Church
Oratorio di San Filippo Neri
Rococo hall of stucco and gilding, its bombed dome rebuilt from a decades-old ruin into a still-visible scar of restoration.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Oratorio di San Filippo Neri in Bologna traces a Rococo hall built by architect Alfonso Torreggiani in the 1720s, once frescoed by Ludovico Carracci, that lost its vault and dome in the January 1944 bombing raid that devastated Bologna's art. A repair attempt led by superintendent Alfredo Barbacci stalled by 1953, and for over twenty years the roofless hall held nothing grander than pallets of building material, against the advice of the city's own heritage office. Stand in the nave and take in the room that neglect left behind.
This audio guide was created using AI.