Sala delle Asse. The restoration

Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in

http://saladelleassecastello.it/

The restoration Introduction ...... 3 Decoration ...... 4 Why a restoration? ...... 5 A series of unfortunate events ...... 6 The restoration plan ...... 8 Follow the restoration ...... 9

Telling the restoration Why stories? ...... 43 The stories ...... 44 Bibliography ...... 45

Actors Municipality of Milan – Culture Office ...... 47 The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism ...... 48 Opificio delle Pietre Dure ...... 49 A2A ...... 50 ARCUS ...... 51 Institutional and scientific partner ...... 52

On the Job Restoration credits ...... 53 Scientific commitee ...... 55 At work ...... 56

Talk with us Map ...... 60 Visits ...... 61 Contacts and Press ...... 62 Credits ...... 63

2 . The restoration painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

The restoration

Introduction

The room at the first floor of the north-east great tower of Sforza Castle, also called Sala delle Asse, got its name from the wooden planks which covered the walls long time ago, probably with the aim to safeguard the room from humidity. The room was a significant and important setting where Sforza family welcomed their guests and ambassadors.

For this reason, Leonardo Da Vinci, called in the city of Milan by Ludovico Sforza, known as “il Moro” (“the Sala delle Asse – North corner moor”), perform the pictorial decoration of the room in 1498. He promised he would finish the work within few months.

Leonardo (probably with some helpers) painted on the vault of the room a fake arbor, made by a series of branches and golden ropes, intertwined.

At present, we don’t know if the decoration had ever been completed.

When, starting from 1499, the Duchy of Milan was conquered by the French, a decline period started for the castle, which was turned into a barracks and since that moment, the Sala delle Asse was used as stable. A layer of lime was spread all over Leonardo’s painting, until the end of the nineteenth century. Sala delle Asse – South corner

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Decoration

Sala delle Asse represents one of the very first examples of illusionist decoration whose aim is to transform a big room of an interior space into an external location: visitors are completely captured by the arbor’s branches, among which are mulberries, intertwined and supported by majestic trunks and their immense roots.

These are all painted though a monochrome technique, and can be observed on the northern angle of the room, while on the vault are the branches, Detail of the roots intertwined with golden ropes. The branches make a geometrical pattern come to life, which reminds the very renowned knots by Leonardo da Vinci.

The choice for the mulberry fruit (from Latin, morus) – which according to the botanical symbolism represents wisdom and prudence – probably reflects the goodness of the Duke Ludovico Maria Sforza, called “il Moro”.

Detail of the vault

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Why a restoration?

The last restoration of Sala delle Asse dates back to the Fifties. In 2006, due to a decline situation, a campaign to inspect the conservation stage of the paintings was carried out. It has evidenced the need for a quick intervention.

Therefore, a restoration project has been developed, with a threefold objective:

 investigate and eliminate the principles causing Coat of arms the paintings’ worsening;  detect the repainting layers and the interventions which have occurred over the years, through investigation processes;  evaluate the possibility to recover the legibility of the decoration, in regard to the conservation history of the work of art.

Detail of the vault

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A series of unfortunate events

1498, 21st April: a letter from the ducal clerk of the court, Gualtiero da Bascapè, tells Ludovico il Moro that Leonardo is starting the decoration of the room “da le asse, cioè da la tore” (the room – in Italian “Sala” of the planks, that is of the tower and that “Magistro Leonardo promete finirla per tuto Septembre” (Master Leonardo promises to complete it by the end of September).

1499, 18th October: Louis XII of France solemnly enters Milan , and accommodates in the luxurious ducal court of the Castle. Ludovico il Moro is then obliged to run away and the room loses its original representative function.

1535: the Spanish succeed the French to guide Milan. Since then, there is no news about Sala delle Asse for more than a century.

1706: after the Spanish, the Austrians come. The Castle Leonardo da Vinci becomes a barracks and Sala delle Asse is turned into a shelter for artillery horses.

1893: the Castle becomes a property of the municipality of Milan. The first restoration actions started, during which the scholar Paul Müller-Walde, while taking away the plaster, found some painting traces that were attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci.

1901: the person in charge of the restoration works of the Castle, Luca Beltrami, architect and representative of the Kingdom, assigns the decoration charge of Sala delle Asse to the painter and decorator Ernesto Rusca who, according to the restoration idea of that time, largely repainted the pictorial surface. Sforza Castle 1902: the restoration of Sala delle Asse is presented to the public. Immediately, disapproval is strong: Adolfo Venturi, a famous art critic, asserts “Questo non è più Leonardo, questa è una Gambrinus Halle” (This is Leonardo no more, this is rather a Gambrinus Halle).

1954: the second restoration of Sala delle Asse starts. On October 14th, Costantino Baroni, the director of the civic museums of Sforza Castle, writes “è stato autorizzato il restauratore Ottemi della Rotta ad effettuare sondaggi in

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tutta la superficie della volta affrescata di Sala delle Asse, allo scopo di accertare quanto dell’originaria stesura leonardesca potesse sussistere dietro la generale ridipintura che sul principio di questo secolo fece il pittore Rusca” ( the restaurer Ottemi della Rotta has been appointed for carrying out all the needed probes on the whole vault’s surface of Sala delle Assi, to verify how much of the original painting by Leonardo is still living behind the repainting by Rusca, which was made at the beginning of this century).

1956: the second and last restoration of Sala delle Asse comes to an end. And the paintings by Rusca are nearly completely taken away.

Luca Beltrami

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The restoration plan

The restoration project was developed by the Department of Cultural Heritage and Landscape of the Lombardy Region, together with Department of Arts, History, and Ethno-antropology of Milan, the Department of Architecture and urban Heritage of Milan, Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence. The main aim is to give back the right “legibility” to the decoration of Sala delle Asse. Thermographic inspection The project concerns the preliminary researches and the diagnostics campaign, the intervention on the preparatory drawing on the northern angle of the room, and the implementation of the study project on the paintings marking out the vault and the lunettes.

The initial phase of the restoration project includes archive, historical and artistic research and, above all, a series of enquiries using the most advanced diagnostics techniques.

The main objective of the intervention is to stop the Scan of the vault decline causes (caused by environmental and chemical ongoing processes), to clean the surfaces from the dirty layers and eventually to make the decorations legible, while being respectful of the previous restoration interventions.

