An open construction site

The work will be divided into three phases. The first phase, from 27 March to 8 July 2023, will affect the lateral parts of the Altar. The second phase, from 9 July to 3 September 2023, the central part on the right, including The Goddess Roma. The third phase, from 4 September to 24 October 2023, the central part on the left. Without obstructing the duties of the Guard of Honour at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, this sequence will, among other things, allow for the regular performance of the ceremonies of 25 April 2023 and 2 June 2023. The work will end on 24 October 2023, respecting the ceremony of 4 November 2023.

The operation is conceived as an open worksite, among much else attesting to Italian excellence in the field of artistic restoration. Citizens and tourists will be able to observe the operators live, climb on the scaffolding during guided tours – scheduled for 23 April, 11 June, 27 August  and 17 September – and observe the progress of work through a restoration Diary or video report published every week on the website.

“Since taking office, we have devoted particular attention to the Altar of the Fatherland and Angelo Zanelli’s majestic decoration,” says Edith Gabrielli, director of VIVE. “We have done so because we fully share the values that the Altar of the Fatherland has represented and still does today, but also because we firmly believe in the quality of Angelo Zanelli. He was an artist with a truly international reputation, as shown by his work for Cuba in 1928, yet for various reasons is sometimes neglected. The restoration that we are inaugurating is the first step in a broader and more complex work of critical recovery.”