Accounts written in the late 19th century attest to the excellent state of preservation of this building (Rodolfo Lanciani 1897, among others).
Alfonso Bartoli is credited with restoration of the curia in its present form between 1935-38, removing the baroque alterations done since conversion into the church of S. Adriano, and ostensibly returning it to a Diocletian-era appearance.
However, several photos ca. 1909
(including this one: http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/pan/6a23000/6a23000/6a23041r.jpg and this one: http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/pan/6a23000/6a23700/6a23709r.jpg)
show only the front wall standing before a pile of rubble. All current references which I have encountered claim that the current building is the 3rd century original, apparently unaware of such a radical reconstruction. How could Bartoli have undertaken to remove the baroque additions if the building had already been reduced to such a state?
Question: How and when was the Curia Iulia in the Forum Romanum in Rome largely destroyed in the late 19th-early 20th century?
In both of your photos, I see the curia intact. In the two photos, the building looks very different from its current state, precisely because Bartoli removed extensive elements of the building. On both flanks (as you face the front) "wings" were removed -- in the two photos these appear more light in color than the facade, with rectangular subdivisions and windows in each "cell." This was all removed. The middle part of the wing is recessed compared to the front, and I think this is giving an illusion of missing walls. In your photos, there is a good deal of rubble from the Basilica Aemilia in the foreground of that right flank. In this photo you can see what was removed compared to your c.1909 photos, including virtually all of the back end of the building. Really Bartoli exposed the ancient "core" of the baroque structure, which can be hard to visualize in these photos (especially because both are oblique).
