Chiesa di San Zaccaria

Centuries after Giovanni Bellini — then 74 years old — painted the San Zaccaria Altarpiece, it was deemed such a masterpiece that in 1787, during Napoleon’s ransacking of Venice, his troops cut it from its frame and took it to France. This brutal removal explains the missing section at the top of the painting, just below the crowning arch.

While in France, the painting underwent a radical conservation procedure fashionable at the time and better suited to museum display: the paint surface was detached from its wooden panel and glued onto canvas.

When the altarpiece finally returned to Venice 20 years later, it was reinstalled — though not in its original position. Still, the surrounding architecture makes it easy to believe otherwise.

Designed to appear as an organic part of the building, the altarpiece and its architectural setting work seamlessly together. The linear perspective and flanking carved pillars create the illusion of a doorway into the painted scene, blurring the line between art and architecture.

The monastery of San Zaccaria was traditionally visited by the Doge and his entire court each year at Easter.

This ceremonial visit is said to have begun in the 12th century, after the nuns donated land for the construction of a ducal chapel — what would become Basilica di San Marco.

The tradition endured for centuries and only came to an end in 1797, when the Republic of Venice fell and the monastery was suppressed by Napoleon’s occupying forces.