A lot of surprises from the first stage in the operation promoted by the Opera di Santa Croce and performed by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure with the support of the Fondazione CR Firenze and of ARPAI.
Preview of the tours on the scaffolding, a gift from the Fondazione CR Firenze to its community, from October 2024 to July 2025
Florence, 19 September 2024 – The restoration of the Stories from the Life of St. Francis depicted by Giotto in the Bardi Chapel in Santa Croce opens up an important chapter in the history of restoration, and provides a unique opportunity to become acquainted with this Florentine master by drawing close to the daily life and work of an artist who was an absolute innovator. This announcement was made by Cristina Acidini, President of the Opera di Santa Croce, and Emanuela Daffra, Director General of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), which have been entrusted with their restoration. The reason for this long and complex operation lies in the fresco cycle’s precarious condition, which was so bad that it made it virtually impossible to decipher much of the painted work.
A wealth of very valuable information has already been put together at the end of the first stage in the restoration, which began in June 2022, thanks to the collaboration between the Opera di Santa Croce and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, with a significant contribution from the Fondazione CR Firenze, represented today by its Vice-President Maria Oliva Scaramuzzi, and from the Associazione per il Restauro del Patrimonio Artistico Italiano (ARPAI) represented by its President Dominique Marzotto Desforges.
The project, which goes back a long way, owes a huge debt to the determination of the late Marco Ciatti, former Director General of the Opificio, who drafted and signed the first agreement between the OPD, the Opera di Santa Croce and the ARPAI for supporting the restoration.
The operation, preceded and accompanied by an in-depth diagnostic campaign planned and implemented by the Opificio, benefits from the active involvement of research centres and professional experts of international renown, under the lofty supervision of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle arti e Paesaggio.
The Scholarly Advisory Board includes experts in restoration and some of the world’s leading Giotto scholars: Cristina Acidini (Chair), Giorgio Bonsanti, Sonia Chiodo, Marco Ciatti (who passed away in April last year), Emanuela Daffra, Andrea De Marchi, Emanuela Ferretti, Mauro Matteini, Antonella Ranaldi and Serena Romano.
The financial cost is well over 1 million euro, with contributions from the Opera di Santa Croce and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, while the Fondazione CR Firenze and the ARPAI are intervening through the Art Bonus scheme. The ARPAI’s donation is in memory of the Association’s founders Florence and Paolo Marzotto.
In addition to the above, a number of private donations have come in through the #Giving4Giotto fundraising scheme, which is still ongoing.In addition to its major contribution to the restoration, the Fondazione CR Firenze is also organising and proposing a cycle of tours “up close and personal with Giotto”, in preview at the restoration site for residents of Florence and the Metropolitan City of Florence.