Palmaroli, Pietro

Palmaroli, Pietro an Italian painter is celebrated especially as a picture restorer. He flourished near the opening of this century, and was the first to transfer frescos from the wall to canvas. The first work so transferred was the Descent from the Cross, by Daniele da Volterra, in the church of Trinith de' Monti, in 1811: it is still in that church, but not in the chapel in which it was originally painted. The successful transfer of this picture caused a great sensation at Rome and in other parts of Italy, where such transfers were and still are repeatedly practiced with success. Palmaroli transferred and restored many celebrated works in Rome and in Dresden. As a restorer, his services to art are almost inestimable. At Dresden is Raffaelle's celebrated Madonna di San Sisto, restored by him. In 1816 Palmaroli freed the celebrated fresco of the Sibyls, painted by Raffaelle for Agosiino Chigi in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, from the destructive restorations in oil which were made by order of Alexander VII. He died at Rome in 1828. See Platner,, Beschreibung der Stadt Rom, vol. iii, pt.3, p. 385; Kunstblatt, 1837; Nagler, Neues Allgeneines Kiinstler- Lexikon, s.v.; Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts. ii 647.