Bardi Chapel with Giotto's frescoed Stories of St. Francis will be restored

Presented is the restoration of the Bardi Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, which houses one of Giotto’s pictorial masterpieces: a cycle painted in the third decade of the 14th century, depicting the Stories of St. Francis, which is one of the great artist’s last works.

Seventy years after the last restoration, another restoration is now needed, which is essential for the preservation and deepening of Giotto’s technique.
The restoration has been entrusted by theOpera di Santa Croce to theOpificio delle Pietre Dure and will have the decisive support of theAssociation for the Restoration of the Italian Artistic Heritage (ARPAI) and the Fondazione CR Firenze, as well as the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities; the work will last three years.

The total economic commitment is about one million euros and sees the contribution of the Opera di Santa Croce itself and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. ARPAI and Fondazione CR Firenze are intervening using theart bonus.

Recently the Opificio delle Pietre Dure conducted a thorough and accurate research work on Giotto’s work in the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels. The analysis of the state of conservation has highlighted critical issues affecting both the plaster and the paint film.
This preliminary investigation campaign resulted in an articulated intervention project: a first phase of diagnostic campaign is planned, which will be started immediately, and the subsequent multi-stage conservative restoration that will be extensively documented. The investigations will be carried out thanks to the latest opto-electronic instrumentation and will be scheduled at different times.

In 1730, Giotto’s frescoes were covered with lime paint, using the technique of scialbatura. Indeed, Giotto’s painting, after being loved and admired throughout the Renaissance, ended up being considered unfashionable: too bright colors and a style defined with primitive disdain. It took one hundred and twenty years to rediscover this Florentine masterpiece, thanks to an intervention that marked the birth of the great Italian tradition of restoration. The discovery of the paintings in the Bardi Chapel happened by chance, during the course of the start of major works of overall rearrangement. The frescoes were brought to light thanks to the work of Gaetano Bianchi, between 1850 and 1853.
On the occasion of the Giottesque exhibition in 1937 the wall cycles of the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels were the subject of an intervention directed by Ugo Procacci and executed by the workshop of Amedeo Benini. Decisive then was the restoration that, between 1958 and 1961, was completed by Leonetto Tintori, again under the direction of Ugo Procacci.

Pictured: Detail of the death of St. Francis in the Bardi Chapel.

Bardi Chapel with Giotto's frescoed Stories of St. Francis will be restored

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.