VENICE.- Save Venice continues its commitment to the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta on the island of Torcello–Venice’s oldest heritage site–by funding urgently-needed conservation treatment of the mosaic presbytery floor. Extending for roughly 900 square feet (85 square meters) between the iconostasis and the high altar, this decorative pavement is thought to date to the 11th-century and is composed of precious marble and stone tesserae in geometric designs.

During Save Venice’s recent conservation efforts at Torcello, it was discovered that the roof requires essential repairs to ensure the church’s structural stability and preservation. While the Catholic Diocese of Venice will finance work on the roof, funding is first needed for the delicate mosaic floor, which will not be able to withstand the weight of the interior scaffolding required. The floor must therefore be conserved first, prior to the roof.

Beginning in fall 2023, the work will be undertaken by master mosaic conservator Giovanni Cucco, who restored the apse wall mosaics of the church during Save Venice's 50th Anniversary Campaign from 2020-2022. He will be assisted by recent restoration school graduates, who will gain valuable experience.

The conservation entails detaching the mosaic floor in sections, removing and replacing the mortar, integrating missing mosaic tesserae, and placing each section on a new base. The detached portions will be treated in a temporary laboratory set up in the closed fourth nave of the church. Once the roof work has been completed in 2025, the restored mosaic segments will be reinstalled in the presbytery, on top of a new subfloor that will be created following mosaic floor building practices defined by Vitruvio in the 1st century.

Save Venice is the leading American non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the artistic heritage of Venice, Italy. Since 1971, Save Venice has funded the conservation of nearly 2,000 individual artworks.

In 2015, Save Venice established the Rosand Library & Study Center in Venice, creating a nexus for the research of Venetian art, history, and conservation. Save Venice also provides grants for fellowships, exhibitions, and publications to advance Venetian scholarship and knowledge of art conservation.

After the floods of November 2019–the second worst in Venice’s history–Save Venice created the “Immediate Response Fund” to ensure a sustained reserve for disaster relief and preventive conservation to protect Venice’s most vulnerable sites going forward.