One of the Vatican’s most important Renaissance interiors is to undergo an extensive five-year restoration. More than twenty conservators will work across approximately 1,300 square metres of paintings and stucco in Raphael’s Loggia, employing laser technology to clean its exceptionally fragile surfaces.
The Vatican Museums announced the project last month, detailing how work will focus on the west wing of the Second Loggia of the Apostolic Palace, commonly known as the Loggia of Raphael, which overlooks the Courtyard of Saint Damasus.
The restoration is being undertaken in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund and supported by a $5.5 million contribution from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation. It forms part of a wider initiative called “Legacy of Raphael: The Vatican and Beyond,” which has received $14.275 million for restoration, specialist training, digital documentation and public outreach.
Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums, said the conservation project would be an important moment for both the Loggia and the study of Renaissance art. “The conservation intervention of this Raphaelesque masterpiece, undertaken thanks to the agreement with the WMF, made possible through the precious support of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, will mark a pivotal moment both in the history of restoration and in the history of Italian Renaissance art,” she explained.
The Loggia forms part of the Apostolic Palace, the extensive complex within Vatican City that contains papal apartments, administrative offices, chapels and ceremonial rooms. It occupies the second level of a series of galleries built around the Courtyard of Saint Damasus.
Work on the galleries began under the architect Donato Bramante during the pontificate of Julius II in the early sixteenth century. Following Bramante’s death in 1514, Raphael took responsibility for several architectural projects at the Vatican. He conceived the decorative scheme for the Second Loggia, which was executed by his workshop between 1517 and 1519 for Pope Leo X.
The passageway measures 65 metres long and four metres wide and is divided into thirteen vaulted bays. Each bay contains four biblical scenes, creating a cycle of 52 episodes. The first twelve bays illustrate the Old Testament, beginning with the Creation, while the final bay is devoted to the New Testament.
Scenes from the Life of David – Wikimedia Commons
These scenes are surrounded by an elaborate combination of painted architecture, botanical imagery, fantastical creatures and antique-style stucco. The decorative scheme was inspired in part by ancient Roman wall paintings that had been rediscovered during the Renaissance, particularly those in Nero’s Domus Aurea.
Raphael supervised the project but relied on several leading members of his workshop to complete it. Giulio Romano was the principal artist responsible for the biblical scenes on the vaults, while Giovanni da Udine worked on the botanical elements and stuccoes. Other sections of the grotesque decoration have been attributed to Perin del Vaga.
The completed interior became one of the most influential decorative ensembles of the Renaissance. Its mixture of classical ornament and Christian imagery was studied and copied by generations of artists, while the Loggia became an important destination for travellers undertaking the Grand Tour.
A highly fragile interior
Loggia di Raffaello by G. Volpato in 1772
The Loggia’s location and the materials employed by Raphael’s workshop have created serious conservation challenges. Its surfaces include delicate dry painting applied over Roman stucco, tempera and lime finishes placed over fresco foundations, painted festoons and backgrounds containing azurite.
For centuries, the open-sided passageway was directly exposed to changing weather conditions. In 1813 and 1814, the arches along its eastern side were enclosed with windows under the supervision of the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova.
Although the windows protected the paintings from direct exposure to the elements, they also changed the Loggia’s microclimate. Natural air circulation was reduced, allowing heat and moisture to accumulate. These conditions contributed to the gradual deterioration of its paintings and stucco surfaces.
The passageway has continued to serve as a ceremonial route through the Apostolic Palace, traversed by cardinals, prelates, ambassadors and other dignitaries visiting the pope. It is located within areas used by the Holy See and the Secretariat of State and is not part of the Vatican Museums’ regular public route.
Finding a safe method for cleaning the interior has proved particularly difficult because many of its surviving painted layers are highly sensitive to water and chemical solutions. Approximately half a century after the last partial restoration, the Vatican Museums established a pilot conservation site in the sixth bay to determine how the wider project should proceed.
The investigation was conducted in two stages, from January 2019 to September 2020 and from January 2023 to December 2024. It allowed researchers and conservators to study the condition of the surfaces and test different cleaning systems.
