This is one of Raphael’s most famous paintings, the Madonna of the Goldfinch. It’s the depiction of Mary, Christ and a young John the Baptist offering Jesus a goldfinch as a warning to his deadly future. After a 10 year restoration process the oil on wood is back on display.

But this work of art is no stranger to restoration. It was a wedding gift to Lorenzo Nasi, a good friend of Raphael around the year 1505. Not long had passed before an earthquake levelled Lorenzo’s house along with the painting in 1548. The painting shattered into several pieces and since then it has been restored several times.

This last restoration has been one of the longest using the latest technological procedures, including x-rays that reveal the fractures it endured almost 500 years ago.

Thanks to the restoration, today visitors of the Uffizi in Florence can enjoy this masterpiece in one piece.