A five-year restoration of Vatican UNESCO site Raphael's Loggia began on Wednesday.
    "A team of 20 restorers from the Vatican Museums will begin the restoration of Raphael's Loggia, working with laser technology on a delicate and exquisitely decorated surface.

This is a complex project and one of the most important ever undertaken in the Museums, which will keep us busy for five years," said Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, at the presentation of the major restoration project for the west wing of the Second Loggia, the so-called Raphael's Loggia.
    The initial phase of restoration will focus on the west wing of the Loggia, located on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace and overlooking the San Damaso courtyard.
    Designed by the Urbino native and decorated between 1517 and 1519 by his students for Pope Leo X de' Medici (1513-1521), it was immediately considered one of the highest expressions of Renaissance art applied to architecture and remains one of the most refined examples of early 16th-century figurative art.
    "This is an extraordinary maintenance project and a five-year restoration to protect the 16th-century stuccoes and frescoes created by Giovanni da Udine and other collaborators under the guidance of Raphael, 14 bays of exquisite paintings created using various techniques, which is why the restoration work will be so complex." Also present at the conference were the president of the Stephen A.

Schwarzman Foundation, the philanthropic organization that funded the restoration project, and Bénédicte de Montlaur, president of the World Monuments Fund.
    "We have participated in many projects in Italy, but this is the first in the Vatican," commented de Montlaur.
    Both expressed great enthusiasm and joy at participating in this global project, dedicated to Raphael, one of the greatest artists in history.
   

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