The reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Paolo Fuori le Mura has been extensively addressed by renowned scholars, to whom we refer for a more complete understanding of its events over time. The essay proposes a framing of the story within the activity of the bodies for the protection of the historical-artistic heritage of the former Italian states. Among these organizations of particular interest, for the significant institutional organization that the Papal State had given itself, are the Auxiliary Commissions of Fine Arts established by the Edict of Cardinal Pacca of 1820 in all provinces of the State, in direct dependence with the Commission of Central Fine Arts in Rome. The documentary body is kept in the State Archives of Rome. The fund has vast proportions and the time relocation of the events described is complex, since the cards are not chronologically stored.

Mariano Nuzzo