Bernini's Saint Bibiana restored at supersonic speed. Repositioned the finger that had come off

The finger of Gian Lorenzo Bernini ’s (Naples, 1598 - Rome, 1680) Saint Bibiana, which had been damaged during the relocation of the statue to the altar of the church of Santa Bibiana in Rome on its return from the major exhibition at the Galleria Borghese, has been repositioned. The Soprintendenza has let it be known that the intervention was perfectly successful.

This is what was released in a note, which also explains under what circumstances the detachment occurred: “The break was clear and linear, while the finger falling did not suffer further fragmentation, and there was no loss of material. These are all circumstances that allowed a perfect restoration of the hand, which is therefore imperceptible. The repositioning of the finger was perfectly successful: the intervention took place this morning by the company Cbc, which oversaw the recent restoration of Bernini’s statue. Begun last fall and divided into two phases, in addition to cleaning the work, the restoration consisted of the re-attachment of part of the plant foliage to the base of the statue, and a lock of the saint’s hair. In addition, during preliminary studies, unpublished archival documents revealed how the sculpture had been removed from its architectural frame at least twice: first in the mid-eighteenth century, to make a cast of the work, and a second in the mid-twentieth century, to protect it during work on the church’s masonry. In both displacements, the statue’s base had been damaged, and it had been reintegrated with approximate repairs in stucco and plaster that had changed the position of the figure of the saint, unbalancing it forward and rotating it slightly, while the entire sculpture had lost its static nature. At the end of the ’Bernini’ exhibition held at the Galleria Borghese, the sculpture once returned to the Vicariate of Rome, on March 13, 2018, underwent a second round of restoration, supervised by the Soprintendenza, and aimed at regaining the original position intended by Bernini. Therefore, the plastering and posthumous rhinestones were removed, and part of the base was reintegrated so that the sculpture would regain its original position, witnessed moreover by period prints and illustrations. Once this phase was finished, on April 24, 2018, the statue was repositioned on the high altar: during this operation the accident occurred that caused the detachment of the ring finger of the saint’s right hand.”

Nellimmagine: Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Santa Bibiana (1624-1626; marble, 185 x 86 x 55 cm Rome, Santa Bibiana) on the occasion of its display at the Galleria Borghese in Rome for the Bernini exhibition. Ph. Credit Finestre sullArte.

Bernini's Saint Bibiana restored at supersonic speed. Repositioned the finger that had come off

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