With regard to restoration activity, throughout the last ten years the Department has engaged with various masterpieces conserved in the Museums. Between 2009 and 2016 important restoration was conducted on the rare models in raw earth of the Angels and heads of the Fathers of the Church realized by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the continuing work on the altar of the Cathedra of Saint Peter’s Basilica (1656-1665), now displayed in rooms XII and XIII of the Pinacoteca.

In the same years, the Department carried out the restoration of the frescoes detached by Giovanni Lanfranco and Giovan Francesco Romanelli, originating from Saint Peter’s Basilica, now in the Hall of Blessings. In addition, it directed the restoration of the Cabinet of Canova in the Courtyard of the Statues with a delicate intervention on the famous sculpture of Perseus and the pair of Boxers. To these works there may be added the scientific advice given for the intervention lasting several years on the Colonnade of Saint Peter’s and the restoration of the fountains in the square. In the Baptistery of Saint John Latern, a complex restoration was carried out regarding the seventeenth century frescoes, an exemplary product of Roman classicism, the work of Andrea Sacchi and collaborators. In 2012 the Department completed the permanent arrangement of the Chapel of Urban VIII, with the location on the walls of the precious seventeenth-century wall hangings in gilded and painted leather.

Since 2014 the Department has directed, with the use of cutting-edge biorestoration techniques, the demanding intervention on around 600 artistic objects distributed throughout the Vatican Gardens. Over the years the Department has also organized and participated in the scientific curatorship of various exhibitions both on-side and abroad, study days, and scientific publications regarding the Vatican patrimony.