Being the current situation quite complex, different phases of intervention are foreseen, that, starting from the monochrome, will be planned according to the results of the studies and of the diagnostic analyses.

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Follow the restoration

Follow the restoration: here are some images and videos describing the intervention steps of the restoration project, and allowing to better follow the whole process.

February 2017

The laser is proving increasingly useful in the Superintendent Marco Ciatti of OPD visits to the site “descialbo” phase: there emerge some signs of to check the status of the conservation Monochrome charcoal

January 2017

Anna Brunetto cleans out with laser from the El.En. Company. The laser is used to remove the layers of plaster searching for the original painting on the walls, and it is used to find Leonardo’s colour on the lunettes.

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December 2016

The extraction of salt Directors, restorers and diagnosticians discuss the results of the analysis: the first from the walls of the volume on the restoration of the Sala delle Asse is about to be published vault continues

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November 2016

The Scientific Committee meets to discuss the latest findings emerged from diagnostics and the cleaning tests

Colleagues of the Musée du visit the site: Dominique Cordelier The journalist Francesca (conservateur en chef), Sébastien Allard (directeur du département des peintures) Bonazzoli interview the e Vincent Delieuvin (conservateur de la peinture italienne du XVIe siècle) Director Claudio Salsi

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October 2016

Restorers keep working on the descialbo and the After the study of the wall, the laser is used to pictorial integrations remove the layers of plaster

September 2016

The restorer Alberto Felici puts the laser for cleaning The Group of Urbanfile Milano on the scaffolding of the lunettes to the test the Sala delle Asse with the restorers and Francesca Tasso. On their page (http://blog.urbanfile.org/2016/09/21/milano- castello-il-leonardo-svelato-piano-piano/), the report of the visit.

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The restorer Alberto Felici removes the painted cards made by Ottemi Della Rotta to hide the traces of the restoration by Ernesto Rusca, which had been left for documentation sake.

July/August 2016 – On holiday…

June 2016

The restorers observe the lunettes and start to look for the original painting Antonio Sansonetti of under the intervention of Ernesto Rusca and Ottemi Della Rotta ICVBC-CNR takes a sample of the salts from the vault for laboratory testing

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May 2016

The scaffolding on all the four walls is completed. Maria Rosa Lanfranchi starts the study on the trees’ Now every cm of the painting can be seen very trunks while Alberto Felici works on the lunettes closely

April 2016

The restorer Maria Rosa Lanfranchi intervenes on the nodes and the coat of arms of the vault. We are building the final scaffolding which will occupy all the walls: Sala delle Asse is closed to the public

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The journalist Rossella Canevari interviews Francesca The RAI journalist Mario Tozzi shoots an episode of Tasso streaming live on periscope “Fuori Luogo” in Sala delle Asse talking with the restorers (http://www.rossellacanevari.com/onein3/cms/a-world- first-time-solo-per-gli-utenti-di-periscope:-leonardo-da- vinci-(la-sala-delle-asse)/)

March 2016

The first cleaning trails by The construction of the scaffolding which will complete the pilot-project on the laser are made on the vault starts north wall lunettes

A video is produced to show the multimedia projection that accompanied and amazed Sala delle Asse visitors during Expo Milano 2015

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February 2016

The restoration of the north-east wall goes on: scalpel Two Leonardo da Vinci Also the Japanese TV in hand, the restorers are looking for traces of the scholars exchange views wants to take close original drawing in front of the filming to Leonardo’s monochrome: Pietro C. painting Marani and Martin Kemp January 2016

The study project of the vault and lunettes goes on. After the salts’ removal phase, the OPD restorers carry out cleaning tests by applying Japanese papers soaked with chelating agents. Once the papers are removed, color is fixed with synthetic polymers

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December 2015

The Scientific Committee meets to take stock of the analysis and cleaning trials of the Absorbing compresses pilot-project on the vault start to be applied in order to extract soluble salts from the vault

November 2015

Politecnico di Milano has installed an anemometer on The work on the lunettes is insidious: according to the top of Falconiera tower, where Sala delle Asse lies: do restorers, it is not easy to intervene on a painting which the wind’s speed and direction affect the room’s has been restored several times in the past. But microclimate? removing the oldest restorations may generate great surprises...

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October 2015

Giovanni Valotti, president of A2A, visits the site together with his staff The study project of the lunettes goes on and the results start to come out

Antonio Sansonetti of ICVBC-CNR extracts the salts on the vault: they will be sent for The first trials for cleaning laboratory testing the vault take place

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September 2015

The multimedia installation in Sala delle Asse continues to attract many visitors Professor Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums and member of Sala delle Asse Scientific Committee, visits the work site

The study project of the vault and the lunettes goes on, and the ICVBC-CNR Serena Romano, returning accomplishes the FTIR spectroscopy from the inauguration of the exhibition “Giotto, l’Italia” at Palazzo Reale, climbs into the scaffoldings to admire the restored Monochrome

August 2015 – On holiday…

July 2015

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Maria Teresa Fiorio talks about the stay of Leonardo in Milan and his conception of painting

June 2015

The pilot-project on the vault has started. The restorers work on branches, leaves and blackberries

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May 2015

Cecilia Frosinini illustrates the techniques of the transposition of the drawing in mural painting

Cecilia Frosinini illustrates the techniques of the transposition of the drawing in mural painting

April 2015

Carmen Bambach, conservationist at the Drawings and Prints Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Vincent Delieuvin, conservationist at the Paintings Department of the Louvre Museum, visit the work site and talk with the restoration experts

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The Sala delle Asse is open. Visitors may admire the restored monochrome and, thanks to the multimedia installation designed by Culturanuova, listen to the history of the room and of the complex restoration intervention, directly from the restoration experts!

