Friday, November 9, 2012 hours 14:30
The process of Detachment of Mural Paintings: Ethical principles and practical needs

Antonio Zaccaria, Restoration of Culturali Heritage
Friday November 9, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. - Sala Bianchi
Cavaniglia Pavilion, Fortezza da Basso, Florence

The “season of the detachment“(Paolucci), made of almost systematic campaigns of removal of the murals which marked the post-war period until the seventies, has contributed to the gradual dispossession of the interiors of buildings, facades and religious buildings and at the growth of many problems in the process of contextualization of artworks. The current methodologies used in conservation consider this operation only as an extreme act to safeguard artworks, which should be authorized by the Superintendence only when it is the only possible solution for the preservation of a wall painting; it final put an end to the abuses and led to speculation made in the past.
In fact, emergencies such as created in these years from the territories affected by the earthquake or other catastrophic events, currently facing the problem of the debate on artworks the detachment, together with the cases of the twentieth century paintings in private homes or in public buildings affected by the same problem due to demolition or renovation processes.
On the other hand there are many problems of conservation of paintings detached in the past, due to the presence of unsuitable supports or to the alteration of the materials used in old restoration works.
The conference aims to present some significant cases of detachments made in the recent decades, considering them as a starting point for a new and actual reflection.
Among them, some intervention of detachment of mural paintings made in recent times by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Florence, analyzing the reasons that led to the choice of this type of intervention and of the technical and practical issues related to this work.
During the meeting will also be presented “a failed detachment” made in the '90s on the facade of a church, in which was preferred the demolition of the recent paintings for the recovery of the oldest uncertain fragments of frescoes, and the recent detachment of some paintings made around the 50s, seen as the only storage solution in view of the complete renovation of the building and of its structural change.
There will be finally presented some considerations about the history of the detachments of paintings in the post-war period, about the current issues of intervention and about their possible relocation in a museum.

Speakers : Giorgio Bonsanti, Paolo Bensi, Fabrizio Bandini, Antonio Zaccaria
Event Responsible : Antonio Zaccaria

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