VENICE.- Following the 2021 conservation of Titian’s Annunciation altarpiece in the Malchiostro Chapel of Treviso Cathedral, Save Venice is now funding the restoration of the chapel’s wall frescoes by Pordenone, made possible through the generous support of Arnold M. Bernstein in honor of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis, known as Pordenone after his birthplace, frescoed the Malchiostro Chapel following his transformative artistic journey to Rome (c. 1516–1519). There, he absorbed the influence of Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, and Michelangelo, refining his dynamic and expressive style. Malchiostro’s commission provided Pordenone with his first opportunity to channel his newly acquired Roman inspirations, marking a pivotal moment in his rise as one of northern Italy’s leading painters. The fresco campaign also sparked the first artistic encounter between Pordenone and Titian, igniting a rivalry that would shape both of their careers. This competitive dynamic later found striking expression in Pordenone’s monumental Saint Christopher (1527) for Venice’s Church of San Rocco— restored by Save Venice in 2020—where he boldly sought to rival Titian’s heroic Michelangelesque style.
The Malchiostro Chapel, also known as the Virgin Annunciate Chapel, was commissioned by Canon Broccardo Malchiostro, who served as the deputy legate of Bernardo de’ Rossi, the humanist bishop of Treviso and a distinguished patron of the arts. Completed by October 1519, the chapel was designed by the Tullio and Antonio Lombardo, two of the most important sculptors and architects of the early Renaissance. By 1520, the chapel had been richly adorned with frescoes by Pordenone and an extraordinary Annunciation altarpiece painted by Titian. Surprisingly, the dating of the altarpiece to 1520 emerged only during Save Venice’s conservation treatment.
The chapel was originally built to serve the Scuola dell’Annunziata, a lay confraternity established on May 25, 1519, for which Malchiostro served as president for life. The chapel also functioned as Malchiostro’s funerary monument and personal memorial. Despite Malchiostro’s deep personal imprint, scholars believe that Bishop de’ Rossi played a significant role in the chapel’s decoration, particularly in relation to Pordenone’s frescoes, whose iconographic program was likely devised by the bishop himself. His coat of arms frequently appears alongside Malchiostro’s, further underscoring his involvement. Most strikingly, an exceptionally lifelike painted terracotta bust of de’ Rossi, positioned in a niche in the drum of the cupola, majestically surveys the chapel, reinforcing his enduring presence within the sacred space.
In addition to depicting three patron saints—Peter and Andrew, the respective patrons of the Cathedral and the altar (apse wall), and Liberale, the protector of Treviso (right wall)—Pordenone’s frescoes illustrate episodes related to the Incarnation and Birth of the Savior. Above Titian’s Annunciation, the apse’s half-dome features the rare and striking scene of Emperor Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl. This episode, seldom represented on such a monumental scale, originates from Jacobus de Voragine’s Golden Legend (1261). According to this account, on the day of Christ’s birth, “a golden circle appeared around the sun,” and Augustus marveled at the vision of “the most beautiful virgin holding a child.” The Sibyl then declared: “This is the altar of Heaven, this child is greater than you, and it is he you must worship.” Augustus’s vision thus came to be seen as proof of Christ’s divine birth and, by extension, a symbolic acceptance of His dominion by earthly rulers. Notably, among the various Roman monuments depicted—such as the Augustan Theater of Marcellus and the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius—Pordenone included the Temple of Peace. According to the Golden Legend, the Romans believed this temple would stand until a virgin gave birth, further reinforcing the fresco’s theme of Christ’s miraculous arrival.
The same divine light that illuminated Augustus also appeared to the Magi, who, on the night of the Nativity, were praying atop a mountain. According to the Golden Legend, a star in the form of “the most beautiful boy, over whose head a cross shone brilliantly,” appeared to them and instructed them to journey “to Judea, where they would find a newborn child.” Augustus’s vision thus appears directly linked to the Adoration of the Magi, in which the Eastern kings pay homage to Christ, further reinforcing the theme of divine rulership. Frescoed on the left wall, this scene is perhaps the most celebrated—and certainly the most remarkable—image of the entire cycle. It is distinguished by its titanic energy and massive figures, which powerfully evoke Michelangelo’s monumental style, particularly his Brazen Serpent in the Sistine Chapel. Particularly striking is Pordenone’s dynamic composition of the Magi and their attendants, arranged in an elegant, rhythmic formation that is almost symmetrically divided into two groups. Worth noting is that both the ostensory and the pyxes offered to the Child closely resemble actual liturgical objects that are still preserved in the church treasury.
The theme of divine rulership is further reinforced by the Visitation scene, frescoed in the lunette above the Adoration of the Magi. In this instance, the Gospel of Luke provides insight into the episode, recounting that at the very moment Mary and her cousin Elizabeth met, Saint John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb, sensing the presence of the Savior and thus affirming the mystery of the Incarnation. The chapel is crowned by depictions of the four Church Fathers in the pendentives, illusionistically emerging from their oculi, while the cupola once featured God the Father with Angels, completing the composition above.
Conservation
The Malchiostro Chapel suffered severe damage during the Allied bombings of April 7, 1944. The explosion destroyed the dome, along with the depiction of God the Father in glory, and destabilized the masonry of the semi-dome, damaging the fresco of Emperor Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl. Following World War II, conservator Mario Botter oversaw the reconstruction of the dome and the restoration of the frescoes.
In 1980, restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcillon undertook a comprehensive conservation effort. The decision was made to remove the pictorial additions introduced by Botter and to keep the extensive paint losses in the apse’s semi-dome. The restoration also included plaster consolidation, crack repairs, and aesthetic retouching.
Today, the frescoes appear darkened and partially obscured by earlier restorations, with significant deterioration that threatens the survival of Pordenone’s remarkable work. The painted surface is heavily eroded, exhibiting efflorescence and powdering. The widespread and dense network of cracks, clearly a result of the 1944 bombing, extends across large sections of the frescoes, creating an almost craquelure effect. Signs of detachment are visible in both the lower portions of the frescoes and the upper masonry. To address these conservation issues, efforts will focus on the consolidation, cleaning, and reintegration of the frescoes using fully reversible conservation materials.
