L’Hard Stone Factory will be among the most anticipated protagonists of the ninth edition of Florence Art and Restoration Exhibition, from 25 April to 1 May 2024, at the Fortezza da Basso.
The presence of the Florentine institution is among the most awaited of the trade fair event: Italian and international restoration operators appreciate the presence of the OPD for the opportunity to interact with those who for centuries (the Opificio is the expression of a tradition that dates back to 1588) carries out interventions that become exemplary in the varied world of the restoration of cultural heritage.
To respond to so much interest, the Opificio will be at the Show for the entire day April 26. An intense day of speeches, discussions and ideas. With also an appendix on the day April 30th.
In the morning of Friday 26 (from 9.30am in the Fencing room at the Fortezza da Basso) Emanuela Daffra, Superintendent of the Opificio alongside Cristina Acidini, President of the Opera di Santa Croce and President of the Roberto Longhi Foundation, as well as the managers of the sectors in which the Florentine institution is divided, will illustrate progress and results of some recent large conservation projects carried out on Florentine masterpieces, selected for the notoriety of the works of art, for the complexity of the interventions and for the research and methodology implemented.
The first focus will be on the study and restoration project of the frescoes by Giotto in the Bardi Chapel, with interventions by Renata Pintus and Maria Rosa Lanfranchi. To illustrate then There “sepulchral memorial to the great Alfieri” by Antonio Canova in Santa Croce. The restoration and study of the construction technique Riccardo Gennaioli, Camilla Mancini, Franca Sorella and Paola Lorenzi will speak.
From ancient to contemporary with the illustration of Restoration of ‘Warrior with Shield’ by Henry Moore: internal and external problems of a large twentieth century bronze with interventions by Renata Pintus, Stefania Agnoletti, Maria Baruffetti, Merj Nesi and Aurea Restauro.
“The second session (starting at 11.30am) will be dedicated – Superintendent Daffra anticipates – to the results of the diploma thesis discussed in the last two years at the School of Higher Education and Study (SAFS) of the OPD, of certain interest, especially for professionals, for the highly experimental approach and the elements of innovation usually connected to thesis work at the SAFS : New professionals and original research paths. Thesis defended at the SAFS of the OPD.
The interventions are coordinated by Letizia Montalbano, Technical Director of the Paper and Membrane Materials Restoration Sector, former Director of SAFS.
The word will then pass to the authors of the individual theses: Alessia Bianchi, who investigated The restoration of the “Book of drawings” by Baldassarre Franceschini known as Il Volterrano of the Roberto Longhi Foundation in Florence; Selene Chersicla who elaborated The model for the semiprecious stone panel “Vase with Flowers” by Edoardo Marchionni from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Museum; Giulia Ciabattini proposing The Leonardo Savioli fund: from the Pecci Center to the artist’s studio. Structural restoration of a painting on plywood; Giorgia Mori: A fourteenth-century illuminated codex: the Laudario of Santo Spirito at the National Central Library of Florencewhile the case of Alphonse Mucha’s manifesto for the ‘Imprimerie cassan fils of the Salce Collection: problems of the ‘de-restoration’ of ephemeral heritage it is treated by Lavinia Nasoni; “The restoration of the first collection of photographic films belonging to the Vinciana Commission relating to Leonardo da Vinci’s manuscript “On anatomy” it is the theme of Matilde Ticci; The Nocria Triptych of the circle of Paolo da Visso, in Castelsantangelo sul Nera, damaged by the 2016 earthquake was the object of investigation by Petra Farioli.
Restoration interventions, in order to carry them out, require someone to finance them. A topic that has always been clearly topical. One of the means to find financial sources is certainly the Art Bonus.
10 years after its entry into force, theArt Bonus has allowed numerous public administrations to carry out important protection, maintenance and restoration interventions on public cultural heritage thanks to the support of companies, banking foundations and private citizens. In this meeting ALES SpA, the company responsible for the management and promotion program of the Art Bonus on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, will delve into the application aspects of the law and will dialogue with some of the most representative Art Bonus beneficiary bodies on the national scene in terms of quality and number of interventions carried out with the financial support of patrons: the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Regional Museums Directorate of Tuscany MiC, the Municipality of Florence”.
From 2.30pm to 4pmin the MiC meeting roomwe will therefore discuss “The economic sustainability of restoration projects through the Art Bonus”, curated by ALES Arte Lavoro e Servizi Spa in collaboration with Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Regional Museums Directorate of Tuscany and the Municipality of Florence. Speeches are expected from Lucia Steri, Communication Manager of Art Bonus Ales SpA; Emanuela Daffra, OPD Superintendent and Director of DRM Lombardy; Fabrizio Vallelonga, MiC DRM Tuscany Official and Director of the National Etruscan Museum of Chiusi; Giorgio Caselli, Director of the Fine Arts Service of the Municipality of Florence.
The OPD’s contributions to the Restoration Fair continue in the afternoon at 5.15pm in Sala Sottani to present the editorial news of Opificio series “Problems of Conservation and Restoration” published by Edifir editions Florence. A series, founded by Marco Ciatti, which has a long and glorious tradition, so much so that its 63rd volume is being presented, dedicated to “The restoration of the frieze by Andrea Pucci Sardi from Empoli” edited by Matteo Ceriana, Riccardo Gennaioli, Sandra Rossi (Florence, 2024). Paola D’Agostino, former Director of the Bargello Museums, where the frieze is kept, will speak in the presence of the authors and curators of the volume.
Another appointment, Tuesday 30 April from 2.00pm to 3.30pmedited by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the metropolitan city of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato, in MiC meeting room. Theme: “Restoration and research; activities of the ABAP Superintendence of Florence”.
“The Brancacci Chapel in the Carmine church in Florence: a protocol for the diagnosis, maintenance, monitoring and study of wall paintings. The conclusion of the construction site” is the title of a dense story that will give an account of the results of approximately two years of observations on one of the masterpieces of the early Florentine Renaissance. Speakers: Antonella Ranaldi, SABAP for the metropolitan city of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato; Alberto Felici, SABAP for the metropolitan city of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato; Emanuela Daffra, Opificio delle Pietre Dure; Sara Penoni, Opificio delle Pietre Dure; Giorgio Caselli, Municipality of Florence; Cristiano Riminesi, National Research Council (CNR); Simonetta Brandolini D’adda, Friends of Florence.
“An articulated presence therefore” underlines Emanuela Daffra “which not only gives an account of the multiple fronts on which the Institute is committed, but also of its naturally multi-disciplinary physiognomy, of its being a place where very high level of operations, research and training proceed side by side”.
For more information: https://opificiodellepietredure.cultura.gov.it
