Decoration

In 1431 Doge Foscari enlisted the assistance of two noble allies and procurators to create a new chapel in the left transept of St Mark's, probably as an ex voto to the Virgin after a failed assassination attempt. Known as the Cappella Nova (New Chapel) until the seventeenth century, when it was taken over by the Confraternity of the Mascoli whose name it now bears, the barrel-vaulted chapel contains an elegant marble altarpiece showing the Madonna and Child flanked by two saints. An inscription above them records the names of the chapel's founders and the foundation date. Mosaics surrounding an oculus in the lunette and on the barrel vault depict scenes from the life of the Virgin. Variegated marble covers the lower walls; The original traceried balustrade still survives at the chapel's entrance.