The restored monochrome arouses the interest even of Antonio Sansonetti of ICVBC-National Research Centre French television: on the scaffolds, the TV crew of France describes the trials for extracting soluble salts from the 1 walls of the Sala delle Asse

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March 2015

The cleaning of the monochrome is nearly completed. Restoration experts work at the grouting

The restoration of the Sala Worksite photographer Mauro Ranzani documents The staff of Politecnico di delle Asse is described to progress in the work on the Western wall, where a Milano inspects the the RAI TV crew of landscape has been rediscovered Ponticella di Bramante to BELLITALIA complete a study of areas surrounding the Sala delle Asse

Antonio Sansonetti from ICVBC explains molecular spectroscopy analyses

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February 2015

The work of integrating A trunk appears on the ..and with a lancet Another fragment of tree gaps in painting with eastern wall. The reading is with a large knot appears plaster begins made clearer by working on the eastern wall, below with tablets of solid gel.. the plastered area

But the most impressive The new discoveries must On May 18, Council Participants in the press discovery is on the western be presented to the press: member Filippo Del Corno conference include wall: a landscape emerges a new laser technique for with Claudio Salsi, Michela Giovanni Valotti, president under several layers of plaster removal is Palazzo and Cecilia of A2A.. plaster experimented for the Frosinini presents to the occasion press the findings emerged

..and Ettore Pietrabissa, Restorers Fabrizio Bandini This video illustrates for FAI (national foundation general director of ARCUS and Paola Ilaria Mariotti the reporters a multimedia for the protection of Italian wait for the press project created by art and landscape) conference, with Massimo Culturanuova to highlight presents to the press the Chimenti, president of the value of the Sala delle art history class "Leonardo. Culturanuova Asse during EXPO A life"

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January 2015

The restoration of the In the extrados Politecnico An exceptional guest Roberto Vecchioni will talk mural painting is strictly di Milano surveys the arrives in the Sala delle about the Sforza dynasty connected to the study of architectonic and thermo- Asse: Italian song-writer and the Sala delle Asse on architecture: it is necessary hygrometric characteristics Roberto Vecchioni is Rai Storia, in an episode to examine the extrados of of the room beneath Sala welcomed by Claudio Salsi dedicated to Italian the vault in the room delle Asse and Francesca Tasso "Signorie"

Meanwhile, the work of Interview: Antonio Sansonetti (ICVBC-National research Center) explains the uncovering continues on microscopic examination of samples taken from the Sala delle Asse the walls

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December 2014 – Interview

Interview: Michela Palazzo talked about of the past restoration of Sala delle Asse

December 2014

The scientific committee met on Tuesday, December 16, 2014: scholars commented on Piero Baglioni, Director of the latest results of the restoration CSGI discussed with the staff of OPD and CNR- ICVBC on how to pursue the diagnostic investigations on the monochrome

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November 2014 – Interview

Interview: restoration expert Maria Rosa Lanfranchi talks about the difference between fresco-secco painting and true fresco

Interview: Who is Maria Rosa Lanfranchi?

November 2014

Investigations in Restoration expert Pinin Brambilla Barcilon, famous for having restored, among other Hypercolorimetric artworks, Leonardo’s Last Supper, visits the worksite in the Sala delle Multispectral Imaging by Profilocolore Srl continue to identify the materials used in the monochrome

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October 2014 – Interview

Interview: Claudio Salsi talks about the ‘actors’ in the restoration of the Sala delle Asse

October 2014

A small group of instagramers (IgersMilano) visits the working site: here are some shoots. Photographs by Marco Lamberto

Scholar Jill Pederson from The CNR-ICVBC identifies Certain enlargements of Architect Gianfranco Arcadia University of substances present on the painted surface are Pertot of Politecnico di Philadelphia observes the certain portions of the studied through the video Milano visits the working monochrome monochrome during the camera of a digital site and illustrates the cleaning, using a portable microscope placed directly architecture of the Sala X fluorescence on the wall delle Asse from outside

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September 2014 – Interviews

Interview: Restoration expert Alberto Felici talks about the scaffolding in the working site

September 2014

Tests for removing soluble Meeting with the Filippo del Corno, city The technical committee salts from the walls are in scaffolding experts: they councilman for Culture, meets to discuss the results progress need to design a way to visits the working site of preliminary tests for make the Sala delle Asse cleaning the monochrome accessible during Expo 2015

August 2014 – On holiday…

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July 2014 – Interviews

Interview: Restoration expert Fabrizio Bandini talks about the "descialbo" of mural painting

July 2014

Cleaning tests are More cleaning tests on the The technical committee The Regional Direction of performed on the intrados of the eastern meets to discuss the results Lombardy and the Opificio monochrome window of the latest analyses on delle Pietre Dure of the monochrome Florence report to the Milanese superintendents about the latest work

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June 2014 – Interviews

Interview: Restoration expert Paola Ilaria Mariotti talks about the investigations performed by OPD in 2006 and about the danger of salts to mural painting

June 2014

Larry Keith, Director of A few samples are taken A moment of reflection on Giorgio Bonsanti, former Conservation at the from the monochrome the results of the superintendent to Opificio of restoration delle Pietre Dure, visits the London, steps on the site scaffolds to examine the vaulted ceiling

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May 2014 – Interviews

Interview: Elisabetta Interview: Elisabetta Interview: Elisabetta Interview: Elisabetta Rosina explains why Rosina explains what is Rosina explains what Rosina talks about the infrared thermography has beneath the monochrome happened during the microclimatic factors been used in the restoration of the 1950s operative in the Sala delle restoration Asse

May 2014

The thermographic Claudia Daffara positions Marcello Melis of The staff of Hoc-Lab analysis continues in the IR lamps and thermal Profilocolore Srl shows the editing the video of the different bands on the imaging camera early results of the interviews with the monochrome, carried out diagnostic studies in restorers by Claudia Daffara of the Hypercolorimetric University of Verona Multispectral Imaging

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April 2014 – Interview

Interview: Annette Keller - Interview: Francesca Tasso explains the decoration in the Sala delle Asse in light of the high-definition new discoveries multispectral campaigns

April 2014

Diagnostic investigations in Thanks to the HMI analysis The staff of Culturanuova April 7, 2014: meeting of Hypercolorimetric of Profilocolore Srl it is srl installs Modus the Scientific Committee Multispectral Imaging possible to distinguish and Operandi® software on the for the Sala delle Asse (HMI) by Profilocolore Srl classify the various computer of the Sala delle on the monochrome walls substances used in the Asse, for elaboration of all artworks the restoration data

The Scientific Committee Annette Keller performs a Special Wood lamps flood climbs on the scaffolds for new photographic the surface of the The restoration works on the first time campaign in infrared and monochrome with the monochrome continue reflexed ultraviolet ultraviolet light

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March 2014

Executive meeting CNR-ICVBC draws The samples will be The presence of salts is between the Director of superficial samples from analysed in a laboratory in confirmed also on the restoration works and the intrados of the east order to identify the salts surface of the preparatory CNR-ICVBC (National window on the surface sketch Research Council)

