La Basilica della Natività a Betlemme: progetto e intervento di restauro delle superfici decorate Nicola Santopuoli, Elisabetta Concina, Susanna Sarmati

Starting from spring 2012, an international team selected by the Palestinian National Authority has been carrying out studies and research on the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, to gain a general and detailed knowledge of the monument, both to its current state and in its historical layers. This article summarizes the results of investigations, studies and restoration work carried out on the finishes of the building, coordinated by a team of the Specialization School in Architectural Heritage and Landscape of "Sapienza' University of Rome. These studies initially involved the entire Basilica, and then were focused on the main nave, the side aisles, the transept and bema. The investigation carried out on the architectural scale, especially on the mosaics, the wall paintings, the colouring and the plasterwork, in relation to a reading on a wider scale, were aimed at understandig the complex relationship between the parts analyzed and the architectural complex. The reading of the current state, which historical events made as it appears now, constitutes the moment in which the restoration work begins according to a critical approach.