Laser technology selected
The agreement for the restoration project of the west wing of the Second Loggia of the Apostolic Palace, known as the Raphael Loggia, was signed on June 24th, in the Governorate Palace. The agreement was signed by Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Bénédicte de Montlaur, President and CEO of the World Monuments Fund. Among those present were Archbishop Emilio Nappa and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, General Secretaries; Stephen and Christine Schwarzman; and Dr. Barbara Jatta, Director of the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage. Photo courtesy Stato della Citta del Vaticano
The pilot project demonstrated that the decoration required a dry-cleaning method capable of removing accumulated deposits without disturbing the original paint.
“Examination of the surface revealed the need to adopt a ‘dry’ cleaning method in order to preserve the delicate original layers and their fragile surviving traces, which are highly sensitive to the action of chemical procedures,” explained Paolo Violini, Chief Restorer of the Painting and Wood Materials Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museums.
After testing several systems, conservators selected an active-fibre laser that allows them to adjust and closely control the cleaning process. Violini said the technology was chosen for “its versatility in managing the degree of cleaning, allowing for highly accurate and detailed control.”
More than twenty Vatican Museums restorers will now apply this approach across approximately 1,300 square metres of decorated surfaces. The project will involve the Department of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Art, the Cabinet of Scientific Research and the Conservator’s Office, working alongside the Directorate of the Vatican Museums.
The restoration will also address the environmental conditions responsible for some of the damage. A new lighting system and filtered windows will be installed with support from the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. The glazing will filter ultraviolet radiation and reduce the amount of solar heat entering the passageway while maintaining its optical clarity and historic appearance.
The wider “Legacy of Raphael” initiative will also support digital documentation, public dissemination and a wall-painting conservation training programme for heritage professionals. Organisers hope that the techniques and expertise developed during the five-year project will eventually help conservators protect other vulnerable historic interiors around the world.
Bénédicte de Montlaur, President and CEO of the World Monuments Fund, described the Loggia as “among the most important and most fragile artistic ensembles in the world.”
“Together with the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, WMF wants to bring this extraordinary legacy to the world through state of the art conservation led by the Vatican Museums, extensive documentation for the wider public and a wall painting conservation training program for heritage professionals from all over the world,” she added.
One of the Vatican’s most important Renaissance interiors is to undergo an extensive five-year restoration. More than twenty conservators will work across approximately 1,300 square metres of paintings and stucco in Raphael’s Loggia, employing laser technology to clean its exceptionally fragile surfaces.
The Vatican Museums announced the project last month, detailing how work will focus on the west wing of the Second Loggia of the Apostolic Palace, commonly known as the Loggia of Raphael, which overlooks the Courtyard of Saint Damasus.
The restoration is being undertaken in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund and supported by a $5.5 million contribution from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation. It forms part of a wider initiative called “Legacy of Raphael: The Vatican and Beyond,” which has received $14.275 million for restoration, specialist training, digital documentation and public outreach.
Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums, said the conservation project would be an important moment for both the Loggia and the study of Renaissance art. “The conservation intervention of this Raphaelesque masterpiece, undertaken thanks to the agreement with the WMF, made possible through the precious support of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, will mark a pivotal moment both in the history of restoration and in the history of Italian Renaissance art,” she explained.
Raphael and the Apostolic Palace
The Loggia forms part of the Apostolic Palace, the extensive complex within Vatican City that contains papal apartments, administrative offices, chapels and ceremonial rooms. It occupies the second level of a series of galleries built around the Courtyard of Saint Damasus.
Work on the galleries began under the architect Donato Bramante during the pontificate of Julius II in the early sixteenth century. Following Bramante’s death in 1514, Raphael took responsibility for several architectural projects at the Vatican. He conceived the decorative scheme for the Second Loggia, which was executed by his workshop between 1517 and 1519 for Pope Leo X.
