Project Strappi kicks off at Palazzo Grassi, open restoration site of 18th-century wall paintings

From October 27, 2021 Palazzo Grassi - Punta della Dogana presents Strappi, a restoration site project open to the public of two large-scale wall paintings by Carlo Innocenzo Carloni (Scaria d’Intelvi, 1687 - Scaria d’Intelvi, 1775) that decorated the walls of Palazzo Grassi until the 1980s. The paintings involved in the restoration, now part of the movable heritage of Palazzo Grassi - Pinault Collection, made by the painter between 1740 and 1745 for the Villa Colleoni Capigliata in Calusco d’Adda, are Emperor Frederick II receives a safe-conduct from Colleoni to travel to Rome and Pope Paul II receives Colleoni and entrusts him with the task of fighting the Turks: these will be visible in the different evolutionary stages of their restoration according to a program of guided tours led by cultural mediators every Wednesday at 11 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m. and 3 p.m.45. With a set-up signed by Zaven, a graphics and design studio, at the invitation of Palazzo Grassi, the open worksite will give visitors the opportunity to follow the restoration by Seres Srl and Mauve Srl. The paintings belong to a set composed of three paintings depicting scenes referable to the life and glories of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni. Torn in the 1950s from their original context and restored to rigid supports for conservation reasons related to the Villa’s state of abandonment, these wall paintings originally decorated the walls of the main hall of the Villa Colleoni. Subsequently, they were purchased by Snia Viscosa, the previous owner of Palazzo Grassi, on the antiques market and entered Palazzo Grassi as furnishing elements. Recovered recently at the behest of Palazzo Grassi from the storage where they had been kept for many years, in agreement with the Soprintendenza Archeologica, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Municipality of Venice and the Lagoon, it was decided to restore them with a construction site open to the public divided into several phases: the first, which opens to the public on October 27, involves two of the mural paintings that relate to scenes with Emperor Frederick II and Pope Paul, while the third Colleoni receives the staff of command from the Doge will be the subject of a subsequent restoration site.

Strappi is a project envisioned in two moments that unfolds first on the second exhibition floor and later in the atrium of Palazzo Grassi, where they were set up before the 1980s, offering a unique opportunity to discover firsthand how a mural restoration takes place. From October 27, the public will then be able to discover upstairs the most delicate operations that take place horizontally on the work by restoring its lining. In the following months, the mural paintings will be moved to the small atrium of Palazzo Grassi where the public will be able to observe the most dynamic aspects of the works that directly affect the pictorial film to restore its original splendor. The installation project conceived by Zaven develops a narrative in the making through the use of the square shape suggested by the paintings and color, which invests the architectural and furniture elements of the work space, but also the clothes of the restorers and cultural mediators who will accompany the public specially designed for the occasion.

Image: Tears, 2021 © Palazzo Grassi. Ph.Credit Matteo De Fina

Project Strappi kicks off at Palazzo Grassi, open restoration site of 18th-century wall paintings

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