The paint used to daub Palazzo Vecchio? Dangerous to historic stones

In Florence, the cleaning of the outer walls of Palazzo Vecchio, which were daubed with orange paint last Friday by two climate activists who were immediately stopped by two policemen and Mayor Dario Nardella, who was on site for an inspection of the restoration site of the Arengario statues, has been successfully completed.

As early as Saturday morning, in fact, technicians from the Fabbrica di Palazzo Vecchio together with researchers from the CNR carried out an inspection to check the state of the facade of Palazzo Vecchio after yesterday’s soiling and immediate cleanup. The intervention, which was conducted immediately by restorers present in the square, proved effective and only two small residues were found, which will be removed today. The facade is undamaged. “The cleaning intervention,” said the director of the Fine Arts and Factory Service of Palazzo Vecchio Giorgio Caselli, “was timely and effective, but we took a big risk and the damage could have been serious.”

This is because, the City of Florence let it be known, the paint used by the defaceers is dangerous to the building’s historic stones, which, moreover, are very porous. The nature of the product used will be ascertained with the appropriate diagnostic investigations on the individual components, but technicians from the Fine Arts and Factory Service of Palazzo Vecchio have already drawn some conclusions from the initial findings. “The intense coloration and the low solubility in water of the residue of the cleaning carried out,” they let it be known through a note, “allow us to hypothesize the use of non-mineral colors with a synthetic base. The level of aggressiveness of such a treatment does not depend on the nature of the materials, but on the characters of the surface involved and the time of intervention with respect to application.”

The rustication of the Arnolfo core of the Palazzo Vecchio, dating back to 1299, was built with pietra forte, a very fine-grained sandstone widely used as a building material in medieval Florence and which, despite its name, is very sensitive to treatments such as the one undergone. Moreover, these are very old and porous stones, and only the timely intervention of qualified technicians and workers promptly prevented a drying of the deposits, already within minutes of application, which would have resulted in the need for cleaning actions far more complex and heavy than those implemented. Finally, following information obtained from the Fire Department, Alia Servizi ambientali spa and the City of Florence, it was determined that more than five thousand liters of water were consumed in a few hours to clean the entire facade of the building.

The paint used to daub Palazzo Vecchio? Dangerous to historic stones

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