ABSTRACT
The campaigns of restoration which took place in the churches in Rome in parallel with the restoration of paintings under the direction of Camuccini did not make any attempt to recover the original decoration or polychromy. Single works of art would be restored, but the interiors were decorated with Baroque splendour, and in a style which remained consistently Neo-classical. As late as 1847, the new decoration of Santa Maria sopra Minerva was adapted to the Gothic nave and vault, but with its gold and bright colours, it was a perfect illustration of the exhibitionism that Ruskin reproached in the decoration of Papist churches.1
