Siena, start of restoration of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Croce del Carmine, 14th-century masterpiece

Restoration work has begun at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena on the Cross of the Carmine in Siena, a work by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Siena, c. 1290 - 1348), probably painted in the 1930s and first assigned to the great Sienese painter, author of the Good and Bad Government frescoes in the city’s Palazzo Pubblico, by art historian Carlo Volpe. The dating reflects the Giottesque and Florentine features of the painting, particularly of the figure of Christ, which is distinguished by its solid volumes, livid complexion, and intense expressiveness, denoting pain and suffering. At present, the cross (which fits into a context of crosses painted in Siena between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, characterized by the complex carpentry work with starry polygon terminations and frame molding, in comparison with which Ambrose refines the Gothic canon of the type with the two elegant curvatures in the lower extension of the profiles) is presented without the cymatium, the lateral terminals and the suppedaneum.

Until 1862 (the year to which, moreover, the first trace of the work on documents dates) the work was in the convent of San Niccolò del Carmine in Siena, which had been suppressed years earlier: the majestic painted cross, 266 cm high and 211 cm wide, was transferred that year to the Regio Istituto di Belle Arti (later to become the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena) because of its poor condition. It was therefore restored, in 1937, by Italo Dal Mas, who recovered the gold background with the geometric pattern work, hidden under a heavy layer of repainting.

A second restoration took place between 1953 and 1956, when the Cross of Carmine was sent to theCentral Institute of Restoration in Rome: on that occasion, it was decided to leave the wood of the support and the raw incamarnation canvas visible in the places where the color had fallen off, and to intervene only with stops where the color had survived but lifted. This is the appearance with which we admire Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s work today. The painting’s condition continues to be suboptimal: in fact, the wooden support has undergone alterations that have weakened its structure, resulting in the loss of color and gilding.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Cross of the Carmine in Siena.

The current restoration project involves a systematic and meticulous inspection of the pictorial surface in order to remove residues of repainting before proceeding with the pictorial restoration. The intervention will also be accompanied by a program of scientific investigations, which, in addition to supporting the restoration project, will allow for an in-depth study of Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s painting technique. A restoration that thus has the dual purpose of ensuring better conservation conditions for the work and improving its legibility.

The work, at the end of the restoration, will be relocated to Room 7 of the Pinacoteca, with other works by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, including the Polyptych of Santa Petronilla, relocated in the recomposition proposed in the staging of the major exhibition on Ambrogio Lorenzetti held in Siena at the Santa Maria della Scala museum complex from October 22, 2017 to April 8, 2018, and which reconstructed the entire artistic career of the Sienese painter.

The restoration, strongly desired by Cristina Gnoni Mavarelli, Maria Mangiavacchi and Elena Pinzauti (respectively former director, curator and restorer of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena) will be carried out by restorer Muriel Vervat and is funded by the Friends of Florence Foundation, which has reconfirmed its collaboration with the Regional Museums Directorate of Tuscany.

Technicians begin work on the work

“With the generous support of Friends of Florence, the Pinacoteca di Siena starts again with the restoration of the great Crucifix by Ambrogio Lorenzetti,” says Stefano Casciu, regional director museums of Tuscany. “Thanks, therefore, to Friends of Florence for the help that will contribute to the return to the museum of a masterpiece by one of the greatest masters of 14th-century Sienese painting, in the prospect of a reopening of the Pinacoteca that will bring it back to the attention it deserves from the citizens of Siena and visitors to the city, who will hopefully return again soon from all over the world.”

“Ambrogio Lorenzetti,” says Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda, president of Friends of Florence, “has always been admired by all Friends of Florence benefactors, and it is a great honor for us to be involved in the restoration of this moving painting preserved at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. Restorer Muriel Vervat has worked on so many of our Foundation’s projects and will bring all her experience and great skill to the conservation of this important Cross.”

Siena, start of restoration of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Croce del Carmine, 14th-century masterpiece

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