Chiesa Nuova Frescoes

A few days ago I went into Assisi's Chiesa Nuova (New Church), constructed in the Seventeenth Century over Francis' boyhood home. From the church one can descend stairs to rooms that were a part of his family home.
Just beyond the entrance to the church staging had been assembled and a woman was doing detail work on a section of a column.

Exactly what she was doing soon became evident. The column had been covered by what looked like a decorative stucco, resembling marble. Here is the opposite wall.

On the lower part of the above picture, one can see a portion of the decorative covering has been scraped off, revealing older colors underneath. Now, back to the column she was working on, one can see that a significant part of the covering has been scraped off or dissolved, revealing older frescoes.

The task of removing the outer surface appeared to be very delicate and time consuming.

Being neither Italian nor an art scholar, I turned to a book co-authored by my friend Ezio, who is an Italian art scholar. It's called, Guide to Assisi History and Art, is available in English, and is a terrific resource for anyone spending time in Assisi. In a section on the Chiesa Nuova, it states, "The surface of the interior is entirely covered with frescoes dated around 1621 and largely restored in 1925. The stucco decoration was done in 1769." Much of the fresco work is attributed to Cesare Sermei and Vincenzo Giorgetti.
I'm reluctant to just assume that frescoes from the Seventeenth Century, covered over in 1769, are now being uncovered. Any guess could be off by centuries. I'm also reluctant to disturb the artist concentrating on the restoration, not wanting to contribute to even a tiny slip. However, it is interesting to stop by every few days to see how work is progressing. Hope to learn more from Ezio next time I see him.

Ciao.