on the occasion of the 30th edition of the International Restoration Exhibition in Ferrara, an exceptional focus will be placed on one of the most emblematic heritage projects in the run-up to the Jubilee 2025: the restoration of the stucco decorations on the vaults of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
On Wednesday May 14, 2025, the technical meeting entitled La Fabbrica di San Pietro: lavori per il Giubileo tra memoria e transizione will highlight the work undertaken by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the institution that has been responsible for the conservation of the papal basilica for centuries. Among those taking part will be Dr Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Artistic Heritage section, and engineer Alberto Capitanucci, head of the Fabbrica’s technical area.
One of the highlights of the event will be a joint presentation by Giovanni Nicoli - the project’s principal restorer and a former teacher at SUPSI - and Giovanni Cavallo, a researcher at SUPSI’s Institute of Materials and Construction (Department of Environment, Construction and Design). The latter directed the scientific analyses carried out on the constituent materials, as well as on the weathering and degradation processes of the decorative surfaces.
The results of these investigations, carried out at a pilot site located on a portion of the vault near the north-west pillar of the north transept, will be unveiled in Ferrara. This exploratory work, carried out between June and October 2024 under the supervision of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, laid the scientific and methodological foundations for future interventions, which will involve all the basilica’s vaults.
A work at the crossroads of science and art, aimed at preserving an architectural and spiritual masterpiece while respecting its history and materiality.
