'Welcome back' reborn: restoration of St. Lawrence's Madonna and Child completed

After a long and meticulous restoration conducted by theOpificio delle Pietre Dure, the "Welcome Back," a rare Madonna and Child from the 14th century, is back to shine in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence. The precious wooden sculpture, one of the few medieval works preserved in the famous Renaissance place of worship, has been returned to theOpera Medicea Laurenziana following the intervention started in October 2018 at the laboratories of the Fortezza da Basso, which was completed in December 2024 thanks to the careful work of a team of experts.

The “Bentornata,” made by Giovanni Fetti around 1382, depicts a Madonna and Child and was carved from a single log of pear wood. By the time it arrived at the restoration workshops, the work showed numerous repaintings layered over the centuries, with the last one probably dating back to the 19th century. The most obvious alteration involved the darkening of the repainted surfaces, with the exception of the gilded parts, such as the edge of the Madonna’s blue mantle, the Child’s cloth and the hair of both figures, which still retained a certain brilliance.

The restoration work, initially entrusted to Peter Hans Stiberc and completed by Claudia Napoli with the collaboration of Iolanda Larenza, Chiara De Felice, Chiara Modesti and Maria Luisa Reginella, required a thorough preliminary analysis phase. Thanks to a sophisticated diagnostic campaign, it was possible to identify the succession of the different pictorial backgrounds, while computerized tomography revealed the presence of cracks in the wood and galleries dug by xylophagous insects, as well as minor structural deficiencies.

The cleaning of the statue was particularly complex and required a lengthy experimental phase to determine the most suitable methodology capable of removing the repainting without damaging the original paint film. The approach adopted was differentiated according to the areas of the statue: embodiments, blue mantle, red robe and gilded surfaces were treated with specific solutions to ensure maximum respect for the original materials. Further intervention was necessary to consolidate the pictorial film of the mantle, which was partly decohered.

After cleaning, the restorers proceeded with the filling of the gaps, stabilization of the cracks in the wood, andpictorial integration. The latter was carried out using the technique of color selection: small gaps were treated with camouflage retouching, while larger abrasions were treated with painterly glazes. The final painting also required extensive experimentation, with specific formulations for each color field.

The analyses conducted during the restoration provided valuable information about the commissioning and quality of the work. The fineness of the modeling, the refinement of the polychromy, and the use of precious materials, such as gold leaf for the foliage and translucent lacquers on a silver base, confirm that the “Bentornata” was commissioned by an important figure of the time.

Now, thanks to the impeccable work of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, this extraordinary medieval sculpture can once again be admired in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, returning a fundamental piece of Florentine artistic history to the community and scholars. The restoration has not only brought back the original beauty of the work, but has also added new pieces to the knowledge of its history and creation, offering a precious testimony to Italy’s medieval artistic heritage.

As Emanuela Daffra, superintendent of the Opificio, recalls, “the work presented today is the further link in a long chain of collaborations that has seen the Opificio delle Pietre Dure take care of many of the masterpieces housed in the Basilica of San Lorenzo. In this case, the workshops have tackled a ’work that is not trivial in size and extraordinary because it is attributed to an author known primarily as a marble sculptor, thus enabling us to expand our knowledge of his working practice.” .

'Welcome back' reborn: restoration of St. Lawrence's Madonna and Child completed

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