Bologna, Guercino fresco restored, artist's first public work in the city

The San Rocco thrown into prison, the Guercinofresco painted in 1618 that is located in theOratory of San Rocco in Bologna, has been restored. The results of the work of study and restoration of the work, carried out by a group of scholars and restorers from the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Bologna, under the supervision of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio for the Metropolitan City of Bologna, will be presented on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 5 p.m., in the Oratory of San Rocco, Via Monaldo Calari 4.

Strongly desired by Don Davide Baraldi, parish priest of the parish of Santa Maria della Carità, to which the Oratory also belongs, the restoration was made possible thanks to a framework agreement between the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Alma Mater and theArchdiocese of Bologna, and thanks to an important co-financing from the Carisbo Foundation, as well as the generous participation of some private supporters.

The event presenting the intervention will be attended by the Alma Mater team responsible for all phases of the scientific and technical work: Barbara Ghelfi, full professor of History of Modern Art; Giulia Iseppi, professor of History of Applied Arts; Fabio Bevilacqua, professor of Restoration; and Chiara Matteucci, specialist in Artistic Diagnostics and Technical art History.

"The San Rocco thrown into prison is Guercino’s first public work in Bologna and is of fundamental importance in his body of work,“ Professor Ghelfi explains. ”Dating back to 1618, it is part of an important cycle dedicated to the life of the saint that lines the walls of the Oratory of San Rocco, the realization of which was entrusted to a team of Ludovico Carracci’s pupils."

Due to its location in a building of ancient construction and little use, the fresco was in a precarious state of preservation, and a major cleaning operation was necessary. Diagnostic investigations of the work, carried out by the Diagnostic Laboratory of the Department of Cultural Heritage, were then initiated, providing the restorers with the necessary information to complete the protection, consolidation and cleaning of the pictorial surface.

The data obtained from the diagnostic surveys and the cleaning operation will also allow for an in-depth art-historical study, which will make it possible to relate the work to Guercino’s other wall decorations. This work is part of the Guercino beyond color project, initiated by the Diagnostic Laboratory of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Alma Mater, in collaboration with Lumiere Technology.

"Launched in 2017, the Guercino beyond color investigation has already allowed the study of numerous works by the artist: the goal is to define his execution technique and trace his evolution,“ says Barbara Ghelfi. ”In this context, the investigation of the San Rocco thrown into prison has allowed the collection of new data on Guercino’s early technique, thus returning to the city a fundamental piece of its artistic history."

Bologna, Guercino fresco restored, artist's first public work in the city

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