Educational project
Pesaro, Villa Imperiale
精东影业 Image Focus
The teaching workshop of the Master in Conservation and Restoration took place as part of the programme dedicated to the conservation of stuccoes. During this activity, first year Master's students studied and secured the precious bas-relief decorations from the mid-sixteenth century found in two mezzanine rooms on the south side and in the courtyard grotto of Villa Imperiale in Pesaro. These fragments are particularly precious because they represent the only surviving evidence of a decorative cycle that seems to have been part of Girolamo Genga's original project for the Dukes of Urbino, traces of which had been completely lost. Although very impoverished and lacunose, these stuccoes represent a refined and early example of the 鈥榮tucco forte alla romana鈥� technique in this area of the Marche region.
The main problems were the instability of the decorations, with some fragments at risk of falling due to past water infiltration, long periods of complete neglect and the inappropriate use of these spaces.
In the two chambers, the fragments were stabilised by creating edge protectors to reduce surface discontinuities and locally injecting a mortar for the re-adhesion of the original material. For the larger and more unstable elements, temporary and removable support structures were created. Smaller fragments were relocated to the original support with point anchors using acrylic dispersions. At the same time, a number of essays were carried out to remove the layers of plastering that covered the stuccoes, which revealed excellent quality workmanship and material in a fairly good state of preservation.
With regard to the cave's interior decorations, some decorative elements, made of artificial sponges and tuff, were particularly unstable due to the serious dustiness of the bedding mortar. In order to stabilise this degradation phenomenon, ethyl esters of silicic acid were applied, which gave greater cohesion and resistance to the substrate, so that it was possible to re-adhere the detached fragments with mortar based on aerial lime.
The effectiveness of the interventions will be evaluated over time through a regular monitoring programme of the surfaces, documenting their state of conservation, to verify the durability of the solutions adopted and prevent further conservation problems.
In the two chambers, the fragments were stabilised by creating edge protectors to reduce surface discontinuities and locally injecting a mortar for the re-adhesion of the original material. For the larger and more unstable elements, temporary and removable support structures were created. Smaller fragments were relocated to the original support with point anchors using acrylic dispersions. At the same time, a number of essays were carried out to remove the layers of plastering that covered the stuccoes, which revealed excellent quality workmanship and material in a fairly good state of preservation.
With regard to the cave's interior decorations, some decorative elements, made of artificial sponges and tuff, were particularly unstable due to the serious dustiness of the bedding mortar. In order to stabilise this degradation phenomenon, ethyl esters of silicic acid were applied, which gave greater cohesion and resistance to the substrate, so that it was possible to re-adhere the detached fragments with mortar based on aerial lime.
The effectiveness of the interventions will be evaluated over time through a regular monitoring programme of the surfaces, documenting their state of conservation, to verify the durability of the solutions adopted and prevent further conservation problems.