English
The Getty Conservation Institute has partnered with Peruvian authorities to launch the first-ever conservation project at the Church of Santo Tomás de Aquino, a 17th-century earthen church in the Cusco region of Peru. Known locally as the Church of Rondocan, the site holds deep cultural and religious significance. However, repeated earthquakes have damaged both the building and its collection of more than 300 cultural objects.
A Major Investment in Cultural Preservation
The Peruvian government has committed $5 million to a multi-year initiative aimed at strengthening the church and protecting its contents. The collection includes 17th- and 18th-century paintings, gilded wooden retablos, sculptures, and ecclesiastical textiles. The Getty will contribute specialist expertise from staff across multiple departments.
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The Getty Conservation Institute’s Seismic Retrofitting Project uses advanced analytical techniques to reinforce earthen heritage sites against earthquake damage. A regional office of Peru’s Ministry of Culture will partner with the project to develop a comprehensive conservation and seismic retrofitting plan. Construction work is scheduled to begin in 2027.
Claudia Cancino, principal project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute and project lead for the Sacred Heritage in the Andes Project, emphasized the importance of community involvement. “Since 2011, the Conservation Institute has worked across Peru with local conservation professionals to conserve some of the country’s most significant earthen architectural buildings,” she said. “With this collective effort, we will be able to provide expertise and support for the Rondocan community, who have been the primary caretakers of the church and its incredible collections for generations.”
A Rare Artistic Discovery
Among the most significant works in the collection is a series of eight large easel paintings by Italian Jesuit priest and painter Bernardo Bitti (1548–1610). Titled “Principales Misterios de la Vida y Muerte de Cristo Nuestro Salvador y de la Virgen Santísima,” Bitti painted the series in Cusco, likely in the late 1590s. Most art historians had believed the works were lost. Therefore, when Getty staff visited the church in 2010, the discovery came as a considerable surprise.
One painting from the series, La Oración en el huerto (“Prayer in the Garden”), will travel to the Getty in 2027 for scientific analysis and conservation treatment. Bitti is widely credited with introducing Mannerism to Peruvian art. After training in Rome and joining the Jesuits, he arrived in Cusco in 1583 and later traveled through Juli, La Paz, and Lima, influencing painters throughout the Andes.
A Living Collection With Unique Challenges
Stéphanie Auffret, senior project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute, noted that the collection appears never to have been restored. “It represents a rare opportunity to document the artifacts, generating knowledge useful to a variety of stakeholders,” she said. The original materials preserved on the lateral altarpieces, for example, could inform the study of similar surfaces in other Peruvian churches.
Auffret also highlighted the community dimension of the project. Local residents actively use many of the objects, including sculptures carried during Semana Santa processions. “Preserving a collection in use presents challenges as well as valuable exchanges with community members,” she said, “something not experienced in a museum’s context.”
