Guido Reni damaged, damage is minor. Restoration will begin at the end of the exhibition

Restoration work on Guido Reni’s St. Francis unintentionally damaged yesterday by a visitor to the Borghese Gallery, where the work is on loan for the exhibition on the Bolognese painter (in fact, the painting is part of the collection of the Museum of Rome at Palazzo Braschi), has been agreed upon. Today curators from the Museum of Rome and the Capitoline Superintendency went to the Borghese Gallery to verify what happened and assess with the director of the Borghese Gallery, Francesca Cappelletti, the next steps. Fortunately, the damage is minor and the painting can therefore remain on display until the end of the exhibition.

Roma Capitale officials agree that it is a small crack that did not lead to further negative outcomes on the painting surface. Therefore, it was decided to make an immediate intervention to stabilize the situation with protective glazing, considering that the condition of the painting cannot evolve negatively as it is stable.

Therefore, as anticipated, the painting will remain on display until the end of the exhibition, scheduled for May 22. A final intervention will be carried out in the aftermath of the closure. The occasion, experts point out, will be very useful to deepen the studies on the painting, especially on the technique and support, and update the restoration work with a complete conservative review. Upon completion of the restoration work, the painting, which before the exhibition at the Galleria Borghese was not visible to the public, will be able to be displayed in the rooms of Palazzo Braschi. Commissioned in 1610 from Guido Reni by the Confraternity of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis of Campagnano Romano, the processional banner St. Francis Receives the Stigmata is a work that always remained in private ownership and then arrived in the Capitoline collections in 1960.

Pictured is the work on display at the Borghese Gallery.

Guido Reni damaged, damage is minor. Restoration will begin at the end of the exhibition

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