Restoration

RESTORATION. –

I. IN ARCHITECTURE

This term denotes those direct interventions upon the structures and essential decorative elements of a building aimed at preserving them or restoring them, as far as possible, to their original condition.

The concept of architectural restoration, particularly insofar as its limits are concerned, has changed over time along with the very concept of the work of architectural art. Nevertheless, as early as 1893, Camillo Boito, an illustrious scholar of problems in the history and criticism of architecture, codifying in two dialogues the rules useful for restoration, stated: better to consolidate than to repair, better to repair than to restore. This implies that the term restoration is confined to the notion of reinstatement, understood in its etymological sense. Boito’s maxim is based on very clear principles: a) a work of architectural art, like any other pictorial or sculptural work of art, cannot tolerate additions, integrations, completions, modifications, or, in any event, tampering by anyone whatsoever, without losing or seeing compromised its original value. b) Any restoration always entails a work of criticism, that is, an intuitive understanding of the work of art itself and knowledge of its individual values. To restore, therefore, means principally to preserve.

Nevertheless, given that, also as a result of the destruction caused by the recent war, the fundamental principles of restoration mentioned above had to be applied with various adaptations—determined by the fact that the buildings requiring attention were organisms still alive and functioning within the complex life of society, and therefore could not be left in a state of more or less picturesque ruins—here follows a classification of the various types of restoration. This classification, however, is set forth only after clarifying that in the majority of cases the different working criteria often had to be adopted simultaneously, even within one and the same restoration. For it has been only rarely the case that

(from Bollettino d'arte, 1918, no. 2, p. 206, pg. 1)
RESTAURO - Façade of the cathedral of Salerno, before restoration.

monuments that needed to be consolidated without being reinstated or reassembled, or that did not require new adaptations or arrangements in some part of them. In any event, when carrying out an architectural restoration, one distinguishes operations of consolidation, reinstatement, reassembly, adaptation, or arrangement.

1. Restoration for consolidation consists in the pure and simple strengthening of the structures of a building. This may be achieved by gradually replacing or otherwise reinforcing the masonry or the load-bearing elements of the structure. A characteristic example is that of the thirteenth-century church of S. Lorenzo in Naples, in which all the ancient pillars of the building that threatened to collapse were patiently hollowed out one by one, and an armed-concrete support was placed inside them, anchored below to the duly reinforced foundations and above to a tie beam, likewise of armed concrete, upon which the weight of the roofs rests. In this way, the entire architectural organism of the church of S. Lorenzo is now as if enclosed and supported by an invisible framework that guarantees its absolute stability.

2. Restoration for reinstatement

These were the most frequent among those imposed by the events of war. Generally, they concern restorations of buildings that have been demolished or damaged in only some parts, while remaining intact or almost intact in others. In these buildings, the imperative principle of creating no falsifications, and of not disturbing the whole with works discordant with the ancient structure, has often put the restorer’s intelligence and sensitivity to a severe test. The task is to harmonize the new parts with the ancient ones, while distinguishing them from the latter. This can be achieved by various methods, ranging from the use of different materials to the adoption of a different technique, or to the clear dating engraved on the new elements that necessarily have to be inserted. The restorations carried out, for example, at Palazzo Vitelleschi in Tarquinia, at S. Domenico in Bologna, at the Eremitani in Padua, at the church of S. Maria delle Grazie in Viterbo, and at the minor basilica of the Osservanza in Siena, are characteristic examples of this. Another example is the restoration of the basilica of S. Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome, where, in truth, the portico provides a characteristic example of restoration for reassembly.

3. Restoration for reassembly is in fact defined by those operations made possible and advisable by the opportunity to reassemble a building using the same elements, the same ancient stones replaced in their original locations. This has been possible especially in certain isolated or small structures, or in structures inserted almost independently within larger buildings. Such is the case in the portico of S. Lorenzo in Rome, in many buildings at Pompeii, in the left side of the church of S. Maria della Catena and in the arcaded courtyard of Palazzo Abbatelli in Palermo, in the Mastrogiudice and Piccolomini chapels of the church of Monteoliveto in Naples, in the Bramantesque portico near S. Ambrogio in Milan, in the temple of Augustus at Pola, etc.

However, the following may also be defined as restoration for reassembly:

(from Bollettino d'arte, 1918, no. 2, p. 507, pg. 1)
RESTAURO - Facade of the cathedral of Salerno, partially restored.

of the gigantic structures of the facade and sides of the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini. These were structures whose disjointed stones, though not brought down by the explosions, were patiently and systematically numbered, surveyed, photographed, and then dismantled one by one, like the parts of a machine, and subsequently reassembled so that they would once again occupy the places they had held before the disaster. All this was done, despite the immense bulk of the structure, with a method and technical perfection which, given the scale and at the same time the delicacy of the work, borders on the miraculous. A work of this kind, however, had already been carried out 130 years earlier by Valadier for the r. of the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum.

