PROTOCOL OF UNDERSTANDING

between the Ministry of Cultural Heritage (hereinafter called the Ministry) and the Padua City Council (hereinafter called the City Council) for the restoration of the cycle of frescoes by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua,

on the premise that:

- the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, owned by the City Council, contains a cycle of frescoes by Giotto, depicting stories of the Virgin Mary and Christ, which is one of the main works by this great artist and a masterpiece of 14th century painting;
- in 1976, as a result of damage caused by the Friuli earthquake, the Central Institute for Restoration (hereinafter called ICR) was called in to carry out scientific surveys prior to restoration work on the Chapel;
- on that occasion, the Superintendence for environmental and architectural heritage in the eastern Veneto region, and the Superintendence for artistic and historical heritage in the Veneto region, jointly carried out restoration work, with financial support from the Ministry, on the external part of the roof and the decorated band adjacent to the facade;
- in 1982, the results of the first surveys were published;
- between 1984 and 1985, the City Council undertook an initial series of actions to render the environment suitable; 
- in 1976, the first Commission was set up to safeguard and improve the Chapel;
- with decision no. 2872 of December 12, 1994, the City Council approved the project for installing a microclimatic control system (monitored air space – CTA) in order to reduce the most harmful atmospheric pollution by filtering the air, and to regulate the flow of visitors, at the same time carrying out a series of tests and measurements on environmental parameters;
- with the same decision no. 2872 of December 12, 1994, the City Council laid down the responsibilities of the special scientific commission made up of representatives from the Ministry, from the City Council and from Padua University, whose tasks included processing the data acquired during the monitoring of the micro-climatic system;
- in the last few years, the City Council has undertaken a series of works for the restoration of the Chapel including re-roofing the building, cleaning and making good the facade, as well as carrying out structural and geological surveys; 
- the City Council has recently undertaken the restoration of the pews and the choir stalls in the Chapel;
- the City Council has carried out all the necessary preliminary work for a project involving the renewal of the Chapel's lighting system;
- ICR has already carried out the restoration of the three statues by Giovanni Pisano inside the Chapel;
- ICR has systematically surveyed the state of conservation of the frescoes and the techniques used to produce them, using a computerised database system;
- between 1988 and 1994, ICR carried out urgent conservation work on the frescoes, with scientific surveys and restoration samples;
- the Superintendence for artistic and historical heritage in the Veneto region, with financial support from the Ministry, has undertaken consolidation work on the frescoes in the apse area;
- ICR has drawn up the definitive project for the overall restoration of the frescoes;
- everything that has been done so far, including the installation of the micro-climatic control system (CTA), has made it possible for ICR to undertake the restoration of the entire cycle of Giotto's frescoes and the completion of the work on the whole Chapel;
- to enable restoration work to be undertaken so that Giotto's masterworks are once again made available to the city of Padua and the world, it is necessary to establish the timetable and the ways and means of the collaboration between the City Council and the Ministry, already underway for some time;
- the restoration of Giotto's frescoes and the completion of the work on the whole Chapel is a major cultural event and an exceptional occasion for emphasising the historical and artistic heritage of the city of Padua and Italy as a whole;

the Ministry and the City Council agree as follows:

Art. 1
The premise constitutes an integral part of this agreement.

Art. 2
The Ministry undertakes to carry out the overall restoration of the cycle of frescoes by Giotto located in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, making use of ICR's organisation and technical skills.
The restoration work will start in January 2001 following the completion of two seasonal monitoring surveys, carried out by means of the new micro-climatic control system (CTA), and will be completed by the end of the summer so that the completely restored Chapel can be re-opened to the public by September 2001.
The work will be carried out in two phases: the first (January-March) will involve the presbytery area; the second (April-September) will cover the whole Chapel.
For this restoration work, the Ministry will make available the required sum of four billion lire.

Art. 3
In order to make possible the restoration work so that the completely restored Chapel can be reopened to the public in a clearly-defined short space of time, the Padua City Council will undertake the following: 

- to carry out the two micro-climatic monitoring surveys, mentioned in article 2;
- to complete the consolidation work on the external facade of the Scrovegni Chapel before the start of restoration work on the frescoes, for an amount of 254 million lire;
- to install the new lighting system for the Chapel, also making use of a sponsor's contribution for such purpose;
- to enable ICR to set up its restoration site, and to arrange access to the Chapel by a limited number of visitors during the first stage of work until Easter 2001, according to safety and security requirements; and in the second and final stage, the complete closure of the Chapel to the general public;

The City Council is committed to doing everything possible to make the monitoring surveys effective and to enable the restoration of the frescoes to be carried out.

Art. 4
The overall supervision and responsibility for the restoration work is assigned to ICR who will operate in close collaboration with the Superintendence for artistic and historical heritage in the Veneto region and, where appropriate, with the Superintendence for environmental and architectural heritage in the eastern Veneto region, as well as with the City Council's technical department.
The Scientific Commission mentioned in the premise will act as a consultant to the Ministry and will be kept informed on the progress of the work.

Art. 5
The parties will draw up subsequent agreements in order to define operational aspects and to decide on parallel initiatives providing information and communication about the project.

Padua, May 31, 2000

Giovanna Melandri
Minister for the Cultural Heritage

Giustina Destro
Mayor of Padua

Mario Serio
General Director, Central Office (architectural, archaeological and artistic works), Ministry for the Cultural Heritage