Mendrisio-Florence and back for state-of-the-art investigations

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A pilot technical-scientific research project, never before carried out, was launched by the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence with the SUPSI degree course Conservation and Restoration and the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato.

In the picture, from left to right: Alberto Felici, Cecilie Hollberg e Giacinta Jean

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The subject of the sophisticated diagnostic investigations are Lorenzo Bartolini’s plaster models, preserved in the Gipsoteca of the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. The aim is to gain a more detailed knowledge of the sculptor’s technique in the passage from the plaster model to the final translation in marble, to characterise the materials used in the various phases of workmanship and to better understand what his creative process was. The information gathered will also be very useful for verifying the state of conservation of the works, identifying any structural criticalities that could not be detected through direct observation alone.

“After intense conservation work”, says Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence during the press conference held at the end of March in Florence, “with the refurbishment of the Gipsoteca and the digitisation of all the works, and after the putting online of Lorenzo Bartolini’s complete archive, now accessible to all, I am delighted to be able to present this new, highly innovative pilot project in collaboration with international experts and institutions, such as SUPSI and the Sabap-Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan city of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato.
A research method never before used on the artist’s plaster works, which had never before been investigated so closely from a technical and scientific point of view. In short, yet another cutting-edge project to learn more about the technical procedures to deepen our knowledge of the collections of the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence and share the results for future studies”.

“This method of investigation”, continues Alberto Felici, research professor at SUPSI, Sabap official and curator of the research project, “has been applied to the plaster casts of the Gipsoteca Museo Vincenzo Vela in Ligornetto with a project financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation. It would be desirable to apply it also to other plaster cast collections or museum collections in other countries, thus creating a network of exchanges and comparisons, which would be useful both for a greater understanding of the creation of the works themselves and for the formulation of a plan for monitoring their state of conservation”.

“The collaboration with the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Soprintendenza”, says Giacinta Jean, head of the SUPSI degree course in Conservation and Restoration, “was very important. The analyses carried out on the Ligornetto works have given us a better understanding of Vincenzo Vela’s plaster models; with this project we will be able to compare them with the way of working of Lorenzo Bartolini, an artist who was almost his contemporary. The research that is carried out at SUPSI’s Department of Environment Constructions and Design in the field of cultural heritage is focused on the interdisciplinary study of artistic techniques, with direct observations of the works by those accustomed to reading the subject matter, supplemented by archive research and with scientific support provided by professionals with long experience in this field”.

The project was carried out by an international multidisciplinary team of scientific experts, restorers, art historians and technicians: Cecilie Hollberg, Eleonora Pucci, Graziella Cirri and Elvira Altiero for the Galleria dell’Accademia; Giovanni Nicoli, Elisabeth Manship and Pierre Jaccard for SUPSI; Alberto Felici for Sabap-Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan city of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato. Ottaviano Caruso performed the documentation with UV light, Thierry Radelet the X-rays and XRF, and Mattia Mercante the 3D scans.

To create a sculpture in stone or marble, sculptors have, since ancient times, used a clay model. Given the perishability of this material, in modern times, once the model had been made, a plaster cast was made of it, to preserve the form, and then the final work was transposed, which could also be done with the help of assistants and collaborators. Modelling in clay was almost always the work of the author, so it is in plaster that we find the most autograph forms. Comparison between the plaster and the finished work, in marble or stone, allows us to precisely document the manner of this passage, identifying the presence of any tangencies or differences between them.

For Lorenzo Bartolini, as for many 19th century sculptors, the plaster model represented the interface between the exploratory and design aspect and the more technical or practical aspects of his creation. The marks on the surface of the plaster bear witness to the stages of this complex process, provide a better understanding of what the artist’s modus operandi was and can provide information on many aspects of the technical procedures of his atelier. In addition, the surface of the models bears traces of their conservation history, their vicissitudes and previous restoration work. They are extremely fragile works: plaster is a material that is by nature not very tenacious and very porous, therefore prone to fractures, scratches and abrasions and is very sensitive to the environmental context in which it is stored. It must also be remembered that the models are largely hollow and in some cases made of very thin plaster, with vegetable fibres and cloth mixed in the mixture. Very often they have wooden or iron elements inside the projecting parts. They are polymateric works and require special care in their handling and display.

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