The Vatican Museums on June 24 unveiled a vast five-year laser restoration project for the frescoes of Raphael’s Loggia, a long decorated corridor at the heart of the Apostolic Palace.
Laser cleaning will be used so as not to spoil the Renaissance masterpiece in the west wing of the loggia, located on the second floor of the palace in Vatican City.
Sixty-five meters long and four wide, the loggia was designed by the painter and architect and decorated between 1517 and 1519 by Raphael’s workshop for Pope Leo X (1513-1521).
It is divided into 13 bays, each with biblical episodes painted on the vaults.
Closed to the public, it is seen by the pope’s visitors — heads of state, ambassadors and high-ranking prelates.
Its last, partial restoration dates back about 50 years.
Researchers said the frescoes and delicate stucco reliefs suffer from deep grime: Successive layers of animal glues, waxes and fixatives applied over the centuries that have yellowed, trapping dirt and obscuring the work’s original pastel tones.
“Examination of the surface revealed the need to adopt a dry cleaning method in order to preserve the delicate original layers and their remaining fragile traces, which are highly sensitive to chemical procedures,” said chief restorer Paolo
Violini.
Laser technology was “the only way to achieve this degree of precision in cleaning while leaving the surfaces dry,” he told reporters.
The director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, said the restoration marks “a decisive moment both in the history of restoration and in the history of Italian
Renaissance art.”
The project began in April and is expected to last around five years.
In total, more than 20 restorers from the Vatican Museums will work on roughly 1,300 square meters of decorated surfaces.
The project will receive $5.5 million in funding from international donors, including the World Monuments Fund (WMF), an international NGO dedicated to helping conserve exceptional heritage sites around the globe.