The passageway measures 65 metres long and four metres wide and is divided into thirteen vaulted bays. Each bay contains four biblical scenes, creating a cycle of 52 episodes. The first twelve bays illustrate the Old Testament, beginning with the Creation, while the final bay is devoted to the New Testament.
These scenes are surrounded by an elaborate combination of painted architecture, botanical imagery, fantastical creatures and antique-style stucco. The decorative scheme was inspired in part by ancient Roman wall paintings that had been rediscovered during the Renaissance, particularly those in Nero’s Domus Aurea.
Raphael supervised the project but relied on several leading members of his workshop to complete it. Giulio Romano was the principal artist responsible for the biblical scenes on the vaults, while Giovanni da Udine worked on the botanical elements and stuccoes. Other sections of the grotesque decoration have been attributed to Perin del Vaga.
The completed interior became one of the most influential decorative ensembles of the Renaissance. Its mixture of classical ornament and Christian imagery was studied and copied by generations of artists, while the Loggia became an important destination for travellers undertaking the Grand Tour.
A highly fragile interior
The Loggia’s location and the materials employed by Raphael’s workshop have created serious conservation challenges. Its surfaces include delicate dry painting applied over Roman stucco, tempera and lime finishes placed over fresco foundations, painted festoons and backgrounds containing azurite.
For centuries, the open-sided passageway was directly exposed to changing weather conditions. In 1813 and 1814, the arches along its eastern side were enclosed with windows under the supervision of the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova.
Although the windows protected the paintings from direct exposure to the elements, they also changed the Loggia’s microclimate. Natural air circulation was reduced, allowing heat and moisture to accumulate. These conditions contributed to the gradual deterioration of its paintings and stucco surfaces.
The passageway has continued to serve as a ceremonial route through the Apostolic Palace, traversed by cardinals, prelates, ambassadors and other dignitaries visiting the pope. It is located within areas used by the Holy See and the Secretariat of State and is not part of the Vatican Museums’ regular public route.
Finding a safe method for cleaning the interior has proved particularly difficult because many of its surviving painted layers are highly sensitive to water and chemical solutions. Approximately half a century after the last partial restoration, the Vatican Museums established a pilot conservation site in the sixth bay to determine how the wider project should proceed.
The investigation was conducted in two stages, from January 2019 to September 2020 and from January 2023 to December 2024. It allowed researchers and conservators to study the condition of the surfaces and test different cleaning systems.
Laser technology selected
The pilot project demonstrated that the decoration required a dry-cleaning method capable of removing accumulated deposits without disturbing the original paint.
“Examination of the surface revealed the need to adopt a ‘dry’ cleaning method in order to preserve the delicate original layers and their fragile surviving traces, which are highly sensitive to the action of chemical procedures,” explained Paolo Violini, Chief Restorer of the Painting and Wood Materials Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museums.
After testing several systems, conservators selected an active-fibre laser that allows them to adjust and closely control the cleaning process. Violini said the technology was chosen for “its versatility in managing the degree of cleaning, allowing for highly accurate and detailed control.”
More than twenty Vatican Museums restorers will now apply this approach across approximately 1,300 square metres of decorated surfaces. The project will involve the Department of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Art, the Cabinet of Scientific Research and the Conservator’s Office, working alongside the Directorate of the Vatican Museums.
The restoration will also address the environmental conditions responsible for some of the damage. A new lighting system and filtered windows will be installed with support from the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. The glazing will filter ultraviolet radiation and reduce the amount of solar heat entering the passageway while maintaining its optical clarity and historic appearance.
The wider “Legacy of Raphael” initiative will also support digital documentation, public dissemination and a wall-painting conservation training programme for heritage professionals. Organisers hope that the techniques and expertise developed during the five-year project will eventually help conservators protect other vulnerable historic interiors around the world.
Bénédicte de Montlaur, President and CEO of the World Monuments Fund, described the Loggia as “among the most important and most fragile artistic ensembles in the world.”
“Together with the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, WMF wants to bring this extraordinary legacy to the world through state of the art conservation led by the Vatican Museums, extensive documentation for the wider public and a wall painting conservation training program for heritage professionals from all over the world,” she added.
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