starting from Wednesday 15 November there Synacle Hall Subordinate National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci to Milan It is reopened to the public after an important event Recovery. The room is the old refectory of the huge complex of the 16th-century Monastery of San Vittore of Olive, where the museum has been located since 1953, the year of its opening, and was built between 1709 and 1712 on the occasion of the expansion of the monastery.
Thanks to the work done on plaster and frescoes, he worked Pietro Gilardi And Giuseppe Antonio Castelli Known as Il Castellino, the original beauty of one of the few remaining testimonies in Milan of Parochetto Lombardo has been restored in a religious context: the back wall houses the large fresco of The Wedding of Cana by Pietro Gilardi, while the low vault and side walls display a series of articulated architectural squares, with flowers Fruits, wreaths, and monochromatic biblical scenes taken from the Old Testament.
Through an intervention of consolidation, cleaning and pictorial integration, the possibility of appreciating the rich decoration of one of the most evocative spaces of the Museum was restored, highlighting the colors and gilding that changed over time and historical events. The evidence that has emerged during the restoration work is accompanied by research into the artistic and architectural history of the hall, which on this occasion was carried out for the first time in a systematic manner starting from archival and documentary sources thanks to the collaboration with the historian of art. Stefano Bruzzese. This opens the possibility of more accurately attributing the works of Pietro Gilardi and Castellino, clarifying the unique iconographic programme, and better contextualizing the old refectory within the cultural ferment that initially animated the city and the Lombard panorama. 18th century.
“This restoration is of particular importance in the process of caring for the museum’s architectural heritage that we have undertaken over the years. It conveys the history and beauty of this important room. The hall has hosted conferences and concerts as an integral part of our cultural activity, making the museum a lively place for meeting and discussion. I thank the generous contribution made by Fimesa and the Sordi family for making this project possible, in memory of Roberto and Silvio Preti.” Fiorenzo Marco GalliDirector General of the Museum.
“The restoration process is one of the most important moments in understanding the work of art. The decoration of the room, created by Pietro Gilardi and Antonio Castellino at the beginning of the 18th century, revealed itself, after the necessary cleaning, plastering and color rebalancing, in all its luminous and material quality – comments the restorer Vanda Franceschetti -. Baroque painting, burdened with numerous decorations that had suffered during the old formal restorations, regained its color values and refined decorative characteristics made of elegant gilding, deep shadows and velvet, and material reliefs that penetrate the two dimensions of the pictorial context. A large fresco by Pietro Gilardi dominates the room with dramatic backlighting like the backdrop of a stage show. Diagnostic analyzes provided important elements for evaluating operating methods. Previous restoration interventions constituted the starting point (1950 Otimi della Rota) and the arrival point (2004 Restoration Collaborative) of the current restoration.”
«The restoration of the Baroque frescoes in the Sala Cenacolo not only made it possible to restore the splendor praised by historians of the eighteenth century, but was also an opportunity to carry out archival studies and research, which are still ongoing, with the aim of clarifying the events and methods of execution of the frescoes of Giuseppe Antonio Castelli and Pietro Gilardi and the creation of… A very special icon plan dedicated to the food theme. “This research is part of the scientific program run by the Museum, in collaboration with the supervisory staff and scientific collaborators (in this case, the art historian Stefano Bruzzese) to reconstruct the history of the site of the Monastery of San Vittore, from the Late Period – ancient to the founding of the Museum.” Claudio GiorgioneCurator, Leonardo Museum of Arts and Sciences.
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