Renaissance masterpiece restored

The city of Verona in Italy is mostly known for its Arena and Juliette's balcony. But if you intend to visit the city later on this month, it's worth including in your itenerary a viewing of one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian Renaissance, the San Zeno Altarpiece by Venetian artist Andrea Mantegna.

The monumental work of art has been undergoing restoration works at the Opicifio Delle Pietre Dure institute in Florence for the past two years. But on May 21, the triptych is scheduled to return to its home, at the Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore, on the occasion of the saint's festivity and 550 years after its realisation.

The triptych, which was in a precarious state, marks a milestone in the history of painting in northern Italy. It also marks the last work that Mantegna realised in Padua before moving to Mantua, at the court of Ludovico Gonzaga.

The work was commissioned by the Gregorio Correr in 1457, abbot of the Benedictine Basilica di San Zeno in Verona. It was executed by Mantegna in his studio in Padua and delivered in September 1459. In the centre of the altarpiece is the Madonna enthroned with the Child and surrounded by chanting angels. Eight saints are placed at the sides, according to the commissioner's preferences: On the left are Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist and Zeno; on the right, Benedict, Lawrence, Gregory and John the Baptist.

Misappropriated by the French in 1797, the Austrian government managed to have the altarpiece returned in 1814, but the three panels of the predella were left in France, where they are still now, between the Louvre museum and the Museum of Tours. They have been replaced by 18th century copies. In 1973, the left panel was stolen, with the request of a ransom. However, the altarpiece suffered the greatest damage after the intervention of restoration in 1934 in Milan.