In December 1441, after having completed the construction of the church, the friars granted the space in the right aisle to the Scuola di S. Antonio, which moved here in 1439 from San Simon Grando. The space extends from the facade to the first column nearest to the entrance of the central doorway. It was established that “a sumptuous altar could be erected… along with a round window in stone and glass up above ”. The present altar was built in 1663 using funds collected by the “Confraternity of St. Anthony”. It replaced the original wooden altar of which remains only the statue of the Saint by Giacomo di Caterino of S.Salvador, carved in 1450. The project of this monumental work is by Baldassarre Longhena (1598-1682), but the work, as the contemporary F. Vincenzo Coronelli states, was mastered by Giuseppe Sardi (1621- 1699) and the help of talented artists working in Venice. The altar is rich with marble sculptures and statues which centralise the figure of the Saint, surrounded by angels, and symbolic figures of the theological and cardinal virtues. The altar fills the entire space offered by chapel width-wise whereas length-wise it touches the point of the arch where the Christ Resurrected stands. Four large white Carrara marble composite columns frame the statue of the Saint. Faith and Hope, on either side, and Christ Resurrected on top, are the work of Bernardo Falcone of Lugano (†1694). Above Faith and Hope are Charity and Prudence and, on the pediment, Justice and Meditation. Up above, resting on the curvilinear tympanum, Temperance and Fortitude. These were all sculpted by the Flemish Giusto le Court (1627- 1679).

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