The altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini "Madonna and Child on the Throne" (circa 1478) will be restored before the public at the Academy Gallery in Venice. Experts deemed the artwork too fragile to be moved, so they decided to conduct a two-year restoration in the museum hall.
In the 1810s, Bellini's work was extracted from a specially made stone frame in the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo and transported across Venice to the Academy Gallery. Today, the artwork, suffering from high humidity, requires restoration.
The cost of the work is estimated at €500,000 — more than half of the amount will be provided by the non-profit organization Venetian Heritage, which is dedicated to preserving the art and architecture of Venice. Last year, the organization assisted in the restoration of Bellini's "Pietà" (circa 1470), which belongs to the City Museum of Rimini.
