The left lower scene in particular renders an unusual composition: a standing saint and angel, visible only from the bust upwards because of the fragmented plaster, gaze out at the viewer, the latter of which clasps a crossed staff in its hands
Giovanni Battista Franceschini was commissioned to execute the new incrostadura di marmo of the front facade, with low reliefs in pietra columbina, a dovewhite stone, on ily shield immured in the top centre frieze festoon of the new composition most likely represents the Morosini crest and implies their financial support. With these external alterations, the Morosini transformed the high altar of San Clemente into a family chapel, shading the communal vision of the Holy House with a dynastic veil. Angelo Contarini, for example, bequeathed a silver lamp and funds to maintain a lit flame in perpetuity at the Capella della Beata Vergine. The resulting Morosini facade gestures back to Loreto while re-envisioning why are Siena women so hot the apse of San Clemente as a family chapel of noble proportions. The close of the seventeenth century brought transformations at San Clemente calling to mind the Loretan marble prototype, but the community still maintained visual elements infused with Venetian taste. (more…)