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 Brother Giovan Francesco da Acquanegra, praying male figure, XVI century. The statue on removal from the joinsts. |
The sculptures of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Grazie. "The small army" held in the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie contains fifty-three sculptures. They are of natural height and the majority date back to 1500 and are attributed to Frate Giovan Francesco da Acquanegra. Others instead date to the more recent centuries, some as recently as 1800. In their original place of discovery in the joists of the Sanctuary, most of the statues were dressed in clothes that were thought to have been more or less contemporary with the creation of the sculptures. However, it was later discovered that the garments were not clothes, but simply pieces of cloth wrought around the bodies and fixed with fastenings and nails. Analysis of fragments of the cloth covering the statues has shown that the fibre is industrially produced cotton, and therefore dates to the end of 1800. Under the cotton fabric, the sculptures reveal original drapes in linen canvas that had been pinstriped and painted in various bright colours. It was once thought that the sculptures were made from papier maché. However, further analysis of these works has shown that they are not made of papier maché, but of a succession of layers of canvas and pieces of paper that had been pinstriped and painted. Normally, the face and hands of the sculptures were made separately and then sewn or glued onto the body. In several cases they are made of plastering, and in others the hands are made from gloves padded with of flax or straw. More rarely, the hands and face are made from incised wood. It was very interesting to discover other details of the materials used to complete the sculptures: thin twigs for internal support, flax or horsehair for hair, acorns for buttons. Scientific analysis has identified traces of honey and milk in the colour and binder preparations. In their original placing the sculptures appear simply as very dirty objects. In most cases they are in a very poor state of conservation. Some are seriously damaged, both inside and in their entire structure. One of the principal causes of decay is organic deposits - dust, solidified wax and other materials added in successive periods - which have accumulated over the centuries in generous quantities. This has caused serious damage both to the aesthetic appearance of the statues and to their material structure. In addition, physiological ageing of the materials used has caused inevitable weakening of the holding power of the binders used and their consequent deterioration and decomposition. In the most serious cases, pieces have fallen off. Another important cause of decay is the frenetic activity of the rodents which have opened cracks inside the sculptures to build comfortable nests which have mutilated, emptied, holed and lacerated the figures.
 The same statue on completion of the restoration work. |
In numerous cases the sculptures have been subjected to crude repainting in oil, especially over the faces (beards, moustaches and sideburns have been added) the hair and parts of the clothing. The artistic condition generally revealed serious problems of weakening and adhesion to the basic layer, and therefore were often in a serious state of deterioration. Our intervention was aimed at restoring the legibility of the statues and ensuring their future conservation. The first phase of the restoration process involved removal of the dust mainly of organic origin that had accumulated over the sculptures. Materials from the 18th century which covered the sculptures were carefully cleaned using a micro-vacuum cleaner, and where deemed necessary, glued back onto the statues. The sculptures were washed with a detergent water solution. The cloth was removed from the sculptures and held in special containers. Structural re-consolidation of the sculptures was usually undertaken with cellulose ether and paper was used to make the papier maché. The aim was to recreate, repair rips and tears, reattach the pieces that had fallen from the base, and remodel some of the structures (such as the folds in the drapes which had lost their original form). Besides, those parts which make up the wooden skeleton were re-constructed and re-united to the broken pieces. In some cases important pieces of the sculptures were partially or totally missing, such as the arms and hands, and this posed a further problem concerning the method to adopt. The method used took into account the devotional nature of the works, and the main objective of the restoration was to allow a complete and correct reading of the figures. It was decided to reconstruct the missing parts with materials that were compatible with the original, reversible and clearly recognisable. The artistic composition had frequently been weakened and was barely binding to the main body. Water-based materials were used in the preparation of the new parts. On termination of the structural and superficial consolidation phases, cleaning was initiated. Organic deposits were removed from the surfaces which were then and repainted. For this operation surface active agents in water solutions or solvents were used . Following cleaning, the cracks were plastered over. Painting of the areas which had lost their colour was carried out to ensure that the work could easily be reversed and was instantly recognisable. This was done on the basis of colour selection. The sculptures were treated for woodworm. The final coating was undertaken by spraying an opaque synthetic varnish which can be removed at a later stage, which protects the work and provides a homogeneous film which can be cleaned in the future to remove any deposits which may have accumulated.
RESTORATION PROJECT: Anna Bianchi, Ilaria Conti, Giulia Rossi, Loredana Zoni