Restoration experts The purpose of absorbing Compresses with different Monitoring the saline prepare materials that will compresses is to extract compositions are placed on content of areas treated be used for testing the salts from the surface of position; they will be with compresses enables extraction of soluble salts the east window’s intrados removed at different times restoration experts to test the effectiveness of the materials used

Sala delle Asse is present The exhibit booth was The screen of Culturanuova OPD describes restoration at the Restoration Salon in created by the General s.r.l. in the booth of Mibact work in the Sala delle Asse Ferrara in 2014 Director of Valorisation for offers a virtual visit to the during one of the talks at the Ministry of Cultural Sala delle Asse the Salon Heritage and Activities and Tourism

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February 2014

The restoration workshop And even some domestic The height of the scaffold Restoration of the is equipped with all the appliances! will allow investigating the preparatory sketch begins necessary chemicals vaulted ceiling and the lunette

Director Claudio Salsi talks Together with the The School of High Paola Ilaria Mariotti, who with the restoration preparatory sketch, Formation of the Opificio teaches at the School, is experts samples of cleaning are delle Pietre Dure of also one of four restoration performed on the Florence visits the site experts for the Sala delle intradossi (jambs) of the Asse two large January 2014

Politecnico di Milano CNR-ICVBC acquires The Raman spectroscope is The Raman technique is performs psychrometric chemical data on the moved on to the lunettes performed using different measurements in order to materials of the tools collect data on preparatory sketch temperature and relative through Raman humidity Spectroscopy

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Another non-invasive The scaffold is modified to and with lighting, making The ventilation system is analysis that employs provide each level with a it easier to work essential in order to infrared light: FTIR hydraulic system maintain adequate Spectroscopy environmental conditions for the restoration experts

Microstories 2013

At the beginning of October 2013, under layers of plaster, a preparatory drawing trace was found, on the eastern wall of Sala delle Asse. The existence of other similar traces was immediately hypothesized, and the hypothesis turned out to be true: after the removal of the planks, a small watercolor drawing’s trace emerged on the southern wall, heavily submerged by layers of whitewash. After the removal of these layers a drawing with branches and pulpy leaves was offered to the restorers’ eyes, quite akin to the vegetable elements of the monochrome.

Removal of the planks in Sala delle Asse, near the window on the eastern wall, has revealed a small drawing. The restorers from the Florentine “Opificio” have removed the whitewash that partially covered this beautiful drawing’s trace, comparable, for technique, to the so-called monochrome on the same wall, in the north-eastern corner. Actually, we can suppose that it’s a section of trunk, probably drawn with charcoal and overshadowed with marked horizontal lines.

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December 2013 – Interviews

Interview: Francesca Tasso explains how the memory of such a splendid work by Leonardo had been lost for centuries

December 2013

Claudia Daffara (University The dual band, infrared CNR completes a field The fluorescence X analysis of Verona) performs the scanner and the thermo- survey using the on the paint layers thermo graphic inspection camera allows discovering fluorescence X rays provides important with different bands on the detachments of the paint portable analyzer information on the utilized monochrome layers materials

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November 2013 – Interview

Interview: The council Interview: Cecilia Frosinini Interview: Cecilia Frosinini Interview: Francesca Tasso member Filippo Del Corno talks about the talks about the next step talks about the results talks about the value of monochrome and the on the monochrome produced by historical and this restoration analysis performed on the archival investigation so monochrome so far far

November 2013

Assembling the permanent OPD defines the setting of The scaffolding will be In parallel to the scaffolding the scaffolding assembled on the north monochrome's restoration, and east wall, where the the investigation of the monochrome is located vault will begin

The monochrome about to The assembly of the Annette Keller, The UV fluorescence is be covered by the scaffolding is completed collaborator of OPD, starts aimed at spotting traces of scaffolding the technical photographic the binders used in the campaign original decoration and of the restoration

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October 2013

The photographer Mauro During the cleaning phase, While removing the plaster New drawing’s traces are Ranzani is the author of a rather complex situation layers, some traces of identified on the southern the photographic of some overlapped layers monochrome painting are wall… campaign of the ongoing of plaster can be visible on the eastern wall restoration process detected…

New drawing’s traces on All the traces are observed Preparatory steps in the The protagonists of the the western wall by the UV lamp conference room at press conference Palazzo Reale

Claudio Salsi talks about Last visit at Sala delle Asse: The council member The superintendent of Sala delle Asse and the the room will reopen its highlights the role of Opificio delle Pietre Dure, complex restoration doors on the occasion of Sforza Castle as a focal Marco Ciatti, answers the project 2015 EXPO point for the project about journalists Leonardo

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September 2013

The outcomes of the After summer holidays the The equipment of the The restorer Fabrizio research will be published restorers of Opificio delle restorers come back to Bandini observes the first on the short run and made Pietre Dure of Florence go Sala delle Asse: smocks, results after the layers of public by October back to work on the and protection footware plaster have been removed scaffolding

The restorers Fabrizio The scaffolding needs to be The restorers of Opificio The Artistic Heritage team Bandini and Maria Rosa moved to the western wall delle Pietre Dure of start working at the Lanfranchi talk about the Florence at work on the material to be published removal of the plaster western wall of Sala delle on the website Asse

Ilaria De Palma and Luca The Hoc-Lab Staff works at The Hoc-Lab staff attends Professor Paolo Paolini Tosi prepare the launch of the website contents a meeting with Francesca defines the information the website by Hoc-Lab Tasso architecture of the website

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August 2013 – On holiday…

July 2013

In July 2013 the equipment Venaria Reale records The multispectrial imaging The restoration project can by Centro Conservazione some videos of the vault, by Venaria Reale includes begin thanks to A2A and and Restauro La Venaria gaining a three- the monochrome Arcus Reale are stored dimensional relief

In July 2013 the moving The moving scaffolding The scaffolding allow the The restorers of Opificio scaffolding is assembled. allow the restorers to restorers to reach a 5 delle Pietre Dure of Sala delle Asse is closed to launch the pilot-project on meters-high surface Florence start climbing into the public. the monochrome the scaffolding

First, the restorers perform The restorers perform 3 July 2013: meeting of the The scientific committee some assays by removing some assays by removing scientific committee visits Sala delle Asse some layers of plaster some layers of plaster from dating back to the XVIII the western wall century

