Sebastiano Santi (1789–1866) was a Venetian painter and scenographer associated with late Neoclassicism and early Romanticism. Active in both religious and theatrical contexts, he is known for his decorative cycles, stage designs, and large-scale compositions created for churches and theatres across the Veneto region. His preparatory sketches in oil, or bozzetti, provide valuable insight into his artistic process and working methods, and the large corpus of these held by the Museo Correr, represents an extraordinary and important survival.

A number of these bozzetti have been selected by the Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali (IVBC) for instruction in conservation techniques.

Made possible through the collaboration between Federica Restani, deputy principal of IVBC and Andrea Bellini, director of the Museo Correr, this project will come to life under the supervision of expert conservators Annamaria D’Ottavi and Maurizio Merlo. The bozzetti will be used throughout the three-year course, with students working continuously on their own bozzetto.

The Santi bozzetti in oil chosen by the IVBC for study survive in differing stages of conservation, presenting varying challenges and instruction opportunity for the IVBC students. The central techniques explored will include interventions on the canvas itself, such as support and lining, as well as cleaning, consolidation, and integration of the pictorial surface. The bozzetti will not only be instrumental in teaching these techniques, but will also introduce students to conservation dilemmas, such as determining the extent to which lost areas of an image should be reconstructed, building awareness and confidence as to their response.

Among the most challenging interventions that students face are two scenes from the Stations of the Cross, a series realised by Santi for the church of San Daniele in Padua, a cycle which is closely informed by Giandomenico Tiepolo’s well-known paintings at San Polo.

Funding for the diagnostics element of this training project is provided by Venice in Peril Fund; teaching and conservation interventions are funded by the Regione Veneto and the European Social Fund. The Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali is located in Casa Minich, near Campo Santo Stefano in Venice.