At the presentation of the event, discussing the state of the Baptistery art, which will be held in Florence on November 24 and 25, president of the Opera del Duomo, Franco Lucchesi, called for help.
‘The Baptistery is in a state of decay. We turned to 40 Florentine entrepreneurs to help with the future maintenance and restoration costs of the Baptistery, the Cathedral and Giotto’s bell-tower, but the response has been negative. Out of the 40 businessmen contacted, only three replied. There was complete silence from the others. Florentine businessmen, for one reason or another, are greatly indebted to Florence, since the nature of their business is intrinsically linked to the city. If we gauge the state of dedication based on the number of responses, the conclusion is less than comforting. It takes resources to maintain the Duomo, the Baptistery and Giotto’s bell-tower. It would be a huge help if the whole city were to contribute, given that the tourism is linked to the historical assets and not something further afield. In this regard, if the City had given the green light for the installation of billboards on the outside scaffolding of the Baptistery’, explained Lucchesi, ‘it would have collected a third of the resources for its restoration and maintenance.’
‘The marble covering the Baptistery is in a bad state of disrepair. The awful condition is not only due to traffic pollution, as previously thought and, in any case, the area is now pedestrianised, but instead to external natural causes, to the air which corrodes the marble. Such corrosion is extremely difficult to remove’, continued Franco Lucchesi, president of the Opera del Duomo.
‘For this reason’, said Lucchesi, ‘we need to provide for regular and permanent maintenance, which will begin once restoration has been completed, and for cleaning of the outside surfaces. An in-depth analysis was never before carried out for the Baptistery’, commented the President of the Opera del Duomo. ‘The conference will be the last step in the research process, carried out by different Italian and foreign universities, in order to gain greater knowledge and awareness of the Baptistery.’
During the convention on November 24 and 25, the final results will be presented, which have been obtained using a state-of-the-art laser scanner. The materials used to build the Baptistery will be revealed (stone, brick, mortar and marble) and the discovery of the metallic chaining system of the Baptistery dome will be revealed.
This is the first time that the Opera del Duomo has carried out comprehensive and systematic diagnostics of the monument in collaboration with Italian and international universities.