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The scientific committee On July, 25th the singer In Sala della Asse, The keepers Francesca discusses about the Patti Smith visit Sforza Francesca Tasso illustrates Tasso and Giovanna Mori restoration progress Castle the decoration to Patti together with Patti Smith Smith

Before…

Sala delle Asse looked as Until 2010 the walls of the In 2006 the diagnostics The monochrome is such before the room were covered by a surveys start, performer by photographed at visible restoration. In the boiserie (wodden panels) OPD, in cooperation with light, ultraviolet light, and northern-east angle the dating back to the Fifties’ Italia Nostra infrared light monochrome is well restoration defined

Some details of the vault The restoration of the In February 2011 the The removal works keep are photographed at Fifties has totally removed removal of the boiserie going for 2 weeks visible light, ultraviolet the painting of the early (wodden panels) starts and light, and infrared light 1900s ad hoc supporting structures are assembled in the room

42 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

Once the boiserie (wodden The walnut floorboards The analyses by The thermography panels) being removed, a were grounded to the wall Dipartimento di Scienza e highlights Sala delle Asse is door emerges, visible through little iron blocks Tecnologia dell’Ambiente built on a complex mural through the reliefs of the nailed down Costruito (Department of surface room by Beltrami Science and Technologies of the Built Environment) start

Some probes are placed to In February 2012 The photographic Haltadefinizione® performs constantly control the Haltadefinizione® performs campaign the relief of the temperature and the a high-quality definition Haltadefinizione® allows monochrome drawing humidity degree within the photographic campaign of the high-quality definition through the UV light environment the room relief of all surfac reflected

43 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

Telling the restoration

Why stories?

Digital storytelling is a modern and efficient way to talk about cultural heritage. The spread of the media (images, video, audio…) and the diffusion of mobile devices (tablets, smart-phones, players of any kind) has made the multimedia stories the most natural way to talk about culture, both at specific and general level.

A “classic” web page is generally either read very quickly or printed (for a later use); a multimedia story, if properly made, is likely to keep the attention of the users for some minutes, in different contexts: in front of a PC, while Sala delle Asse: towards a new sitting in a café using the tablet, while walking in the city, restoration or while visiting a cultural good..

The user decides where and how to use the story and on which device. HOC-LAB (Politecnico di Milano) has developed 1001stories, a very innovative environment for the creation of multimedia stories. The stories about Sala delle Asse can be accessed through several devices and in various ways. They can be downloaded or used on-line, while visiting Sforza Castle

Sala delle Asse: ancient events

44 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

The stories

The multimedia stories offer a synthesis and an in-depth analysis of the most relevant themes. They are based on interviews to experts and restoration’s key players.

Sala delle Asse: towards Ancient events Modern events The decoration a new restoration

The archive talks Intervention techniques Diagnostics technique Restoring in the third century

45 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

Bibliography

Brief reference list on Sala delle Asse.

Carlo Catturini, Dopo Leonardo: la Sala delle Asse al tempo di Francesco II Sforza e Cristina di Danimarca, «Rassegna di Studi e di Notizie», XXXVIII, 2016, pp. 15-30.

Michela Palazzo, Il disegno preparatorio della pittura murale della Sala delle Asse. Alcune note sul suo rinvenimento a fine Ottocento, «Rassegna di Studi e di Notizie», XXXVII, 2014-2015, pp. 13-32.

Silvia Paoli, La Sala delle Asse. Fotografia e memoria fra le trame di un archivio, «Rassegna di Studi e di Notizie», XXXVI, 2013, pp. 207-224.

Carlo Catturini, La Sala delle Asse di Luca Beltrami: alcune novità documentarie sull’attività di Ernesto Rusca decoratore e restauratore, con qualche nota sull’allestimento di questo ambiente nella prima metà del Novecento, «Rassegna di Studi e di Notizie», XXXVI, 2013, pp. 63-76

Carlo Catturini, Leonardo da Vinci nel Castello Sforzesco di Milano: una citazione di Luca Pacioli per la “Sala delle Asse” ovvero la “camera dei moroni”, «Prospettiva», 147-148, luglio-ottobre 2012, pp. 159-166.

Alessandro Ballarin, Leonardo a Milano. Problemi di leonardismo milanese tra Quattrocento e Cinquecento. Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio prima della Pala Casio, 4 voll., Verona 2010

Maria Teresa Fiorio, Anna Lucchini, Nella Sala delle Asse sulle tracce di Leonardo, «Raccolta Vinciana», fasc. XXXII, 2007, pp. 101-140

Patrizia Costa, The Sala delle Asse in the Sforza Castle in Milan, tesi Ph.D. Pittsburgh University, Pittsburgh 2006 d-scholarship.pitt.edu/6590

Maria Teresa Fiorio, “Infra le fessure delle pietre”: la Sala delle Asse al Castello Sforzesco, in Il codice di Leonardo da Vinci nel Castello Sforzesco, a cura di P. C. Marani, G. Piazza, Milano 2006, pp. 21-29

Maria Teresa Fiorio, “Tutto mi piace”: Leonardo e il castello, in Il Castello Sforzesco di Milano, a cura di M. T. Fiorio, Milano 2005, pp. 163-190

Marco Albertario, Documenti per la decorazione del Castello di Milano nell’età di Galeazzo Maria Sforza (1466-1476), «Solchi», VII, n. 1-2, settembre 2003, pp. 19-61

Patrizia Costa, La Sala delle Asse di Luca Beltrami, «Archivio Storico Lombardo», vol. VII, 2001, pp. 195-217

46 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

Edoardo Villata (a cura di), Leonardo da Vinci. I documenti e le testimonianze contemporanee, Milano 1999 bibdig.museogalileo.it/Teca/Viewer?an=000000970077

Pietro C. Marani, Leonardo. Una carriera di pittore, Milano 1999

Luisa Giordano (a cura di), Ludovicus Dux, Vigevano 1995

Pietro C. Marani, Leonardo e le colonne “ad tronchonos”: tracce di un programma iconologico per Ludovico il Moro, «Raccolta Vinciana», fasc. XXI, 1982, pp. 103-120 bibdig.museogalileo.it/Teca/Viewer?an=000000968881

Marco Rosci, La Sala delle Asse, in Leonardo. La pittura, Firenze 1977, pp. 115-125 (ed. cons. Firenze 1997)

Anna Maria Brizio, Leonardo pittore, in Leonardo, a cura di L. Reti , Milano 1974, pp. 20-55

