APPENDIX 1

The restoration treatments carried out by Guglielmo Botti and Antonio Bertolli in the 19th century
Guglielmo Botti (born in Pisa in 1829) was first called to Padua in 1867. He was selected on the recommendation of Marquis Pietro Selvatico, due to the reputation he had gained for the restoration of Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescos in the Camposanto in Pisa and his radically new technique for consolidating detached plaster using stacco e riattacco (detaching the fresco and then re-locating it back on the wall). Botti worked on the chapel from 1869 to 1871, restoring the west wall and the chancel arch which had both suffered severe damage from structural movement and the infiltration of rainwater. Work was then interrupted for nearly ten years while the Municipality went about the lengthy process of purchasing the chapel. The restoration only resumed in 1880, this time under the supervision of Antonio Bertolli, a Paduan restorer who had been a student of Botti’s. Using similar methods to his teacher, Bertolli carried out a series of treatments until work was finally completed in 1899.
This appendix is a review of the complicated conservation history of the chapel in the second half of the nineteenth century, obtained by summarising archival documents published in A. Prosdocimi, “Il comune di Padova e la Cappella degli Scrovegni nell’ottocento”, Bollettino del Museo Civico di Padova, XLIX (1960), 1, pp. 1-225. The paragraphs in italics refer to events which, although not strictly relevant to the conservation treatments, were none the less instrumental in their execution.

1867. Pending the purchase of the chapel from the Gradenigo family, the Municipality of Padua appoints a technical committee to write a report on the condition of the building and its mural paintings.
14 April 1867. The technical committee, consisting of Marquis Selvatico, the engineer Benvenisti and the sculptor Gradenigo, deliver their report, including the request that the Pisan restorer G. Botti be consulted.
28 November 1867. The Provincial Commission for the Conservation of Public Monuments in the City and Province of Padua is re-established. It is made up of the mayor, a secretary, the director of the Civic Museum and representatives of the city and the province. The secretary, Marquis Pietro Selvatico, is the most prominent figure in the group.
1872. The Commission publishes its statutes and its report for the period 1868-1871. (P. Selvatico, “Commissione conservatrice dei Pubblici monumenti della città e Provincia di Padova. 1 Statuto. 2 Relazioni del Quadriennio 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871”, Tip. di Francesco Sacchetto, Padua 1872).

19 December 1867.  Invited by the mayor of Padua, G. Botti participates in a meeting of the Provincial Commission, also attended by the chemist Filippuzzi. At the request of the sculptor Gradenigo, the Pisan restorer illustrates the technique he has developed for the consolidation of the paint layer (using Punic wax) and the preparation layers (by detaching fragments or parts of the plaster and then readhering them back onto the wall).
20 December 1867.  Botti, asked by the Provincial Commission to survey the frescos in the chapel, writes a brief report on the treatments to be carried out. The report is read out during the meeting of 21 December 1867.
21 December 1867.  The Commission selects two areas of the chapel where Botti is to perform the consolidation tests: the recess in the choir and the scene depicting the gatherings of the elect on the west wall. Repairs to the masonry and roof will be carried out beforehand.
2 February 1868.  From Pisa Botti sends the Provincial Commission a detailed report on the condition of the frescos and on the treatments to be carried out:
- detachment and reattachment of ‘swollen’ plaster with no adhesion to the wall, using the technique applied to the frescos of the Camposanto in Pisa;
- consolidation of plaster which is detached but not yet ‘swollen’ using T-shaped copper cramps;
- cleaning of the surfaces (using breadcrumbs and/or water-moistened sponges);
- consolidation of the areas painted with azurite using parchment glue (by itself or mixed with skimmed milk in the proportion 1:1).
In his report Botti also suggests the work which he deems necessary to repair the building fabric.

1868-69.  Due to the dispute between the Municipality of Padua and the Gradenigo family over the purchase of the chapel, the building remains closed for more than a year and the planned restoration cannot be carried out. Only in September 1869 does the Ministry of Justice and Religion declare, following an Opinion of the Council of State, that the chapel has to be put under the control of the Keepers of the Church of the Eremitani (“Fabbriceria degli Eremitani”), and therefore the municipality can start work.

25 September 1869.  Botti is appointed by the Provincial Commission to carry out an emergency conservation treatment of the frescos of the Last Judgement (detachment and re-adhesion of plaster which is swollen and in danger of falling in the scenes of Hell and of the gatherings of the Blessed).
9 October 1869.  Botti signs the contract of assignment for the work. The Provincial Commission resolves that a photographer called Naya will carry out a documentation of the areas which are to be restored and that Botti and the chemist Filippuzzi will agree upon which techniques are to be used to dry out the masonry and on the composition of the cement for the re-adhesion of the detached fragments.
11 November 1869.  Botti is commended for his work by the Provincial Commission, which gives him the task of conducting cleaning tests on the panel of the Mourning of Christ, including the decorative border on the right and the panel of the Ascent to Calvary (but only the figure of Christ and the two guards in front of him).
20 November 1869.  Botti receives further praise from the Provincial Commission for the cleaning of the two frescos.
1870.  Botti works in Mantua and in Padua on Andrea Mantegna’s frescos in the Eremitani Church.

