Largest fresco in Bologna restored, 1629 masterpiece by Massari and Curti

by Redazione , published on 21/06/2021
Categories: Ancient art / Disclaimer
The largest fresco in Bologna, the Lesson of St. Peter Thomas, a large 104-square-meter work from 1629 by Lucio Massari and Girolamo Curti, has been restored.

Restoration work has finished on Bologna’s largest fresco: the Lecture of St. Peter Thomas, which decorates the former library room of the Convent of San Martino, a 1629 work by Lucio Massari (Bologna, 1569 - 1633) and quadraturist Girolamo Curti known as “il Dentone” (Bologna, 1575 - 1632). The painting depicts the Carmelite St. Peter Thomas (Pierre de Salignac de Thomas; Périgord, 1305 - Famagusta, 1366), founder in 1362 of the Theological Study at the University of Bologna, commissioned by Pope Innocent VI. The scene, set in a wide loggia foreshortened in perspective, depicts the saint as he stands in his chair speaking to the students (there are 61 hearers in all, all individually characterized). It is a grand fresco covering an area of no less than 104 square meters.

The restoration, carried out by Camillo Tarozzi, restored the state of legibility of the work, which was in a state of severe deterioration: the former library of the convent, in fact, had become a cinema during the years of World War II. In addition, the fresco had been affected by water infiltration. In 2019, after the roof was restored, restoration of the fresco began, and the result is what can now be seen in the convent’s large hall. The restoration was possible thanks to funding from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

“This fresco,” said Paola Foschi, president of the San Martino Cultural Center, which promoted the operation, “had been forgotten, and in 2017 it was rediscovered. We realized we had this exceptional work and decided to organize to make it known to the city.”

Largest fresco in Bologna restored, 1629 masterpiece by Massari and Curti
Largest fresco in Bologna restored, 1629 masterpiece by Massari and Curti


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