Venice. The Frari’s Basilica. The Bernardo Chapel. This chapel is so called because in 1482 it was assigned to Bernardo family who set about restoring and embellishing it. On the altar in a rich and elegant frame, probably sculptured by Bartolomeo Vivarini (1487). It represents the Virgin Enthroned with the Child on her knees, surrounded by four Saints. It is composed of an ornate base, entablature adorned with a sumptuous Lombardesque frieze and a cyma in the centre, with piers supporting an arch. On either side of the cyma kneel two polychrome angels with golden clothing. The three parts of the polyptych terminate in a semicircle and are equal both in height and width. In the centre there is a painting of the Madonna Enthroned who is leaning towards the child, sat on a white cushion which rests against the Virgin’s leg. The Virgin expression is one of sadness, as though she is anticipating the end of her Son’s life. A dark green drape covers the back of the marble throne. There is a vase on the floor full of green herbs. On the right of the Madonna, St. Andrew and next to him St. Nicholas. On the left of the Madonna, St. Peter and St, Paul. In the cyma is the Dead Christ between the symbols of the sepulchre and the cross with the inscription INRI which stands out against a clouded sky. On the right wall is the Istrian stone sepulchral urn of Giordano and Lorenzo Bernardo in Lombardesque style. It was erected by Pietro Bernardo’s uncle who in 1524 had the monument built on the right side of the central door to the church. It is supported by corbels which start at the coats of arms and finish at the lion’s head. On the front. Between the foliaged frame, there is the Virgin Enthroned amid St. Lawrence and St. Elisabeth, with St. James the Great and St. John the Baptist to either side. It is attributed to the stonecutter Andriolo De Sanctis or to the Dalle Masegne.