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Restoration department: polychrome wooden sculptures

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Activity information

The Laboratory

Location

The laboratory of the Polychrome Wooden Sculptures Department is located in the large spaces on the ground floor of the OPD location at the Fortezza da Basso.

History

Before 1983, there were no laboratories dedicated exclusively to the restoration of wooden sculptures, although the Opificio had restored polychrome wooden artefacts but was not endowed with a specific laboratory for the restoration of wooden sculptures. A dedicated department was established in 1983 in the Fortezza laboratories during the OPD direction of Antonio Paolucci.

Restoration activity, research, training

This department currently employs three restorers-conservators; previous restorers of the department include Gianluigi Canocchi, Sirio Lupi, Roberto Passeri, Mario Venturi, Silvano Vestri, Antonello Pandolfo, Maria Donata Mazzoni and Peter Hans Stiberc. The current restorers are responsible for interventions carried out in the lab or on external sites, as well as for consultation, supervision, first aid operations, securing, and maintenance. The department’s activities also include the study of artistic techniques with the support of non-invasive diagnostic investigations (radiography, computed axial tomography, X-ray fluorescence, 3D scanning, etc.) and research into innovative materials for restoration.
Within the OPD Higher Education School, the teaching of specialised theoretical, methodological, and technical subjects of this department is part of the training program n. 2. This program which, following the Ministerial Decree 87/2009, includes painted artefacts on wooden and textile supports, carved wooden artefacts, wooden furniture and structures, artefacts made of processed, assembled and/or painted synthetic materials (training programs 3, 4 and 5).
The restoration, conservation, maintenance, and diagnostic activities carried out in the department deal with artefacts executed in a variety of techniques (sculptures, furniture, frames, architectural elements, models, demo-ethno-anthropological objects). These belong to periods spanning from the 8th to the 21st century and are of various geographical origins. Due to the multi-material nature of the artworks (i.e. leather or parchment inserts, glass eyes, fabric garments, metal components, papier-mâché parts, plant fibre elements, etc.), the interventions often concern other departments of the Institute, allowing the creation of joint projects involving restorers with different specialisations.

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