FLORENCE - Six months of restoration were needed to restore brightness and original chromatism to the portrait of Dante by Andrea del Castagno, one of the best known of the great poet.
The intervention on the work, kept by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, was carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre dure which intervened on the sediments present on the pictorial surface and on the retouching that had darkened the portrait giving an 'oil painting' appearance. .
The restoration, which started with an in-depth research on the fresco and a scientific analysis of the executive technique, has thus restored the lightness typical of mural painting in the work, rediscovering a face of Dante bright and animated by an almost youthful freshness.
Now the portrait of Andrea del Castagno, an artist among the protagonists of Florentine painting of the mid-fifteenth century, will be the protagonist of the exhibition 'Dante - The vision of art', organized in Forlì by the Cassa dei Risparmi Foundation of the Romagna city together with the Uffizi Galleries , which lend about 50 works for the celebrations for the 700th anniversary of the death of Alighieri.
At the end of the exhibition, the detached fresco will be exhibited in Castagno d'Andrea, in the municipality of San Godenzo (Florence), the birthplace of the painter Andrea del Castagno and the place where Alighieri, exiled from Florence, decided to accept the provision of the Florentines and not to return to his city.
"This is perhaps the most famous image of Dante, an icon that is linked to Italian culture and spirit - commented the director of the Uffizi, Eike Schmidt, presenting the restored work via videoconference -. Even more significant is the fact that the restoration was financed by Linda Balent, of the Friends of the Uffizi Galleries, the American branch of the Friends of the Uffizi. Because Dante is in fact also a universal poet, and his work is current everywhere in the world ".
"Our research project - explained Marco Ciatti, superintendent of the Opificio delle Pietre dure - concerned the current conditions of the work, now restored, but it also involved an in-depth study which is useful for the history of the restoration".
Schmidt also took the opportunity to announce that he had requested, as part of the Recovery plan, funding for projects for the area such as that of the Uffizi diffusi.
"With the task force for the Recovery Plan of Tuscany of the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze Foundation we have promoted the Uffizi diffusi project - he said -. There are spaces and buildings that could play a fundamental role in revitalizing not only tourism, but culture. widespread throughout Tuscany ".
