Restoration of Donatello’s David Florence Italy

Here in Firenze (Florence, Italy), the Museo Nazionale del Bargello is conducting a thorough cleaning and restoration of Donatello’s most famous sculpture “David” (of the Bible story with Goliath) and they are doing it right inside the museum for visitors to see! It is happening upstairs immediately next to the place where the “David” is normally exhibited. The “David,” a bronze measuring 158 cm high x 51 cm wide, is the most well-known and admired of works by Donatello and was created sometime between 1427 and 1443.




I hope you enjoy my little images of the restorer at work. Note the microscope. The restorer is also using a scalpel to scrape away encrusted materials on the bronze. To quote the brochure:

“The previous maintenance work [done more than 100 years ago] has been carried out using unsuitable methods and materials which have caused uneven and quite large encrustations, to be formed on the surface. This has been caused because of ‘waxings’ mineralized and mixed with dust, forming layers over the numerous dark glazes which it was customary to apply to sculpture during the 18th and 19th centuries.”

“. . . Furthermore, localized use of the special laser, constantly readjusted as necessary (by consultancy with scientific experts) will be made to clean the gilded parts.”

I saw the restorer scraping at the metal with a scalpel and then daubing a cotton ball dipped in what was labelled as “White Spirit.” [yes, in English] This laborious work is expected to take 18 months, from June 2007 through all of 2008.

My friends and I also visited the Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Museum of the Factory of the Hard Stone) on Via Alfani. One can see around town, especially near the Pitti Palace, images that look like paintings but in fact are a stone mosaic of sorts. In-laid stones of the most amazing colors and patterns and fantastically well done.

The most fascinating pieces to me were the flower petals with gradated colors. They were probably hand-chosen and very carefully cut. They make the subject (often flowers or birds) look surprisingly 3-dimensional. They also showed some landscapes and sea scapes, with people and animals. Our favorites were waves made of what looked like petrified wood with tails and other body parts of sea creatures penetrating the ocean’s surfaces.

I hope you enjoy these images – remember, there is no painting done on these and I never noticed any kind of rock filler. They are quite lovely to behold and I recommend everyone visit this museum when you can. One of my clear favorites was the table with the sea shell patterns. I cannot image the time an artisan would have taken to even choose the stone!

Protecting Artwork During War - Florence, Italy

This past weekend (29-30 Settembre) was European Heritage Weekend. This meant, in Firenze anyway, that the state museums were free to enter. While I spent my Saturday morning at Steve Armes' landscape workshop in Fiesole and the afternoon painting in my room, I was up rather early on Sunday morning to stand in line at the famous Galleria d'Uffizi.

There was a photography exhibit on the first floor from World War II. On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war and
immediately began to make plans to protect its artworks. The first step was to move all that could be moved out of the
city of Florence into the neighboring countryside areas that were considered to be less of a target. What was not able to be moved were artworks such as frescoes in churches, carved portals, fountains, tombs, and, of course, large sculptures, such as Michelangelo's 'David.'

The exhibit was titled "Protezione dell opere d'arte" (opera = work, singular; opere d'arte = works of art). There were originally more than 5000 black and white photographs taken from 1940 to 1945 by the personnel of the Gabinetto Fotografico. However, many of them were lost in the great flood of 1966. (Markers showing the water levels that November can be seen in various points around the Renaissance city.)

I was especially intrigued by a photograph labeled "Firenze Galleria dell' Accademia. Lavori di protezione antiaerea del David di Michelangelo 25 gennaio 1943" In January of 1943,'David' was first wrapped up in place at the Accademia and then enclosed in a tall brick cylinder with a continuous dome cap (almost shaped like a grain storage "bullet" you see on American farms). This same "false wall" system was used to fully surround frescoe paintings and other substantial works of art in Florence.

On 30 July 1944, an evacuation of the city of Firenze / Florence around the bridges over the Arno River was ordered. But on the morning (night) of 4 August, the Germans bombed and destroyed all bridges, except the Ponte Vecchio. Liberation came later that month. However, there were four sculptures on the Ponte di Santa Trinita, representing each of the seasons, that were destroyed in the bombings. While most of the sculpture parts were found relatively quickly and restored, it was not until 7 October 1961 that the head of "Spring" (primavera) was finally found at the bottom on the Arno during some river maintenance!

(ponte = bridge; vecchio = old)

If you would like to read about the flood of 1966, please visit:
4 November 2006 Newsletter