Restoration of the Last Supper flood-damaged Giorgio Vasari completed

FLORENCE. In November 1966, torrential rains caused the Arno River to overflow and flood the streets of Florence. Flooding the halls and cellars of museums and galleries, the raging waters damaged or destroyed thousands of paintings, frescoes and manuscripts - a tragic loss for the city, which is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance.

One of Arno’s victims was The Last Supper by Giorgio Vasari (The Last Supper, Giorgio Vasari, 1543), an Italian painter of the 16th century and author of a collection of biographies of famous artists of his time.

Giorgio Vasari - The Last Supper after the Flood of 1966

The Last Supper, which was painted on wood panels, was exhibited at the Santa Croce Museum in Florence. Since the museum is located below the main cathedral, Vasari’s work was immersed in a mixture of flood, sewage and oil products for more than 12 hours, as a result of which the wood warped and the paint partially washed off.

Now, exactly 50 years after the devastating flood, Vasari’s painting has returned home in Santa Croce after a painstaking restoration funded by the Getty Foundation and the Prada Fashion House. The presentation of the painting took place on November 4 and marked the complete restoration of art objects affected by the flood.

Giorgio Vasari - The Last Supper after the 2016 Restoration

“This is our triumph,” said Antoine Wilmering, senior program manager and wood restoration expert.

For decades, restorers did not even want to touch the Last Supper because of the enormous damage done to the painting. The water dissolved the glue that held the paint on the surface of the wood, and the panels themselves were very cracked and bent after drying. In order to somehow save the paint peeling from wet wood, the painting was covered with a thin layer of paper. For many decades, the masterpiece was simply kept in storage in a horizontal position due to its high fragility.

“The view was expressed that restoration was impossible,” said Marco Ciatti, head of the renowned restoration center in Florence, who implemented the project.

At the first stage, it was necessary to get rid of the paper peel, then to conduct a full X-ray of the work in order to understand the structure of cracks in the tree. The restorers were ready to completely remove the painting layer and transfer it to a new wooden panel. But after the paper was removed, it became clear that the general condition of the picture is better than experts expected. As a result, they managed to keep the original panel, and in order to fix the paint on it, the gesso was injected using surgical needles.

“When we saw the picture, it was like recovering from a serious illness,” says Zatti. “Emotions are overwhelming from the fact that we managed to cope with a matter that was considered impossible and to bring this work back to Florence.”

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru