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The present paper takes the cue from an anonymous letter sent in 1844 to the camerlengo Tommaso Riario Sforza to denounce the poor conservative conditions in which Veronese’s Rape of Europe, in the Pinacoteca Capitolina in Rome, was placed. Considered one of the gems of the Roman collections, as the contemporary sources attest, especially due to the scarcity of works by Venetian masters in Rome, the large canvas was important above all as a model for young artists to exercise on colouring. Following this complaint, the painting will be taken over by the under-inspector Filippo Agricola, who will make the design for a new frame and will entrust the restoration to Giovanni Regis.

Giovanni Pileri, restorer working in Rome and in the Papal State, is a little-known figure in the Roman art scene of the 19th century. Tommaso Minardi’s student, he was defined by Ernesto Ovidi, the painter’s biographer, «the best of all the restorers». During his career, Pileri got very important commissions, like the restoration of the frescoes of the porch of San Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome, or the restoration of the famous altarpiece representing St. Luke painting the Virgin, attributed to Raphael. Pileri obtained such important assignments also thanks to his master’s prestige as advisor about restoration. The reconstruction of Giovanni Pileri’s work helps understanding the mechanism of the 19th century artistic labour market in Rome, in a period of decline of nobility that made public commissions more important than ever.