Caravaggio and the Restoration Lab That Cleaned the Madonna

Most Caravaggio walks end at a painting. This one ends with the people who took the varnish off it. The lab is all female and one of two in the world to have restored three Caravaggio paintings. Among them is the Madonna di Loreto in Sant'Agostino, cleaned in public view, with the scaffolding open and visitors watching the work happen. The tour visits that painting before the lab, so you see the result first and then hear what was underneath it. Inside the workshop the restorers are at work on 16th-century paintings, and the aperitif is served there rather than at a bar. Restoration is an argument as much as a craft: how far to go, what counts as the original, what a previous restorer added in 1890 and whether to take it off. These are the people who make those decisions on paintings that cannot be replaced, and they will talk about them. Between the two, San Luigi dei Francesi and the three canvases on the life of Saint Matthew. One condition before booking: all sales are final and cancellations are not refunded.