Edouard Monod Herzen, Leonard de Vinci. Le problème de la Sala delle Asse à Milan, «Revue d’Estétique», aprile-giugno 1962, pp. 113-137

Joseph Gantner, Les fragments récemment découverts d’une fresque de Léonard de Vinci au Chateau de Milan, «Gazette des beaux-arts», gennaio 1959, pp. 27-34

Costantino Baroni, Tracce pittoriche leonardesche recuperate al Castello Sforzesco di Milano, «Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. Rendiconti», vol. LXXXVIII, fascc. I-II, 1955, pp. 21-32

Luca Beltrami, Documenti e memorie riguardanti la vita di Leonardo da Vinci. In ordine cronologico, Milano 1919 bibdig.museogalileo.it/Teca/Viewer?an=000000328691

Luca Beltrami, Leonardo da Vinci e la Sala delle “Asse” nel Castello di Milano, Milano 1902

Luca Beltrami, Il Castello di Milano (Castrum Portae Jovis) sotto il dominio dei Visconti e degli Sforza. MCCCLVIII-MDXXXV, Milano 1894

Luca Beltrami, Il Castello di Milano sotto il dominio degli Sforza, MCCCCL-MDXXXV, Milano 1885

47 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

Actors

Municipality of Milan – Culture Office

Through the mayor, the Assessorato alla Cultura and its museums, the Municipality of Milan is the principal commissioner of the restoration of the Sala delle Asse.

The purpose of the project is not only the restoration of the artwork, but also to carry out a detailed study with the aim of identifying the different stages and determining what remains of Leonardo’s original work.

The restoration project is part of the “Patto per Milano”, an agreement between the Municipality of Milan and the

Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, and is also one of the initiatives to be undertaken as preparation for the EXPO 2015 event, which will feature Leonardo as its leading symbol.

www.comune.milano.it

Palazzo Marino - Milan

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The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism

The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism will play an important role in the restoration of the Sala delle Asse. Involved in the project by the Municipality of Milan since the start, it has provided funds to start the restoration work on the basis of the preliminary project carried out by the Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Lombardia and the Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio di Milano.

The Ministry – represented by the Direzione Regionale, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici di Milano, and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence – has also defined the project relating to Leonardo’s preparatory “Monochrome” design on the walls (currently the most deteriorated part) and established study facilities for analysis of the paintings on the ceiling and in the lunettes.

The involvement of the Ministry has enabled a scientific approach to be taken to the works, including a complex series of preliminary scientific investigations as part of a diagnostics project implemented in cooperation with the Politecnico di Milano, the CNR-ICVBC, and the Imaging Department of the Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale. The diagnostics project is gradually Sforza Castle - Parco Sempione revealing the state of the paintings, the causes of their deterioration and the actions required to halt the damage, and identification of the procedures to follow.

www.beniculturali.it

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Opificio delle Pietre Dure

The Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence provides vital consultancy work on the execution of the preliminary diagnostic and investigative procedures, and the finalisation of the plan for restoration of the mural paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the Sala delle Asse.

The Opificio delle Pietre Dure was established as a national institution in 1975, when it combined two organisations that had long been active in the production and conservation of art in Florence: the long-established and renowned Opificio, founded in 1588 as a court manufactory and then turned into a restoration centre at the end of nineteenth century, and the Laboratorio di

Restauro, which was created as part of the

Soprintendenza in 1932, and later transferred to the new offices in Fortezza da Basso following the floods in Florence in 1966, where it has since greatly grown.

At present, Opificio is one of the main institutions in the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. It operates in three main fields: conservation, through 11 specialist offices and their approximately 60 restorers; research, both theoretical and applied to specific restoration cases, organised around the scientific laboratory; education, through the Scuola di Alta Formazione and several internship programmes run in cooperation with similar institutions in Italy and abroad. www.opificiodellepietredure.it Ultraviolet fluorescence

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A2A

In cooperation with the Municipality of Milan and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, A2A offers support to the Sala delle Asse restoration project at Sforza Castle in Milan through generous funding that will take the work to its completion.

A2A is a multi-utility organisation in Lombardy that operates at the highest levels in all the sectors it works in

(energy, networks, heating, environment). A2A plays an active role in the territories in which it operates, supporting different kind of projects and activities, ranging from culture to the arts, environmental issues and sports.

A2A decided to contribute to the restoration works of the Sala delle Asse due to the great value that Leonardo’s Monochrome represents, not just to the city of Milan and region of Lombardy, but to the world, especially in view of Expo 2015.

Sforza Castle has frequently been the focus of A2A’s attention, which it considers a major asset to the Lombardy region. During the 1980s the company AEM – Sforza Castle one of the parent companies, with ASM, of A2A – funded the restoration of some 300 objects from the Romanesque period in Lombardy, which had been packed away in various storerooms. Another project A2A has been involved in are the many improvements made to the external lighting of Sforza Castle, which have combined aesthetic appearance with respect for the monument’s history, and the night-time safety of the city’s inhabitants and visitors. www.a2a.eu

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ARCUS

ARCUS S.p.A. is a company involved in art, culture, and show business and was founded in 2004 by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. It is another important contributor to the restoration works of the Sala delle Asse.

Arcus’s stated mission is to support and launch projects related to cultural heritage and activities, taking into consideration their connection with infrastructures. Its ultimate goal is to transform the cultural heritage from being considered something passive, “to be looked at”, into something active, a tool for development.

Providing support to projects means identifying interesting and innovative initiatives in the Italian cultural landscape, assisting in the planning stages, offering organisational and technical support, participating with funding where appropriate or necessary, tracking project progress, and doing what it can to ensure a successful outcome.

Arcus also takes an active role in searching out potential stakeholders and has the aim of coordinating all those activities required to promote and support a project, and to identify and attract further funding for initiatives whose objective is to improve cultural assets and activities within a framework of conservation, appreciation and Restorers at work development. www.arcusonline.org

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Institutional and scientific partner

Annette T. Keller – Art-imaging

Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale

CNR – Institute for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Heritage

Culturanuova s.r.l.

Hal 9000 s.r.l. – Haltadefinizione®

Mauro Ranzani

Opificio delle Pietre Dure – Scientific laboratory

Politecnico di Milano

 Hoc Lab  CBC – Cultural Heritage Centre

Profilocolore s.r.l.

