Restoration of Giorgio Vasari’s Lamentation over Christ Deposed from the Cross, one of the most significant works preserved at the MAR - Ravenna City Art Museum, is now underway. The painting, an oil on panel made in 1548 for the Classe Abbey in Ravenna, is usually displayed in the section dedicated to 16th-century painting. The work, which is one of the masterpieces of the museum’s collection of ancient art, combines the dramatic power of the Deposition with the intense melancholy of the Lamentation. Today it is in need of painting surface restoration: it has therefore left the museum to undergo delicate conservation work at the historic Ottorino Nonfarmale Restoration Laboratory.
The painting had already undergone a previous restoration between 1979 and 1981 at Ottorino Nonfarmale’s historic workshop, which had involved transferring the work to a new rigid anodized aluminum support with a honeycomb structure, capable of guaranteeing elasticity and resistance to wood movement. However, with the passage of time, the panel now shows obvious chromatic alteration due to yellowing of the varnish, oxidative phenomena, and lifts and gaps near the previous fillings. Without timely intervention, these critical issues could further compromise the stability and legibility of the work.
The new restoration will therefore aim to halt the deterioration processes and restore the painting’s extraordinary expressive power to the public. It is not only a conservative operation, but alsoa path of study, dissemination and enhancement that will include conferences, thematic meetings and the publication of a scientific volume, useful to document all the phases of the intervention and the new knowledge acquired during the process.
At the same time, a readjustment of the exhibition spaces of the museum’s central gallery, which houses the great altarpiece, will also be initiated. This intervention will include a new layout and lighting design, as well as the renovation of the walls, didactic apparatus and multimedia supports.
The restoration will then be accompanied by diagnostic investigations and scientific insights, carried out in collaboration with the University of Bologna and the Superintendence, and will also involve the work’s precious original frame, mentioned by Vasari himself in his Lives.
The project is supported by the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Municipality of Ravenna and the companies Service srl / Studio consulenza and Rm srl, which have contributed through the Art Bonus, confirming the importance of the synergy between the public and private sectors in the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage.
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| Giorgio Vasari's Lamentation over Christ Deposed from the Cross leaves Ravenna's MAR for restoration |
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