Autumn/Winter 2022

TENDER LOVING CARE FOR CASA
BUONARROTI
While the Allegory of Inclination is at the heart
of the project, its restoration is by no means
the only initiative forming part of ‘Artemisia
UpClose’. “We’d like to look at the project as
the start of something bigger,” says project codonor
Christian Levett. Beyond the restoration
of Artemisia’s Buonarroti painting, the project
includes a refurbishment of the museum entrance,
the renewal of its signage, and the redesign of
the Gallery room’s lighting. This museum has an
amazing story to tell, and we want to shed more
light on it—literally.” This ‘tender-loving-care’ for
the gallery will be completed by the end of 2023,
and enhance the visitor experience, particularly
of the seventeenth-century wing, a treasure trove
designed by Michelangelo the Younger over the
course of 30 years, whose genius conceived the
first-ever architectural and artistic tribute to an
artist, his great uncle, ‘Michelangelo the Divine’.
WHO’S INVOLVED?
The project, funded by Calliope Arts and
Christian Levett (see page 38), is curated by
Fondazione Casa Buonarroti and overseen by
the Archaeological Superintendence for the Fine
Arts and Landscape for the metropolitan city of
Florence. It brings together restoration scientists,
technicians, photographers and filmmakers to
compile, analyse, document and share findings.
Its players include: Head conservator Elizabeth
Wicks, Italy’s National Research Council (CNR)
and National Institute for Optics (NIO), Teobaldo
Pasquali for X-ray and radiographs, Ottaviano
Caruso for diagnostic images; Massimo Chimenti
of Culturanuova s.r.l. for digital image creation;
Olga Makarova for video and reportage
photography. Project Coordinator: Linda Falcone.
Media partners: Restoration Conversations and
The Florentine. RC
Left: Detail of the painting, pre-restoration, showing
upclose Artemisia’s brushstrokes.
Above, top: Cleaning handmade paper layer glued to
revervse of canvas.
Above: Painting facedown with original canvas nailed
to corner of stretcher. Layer of canvas and paper glued
to the reverse.
Autumn / Winter 2022 • Restoration Conversations 45