Chapel of St. Francis

Managing an emergency. When weathering and neglect of previous interventions make it necessary to take action as soon as possible.

2019

OVERVIEW
Emergency works – securing the decorative apparatus of the vault of the chapel of St. Francis

CLIENT
Special Superintendence of Archaeology Fine Arts and Landscape

COST
€130,000.00

LOCATION
Rome, Lazio

RUP
Arch. Alessandro Mascherucci

DIRECTOR OF WORK
Arch. Maria Luisa Mutschlechner

PREVAILING CATEGORY
OG2

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

At a small, little-known jewel of Roman Baroque architecture Edilerica professionally managed an “emergency” intervention aimed at averting accidents. The gradual detachment of plaster from the chapel’s exterior walls and the now unbearable humidity in the building necessitated a sudden and radical intervention. Through the complete removal of the flooring and the rebuilding of the waterproofing structures underneath, the use of breathable materials in the redoing of the plasterwork, and the design of a dehumidification system for the rooms located under the chapel, it was possible to give new life to this delightful structure, located in the small circular church of St. Bernard at the Baths and nicknamed by many as the “little Pantheon.”

History of the Chapel

Built in 1598 inside a circular hall dedicated to ball games that was part of the Baths of Diocletian, the Church of St. Bernard houses the Chapel of St. Francis, obtained instead from one of the ancient thermal halls of the ancient spa structure. On the altar we can admire the statue of St. Francis by Antonio Fancelli, a pupil of Bernini. Also buried in the chapels is German painter Friedrich Overbeck, founder of the painting group of the Nazarenes, romantic and nonconformist German artists stationed in Rome in the 1800s.

Photo reportage