MADRID.- The Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid has unveiled a remarkable new permanent installation: the reconstruction of the long-lost Herrera Chapel, an ambitious Baroque ensemble originally created by Annibale Carracci and his workshop in early-seventeenth-century Rome. Thanks to the collaboration of OHLA, the project allows visitors to experience these extraordinary frescoes as they were once seen—high above the altar of the Church of Santiago de los Españoles, the Spanish crown’s emblematic church in the Eternal City.


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The original chapel, commissioned by the wealthy Spanish banker Juan Enríquez de Herrera, was destroyed in the nineteenth century. Its frescoes, depicting the life and miracles of Saint Didacus of Alcalá, were rescued in 1833 when the church fell into ruin. Carefully detached from the walls, the paintings were transferred to canvas and divided between Barcelona and Madrid. Seven of the surviving fragments, preserved for nearly two centuries in the Prado’s collection, now take their place in an installation that re-creates the spatial experience of the lost monument.

Designed by architect Francisco Bocanegra, the new structure evokes the original height and geometry of the chapel, offering visitors a sense of its architectural rhythm and spiritual intensity. The result is both scholarly and immersive: a respectful homage to one of the key works of early Baroque art, and a vivid reminder of how painting and architecture once worked in harmony to inspire awe.

Painted between 1602 and 1605, the frescoes embody the grace and dynamism that made Carracci a central figure of European painting. After the artist’s illness, his pupil Francesco Albani and other members of the Bolognese school completed the cycle, maintaining such stylistic unity that their hands are nearly indistinguishable. The scenes narrate Saint Didacus’s acts of healing and faith, stories that resonated deeply with Herrera, who believed the saint had miraculously cured his son.

In a nearby display, visitors will also find works by Carracci’s close contemporaries—Ludovico Carracci, Guido Reni, and Domenichino—artists who carried the Bolognese ideals of balance, devotion, and naturalism to Rome, transforming the city’s artistic language at the dawn of the Baroque. Together, these works situate the Herrera frescoes within a broader dialogue of innovation, spirituality, and human emotion that defined seventeenth-century art.

This project follows a major 2022 exhibition that presented the restored frescoes after decades of conservation. Now, with this permanent installation, the Prado ensures that visitors can appreciate not only the paintings’ technical brilliance but also their original architectural and devotional context.

In the words of the museum’s curatorial team, the reconstruction “revives an essential chapter in European mural painting—one that bridges the artistic energy of Bologna with the grandeur of Rome.” Thanks to the partnership with OHLA, the public can once again stand before the glowing colors and rhythmic compositions of Carracci and his circle, and imagine the chapel that once embodied the spiritual and artistic ambitions of a great age.



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