Art

by Sandro Pintus

The Madonna of San Giorgio alla Costa by Giotto
Restoration techniques

Thanks to the technology available at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Firenze, the painting was analysed during its restoration in great detail, photographed with ultraviolet rays to view its fluorescence and scanned with infrared rays. The image of the painting was therefore broken down electronically, comparisons made and then reconstructed again. The various layers of colour were analysed to examine previous restoration work and cleaning and several mistakes were found, probably due to rather unsophisticated methods. Moreover a special X-ray, unique in its kind, made it possible to view the substratum of the painting.

Detail of the restored Madonna by Giotto

A labour of love that was carried out in collaboration with institutes and boards like the Institute of Electromagnetic Wave Research of the C.N.R., the National Board of Alternative Energy and the National Institute of Optics of the University of Florence; thanks to this concentrated scientific intervention it was possible to learn much more about the techniques used by the artist and discover any damage caused by previous restoration work. This type of concentrated scientific intervention, which is extremely important when restoring works of art, will also be used to verify other works by artists who were influenced by Giotto. See also: The Madonna by Giotto, restored after the explosion of the bomb at the Uffizi The proof that this painting is by Giotto was found during its restoration

FAN

FAN-Florence ART News
a cura di
Silvia Messeri & Sandro Pintus