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Why was the project necessary? |
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In 1971, just eight years after the previous restoration work (see
Previous Restoration) during an international congress, the superintendent
at the time, named Valcanover, expressed alarm over the state of Giotto's
frescoes because of visible deterioration on the surface.
It was not a case of the work having been carried out badly; rather,
it was a question of underestimating the need for periodic checks
on the environment and constant maintenance on the building, before
actually restoring the frescoes. Most importantly of all, a new and
dangerous factor had entered the equation governing conservation -
pollution, which was causing the restored frescoes to deteriorate
again, or rather which was speeding up the process, considering that
over sixty years had elapsed between the latest restoration project
by Tintori and the previous one, and only seven years in this case.
The damage caused to the Chapel by the earthquake which struck the
Friuli region in 1976, convinced the authorities in charge of the
monument to speed things up, in particular by asking the Central Institute
for Restoration to take on the responsibility for restoring the frescoes
in the best possible way so as to be long-lasting.
The Institute brought an innovative approach to the question of conserving
the frescoes, inverting the traditional process based on restoring
the works independently of actions to improve the environment and
the state of the building itself - steps which must necessarily precede
the actual restoration work.
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