The intervention brought to light the original color texture, respecting the state of conservation and the marks left on the surface by the various adjustments made over time.

It was also a pivotal moment for studying and examining the execution technique and the conservation history of these works, models, and tools saved from destruction after their use on the scaffolding of the Basilica.

The bibliographical study confirmed that the works were used directly, transported on the scaffolding, and served as scale models for the mosaics.

In later centuries, these paintings decorated papal palaces and galleries, and their shape and dimensions were modified.

Further insights will come up by the restoration, scheduled for 2025, of two similar works attributed to the Cortona pupil Ciro Ferri and linked to the Chapel of the Pietà, the last commissioned by Berettini before his death.

The comparison, in terms of execution technique and state of conservation, will also be possible thanks to the graphic and photographic documentation made during the intervention and the results of the diagnostic studies carried out by the Scientific Research Laboratory.

It was a complex restoration: the fragility of the original technique and the large number of retouches carried out over the centuries required to calibrate the cleaning and the reintegration according to the work, testing numerous materials for cleaning, consolidation, and retouching. We are satisfied with the result, which respects the original appearance of the work.

Following the first phase, described in the previous report, which was devoted to studying the work and selecting suitable materials for the intervention, the restorers completed the cleaning of the painting in July.

The work has undergone numerous restorations, and the restorers found at least two different types of repainting and several layers of substances that had been spread over time as revivals and heavily altered.

The cleaning process was therefore calibrated by varying the solvent concentrations in the different color backgrounds.

Many of the old oil-based additions proved impossible to remove without risking damage to the already deteriorated original pictorial film. However, these were limited areas; overall, the cleaning allowed the pictorial layers to be polished and the original forms to re-emerge, revealing details previously impossible to read.  The restoration of the work is now at the retouching stage.

The large canvas originated as a preparatory cartoon. It was executed between 1654 and 1656 for the Chapel of St Sebastian in St Peter's Basilica, as a model for the corresponding mosaic by Fabio Cristofani.

From a conservation point of view, it is, therefore, necessary to take into account, on the one hand, the nature of the work as a tool for the construction site of the Vatican Basilica and, on the other hand, the subsequent events that have greatly influenced its current state.

In fact, during the pontificate of Innocent XII (1615-1700), the painting was removed from the premises of the Fabbrica di San Pietro to decorate the Sala dei Gentiluomini in the Palazzo del Quirinale.

Later, it was moved to the Ecclesiastical Museum in the Tor dé Venti and then to the Lateran Painting Gallery before arriving in the Vatican Museums in 1926, together with other paintings of the same genre.

The report of 1934, the date of the last documented restoration, testifies to the seriousness of the state of conservation: "These enormous canvases owe their sad state to the complete neglect in which they were left. Not only did they arrive in our workshop without frames, but they were folded into four or eight pieces like simple dishcloths.” Hence, a need for a lining and a new frame.

Thanks to this intervention, the support of the painting is in overall good condition; the lining and the frame are still perfectly functional. No structural interventions are therefore necessary, and the restorers cleaned the back, removing the dust deposited over the years.

The frame, restored at the beginning of the 20th century, together with all the cartoons, are now on display in the premises of the Painting Restoration Laboratory. As far as the layers of paint are concerned, there are no particular adhesion problems. However, the surface, covered with a thick layer of various protective agents, darkened considerably over time, rendering the work almost illegible. Numerous pictorial additions hide abrasions and gaps in the original.

Before starting the cleaning tests, the photographers of the Photographic Laboratory carried out a meticulous photographic campaign to document the work.