L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano whole surface clearly reveal- ing all the scars that altered its original look over the centuries: fractures, crack- ing, reworking, scratches, f u r r o w s , a n d d e p o s i t s o f various kinds bear witness to the traumatic events that characterized its inception and creation. Extensive sur- face deposits impaired its legibility and color, includ- ing considerable traces of t h e p l a s t e r c a s t t a k e n b y Florentine molder Oronzio L e l l i i n 1 8 8 2 w h e n t h e s c u l p t u r e s t o o d i n t h e Cathedral (the cast is now in the Gipsoteca dell'Istituto d ' A r t e d i F i r e n z e ) . T o reduce the excessive white- n e s s , w a x w a s a p p l i e d , which degraded in turn. The restoration was per- f o r m e d b y P a o l a R o s a who, in her 30 years long career, worked on master- p i e c e s b y m a j o r a r t i s t s , i n c l u d i n g M i c h e l a n g e l o . W i t h h e r , E m a n u e l a P e i r e t t i . B o t h o f t h e m were assisted by a team of professionals comprising both Opera staff and free- lancers. "The criterion we adopted led to the careful a n d b a l a n c e d r e m o v a l o f surface deposits and to the gradual lightening of chro- matic alterations that inter- fered – the restorer Paola Rosa explained - with the pictorial character of the s u r f a c e s , w h i c h Michelangelo's masterful u s e o f h i s t o o l s h a d achieved." E v e r y s u r f a c e o f t h e sculptural group, including the degraded ones, helped us understand its 470-year h i s t o r y , t h e y s h o w e d i t s state of preservation and suggested the most suitable, l e s s i n v a s i v e m e t h o d s t o clarify its visual message, matching it to the idea of it kept alive in our collective imagination. It is an image characterized by the forced c o h a b i t a t i o n o f d i f f e r e n t expressive languages and executive techniques: the one used by Michelangelo and the one used by Tiberio Calcagni, one more intense a n d p e r s o n a l , t h e o t h e r more academic and formal, both visible on the surface of the material and through workmanship. " T h e P i e t à – s a y s Samuele Caciagli, Works M a n a g e r a n d T e c h n i c a l Area Manager - bears clear and unmistakable signs and scars of its story and of the events that have marked its 470-year history. The trau- matic events narrated by historians and a collecting history consisting of various changes of hands and many changes of place have made t h i s s c u l p t u r a l g r o u p a n e n i g m a t i c w o r k t h a t i s remarkably difficult to study or to understand in terms of the details of its execution, and have inevitably marked a n d a l t e r e d i t s o r i g i n a l aspect." The restoration was made possible by funding from t h e A m e r i c a n n o n - p r o f i t F r i e n d s o f F l o r e n c e F o u n d a t i o n , w h i c h h a s donated over 10 million dol- lars to conservation projects in Tuscany since 1998. Simonetta Brandolini d ' A d d a , F r i e n d s o f F l o r e n c e F o u n d a t i o n ' s President explains: "Friends of Florence was established to safeguard the art heritage of Florence and Tuscany. O u r b e n e f a c t o r s a r e f r e - quently passionate about a g i v e n a r t i s t a n d Michelangelo, a true genius, is unquestionably one of the most important figures on whom we have focused in recent years: witness the restoration and preserva- t i o n o f h i s D a v i d o r o u r work on his River God, on his Prisoners and a number of his youthful drawings and sculptures. The restoration of the Pietà, which instantly met with our benefactors' e n t h u s i a s t i c s u p p o r t because the sculpture is at o n c e s o i n t i m a t e a n d s o powerful, has revealed not only the artist's superb mas- tery of his medium but also the anguish of his tormented s o u l . O n b e h a l f o f t h e Friends of Florence, I would like to thank the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore and its museum for involving us i n t h e r e s t o r a t i o n o f t h i s immense masterpiece." The decision to set up an "open" restoration laborato- ry has allowed visitors to the M u s e o d e l l ' O p e r a d e l D u o m o t o w i t n e s s t h e restoration process while it w a s h a p p e n i n g . Exceptionally, for the next six months only, and until M a r c h 2 0 2 2 , t h e l a b w i l l remain accessible, so that visitors can enjoy the Pietà up close, in a unique, once- in-a-lifetime experience. U n l i k e t h e o t h e r t w o Pietà - the early Vatican one and the Pietà Rondanini - the body of Christ is sup- ported not only by Mary but a l s o b y M a g d a l e n e a n d Nicodemus. In the face of the elderly character, whom Christian tradition believed t o b e a s c u l p t o r , Michelangelo, now in his seventies, depicted himself, as if he wanted to identify with Nicodemus while he l o v i n g l y c a r e d f o r J e s u s ' body. The theme of death, burial, and of the Christian hope for Resurrection, is c o m b i n e d h e r e w i t h a Catholic reflection on the Eucharist: the Pietà reiterat- ed the notion that the parti- cle faithful receive during Mass is the body of Jesus, crucified, buried, and resur- rected. B e y o n d i t s h u m a n a n d d e v o t i o n a l m e a n i n g , t h i s Pietà also answers one of the doctrinal questions of t h e C a t h o l i c C o u n t e r - R e f o r m a t i o n , w h i c h w a s undergoing at the time. In the years 1550-1551 -- while Michelangelo was still work- ing on it -- the Council of Trento issued a decree con- firming the Church believed in the "real presence" of the f l e s h a n d b l o o d o f t h e Redeemer in the bread and w i n e c o n s e c r a t e d d u r i n g M a s s . A n d s o t h e P i e t à , w h i c h w a s s u p p o s e d t o place Christ directly above the Eucharistic table -- the altar -- invited viewers to connect the sculpted body w i t h t h e s a c r a m e n t a l Corpus Domini. The Pietà, which arrived in Florence in 1674, in the Duomo in 1722, and in the Museo dell'Opera in 1981, is Michelangelo's last master- piece. And while today we s p e a k o f i t , a n d o f o t h e r sculptures by Buonarroti, as a "non-finished work," the definition that best suits it i s , p e r h a p s , f o u n d i n t h e way the same concept was described in the 16th centu- ry, when an unfinished work of art was still called "infi- nite." NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Nicodemus during a phase of the restoration (Image courtesy of Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore/Photo: Claudio Giovannini) Continued from page 12

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