Vatican Museums announce five-year restoration of Raphael's Loggia

This is the first serious cleaning in more than 500 years of the frescoes of the glazed corridor on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace, overlooking the Cortile di San Damaso. The budget for the works is 5.5 million dollars. In addition to restoration, the paintings will be digitised and a documentary film prepared.

The corridor, 65 metres long, was conceived by Raphael and his workshop in 1517-1519 as one of the last commissions of Pope Leo X. The walls and vaults are covered with biblical scenes from the Old and New Testaments and with plant motifs in paint and stucco. The public is not admitted: the only people to walk through are those received by the Pope or the Secretariat of State.

The present Pope, Leo XIV, who returned to live in the Apostolic Palace after Francis's pointed refusal to do so, walks along these Loggia daily.

The frescoes will be cleaned by hand, with handheld lasers and by a "dry" method, without solvents. Water-soluble paints could suffer badly from moisture. At the same time, the glass in the arched windows will be replaced with panes that filter ultraviolet

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