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  • DSC05346

    Vasari in Bosco Marengo

    In the mid-sixteenth century, when he was still a cardinal, the future Pope Pius V decided to found a Dominican convent in his native town, Bosco Marengo, a small town near Alessandria, hitherto poor and absolutely unknown. Not only that, a few months after his ascent to the papal throne, in the summer of 1566, […]

  • DSC05415

    Seven Acts of Mercy by Caravaggio: a superb experience

    Caravaggio escapes from Rome on 28 May, with the accusation of having killed Ranuccio Tommasoni and arrives on 6 October 1606 in Naples, where he immediately receives prestigious commissions, including the painting depicting the “Seven Works of Mercy” for the church of the then new brotherhood of the Pio Monte della Misericordia, where it is […]

  • el greco sm

    El Greco: new attribution at the Uffizi

    When the painting “St. John the Evangelist and St. Francis of Assisi” entered the Uffizi collection as part of a donation,  it was assumed to be a copy executed by the workshop or by disciples of El Greco. Indeed only a few people had seen it before and scholars had not even examined it, so […]

  • Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines

    Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines

    The diagnostics performed on the ‘Ratto delle Sabine’ by Giambologna, at the Galleria dell’Accademia, in Florence, required many skills, since, among others, Xray, UltraSound and Geo-Radar methodologies were employed (with the help of S.T. Art-Test). The results led to unveil and understand some crucial information which was essential to plan and perform the restorative intervention which […]

  • DSC00637

    Caravaggio: a copy? Multilayer shows it’s original!

    The painting, which is owned by a private collector, was originally thought to be a copy of Caravaggio’s St. Jerome Writing (composed between 1607 and 1608), which is in the Oratory of St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta. Prof. Keith Sciberras of the University of Malta says that the painting does not evince Caravaggio’s “vigor” […]

  • Velazquez_acquaiolo_Siviglia_cut

    Velazquez: data confirm authenticity of Waterseller

    In preparation of the exhibition “Novecento sedotto” at Museo Bardini in Florence, restoration of the Waterseller painting of Velazquez from the collection of the Uffizi museum has taken place. Another version of the Waterseller is at the Wellington Musem in London and in Baltimore, and the attribution of the Uffizi painting to Velazquez has always been a matter […]

HIGHLIGHTS

intero

Man or Woman?

A painting by the genius Leonardo da Vinci unexpectedly provides us with an interesting reflection on the notion of “gender identity”, never as much debated as in recent times. What distinguishes and separates being a woman from being a man? Where is the borderline? We premise that the panel with the Head of Christ now […]

Caravaggesco_Empoli_vis del fotografo mano

An original without copies or Caravaggio’s zigzag

From how they all got on the bandwagon (“I discovered it!” “No, I discovered it first!”) there would seem to be no doubts that the painting at auction in Madrid is the real “Ecce Homo” made by Caravaggio as result of a competition between painters arranged by Monsignor Massimi, as documented in old biographies. About […]

OPINIONS

innocenti

Under the Tuscan Sun

Perhaps you have wondered what was the first Renaissance building in the world? It is not a church, or a palace, but it is the “Spedale degli Innocenti” in Florence, designed by the genius Brunelleschi (his first public commission), and also the first orphanage in the world. The work was financed by a secular institution, […]

maddalena-in-estasi-1606

Magdalene, one and three

Mary Magdalene, protagonist, in spite of herself, in the very popular book the “Da Vinci Code”, (where it is fictionalized that she was the wife of Christ, and mother of his descendants), has always inspired artists with her “irregularity” as a saint sinner. The best known “penitent Magdalene”, or “Magdalene in ecstasy”,  is perhaps the […]

DISCOVERIES

Simone_Martini_-_frontespizio_per_codice_Virgilio_-_Biblioteca_Ambrosiana_-_Milano

Diagnostics meets poetry

Petrarch (Arezzo, 20 July 1304 – Arquà, 19 July 1374) was born into a Florentine family in exile (due to his father’s belonging to the white Guelphs).  He had an adventurous life and had no respite in his wanderings, even after his death. His tomb was in fact desecrated in 1630, probably to resell some […]

maddalena-in-estasi-1606

Magdalene, one and three

Mary Magdalene, protagonist, in spite of herself, in the very popular book the “Da Vinci Code”, (where it is fictionalized that she was the wife of Christ, and mother of his descendants), has always inspired artists with her “irregularity” as a saint sinner. The best known “penitent Magdalene”, or “Magdalene in ecstasy”,  is perhaps the […]

EXHIBITIONS

AUCTIONS

CONSERVATION

image00006

See you in New York

In silence in front of Her Our work is made up of many silences, those due to the concentration while we work and those due to the beauty of an artwork and the reflectographic image that we see while our scanner acquires the necessary data. This is the thought we dedicate to Bronzino’s portrait of […]

intero

Man or Woman?

A painting by the genius Leonardo da Vinci unexpectedly provides us with an interesting reflection on the notion of “gender identity”, never as much debated as in recent times. What distinguishes and separates being a woman from being a man? Where is the borderline? We premise that the panel with the Head of Christ now […]

copertina articolo SALERNO

Is a citation not enough?

It is recent news the publication of a call promoted by the Province of Salerno, in which professional conservatories were invited to apply to lend their work for the restoration of the institution’s heritage, totally for free. In exchange for it , the call just mentioned some promotion.It is upsetting, but it didn’t surprise us. […]