50 years of the Italian Restoration Charter 1972-2022
Art. 5
[…] any intervention on the works referred to in art. 1 must be illustrated and justified by a technical report which will show, in addition to the conservation vicissitudes of the work, the current state of the same, the nature of the interventions deemed necessary and the expense required to cope with them.
Fifty years after the Restoration Charter, there are passages in its drafting that still lead to reflections. For example on the need for documentation and record keeping. Is it really being conducted? Who should take care of it?
Traditionally, all archival documents, exhibition catalogs, changes of ownership, mentions in contemporary or in any close writings are referred to as documentary sources for an artwork.
But, as stated in the text of the Charter, it is essential that the archives also include the “passage in time” of the artefact. To this end, it is necessary to analyze the conservative interventions of which written records remain, whether they are monitoring observations, complete restoration reports, or the scientific analyzes carried out.
Restoration, as well as many professions, has evolved thanks to the professionalism of those who have practiced it and who have made it one of the excellences in our country. The practice of restoration is based on the study of artistic techniques and also on the solution of conservation problems, also achieved through experimentation. How to keep memory of it?
The history of restoration in Italy was written by the restorers who have dealt with our artistic heritage, leaving traces of it in testimonies, photographs, in their minutes, and above all on the works themselves. The minutes of past restorations are a huge source of knowledge and sharing these should be a duty. This would also go towards greater awareness of the impact of conservative action and the need for it to be sustainable too.
In Italy, to date, several publications have been written, but we have only one association which has as its purpose the conservation of the archives of the restorers. Professionals who have distinguished themselves for their skill and for their problem solving practices with which they have faced even extremely difficult restorations.
The Secco Suardo association performs, among others, this function, which in our opinion is very important because we believe that the restorers’ archives as well as the restoration reports should be shared, albeit with controlled access to avoid unnecessary speculation. The study of a work starts from its history, the more you can learn about it, the better the intervention will be.
The association invites all restorers to donate their archives to be shared. Are we ready to open our archives?
Surely all public bodies should do it, which are paid by all citizens. However, apart from a few virtuous exceptions, almost everything in Italy remains closed in drawers. Who knows what Brandi would think of it.
