A 15th-century altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini in Venice’s vaunted Gallerie dell’Accademia will be restored behind glass—giving viewers a chance to peer in and follow the process—over a two-year period estimated to cost €500,000 (around $580,000). The work will be conducted in what the Gallerie Dell’Accademia described as “a construction site open to the public that will allow visitors to closely follow all the phases of the conservation of this masterpiece.”
Painted between 1478 and the late 1480s, the so-called San Giobbe Altarpiece marks “a decisive turning point in the evolution of the Venetian altarpiece, according to the Gallerie dell-Accademia, which has undertaken the restoration in collaboration with the international non-profit Venetian Heritage. (The work’s official title, for the record: Madonna and Child Enthroned with Musician Angels and Saints Francis, John the Baptist, Job, Dominic, Sebastian, and Louis of Toulouse.)
As reported in Artnet News, the altarpiece was moved from San Giobbe church in the 1810s for an earlier round of restoration after three centuries of wetness put it in peril. Regarding the recent round of work, “The problems are fundamentally two-fold. First, the painting bears long cracks across its surface due to temperature fluctuations causing the wood to expand and contract. Second, the painting’s original pigments have changed color over the centuries.”
In a statement, Gallerie dell’Accademia accentuated the positive: “Restoration, usually carried out in separate and private spaces, reveals its complexity and delicacy, becoming an integral part of the visitor experience but also an opportunity for discovery and shared knowledge.”
The institution also noted: “Between the 19th and 20th centuries, restorations, structural interventions, and pest control treatments were carried out, aimed at addressing recurring issues related to the stability of the wooden support and the paint layer. Some solutions adopted in the past, while meeting current needs, have over time generated new tensions and critical issues, necessitating a complete rethinking of intervention methods.”
