Rome, completed restoration of marble busts in the corridor leading to the Gallery of Palazzo Corsini

The last two busts in the series of twelve that decorate the entrance corridor to the Corsini National Gallery in Rome, restored by the Laboratorio Materiali Lapidei and the Laboratorio Gessi e Calchi of the Central Institute for Restoration, have returned to Palazzo Corsini on Via della Lungara. The restoration of the marble busts in the entrance corridor to the Gallery has thus been completed.

The series consists of eleven marble busts, as well as a plaster bust. The eleven marble busts are composed of ancient heads, dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, which were restored and reintegrated in the 18th century. The entry of these works into the Corsini collection coincides with the setting up of the grandiose palace on Via della Lungara by the family of Pontiff Clement XII, at the initiative, in particular, of Cardinal Neri, a prominent figure in the political and cultural scene of eighteenth-century Rome. The ancient heads, acquired by the Corsini mostly at the time of their discovery during excavations, were restored and reintegrated in marble, based on the criteria proper to that time, by sculptor-restorators such as Carlo Antonio Napolioni, a figure well known to scholars, active in the same years on the sculptures of the Albani collection, acquired by Pope Corsini himself as the initial nucleus of the Capitoline Museum. The works represent examples of the hybrid nature between ancient and modern that characterizes many ancient sculptures from historic collections; it was precisely this peculiarity that directed the restoration criteria, particularly with regard to cleaning. The plaster bust, a cast of the so-called Goddess of Butrint, on the other hand, is of twentieth-century workmanship.

The works were obscured by thick, now-settled deposits, which significantly altered their appearance; some ancient plasterwork was also altered, lifted or missing.

The restoration consisted mainly of cleaning the pieces, a particularly delicate operation for works of this nature, composed of parts made in different eras, with marbles of often dissimilar hues, but skillfully harmonized by previous restorations and elapsed time. The cleaning aimed not only to remove surface deposits, but to preserve the balance achieved between the ancient and modern parts. Through gradual and selective cleanings carried out with high-retention gels, it was possible to identify the point at which the existing dissimilarities between the ancient original and the modern restoration reached a satisfactory balance, a harmony that the complete removal of deposits would surely have compromised. Stucco additions and ancient mastics were also preserved and restored. Based on similar criteria, minor excavation incrustations not removed by the eighteenth-century restorer were left in place, consistent with full respect for historical restoration and thus for the manner in which the works had been presented at the time of their entry into the collection of which they still form part.

After cleaning, the small solutions of continuity between the different parts of which each bust is composed were plastered over and a light protective layer was applied to safeguard the works, in view of their location in a place of transit, in easy contact with visitors. The intervention involved the maintenance of the polychrome marble pedestals on which the busts are placed.

Pictured are the busts before and after restoration.

Rome, completed restoration of marble busts in the corridor leading to the Gallery of Palazzo Corsini

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