Giovanni Lanfranco (1582 –1647) was a very well-known Italian painter of the Baroque period, born in Parma. As a young artist with a notable talent in drawing, he was an apprentice in the workshop of the Bolognese artist Agostino Carracci, brother of Annibale Carracci. He was able to work with Agostino on the frescoes in the local Farnese palaces. He was later involved in the decoration of the gallery ceiling in the Palazzo Farnese when he joined the workshop of Annibale.

By 1605, Lanfranco was receiving his own commissions and by the 1620’s he was engaged in a rivalry with Domenichino for the commissions of the major fresco projects in Rome. The artists, however, had differing styles. Of the two, Lanfranco’s tendency towards the theatrical was more suitable for the ceiling paintings which were gaining popularity among the important patrons of the 17th Century. Thus, in the early part of the century, his studio was very active and within a short time he became the primary painter for the circle of Pope Paul V. However, Lanfranco fell out of favor in the years following the death of Paul V because his successor, Gregory XV, preferred works by Guercino and Domenichino. Lanfranco was still very active though, receiving commissions such as the Crucifix Chapel in Santa Maria inVallicella. His greatest achievement was his Assumption of the Virgin, a fresco painted onto the dome of Sant’Andrea Della Valle. Completed in 1627, and done in "sotto in us" perspective, this work was one of the most important church frescoes of the late 1620s. Influenced by Correggio’s work in the Duomo di Parma, the crowded array of figures, with its background of rich color and energy, is a hallmark of Baroque painting.

Pope Urban VIII commissioned him to do a large fresco portraying St. Peter walking on water in 1628 and because of this painting Lanfranco gained the title of Knight of the Order of Christ. In 1631, Lanfranco was also named Prince (Principe) of the Academy of Saint Luke, the artist’s guild in Rome. The fresco of Christ saves Peter from the water was completed between 1627 and 1628 for the altar of the Navicella located on the north side of the pier of St. Elena of the Basilica of St. Peter. The work was to replace an earlier altarpiece painted by Bernardo Castello. The subject was the representation of the miracles of Peter. In fact, Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605) intended to emphasize through the figure of Peter, the Vicar of Christ on earth, the papal power in response to the Protestant publications. The painter Bernardo Castello had already realized the episode of Christ who saves Peter from the water between 1605 and 1606 in oil on wood. With this work, his aim was to perpetuate the memory of the famous fresco by Giotto representing the Navicella which, placed in the portico of St. Peter, began to show signs of aging. At the same time, the theme of the painting was an opportunity to remember and emphasize, in the church of the Prince of the Apostles, the preferential relationship between Christ and Peter. About ten years after its completion the work of Castello had already deteriorated so much as to appear in ruinous conditions.

In 1625, despite Castello’s protests, Pope Urban VIII commissioned Giovanni Lanfranco to create a new version of the same subject that could replace the badly degraded one. Lanfranco began working in 1627, and after about a year the work was finished. The huge painting was unveiled on September 17, 1628. The work shows, like that of Castello, the passage from the Gospel of Matthew that recounts how when Jesus had gone to the mountain to pray, the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee were suddenly caught in a storm.

At the mercy of the waves, Jesus went unto them in the night, walking upon the water. Afraid of what they thought to be a ghost, the disciples cried out in fear. When Jesus assured them, Peter answered with the phrase, “Lord, thou, let me come to you on the water.” And he began to walk on water but suddenly shaken by fear, he began to sink. Then Jesus, holding out his hand, caught him and said, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?” As soon as they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Lanfranco shows the scene of the salvation of Peter with the boat in the background filled with the apostles who are represented with various gestures and feelings. The fresco of the Navicella is the most dramatic by Lanfranco among those painted in Rome and can be considered the peak of his development in the direction of a mature Baroque painting style. Several texts from that time testify the satisfaction of Pope Urban VIII, who gave the painter the recognition of the Knighthood of the Order of Christ. Unfortunately, the fresco did not last long and it was restored in 1662 by Raffaele Vanni and later by Giuseppe Montano; in 1721 it was removed from the wall. The operation was only partially successful because the larger part of the fresco was lost and the upper part with the glory of the angels, disintegrated. The bottom of the fresco was transferred to the Loggia delle Benedizioni. In 1726 a mosaic copy was put in its place by Pietro Paolo Cristofani.

The state of the fresco is precarious. There are alterations in the colors due to oxidation and aging of the varnishes. In some areas, the color is detached and the surface is covered with a heavy layer of dust. Several touch-ups from the past must be removed. Iron nails must be removed and the whole surface needs to be fixed.

• Consolidation of the support
• Cleaning of the pictorial layer and removal of previous restorative interventions
• Removal of nails and fixing the surface
• Cleaning and consolidation of the pictorial surface
• Touching-up of the pictorial surface
• Photographic documentation
• Application of varnishes