Restoration of the Sala di Bona in Palazzo Pitti

The Sala di Bona, located inside Palazzo Pitti, has recently been restored thanks to the generous contribution of the American philanthropist Veronica Atkins, in collaboration with the associations Amici degli Uffizi and Friends of the Uffizi Gallery. This intervention has allowed the restoration of a historically and artistically significant space to its former splendor.

The room takes its name from the depiction of the conquest of the city of Bona (present-day Annaba, Algeria) by Tuscan forces. The walls are decorated with frescoes created between 1607 and 1608 by the painter Bernardino Poccetti and his collaborators. These frescoes illustrate key events during the reign of Ferdinando I de’ Medici, including the conquest of Bona, the Battle of Prevesa, and a view of the port of Livorno, symbolizing Tuscan military policy at the time. The vaulted ceiling celebrates Cosimo I de’ Medici, flanked by Minerva and the Glory of Princes, surrounded by six female allegories representing the virtues of a good ruler: Magnificence, Glory, Wisdom, Vigilance, Mercy, and Good Fame.

Before the restoration, the frescoes were obscured by yellowish patinas due to previous interventions, and the walls showed damage such as cracks, plaster detachments, and loss of color. The Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence carried out a meticulous restoration process, which included thermographic investigations, chemical-physical analysis, and photographic campaigns across different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. These operations allowed the structural stability of the room to be recovered and restored balance and brightness to the paintings.

Thanks to this restoration, the Sala di Bona is now once again accessible to the public, offering visitors the opportunity to admire a significant example of Florentine Mannerist decoration and deepen their understanding of the Medici enterprises within the political and military context of the 17th century.