The restoration works, started in the month of March 2000, began with the recovery of the polychrome stucco decorations in the atrium. The plastic decorations attributed to Giovanni Battista Castello il Bergamasco were completely covered by massive layers of lime- and tempera-base colorings, oxidized, which dulled the forms, erasing details and features and concealing the original color. The more recent layer of color, commissioned by Andrea Podestà in the second half of the XIX century, appeared loose, very blackened and partially detached.
Read more: Atrium and façadeThe Nyphaeum, being situated in an open place, as well as having to live with the constant presence of water, is also subject to progressive deterioration caused by weathering; but it is water itself which subjects it to a series of phenomena of changes common to these environmental conditions.
Read more: NymphaeumWhen observing the areas during the survey to verify the level of deterioration, the non-uniform nature of the plaster was immediately noticed, extremely impoverished by atmospheric agents, except in the zones protected by eaves and string courses, where the painted decoration could still be seen in a well preserved state; the base was found to be covered by hydraulic mortar and sand (with inclusions of different kind and grain size), and by thinner layer of powdered terracotta, also confirmed later by scientific tests.
Read more: The internal elevations