Università di Verona – Dipartimento di Fisica applicata

53 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/

On the Job

Restoration credits

Contracting authorities Municipality of Milan – Culture Management  Council member: Filippo Del Corno  Director: Giulia Amato  Director of the Soprintendenza Castello, Musei Archeologici e Musei Storici: Claudio A. M. Salsi - Administrative office: Renato Rossetti, Piera Briani - Curator of Sforza Castle Art Archives: Francesca Tasso  Director of the Settore Valorizzazione Patrimonio Artistico e Sviluppo Servizi and Responsabile Unico del Procedimento: Laura Galimberti - Assistant to the Responsabile Unico del Procedimento – Settore Soprintendenza Castello: Giorgio Sebastiano Di Mauro

Restoration Project  Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Lombardia Michela Palazzo, Restorer and Curator

 Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Florence Marco Ciatti, Superintendent Cecilia Frosinini, Art Historian – Director of the Department of the Restoration of Mural Paintings

 Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e Paesaggistici di Milano Alberto Artioli, Superintendent

 Soprintendenza per i Beni Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici di Milano Sandrina Bandera, Superintendent

 Soprintendenza Castello, Musei Archeologici e Musei Storici del Comune di Milano Claudio A.M. Salsi, Director

Direction of the restoration works Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Lombardia  Michela Palazzo, Restorer and Curator

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Executor of the restoration works  Direction of the restoration works: Cecilia Frosinini, Art Historian – Director of the Department of the Restoration of Mural Paintings  Restorers: Fabrizio Bandini, Alberto Felici, Maria Rosa Lanfranchi, Paola Ilaria Mariotti

Operation management  Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Florence – Restoration Department of the Restoration of Mural Paintings Fabrizio Bandini, Technical Director

 Soprintendenza per i Beni Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici di Milano Andrea Carini, Restorer

 Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e Paesaggistici di Milano Gianpiero Bonnet, Technology Officer

Sponsor A2A Spa Arcus Spa

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Scientific commitee

Claudio A. M. Salsi, Director of the Settore Soprintendenza Castello, Musei Archeologici e Musei Storici (chairman) Francesca Tasso, Director of the Art Archives – Curator of the Museums of the Applied Arts and Musical Instruments of Sforza Castle (vice-president of the scientific committee) Michela Palazzo, Restorer at the Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Lombardia (works supervisor of the restoration)

Giovanni Agosti, Professor of Modern Art History at the Università degli Studi di Milano Ermanno Arslan, Academician at the Accademia dei Lincei, and member of the Board of Directors of Italia Nostra Milano Alberto Artioli, Soprintendente per i Beni Architettonici e Paesaggistici di Milano Sandrina Bandera, Soprintendente per i Beni Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici di Milano Fabrizio Bandini, Technical Director of the Department of the Restoration of Mural Paintings at Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze Caterina Bon Valsassina, Regional Director of the Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Lombardia Marco Ciatti, Superintendent of Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze Luisa Cogliati Arano, Member of the managing Board of Ente Raccolta Vinciana of Milano Alberto Felici, Curator in the Department for the Restoration of Mural Paintings at Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze Maria Teresa Fiorio, Vice-president of Ente Raccolta Vinciana of Milan, Professor of Museum Studies at the Università degli Studi di Milano Cecilia Frosinini, Art Historian– Director of the Department of the Restoration of Mural Paintings at Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze Larry Keith, Director of Conservation, National Gallery of London Pietro Marani, President of Ente Raccolta Vinciana, Professor of Modern Art History at the Politecnico di Milano Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums Francesca Rossi, Responsible of Drawing Collection of Sforza Castle – Curator Alessandro Rovetta, Professor of Modern Art History at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano Luke Syson, Curator in Charge of the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York

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At work

Claudio Antonio Marco Salsi: president of the scientific committee for the restoration

Director of the Department for the Superintendence of the Castle, Archeological Museums, and Historical Museums

Claudio Antonio Marco Salsi holds a historical and artistic education. He is specialized in History of ancient and modern engraving arts. He is the author of several publications on graphics, applied arts, iconography, and museography. Since 2007 he has taught at Università Cattolica di Milano for the course of “History of design, incision and graphics”. He has made possible the refitting of the collections of Sforza Castle, besides the salvage of the furniture of Palazzo Reale in Milan. He is partner of Ente Raccolta Vinciana, memebr of the board of directors of ANMLI Associazione Nazionale Musei

Locali e Istituzionali (National Association of Local and

Institutional Museums). He is also member of the board of directors of ICOM Italia for the 3-year period 2013-2015.

Francesca Tasso: vice-president of the scientific committee for the restoration

Keeper Responsible for Artistic Archives –– Applied Arts and Musical Instruments of the Castle

Graduated in Letters, she is specialized in history of art and minor arts. She has obtained a PhD in Turin, with a thesis on the sculpture in the late gothic art in Milan at the age of Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1380-1402). Since 2000 she has been responsible for the artistic archives –– Applied Arts and Musical Instruments of the Castle. Since 2009 she has coordinated the Archives at Sforza Castle.

She has taught History of medieval art, and History of modern art. Her studies namely concern the late Gothic sculpture, and the museum collection in the city of Milan.

Michela Palazzo: director for the restoration works

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Official Restorer and Keeper for the Regional Department for Architectural and Landscape Heritage Heritage of Lombardy

Graduated at Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro of Rome (Conservation and Restoration High School), she holds a degree and a specialization degree in History of Medieval and Modern Art. Since 1991 she works for the Department for the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. She has performed several restoration interventions in very important sites such as the ruins of Pompeii, the Roman Forum, Paestum and the grave of Tuffatore, Palazzo Te in Mantua, San Zeno in Verona, the cloister of Duomo of Cefalù, il Quirinale in Rome, Sala delle Cariatidi at Palazzo Reale in Milano, the late medieval plasters at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Lomello, among other interventions on moving works of art.

Cecilia Frosinini: Director of the works at Sala delle Asse -

Opificio delle Pietre Dure

Official and Art Historian – Director for the Restoration

Department of the Mural Painting of Opificio delle Pietre

Dure of Florence

Graduated in Letters, she has obtained a specialization in History of Art at the University of Florence. Since 1990, she has worked as an official and art historian at Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Since 2008, she has been Director for the Restoration Department of the Mural Painting. Among her works are: the cycle of frescos of Leggenda della Croce by Agnolo Gaddi, at Cappella Maggiore di Santa Croce of Firenze; the cycle of Stigmate Bardi by Giotto and of Assunzione by Maestro of Figline, always in Santa Croce. She has coordinated the research and diagnostics works of Cappelle Bardi and Peruzzi by Giotto, funded by Getty Foundation. At present, she is instructor in Diagnostics at University of Florence, at of History of Art Specialization School. She has obtained a fellowship and a professorship at CASVA Washington DC, in 2012 and 2013.

