitude, Temperance, Prudence, and Justice) stand at the corners of the sarcophagus, whereas its front bears half-length reliefs of the theological virtues (Charity, Faith, and Hope). It has been suggested that the virtues—similar to those that decorate the Porta della Carta in Palazzo Ducale—celebrate Foscari’s worldly achievements. The bas-reliefs on the sarcophagus’ sides—Foscari’s patron, Saint Francis (left), and Venice’s patron, Saint Mark (right)—serve as the doge’s holy intercessors with God. Finally, above the entablature of the tomb, the Archangel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary, the two sculptures reenacting the Conception of Christ. Between them, the Risen Christ emerges from a mystic mandorla, the point of encounter between the earthly and the divine realm.

The Risen Christ deserves special attention. Scholars have long misinterpreted its iconography as Christ being accompanied by the soul of Foscari in the form of a child. However, close examination of the sculpture has not only demonstrated that the child is a blessing winged putto, but that originally there was a second angel on the other side of Christ. Interestingly, a drawing in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, shows the sculptural group as it originally looked, and some scholars even consider it to be preparatory for the Foscari tomb. The iconography of the Risen Christ was deeply associated with the doge as it was represented in all Venetian ducats, from the coinage of the earliest gold ducat under doge Giovanni Dandolo (1284), until the reign of Gerolamo Priuli in the mid-16th century. As in the Venetian ducats, and also in the Foscari tomb Christ stands within a mandorla, his right hand raised in blessing while he holds the Book of Judgement, thus terminating the cycle of redemption initiated by the Annunciation.





The attribution of the tomb is still uncertain and much debated. An 18th-century engraving of the monument attributes it to Antonio and Paolo Bregno. However, over time art historians have also put forward the names of Bartolomeo Bon, Antonio Rizzo, and, more recently, Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino. As the debate stands, the case in favor of the latter seems to be more compelling. Originally from Florence, Niccolò worked in Donatello’s Paduan shop in the early 1450s. Before moving to Trogir, Dalmatia, in 1467, Niccolò stayed in Venice where he ran a workshop that worked on the Arco Foscari and in the churches of Madonna dell’Orto, Sant’Andrea della Certosa, Sant’Elena, and Santa Maria del Giglio. Furthermore, a comparison with Niccolò’s Dalmatian production has convincingly demonstrated that he indeed made the funerary tomb to doge Francesco Foscari. Considering the quality of his work and the prestigious character of his commissions, it can be argued that the author of the Foscari tomb was among the most important 15th-century sculptors in Venice.

Conservation

Fresco Decoration

The wall frescoes had previously undergone extensive reworking and patching over the centuries and were obscured by a thick layer of surface grime and dust deposits. The plaster had detached and lifted in areas due to prolonged exposure to rising damp, salt deposits, and rainwater infiltration. The deterioration had also extended to the lower part of the wall, affecting both decorated and undecorated plaster.

The decoration was carefully stabilized and cleaned, with pictorial integrations carried out to best preserve the historical integrity of the reworking that has taken place over hundreds of years.

Stone Monument

The intricately decorated stone monument was obscured by thick layers of non-original residues including dirt and grime. The legibility of the delicate carved details and painted surfaces was significantly reduced. These non-original layers were carefully removed.

The monument is embellished with gilding and polychrome details using pigments including azurite and white led. Prior to treatment these materials were suffering from lifting, flaking, and detaching. They were meticulously stabilized and cleaned, including through the use of laser technology, in order to preserve their material integrity.