News from the Restoration of Santa Bibiana church in Rome. A contribution to the knowledge and
conservation of “colours” in the architecture of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Paolo Marconi (1933-2013) indicated in the façade of Santa Bibiana, built on a project by Gian Lorenzo
Bernini between 1624 and 1626, the possibility of finding fragments of the original materials used by the
great Roman Baroque artist for its façades: plaster, ‘stucco’ and colours. In the recent restoration of the
Bernini churches, the Assunta (1663-1665) and Santa Maria di Galloro (1661-1663) in Ariccia (Rome)
and San Tommaso da Villanova (1658-1661) in Castengandolfo (Rome), it was decided to remake these
materials or cover them with new plasters and colours, similar to the original ones. The last restoration
of the façade of Santa Bibiana (2012-2015), designed and followed by the author of this contribution,
aimed the opportunity to find many fragments of plaster, stucco and lime colours, used by Bernini, under
the last paintings, preserving them with great scruple during the restoration. In the author’s opinion, it
was possible to re-establish the original appearance of the façade, on the basis of the material evidences,
according to Bernini’s intentions and suggesting new interpretations of his work as an architect.