Ferrara, restoration of earthquake-damaged Baroque church of San Carlo completed

After heavy earthquake damage, post-earthquake work has been completed on the church of San Carlo in Ferrara, the city’s entirely Baroque church.

The church was built between 1612 and 1623 to a design by Ferrara-born Giovan Battista Aleotti known as l’Argenta. Work on the church (owned by the Azienda Usl of Ferrara) was designed by architect Barbara Pazzi. The municipality assumed the role of contracting station, managing the economic part and the allocation of interventions. The work involved both the structural and pictorial parts; it was carried out by Ducale restauro of Venice, which specializes in restoration work, and was financed with a total of 700,000 euros. The resources, regional, for the reconstruction were assigned to the USL company, which, through an agreement, entrusted the municipality with the role of contracting station.

“A sign of rebirth just weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the earthquake,” said Mayor Alan Fabbri. “Those who led this profound and delicate intervention have revived works that seemed to have been irreparably compromised by the earthquake, a great demonstration of the extraordinary results of which technique and expertise are capable.”

The most complex phase involved the restoration of the entire ceiling, damaged with severe cracks that had severely damaged the frescoed vault, a 1674 work by Giuseppe Avanzi with the collaboration of Giuseppe Menegatti. The paintings depict in the central oval the Virgin in Glory with St. Ambrose (or St. Maurelius) and St. Charles Borromeo; in the lunette above the entrance door is St. Charles, painted by Antonio Bonfanti known as il Torricella, a pupil of Guido Reni. As for the structural and building part, the sacristy on the east side was entirely rebuilt, after the demolition of the existing attic and the subsequent complete reconstruction. A new access staircase and a new apartment for the use of the religious staff were also created. The attic, made of marsh cane, of the apse was structurally consolidated and the cracks caused by the tremors repaired, with mortar injections and interventions using the sewing technique.

Ferrara, restoration of earthquake-damaged Baroque church of San Carlo completed

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