Science and technology increasingly fundamental for the conservation and rediscovery of the most precious works. After the restoration of Michelangelo’s masterpieces sculptures in the Medici Chapels of Florence carried out with bacteria, now it is the turn of the laser.
The ‘Lorenzini head’, one of the masterpieces of Etruscan sculpture, in marble, which originally was probably part of a large cult statue of the god Apollo in a temple, is exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum of Florence after a restoration. of ancient Volterra (Pisa).
Purchased by the Ministry of Culture in 2019, the work was then subjected to careful cleaning by the restorer Daniela Manna.
An Eos 1000 Lqs laser was used for the cleaning operation, made available by El.En group, a leading Italian company in the optoelectronic sector and in these systems. At the end of the works, the equipment was donated by El.En group to the Archaeological Museum of Florence which, it was explained, will use it for other restoration interventions on other works in marble, alabaster and stone such as, for example, the numerous urns Etruscan with mythological and funerary representations carved on the front and on the lid.
Florence, Michelangelo and that bacterium from Sardinia
With the use of the laser, Daniela Manna was able to free the surfaces of the face and the detailed hair from the calcareous encrustations that prevented the appreciation of the precise volume of the head and the quality of the marble. Stefano Casciu, regional director of museums in Tuscany, explained that “the Lorenzini head is a masterpiece of Etruscan sculpture from the 5th century BC. A unique case because it is the head of a large cult statue of a temple in Volterra, we do not know exactly which, perhaps Apollo, but a unique case because most of what we know of Etruscan art comes from the necropolis, from the tombs “. “We carry out initiatives of this kind throughout Italy – said Paolo Salvadeo, general manager of El.En spa – especially in this period when Italy needs it most for the restart, but we have always done so also at an international level. “.