The San Marcello Crucifix has conservation problems and is being restored at the Vatican. Official confirmations

Following thearticle inIl Messaggero reporting on the damage that the 14th-century San Marcello Crucifix allegedly sustained when it was displayed in St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ urbi et orbi blessing last Friday, March 27, we wanted to ask the Fondo Edifici di Culto (FEC), or the entity, represented by the Ministry of the Interior, which is in charge of the management of the work (which is the property of the Italian state), what is the condition of the sculpture(a work with a long history), whether the display of the Crucifix has caused any damage (and if so, what), and who will take care of any restoration.

“Following the temporary placement of the Crucifix on the parvis of St. Peter’s,” the FEC let them know, “the Vatican’s Painting Restoration Laboratory carried out a check on the state of conservation of the work to verify any problems resulting from the recent exhibition on Friday, March 27. At the end of the exhibition, the Crucifix was placed in storage in the premises of the Floreria where it was subjected to a careful examination in the course of which a number of conservation problems not strictly attributable to the last stages of transport were highlighted, with the exception of a drop in the gilding under a fold of the loincloth. It was noted that said lack is in an area where there are lifts and detachments of the gilded finish, which have certainly been present for some time.”

Analysis revealed further problems: “in the front part of the left arm there are numerous restoration fillings now lacking the pictorial integration. In the same area there are also some lifts of the original polychrome finish, which, according to the findings of the aforementioned restorer’s report, would belong to existing conservation problems. Small lifts and micro-falls are also found on the hair.”

The work was therefore admitted to proceed with restoration. “On March 30,” FEC officials told us, “the Central Directorate of the Worship Buildings Fund, which owns the property in question, asked the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologica Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Rome to coordinate the restoration work, which is currently underway.” The intervention is being turned over to the Vatican, under the direct supervision of Chief Restorer Francesca Persegati. The intervention is being conducted at no charge by the FEC and the SABAP Superintendency of Rome, and consists of the consolidation and reattachment of the lifts of the pictorial states by infiltration of suitable adhesives, the filling of the gap on the loincloth, and pictorial reintegration.

The San Marcello Crucifix has conservation problems and is being restored at the Vatican. Official confirmations

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