1870. The Municipality of Padua undertakes the first repairs to the building fabric of the chapel, including the masonry of the chancel arch. Differences of opinions arise between the municipal engineering office, in charge of the work, and the Provincial Commission, the former insisting on more extensive consolidation treatments than those considered necessary by the commission.

15 December 1870.  The Provincial Commission decides that the municipality should have Botti detach the frescos of the chancel arch and then replace them in situ once the building fabric has been consolidated.
15 December 1870.  Botti produces a detailed report on the treatments to be carried out on the chancel arch:
- detachment of about 7-8 m2 of plaster from the front of the arch (including both figures and decorative elements);
- detachment of all the plaster from the back of the arch (about 4-5 m2);
- cleaning and consolidation of the painted surfaces, without excluding the use of Punic wax to consolidate powdering paint;
- repainting of the blue background areas where necessary (chancel arch and vault);
- reconstruction of missing areas of the frieze on the vault;
- restoration of the panel painting with God the Father (cleaning and consolidation of the paint layer, restoration of the wooden support).
The report also includes the cost estimate of the work.
25 January 1871.  The Municipality of Padua establishes a contract with Botti for the stacco treatment and the reinsertion of the frescoes in the chancel arch.
13 February 1871.  The Provincial Commission, while acknowledging the report presented by the municipal Technical Committee which suggests that the chancel arch should be ‘demolished’ and totally rebuilt with the insertion of a tie-rod, refuses to share the responsibility for such a radical treatment. It does, however, decide to carry out the following:
- photographic documentation of all the frescos that are to be detached (both for reasons of consolidation and to allow the demolition of the chancel arch);
- storage of the detached frescos in the Museum;
- re-adhesion of the frescos to the walls once they have been repaired and completely dried out.
14 April 1871.  The Provincial Commission, having been made aware that the chancel arch will be propped up to allow repair work to start on the fabric, ask the municipality to commission Botti to carry out a preliminary consolidation treatment of the fragments of plaster in danger of falling. The Commission also gives indications of how the work should be carried out.
5 May 1871.  Botti is assigned the following work by the sculpture Luigi Ceccon on behalf of the Provincial Commission:
- detachment of seven ‘pieces of painted plaster’, totalling approximately 11 m2 (five areas from the front of the chancel arch facing the nave, one area from the back of the arch and one from the intrados);
- consolidation of parts of plaster which are not in immediate danger of falling using copper tacks.
8 June 1871.  First inspection of Botti’s work: the report, signed by L. Ceccon, A. Hesse and G. Dalla Vedova, includes a detailed list of the detached areas.

1871.  Following the appeal lodged by the Gradenigo family, the court in Padua rules that the chapel shall be impounded and entrusted to the care of A. Gloria, director of the Civic Museum of Padua.
Before handing the chapel to A. Gloria, the court officially appoints four experts (Benvenisti, Grasselli, Caratti, Toniolo) to make a condition survey. Their preliminary report mentions damage to both the walls and the paintings. The Provincial Commission decides to call Botti again to carry out further consolidation of the frescos.

24 September 1871.  After a visit of inspection, Botti sends Marquis Selvatico a brief letter indicating some areas requiring emergency treatment in the chapel: the consolidation of the roundel of Christ on the vault and areas of plaster where the fourth tie-rod emerges from the walls.
1 October 1871.  The officially appointed experts Caratti and Toniolo write a detailed report – complete with charts – on the condition of the chapel’s decorations, including the frescos.
30 November 1871.  Final inspection of Botti’s work.
1872.  Botti’s career in Padua comes to an abrupt end when he is suspended from consolidation work on the fresco cycle in the Oratorio of S. Giorgio (the Lupi Soragna Chapel) inside the Church of S. Anthony under the accusation of using iron instead of copper nails.
1872-78.  A Paduan restorer, Antonio Bertolli, is commissioned to replace the iron nails used by Botti for the consolidation of plasters in the Oratorio of S. Giorgio (1872). In the following months, Bertolli carries out stacco and re-adhesion work on plasters under the Commission’s guidelines, to demonstrate his ability (for example, in the upper hall of the Loggia Comunale). He is also given the task of restoring the Scuola del Carmine in Padua (1873) and the paintings of Pellegrino in S. Daniele del Friuli (1878).
1879.  The Provincial Commission asks Bertolli for a cost estimate of the restoration of the frescos by the school of Giotto in the apse of the Scrovegni chapel.

