Hidden conservation revealed : new media for the presentation of architectural conservation
- Conservation work on cultural heritage occurs mostly ‘behind the scenes’, hidden away from the general public. Research has shown, however, that there is considerable interest from tourists and locals alike to gain insights into conservation practice. While this can be done through visits to conservation laboratories or heritage sites, an additional tool to complement these visits is to provide documentary films of ongoing conservation work.
In the summer of 2016, a group of international master’s students from different study programmes at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg visited Florence to study issues related to the preservation of cultural heritage. In particular, they examined conservation-related work being done at the Courtyard of Michelozzo in the Palazzo Vecchio, where Giorgio Vasari originally decorated the upper wall sections and ceiling with frescoes in 1565. Due to daily wear and tear, which has been exacerbated by a high number of visitors as well as climatic conditions, conservation work becameConservation work on cultural heritage occurs mostly ‘behind the scenes’, hidden away from the general public. Research has shown, however, that there is considerable interest from tourists and locals alike to gain insights into conservation practice. While this can be done through visits to conservation laboratories or heritage sites, an additional tool to complement these visits is to provide documentary films of ongoing conservation work.
In the summer of 2016, a group of international master’s students from different study programmes at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg visited Florence to study issues related to the preservation of cultural heritage. In particular, they examined conservation-related work being done at the Courtyard of Michelozzo in the Palazzo Vecchio, where Giorgio Vasari originally decorated the upper wall sections and ceiling with frescoes in 1565. Due to daily wear and tear, which has been exacerbated by a high number of visitors as well as climatic conditions, conservation work became necessary to address soiled painted surfaces, disintegrating plaster and missing sections of the plaster and paint layers.
This collection of papers addresses a variety of topics relating to the wall paintings by Vasari, as well as threats and tools to protect and conserve them and other cultural heritage sites that are faced with growing tourism. This student project was carried out in collaboration with the UNESCO Office of the Municipality of Florence (Carlo Francini and Chiara Bocchio), the Fine Arts Department of the Municipality of Florence (Giorgio Caselli), the director of the conservation work (Fabio Sforzi), wall painting conservators of the Vasari frescoes (Cristina Conti and Alessandra Popple), the Department of Architectural Conservation at Università di Firenze (Giuseppe Centauri and Daniela Chiesi) and the BTU Media Centre (Ralf Schuster).…