Art and history against the force of nature: two documentaries on Rai5

On Friday, April 23 at 9:15 p.m., Rai5 will air a new episode of Art Night, a program by Silvia De Felice, Massimo Favia and Marta Santella directed by Andrea Montemaggiori. It will be an episode dedicated toart and history that sometimes succumbs to the force of nature, but also an opportunity to discover how a calamity can give birth to a new art collection.

The evening opens with the documentary Baia. The Sunken City: an extraordinary journey to discover Baia, center of the “dolce vita” of the ancient world, now submerged in the Gulf of Pozzuoli, through exclusive access to the underwater restoration campaign. The documentary, written and directed by Marcello Adamo with text collaboration by Andrea Branchi, produced by GA&A Productions and Filmare Entertainment in collaboration with Rai Cultura, is made thanks to the synergy with the Central Institute for Restoration, the Campi Flegrei Archaeological Park and the CNR. From the cooperation between entities and institutes comes the ambitious project of the permanent restoration campaign, of which the documentary recounts some phases. The extraordinary and evocative underwater footage documents the intervention of the multidisciplinary team of technicians, scientists and researchers entrusted with the complex task of preserving, through pioneering techniques, the artifacts kept at the bottom of the sea. This is a unique work in the world, to which the attentions of the international scientific community as well as those of millions of enthusiasts are directed. The extremely delicate restoration campaign in Baia represents the heart of the documentary, which aims to show the complexity of a restoration operation of a submerged archaeological area but also to hypothesize, starting with some underwater topographical surveys, what Baia must have looked like at the time of its heyday. Through the use of computer graphics, after a lengthy reconstruction work that benefited from the advice of Gennaro di Fraia, the film offers a living and vital image of Baia, of which we discover the villas and the overlooking of the sea that made it a refuge from the austere and hectic life of the capital for emperors and wealthy Romans.

The continuous discoveries made by archaeologists testify that there are still many archaeological treasures to be found and protected, even in view of the fact that only a small part of the archaeological area has been studied. This is a crucial step in transferring this immense heritage to future generations, who will soon be called upon to preserve the extraordinary Archaeological Park. Baia, one of the excellences of Italian archaeology, is preparing for a new splendor.

Next, Art Night will tell how it works in the protection of art in the great natural disasters that have struck our country, starting with the 1966 flood in Florence, when the Arno River endangered citizens and a priceless artistic heritage preserved in churches, museums and palaces. For the first time since the postwar period, the cultural wealth of Florence and Italy was seriously endangered, and for the first time specialized restoration centers such as the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence found themselves operating in an emergency situation, experimenting with new techniques and protocols of action. From there, with a time jump we arrive at 1997, at that image printed in the collective memory, of the collapse of the vault of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. In that collapse three restorers lost their lives, and for years it was believed that we had also lost one of the most significant works of medieval art. Since 1966 incredible progress has been made, unfortunately also thanks to the emergency situations that Italy has suffered: from the L’Aquila earthquake in 2009 to the Cinque Terre flood in 2011 to the recent earthquake in Central Italy. Thanks to Teche Rai, Art Night will tell the story of art preservation in Italy, with Salvare l’arte by Linda Tugnoli.

Pictured, remains of the sunken city of Baia.

Art and history against the force of nature: two documentaries on Rai5

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