Artworks rescued from earthquake-damaged church in Accumoli

Following the devastating earthquake of August 24, 2016, in central Italy, which killed nearly 300 people and destroyed entire towns, a team of art historians and restorers from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, assisted by the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro, the Vigili del Fuoco, the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and the Protezione Civile, recovered several artworks from the heavily damaged church of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Accumoli. Among the rescued pieces are two altarpieces: the Immaculate Conception (oil on canvas, 16th century) and the Madonna della Misericordia with Saints Anne, James the Greater, and Francis (oil on canvas, 1635–1649, by Alessandro Turchi, known as l'Orbetto). Operations also extended to the church of Madonna delle Coste, on a hill near Accumoli, where a 16th-century processional cross in silver sheet was extracted. The recovery effort aims to preserve the historical and cultural identity of the affected communities as they rebuild.