Vatican Launches Five-Year Restoration of Raphael’s Fabled Loggia
6June 30, 2026
TheVatican Museumslast week inaugurated amajor restorationofRaphael’s Loggia, an epic fresco cycle decorating a 213-foot-long corridor in the Apostolic Palace, where the pope lives. A team of twenty experts has been assembled to clean the Renaissance masterpiece, which depicts fifty-two scenes from the Old and New Testaments, each of which is framed by ornamental panels inspired by ancient Roman mural painting.
Made between 1517 and 1519 for Pope Leo X de’ Medici, the frescoes occupy thirteen bays of a covered promenade on the second floor of the palace, overlooking its central courtyard. Though rarely seen by the public, who can sometimes visit by request, the works are seen daily by Vatican officials and are considered one of the greatest achievements in Renaissance painting, having inspired numerous other works, including the 1792 full-scale replica inside the Hermitage of St. Petersburg, Russia.
Originally open to the elements, the frescoes were exposed to wind, rain, sun, and snow until the early nineteenth century, when windows were installed between the corridor’s columns. These unfortunately had the effect of creating a microclimate, preventing air circulation and allowing moisture to stagnate. Over the ensuing centuries, well-meaning conservators applied glue to prevent paint from flaking away, unwittingly speeding the frescoes’ deterioration.
The conservation team will secure unstable paint before cleaning the works with fiber lasers. Portions of the work requiring retouching will be color-matched in ways that render restored areas distinct from original ones. A new lighting system will be installed, along with new windows, which will filter ultraviolet light and allow for the reduction of solar heat buildup at the entrance to the passageway.
“The new windows are absolutely essential,” Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta told the Art Newspaper. “If the right microclimatic conditions aren’t created in that space, there’s no point in carrying out the restoration, as those areas and the frescoes would certainly deteriorate again.”
The $5.5 million restoration is being conducted by the World Monuments Fund and is part of a larger initiative called Legacy of Raphael: The Vatican and Beyond, which will also see the renovation of Raphael’s wall paintings at the Villa Imperiale in Pesaro, Italy. The initiative is supported by the via a $14.275 million donation from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation as well as by funding from Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.