Rome, restoration work begins at Villa Farnesina: work on Sodom frescoes in the wedding hall

Frescoes by one of the most original artists of the mature Renaissance, Giovanni Battista Bazzi known as Sodoma (Vercelli, 1477 - Siena, 1549), are the focus of a planned restoration at the Villa Farnesina in Rome: the great artist of Piedmontese origin decorated the Wedding Room, or rather the bedroom of the man who was then the owner of the Villa, the wealthy Sienese banker Agostino Chigi (Siena, 1466 - Rome, 1520), who chose Sodoma for reasons of geographical proximity, since he was indeed born in Vercelli, but was Sienese by adoption, since he spent most of his career in the shadow of the Torre del Mangia. The painter waited for the decoration in 1519 and decorated the walls of the Wedding Hall with the Stories of Alexander and Rossane, imagining that the central scene was dedicated to the Wedding of Alexander and Rossane to celebrate the powerful patron, who in 1519 himself had been married in his second marriage to his mistress Francesca Ordeaschi, for one of the most talked-about marriages of the time.

The restoration thus comes on the 500th anniversary of the creation of the sumptuous work, and is expected to be completed in 2020. Villa Farnesina is now home to theAccademia dei Lincei, commissioner of the intervention, which was entrusted to the direction of Professor Antonio Sgamellotti. The project, he told Ansa, “is part of a broader program of recovery and enhancement of our representative seat, which with its magnificent frescoes constitutes a jewel of the Italian Renaissance a further step toward a new and wider fruition of the Villa Farnesina.” The goal is to restore better conditions of legibility: therefore, it will proceed with a removal of surface deposits, mechanical and chemical cleaning, operations to protect the areas that have suffered detachment, the consolidation of plaster and the pictorial film, and then arrive at the final stages that will involve plastering, reconstruction of the missing wooden elements, reintegration of the painting and gilding, and final protection.

The operation is supported by Double Consulting, a company that works in management consulting.

Pictured: Sodom, The Marriage of Alexander and Roxane (1519; fresco; Rome, Villa Farnesina)

Rome, restoration work begins at Villa Farnesina: work on Sodom frescoes in the wedding hall

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