WMF’s ten-year conservation effort at San Giovanni Evangelista began in 1969, and constituted the first and largest undertaking of the organization’s Venice Committee. (...)
WMF’s ten-year conservation effort at San Giovanni Evangelista began in 1969, and constituted the first and largest undertaking of the organization’s Venice Committee. Early restoration at the site required repair of the building’s roof, strengthening of its walls, and analysis of its foundations, in order to ensure against the structure’s collapse into a neighboring canal. Later, WMF oversaw efforts to mitigate water damage and prevent further erosion from water infiltration; water and salt, which had for years seeped into the building, threatened its structural integrity and its artwork. Subsequent efforts included the conservation of entrance hall flooring, including work on both foundations and surface-level marble. Conservators also restored ground-floor wooden ceiling beams, cleaned the walls in the Sala Maggiore and repaired its carved marble mosaic floor, restored parts of Mauro Codussi’s staircase, re-chiseled staircase handrails and moldings, and installed new electrical wiring for the building.
