Statue of a Child Holding a Jar

Restoration Procedures

The restoration consisted of a thorough cleaning that freed the surfaces from deposits and altered substances. These impeded the formal reading of the construction details and gave the work a discontinuous and aesthetically disturbing appearance. Among the substances partially eliminated, there were calcareous incrustations, which accumulated on the surfaces and derived from the use of the marble as a fountain. In particular, there were those that, in some areas, have been covered and altered with a remarkable thickness on the surfaces (area of the vase and base). In addition to a clearer vision of the surfaces and an improvement in terms of aesthetics, important attributive issues (age of the work and historical restoration) have benefited from the ongoing cleaning. Based on stylistic data and technical details, it is very likely that the work is of modern workmanship dating back to the late 1500s-early 1600s, a rare case in the exhibition of the Chiaramonti Gallery, which includes classical sculptures.

After the first cleaning tests, the following procedure was developed:

• First cleaning step with agar agar-based applications, respectful of the surfaces and less disfiguring historical treatments based on waxes and/or glues. This step is also necessary to better read the concretions that cover part of the work and to operate with greater clarity in their removal.

• At first, before the attribution of the work to the modern era emerged, the adopted cleaning precautions contemplated the possibility of the presence of more or less invisible traces of ancient polychromy in the recess areas and below the incrustations. Such caution has been maintained during the progress of the interpretation-historical attribution.

• The partial removal of fouling took place using Asset (Quanta System) Nd: YAG laser equipment, λ=1064 nm, in Q-Switch mode with different. parameter variations depending on the situation. Restorers selected the equipment as the best after tests with other laser equipment, including the prototype, still in the experimental phase, EOS Synthesis.

• After the first intervention, micromechanical tools and laser use removed the surplus of old plaster and wax-resin fillings. Among the plastering, restorers filled the hole placed under the base for the water adduction channel, which is now partially freed. This step allowed better authorship interpretation. A further phase of selective removal of concretions and elimination of disfiguring or no longer functional patinas followed. A careful technical-constructive analysis accompanied the restoration report to best reconstruct the history of the piece.

• Subsequently, the restoration proceeded with the filling of lime-based mortar and marble powders of suitable grain size and color and with the application of a special protective agent for indoor sculptures.