4. R. of adaptation and arrangement, on the other hand, are those carried out on buildings, or parts of buildings, which for various reasons have lost their original character, and for which it would be illogical to attempt to restore their original appearance. Who today would think of restoring Castel S. Angelo in Rome by attempting to give it back the appearance it had when it was erected as the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian? Likewise, today no one thinks of restoring the beautiful S. Chiara in Naples in order to return it to the marvellous appearance to which the Neapolitans had reduced it through centuries of work, art, love, and devotion. Of the ancient S. Chiara, consumed by the flames of an incendiary bomb on 4 August 1943, the fourteenth-century structures are now being consolidated and covered with a large trussed roof. The restored building will have an appearance entirely different from the ancient one, when it was all resplendent with gold and vivid colours. It will convey an entirely new impression, not without a tragic beauty of its own.

The first stage in this restoration of paintings is cleaning, which is dangerous and difficult even when it does not involve the removal of added parts. Certainly, the new scientific discoveries provide considerable assistance in this regard, foremost among them radiography, which makes it possible to determine how to use the reagents for cleaning. These may be numerous, and it will be necessary to select from among them those that appear most suitable on the basis of the chemical and physical examination of the painting. Without enumerating them, it may be observed only that the substances most commonly used are those based on turpentine, which, evaporating rapidly, prevent the subsequent and slow corrosive action that is unavoidable when alkaline substances are used (soda and potash). Once the cleaning has been completed, a new problem arises: that of consolidating the surfaces and « filling » the lacunae that have become evident. Excluding completion, which could only falsify the artist’s work (which, precisely because it is a work of art, is always an individual creation and therefore does not permit substitutions), the methods now in use are either to mark the contours of the destroyed areas with neutral-toned lines, so as to render only the original rhythm of the composition (Politico di s. Gregorio by Antonello in the Museo nazionale di Messina), or the other method, used at the Istituto centrale del r. in Rome, which consists in filling the missing parts with watercolour, retouching them with a system of hatching that, while satisfying the eye, can also always be easily removed should a different taste in restoration lead to an alternative treatment.

Yet another problem often demands subtle procedures and considerable labour: the strengthening, straightening, or even reconstruction of ancient painted panels. One of the most common operations in the restoration of ancient paintings on panel, which are easily bent, is parquetry, consisting in definitively returning the panel to a flat position. This is a happy innovation of recent times, and it contrasts with the fixed crossbars formerly glued to the reverse of the panel, which themselves caused distortions and cracks. The new system, by contrast, consists in leaving the crossbars perpendicular to the wood fibres free to slide; this allows the wood to move (it moves only in that direction), almost to « breathe », without compromising the stability of the panel.

For paintings on canvas, on the other hand, relining is often necessary—that is, lining the old canvas with a new one by means of special procedures and glues which, permeating the original canvas, also serve to reinforce the painting in the adhesion between ground and colour. Nor is it unusual for a painting to be transferred from panel to canvas: this too is an extremely delicate operation, carried out in a manner very similar to that used for the transfer of frescoes, namely by progressively destroying the old panel from behind, after canvases have been glued to the painted surface to ensure the stability of the painting throughout the operation.

As for frescoes, it is well known that although in antiquity works painted on walls were sometimes moved, this was done by transferring the fresco together with the entire wall. Today, the operation is carried out either by detaching the painting and the plaster alone, using long blades that cut the latter away from the wall, or by strappo. In the latter operation, canvases are glued to the painting and then « torn » away from the wall; the painted surface remains glued to the canvases, and work can thus be carried out on its reverse, preparing it for mounting on a frame. The canvases applied to the front of the fresco, which served for the strappo, can then be removed.

III. IN SCULPTURE

The restoration of conservation and consolidation of sculpted works consists in eliminating the causes that bring about their deterioration. Among these, those arising

from atmospheric agents must chiefly be recalled; and, for marble statues that have become friable, measures are taken to halt the disintegration of the material, for example by means of baths based on silicates; for wooden statues, on the other hand, it will often be necessary to eliminate woodworm (and this also applies to paintings on wood). But in addition to these operations aimed at eliminating the causes of deterioration, one also finds oneself having to confront, in the case of sculptures as well, the problem of restoration through liberation; examples of this are the well-known Renaissance “completions” or, worse still, the Baroque “alterations” of ancient statues. Today, unfortunately, one has ended up having to tolerate additions which, once removed, would have left only stumps perfectly cut and smoothed by the old restorers in order to adapt the additions in question to them. Pure and simple conservation of the work of art, therefore, in sculpture too, even if at times the need for an integration is felt, within the limits permitted by the respect that the work of art demands. And a recent experiment by the Institute of r. is recalled, in which, for example, the completion with di-

opposite material to a bronze trapezophoron, marking the restored sections with fine, vertical, parallel incisions, “which do not alter the continuity of the work’s epidermis, while nevertheless determining the restored areas in an unmistakable manner” (Cagiano de Azevedo): in other words, the hatching system used for pictorial works was transferred to sculpture. In any case, it is always good practice to turn, for the necessary restoration work, to the competent technical authorities, whose work generally offers every guarantee. In conclusion, it may be stated that the restorer’s activity must always be guided by a critical, evaluative judgment of the work of art. The restorer must ensure that, in the restored work of art, what is new is distinguishable from what is ancient. He must never attempt falsification. In this case too, whatever is false is condemnable. - Vedi tavv. XLI-XLII.