The “Sala dei Santi” is one of several rooms located in the Borgia Apartment, which takes its name from the Spaniard, Rodrigo de Borja y Doms, Pope Alexander VI from 1492 to 1503. Today the name Borgia Apartment is used to indicate the private rooms which the Borgia Pope had decorated by Bernardino Betti, better known as Pinturicchio. He decorated the secret rooms at a dizzying pace between 1492-94, assisted by members of his workshop. Written documents state that the Pope himself suggested ideas for the decoration to the creative and eclectic painter. So what we appreciate today is the fruit of the suggestions of a Pope and the creativity of a Master. Thus, the Sala dei Santi has very significant historical and artistic importance. The name of the Sala dei Santi comes from its principal theme: the lives of the Saints and Martyrs that are painted on the walls. The ceiling is shaped with a double cross vault gilded in golden stucco and divided into two halves by an arch resting on two pilasters. The marble cornice decorates the room and serves to separate the frescoes from the lower half of the walls. The lives of the Saints and their martyrdoms are painted within the lunettes, while the stories of Iside and Osiride are painted in the dome vaults. Here, the storytelling style used by Pinturicchio reaches the highest expression, appearing more realistic because of the three-dimensional effect given by the stucco and decorative additions. The richness, luxury and elegance of the rooms makes one feel as if they are brought back in time to the court of  Pope Alessandro IV, remembered for his expanding of Catholicism to the New World. The technique used by Pinturicchio is tempera “a secco.” This means that the wall is used like a wooden support and the artist paints on a dry (“secco”) surface rather than  a wet (“fresco”) facade like the technique Michelangelo used in the Sistine Chapel. This technique enabled Pinturicchio to correct the work of the other members of his workshop where needed and to reach minute perfection of the painting. However, the “dry technique”(where the color is layered on a preparation of chalk and glue on pre-existing plaster), is less resistant than fresco, thus the restoration is difficult and delicate.

The methods of restoration require continual adjustment according to the different surfaces and pigments on the walls.The scientific ground work and collaboration performed during the preparatory stage was fundamental in enabling the restorers to distinguish Pinturricchio’s work from that of his Spanish and Italian collaborators. New studies and research are ongoing in order to recognize the different artists who worked with Pinturicchio. Besides the tempera “a secco” style, there are other totally original techniques used by Pinturicchio to embellish the painting.  Elements such as sculpture, marble and stucco, leather, gold, paper, wood, Spanish tile and wax are all used together with unique harmony in order to give the luxurious interior unity and warmth. Today we can say that we are in a good position to comprehend the techniques used and thus able to finish the restoration in a professional and efficient manner. The team working on the restoration consists of restorers Federica Runco and Federica Cecchetti. They are led by the Maestro Restauratore Maria Ludmila Pustka of the Vatican Museum, who has already worked at the restoration of the “Sala dei Misteri” and formerly on Pinturrichio in the Sistine Chapel.