· Methodologies and proposals for the illumination of the frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel
Lorenzo Fellin
 
METHODOLOGIES AND PROPOSALS FOR THE ILLUMINATION OF THE FRESCOES IN THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL
The problem of the artificial illumination of the Scrovegni Chapel frescoes took a back seat compared to the more urgent questions of restoring, cleaning and consolidating them and the structures supporting them; so the amount of work carried out as of now in the lighting field is relatively small.
The overall aim will be to ensure that the frescoes are fully visible by day or by night, while respecting the perception and the chromatic message intended by the artist, clearly within possible limits. 
The problems to be solved regard first and foremost, the risk of damage to the work that might arise through surface heating produced by infra-red radiation and deterioration caused by ultraviolet radiation. 
The negative effects of this type of radiation, often associated with visible light sources, on tempera paintings or oil on canvas, have been known about for some time; less serious perhaps, but also less known about, are the effects on wall paintings. The aim will be to forestall such damage by choosing the appropriate type of bulbs and their strength, and by choosing the best position for installing and maintaining them. 
There is also a collateral aspect concerning the decisions to be taken regarding the lighting for the frescoes, avoiding as far as possible too much technical infrastructure to be installed in the Chapel which has to be able to maintain a suitable microclimate. 
In this period, we are preparing a sort of chromatic mapping of the frescoes, in their present state, by means of identifying the factors of spectrum reflection, by illuminating the frescoes with various types of light sources. Of course, this category also includes natural daylight, which is a significant component of the Chapel’s illumination. 
Once this first phase of the diagnosis is over (which will also involve monitoring before and after cleaning operations), the results of the survey will be processed (a graduate dissertation is also being prepared on this subject). 
The next step will be to set up an overall simulation of the possible technical alternatives and the light sources to be installed in the Chapel, in order to measure their impact, before carrying out the actual installation work. 
From the point of view of the correct perception of a work of art, it is important to work with the frescoes in their "final" state before deciding on the technical specifications of the light sources and their positioning.
The planned cleaning operations, to be carried out only when action has been taken regarding the microclimatic conditions, will almost certainly alter the colouring of the frescoes significantly. 
It should be pointed out that all the phases of analysis of the opus – measurement of spectrum reflection factors and evaluation of colouring, analysing the lighted environment, evaluation of the lighting that Giotto originally had available, evaluation of the colouring under artificial lighting – will be carried out in close collaboration with the leading Italian institute for lighting science, the “Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale - Galileo Ferraris” in Turin, which the Padua City Council has appointed as consultants to support activities regarding the Chapel’s interior illumination. 

LORENZO FELLIN 
University of Padua