Paola Ilaria Mariotti: restorer

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Official Restorer and Keeper for the Department of Restoration of mural Paintings at Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Plant of hard stones) of Florence

Since 2001 she has worked as a restorer at Opificio delle Pietre Dure. She also teaches at Scuola di Alta Formazione (Higher Education School) and cooperates for study projects, diagnostics projects, experimental works, aimed at the restoration of mural paintings. Among her restoration works are: the cylce of Sale dei Pianeti, realized by Pietro da Cortona at Palazzo Pitti in Firenze, the cylce of Giotto in Cappella della Maddalena at Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Firenze, Cappella Maggiore painted by Agnolo Gaddi in Santa Croce in Florence, Stimmate di San Francesco realized by Giotto above the entrance arch of Cappella Bardi in Santa Croce in Florence, and the paintings by Masaccio and Masolino at Cappella Brancacci in Florence.

Alberto Felici: restorer

Official Restorer and Keeper for the Department of

Restoration of mural paintings at Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Plant of hard stones) of Florence

Since 2001 he has worked as a restorer at Opificio delle Pietre Dure, and he also performs some teching activities both on the intervention techniques, and the decline of the mural paintings at the school of Opificio. He was in charge for the restauration of the mural paintings by Niccolò dell’Abate in Scandiano, Cappella della Maddalena by Giotto in Bargello, the plasters of Capilla des animes of Santiago de Compostela, Sale di Giove, Saturno and Marte at Palazzo Pitti, the frescos by Pordenone in Duomo di Cremona, besides the frescos by Giulio Romano in Palazzo Ducale in Mantua. At present, he is working at the restoration of Cappella Maggiore by Agnolo Gaddi in

Santa Croce, besides the mural paintings of Chiostro

Verde of Santa Maria Novella by Paolo Uccello.

Fabrizio Bandini: restorer

Technical Manager for the Branch of the Restoration of

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mural paintings at Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze

Graduated at Magistero d’Arte, he has been a restorer since 1983, at Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence. Among his restoration works are: the plasters by Donatello in the Sagrestia Vecchia of San Lorenzo in Florence, the mural paintings by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Cappella dei Magi at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, the frescos Storie della Vera Croce by Piero della Francesca in the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo, the mural decorations and plasters by Pietro da Cortona in Sale dei Pianeti at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and Trinità painted by Masaccio in the cathedral of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

Maria Rosa Lanfranchi: restorer

Official Restorer and Director for the Branch of

Restoration of mural paintings at Opificio delle Pietre

Dure (Plant of hard stones) of Florence

Since 1992 she has worked as a restorer at Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence, where she also teaches implementation techniques, decline and intervention methodologies of mural paintings and plasters at Scuola di Alta Formazione (Higher Education School). Among her works are: the cycle of Storie della Vera Croce painted by Piero della Francesca in Arezzo; Storie di Diana e Atteone by Parmigianino in the fortress of Fontanellato; Trinità painted by Masaccio in the church of S. Maria Novella in Florence; the lunettes of Sala del Paradiso by Niccolò dell’Abate in Scandiano; the decoration of Cappella della Maddalena by Giotto at Bargello in Florence; the plasters and the paintings in the rooms di Giove e Saturno at Palazzo Pitti in Florence; Stimmate di san Francesco by Giotto in the church of Santa Croce. She is currently working at the restoration of Storie della Vera Croce by Agnolo Gaddi, at Cappella Maggiore di Santa Croce.

Talk with us

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Map

How to reach Sforza Castle: Underground: MM1 Cadorna, Cairoli - MM2 Cadorna, Lanza Buses: 18,50,37,58,61,94 Trams: 1,2,4,12,14,19

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Visits

Sala delle Asse (room VIII of Museo d’Arte Antica) was reopened to the public Tuesday, April 28. During the hole duration of ExpoinCittà a multimedia narrative will animate and illustrate the room and the story of its restoration.

Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday 9.00 a.m.– 7.30 p.m. (admission until 7 p.m.) Ticket office: tel. 02/88463703

Close on Mondays (holidays included) Closed on: December 25, January 1, May 1, Easter Monday.

Sforza Castle: Opening hours: open daily 7.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. (standard time) | 7.00 a.m. – 7.30 p.m. (daylight saving) Thursday until 22.30 Free admission (except for castle museums)

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Contacts and Press

Press kit

For Press kit or further information requests: [email protected] [email protected]

Press Kit on 23.10.2013 Sforza Castle

Press Kit on 18.02.2015

Press Review

Press Review on 23.10.2013

Video

Download from the Homepage of the website of Comune di Milano (23.10.2013) www.youtube.com/embed/HYL8bfJMUaE www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUGIun-eXpo#t=36

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Credits

The website has been developed by HOC-LAB of Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Politecnico di Milano (hoc.elet.polimi.it), in cooperation with Sforza Castle.

Politecnico di Milano Coordination: Paolo Paolini Editorial staff: Nicoletta Di Blas, Elena Maccari, Diletta Apollonio Implementation: Andrea Coledan, Diego Peruselli, Matteo Garza, Francesco Clasadonte

Sforza Castle Coordination: Francesca Tasso Gathering, elaboration and archiving of documents: Ilaria De Palma

Image credits Archivio Storico Civico e Biblioteca Trivulziana – copyright Comune di Milano – all rights reserved Civico Archivio Fotografico di Milano – copyright Comune di Milano – all rights reserved Fondazione Centro Conservazione e Restauro “La Venaria Reale” – Laboratory Imaging: Elena Biondi, Alessandro Bovero, Paolo Triolo with the collaboration of 3D Target srl, Brescia Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence: Alfredo Aldrovandi, Annette T. Keller Politecnico di Milano, Laboratorio sperimentale ABC: Elke Di Flumeri Raccolta delle Stampe “Achille Bertarelli” – copyright Comune di Milano – all rights reserved Diego Peruselli Mauro Ranzani Saporetti Immagini d’Arte Luca Tosi Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia

64 Sala delle Asse. The restoration Leonardo da Vinci painter at the Castle in Milan http://saladelleassecastello.it/