10 May 1880.  An official resolution of the Municipal Council of Padua  approves the purchase of the Arena property from the Gradenigo family, together with all associated rights.

22 June 1880.  Bertolli submits a report requested by the Provincial Commission on the condition of the frescoes in the chapel. The report is accompanied by seven charts, one for each wall of the nave and apse, and a summary of four points to describe the conservation treatment necessary.
8 July 1880.  The Paduan restorer is appointed to carry out the most urgent work (without specification) within a month.

September 1880 -  An engineer, Maestri, on behalf of the Municipality of Padua, draws up a project for organising the water drainage system around the chapel, for repair work on the façade with the removal of the old plaster and for the rebuilding of the ‘voltolina’(vault) of the apse.

3 January 1881.  Bertolli is given the task of detaching the frescos from the ‘voltolina’ of the apse so that repairs can be made to its building fabric. In the letter authorising the work, the mayor reminds Bertolli of the regulations in force concerning the conservation methods to be used (Ministerial Regulations, 1 May 1787, no. 4853, laid down for Bertolli’s previous work in S. Daniele and applied again on this occasion). No written record of the work remains. We only know that in January 1881 Bertolli receives 62 metres of canvas from the municipal warehouse for the stacco of the frescos.
During the repair work on the ‘voltolina’, the frescos in the presbytery are supported and protected by wooden frameworks due to the severe detachment of the plaster.
20 July 1881.  Bertolli sends a bill for the final cost of his work.

3 March 1882.  The municipality appoints a standing technical committee for the chapel as the Provincial Commission has become an essentially administrative body.

19 May 1886.  Bertolli is commissioned by the municipality to carry out the restoration of the frescos on the south wall of the presbytery. Together with painter Caratti, the inspector of the municipal committee, he writes a detailed report on the condition of the paintings. The panels involved are the Virgin carried to the tomb by the twelve Apostles, the Assumption of the Virgin, the Coronation of the Virgin. The wooden frameworks mounted in 1881 to support the plaster are removed.
6 June 1887.  The restorer is paid for the work performed.
27 July 1889.  The municipal committee decides to start restoration work of Giotto’s frescoes in the chapel following the criteria and priorities established by Bertolli in his 1880 report, for a total cost of 17,000 lira.
The Ministry of Public Education sets up a special commission to supervise the quality of work. Invited to the Commission are Cavalcaselle, the members of the municipal committee, Maestri, Gloria and Bertolli himself, who declines for ethical reasons.
2 November 1889.  The Ministerial Commission recognizes Bertolli as professionally qualified to work on Giotto’s frescoes and authorises the execution of the emergency treatment.
1890.  Two more members are appointed to join the Ministerial Commission: they are the painter Professor C. Allegri from Venice and a chemist working at the University of Padua, Professor P. Spica.
Scaffolding is erected from the start of the wall to the left of the entrance door up to the second register and which also covers half of the west wall. Caratti, on behalf of the commission, compiles a list of the necessary treatments: in situ consolidation of the plasters, stacco of the panels depicting the Ascent to Calvary and Jesus among the Doctors, cleaning.
4 September 1890.  Bertolli is authorised by the Ministerial Commission to start restoration work. He outlines in chalk and numbers the parts to be consolidated (with or without the stacco procedure) so that the Commission can easily evaluate the extent of the treatment.
7 January 1891.  Bertolli signs the contract. The work is completed in autumn 1891.
1891.  The Ministerial Commission discusses the need to detach the panels of the Ascent to Calvary and Jesus among the Doctors. A detailed report by Prof. Spica demonstrates the deteriorated condition of the two frescos and the underlying wall due to high levels of humidity.
1892.  Bertolli carries out the stacco of the two panels, following the method he had proposed.
1893.  The municipal committee decides in favour of continuing the work in the chapel.
14 February 1894.  Bertolli signs another contract for the restoration of: the right half of the west wall, depicting the scene of Heaven; the first two vertical registers of the right wall nearest the west wall, including the underlying dado and the parts of the vault above these areas.
The treatment will consists of consolidating the detached plaster and filling the losses, cracks and nail holes.
29 October 1894.  Bertolli is commissioned by the Municipal Council to complete the conservation treatment on the right wall. The work is inspected and paid for in July 1895.
23 December 1895.  The Municipal Council approves further restoration treatment for the central part of the left wall (nine panels) and the corresponding areas of the vault, to be carried out in the following year. Bertolli is paid for this work in August 1896.
1897.  Bertolli completes the restoration of the left wall and starts working on the chancel arch.
1898.  The Municipality of Padua allocates new funds for the completion of the restoration work in the chapel.