Dear Patrons and Friends,
At the beginning of June we welcomed our Patrons back to the Museums and more importantly to our restoration laboratories. Thanks to your support restorers never stopped working, they also completed some of the projects adopted last year.
We are happy to share July’s visits with you, nothing makes us happier than seeing you witnessing the impact your donations have on the artworks treasured in the Vatican Museums.
The Anastasis Sarcophagus
Completed Project
Our tours of the Vatican Museums aim to show to Patrons what a multifaceted and special place this is.
On July 20, Julie and Robert Reveley first saw live the outcome of the brilliant work of restoration made with the Anastasis Sarcophagus with Trees.
The video link below shows the procedures followed
to bring the sarcophagus back to its splendor
Anastasis Sarcophagus with Trees
The Pius-Christian Museum was followed by a special walk through the Anima Mundi. The Ethnological section of the Vatican Museums so dear to Pope Francis is the core of Wishbook 2021 and we want for our Patrons to know its history and needs through the words of its devoted curator Fr. Nicola Mapelli.
The Opus Sectile Project
at the St John Lateran Baptistery
Ongoing Project
Mr. William E. Dingman & Ms. Debra Wert were finally able to get really close to their adopted project.
After consolidating the mortar substrate, the restorers Roberto Cassio, Paolo Monaldi, and Daniele Belladonna secured several stone elements to the stucco they no longer were fixed on. The oxidized vegetable oils on the stone surface, which were applied in the past as reviving agents, were removed. The work has been thoroughly documented with graphics and pictures. Finally, the restorers removed the concrete around the panel with a metal frame, including some stone elements to be reinserted later. In the future, the entire stone portion mounted in a metal frame will be removed to improve its stability. The restorers will finally relocate the panel to its original site and will proceed to clean it and apply a final protective layer. Our thanks to the scientific director of the Vatican Museums’ art department Guido Cornini and the curators Umberto Utro and Alessandro Vella, here below in the picture with the Dingmans.
