Il ruolo della storia nell'intervento di restauro: il caso tardo-barocco del San Giovanni Battista a Morbegno
In: Quaderni dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura: n.s. 2019, 2020
DOI: 10.48255/1112
The role of history in the restoration intervention: San Giovanni Battista in Morbegno and the discovery
of its designer
This paper focuses on the history and the restorations of the collegiate church of San Giovanni Battista in
Morbegno, financed by the Swiss Isabel & Balz Baechi Foundation, and discusses the author’s various historical
research efforts between 2014 and 2019. These efforts resulted in identifying the designer (Gerolamo Quadrio,
architect of the building of the Milan Cathedral) of the singular late-Baroque (1680-1714) architecture – a truly
unique specimen in space and type later to be replicated in several European countries.
In parallel, the paper also summarizes the restoration interventions carried out on the architectural
work during these years, in the attempt to understand the numerous actions performed on the building.
This is done from the perspective of critical restoration, for which concrete intervention is a design
intervention that starts by judging the value and recognizing the historical and aesthetic qualities of the
architectural work.