## 1 Introduction  
This paper contributes to the Special Issue \"Results of the II National Research project of AIAr: Archaeometric study of the frescoes by [PERSON] and workshop at the church of San Panfilo in Villagrande di Tornimparte (AQ, Italy)\", in which the scientific results of II National Research Project conducted by members of the Italian Association of Archaeometry (AIAr (Associazione Italiana di Archeometria. [[http://www.associazioneaair.com/wpp/home-2/](http://www.associazioneaair.com/wpp/home-2/)]([http://www.associazioneaair.com/wpp/home-2/](http://www.associazioneaair.com/wpp/home-2/)), accessed on 20 February 2023)) are discussed and collected. For in-depth details on the aims of the project, see the introduction of the Special Issue [1]. This work is a first attempt to understand the historical past of these frescoes on the basis of a direct observation of the current state of conservation and a study of the (fragmentary) documentation preserved in the archive [2, 3]. The frame in which the execution of the pictorial cycle can be placed begins with a note of an advanced payment given to the artist in 1489; it was 1491 when [PERSON] started to work on the frescoes which were completed in 1494 [2]. Art historians consider this cycle of frescoes the cornerstone of [PERSON]'s activity as a painter; it is also considered his masterpiece for the close and evident similarities that the frescoes demonstrate with the models of his famous master, the Florentine sculptor and painter [PERSON]. New information from the recent analysis campaign is added [4, 5, 6]. The pre-restoration analysis is an invaluable contribution, setting objective data on the quality and nature of the original and restoration materialsand degradation processes, leading us on a parallel path that confirms and enriches the information reported on the documents in our possession. In the long life of an artwork, the conservation events are difficult to reconstruct [7; 8], on one hand, because the news is often fragmentary and inaccurate, and, on the other, because it is not possible to see beyond the mere aesthetic aspect through only visual inspection. In addition to the normal degradation to which the constituent materials are subjected, we have to deal with clumsy and invasive interventions and inadequate maintenance work. In this regard, there is not much to add to the description made by [PERSON] where she describes how the frescoes of the vault appear \"grossly repainted\", and how the figures are excessively reintegrated [9]. This is how the most important pictorial cycle of [PERSON] appears today. Its history is not only made up of localized and limited interventions responding to the scarce economic resources of the moment, since other factors have determined uneven intervention, always characterized by different criteria. It is then necessary, as spectators, to take a step back and try to take a view of the most important events that have marked the history of these frescoes. Through the examination of some documents, we can verify how there have been episodes causing degradation in paintings over the years. Some of these events are listed in a letter signed by Mons. [PERSON] dated 12 February 1964, and addressed to the Superintendent of Medieval and Modern Art and the Minister of Education: \"the earthquake of 15 January 1915, devastating war of 1940-1944, very hard winter of 1962-1963, and permanent moisture penetrating from the roofs and the floor under which are burials of the dead\" (12 February 1964). The first documented information placed in the records of this Superintendency concerning this pictorial cycle dates back to 1950 and after the note signed by the Superintendent which describes: \"Some bombs that exploded nearby damaged the roof and the windows in various points\", attaching an appraisal of the amount of 40,000 ITL \"to prevent the next winter season from damaging the paintings\". Another note of 3 August 1950 for the financing \"will follow... on the chap. 257 relating to war damages\".