Guardian Saint

This statue is on the high altar of the basilica. The altar was designed by Baldassare Longhena, with sculptures by Clemente Molli, Francesco Cavrioli, and Bernardo Falconi. In the absence of artists able to work with equal competence in both sculpture and architecture, as Jacopo Sansovino and Alessandro Vittoria, sculptors in Venice began to depend increasingly on architects from the 1640s onward. Architects worked out projects in their entirety, entrusting single parts of the work to the different masters, from stonecarver and sculptor to the more modest artisans. The architect himself supervised and once finished, he approved, signing the relevant invoices and submitting them to the client for payment.