MANAGING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH : FROM REAL PROBLEMS TO PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS The 11th conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics, Meknes, October 24-27 2011 MANAGING ARCHAEOLOGICALSITESWITHMOSAICS: FROM REALPROBLEMSTOPRACTICALSOLUTIONS for theConservationofMosaics,Meknes,October24-272011 Demetrios Michaelides and Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets Demetrios MichaelidesandAnne-Marie The 11thconferenceoftheInternationalCommittee edited by Speech in honour of Antonio Cassio

When Antonio Cassio was born, 80 years ago, he was already a mosaicist since a couple of generations at least: his father Lorenzo, was for about 40 years director of the “Studio del mosaico” of the Vatican City; his son, Rober- to, is actually responsible for the conservation of mosaics of the Vatican Museums; his nephew Lorenzo, Roberto’s son, is already in the art. Te production of new mosaics of Antonio, working to- gether with his brother Fabrizio is almost endless. It is worthwhile to go through a short list just to give an idea of the variety of his work, both technical and geographical. In the early 1950s, together with his father, Antonio and Fabrizio made the mosaics of the North American Col- lege on the Gianicolo in ; during 1956-57, they made the of the Church of the Precious Blood in Detroit; in 1958, they worked directly for the go- vernment of the United States for the manufacturing of the mosaics of the War Cemeteries in Florence, Belgium, Luxemburg and Manila for about 3500 m2; in 1964, they made the mosaic of the St Francis Hospital Chap- el in Wichita, Kansas (USA); in 1968, they made the ‘Via Crucis’ for the St Stanislaus Church in Milwuakee, Wisconsin (USA); during 1966 and 1968, they made the new mosaics of the Montecassino Abbey, after the originals were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War (700 m2); in 1979, they made the mosaics of the Palace of Cinema in Bagdad. Finally, in 1985, they made the mosaic for the Memorial of John Lennon in Central Park in New York, today one of the most visited sites in the city.

XXI MANAGING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH MOSAICS. THE 11TH CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF MOSAICS, MEKNES

Fig. 1. The ceremony: From left to right: Roberto Nardi, Antonio Cassio, Gael de Guichen, Ro- berto Cassio, Demetrios Michaelides

In 1967, he is classifed frst at the national public com- petition for the position of mosaic restorers at the Minis- try for Education, held at the Opifcio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, and chooses to work in Antica. Very soon, his new technologies are appreciated and they will be applied during the following ten years. Important mosaics, such as those of the “La casa dell’Invidioso”, “Le Terme Marine”, “La casa dei Dioscuri”, “La casa delle Province” plus many more, are restored according to his methodology. For what concerns mosaics restoration, Antonio began in 1958 when he was asked to restore the foor mosaics of the in Rome. Here he worked for several years, until all the foor restoration was complete, for a total of more than 6000 m2. Other interesting res- toration projects carried out are the Casa del Bracciale in Pompei in 1978; in 1978-1989 the Museo Nazionale Romano and the Museo delle Terme, in Rome, where

XXII Presentation speech given by Roberto Nardi to the ICCM General Meeting. Roberto Nardi

Fig. 2. Members of ICCM honour Antonio Cassio

they lifted and re-laid most of the mosaics actually on display. During the 1980s, they removed and re-laid all mosaics and opus sectile of the frst foor of the Museo Ar- cheologico in Naples … and more, the mosaics of Villa Torlonia in Rome, , the Capitoline Muse- ums, the Palatine, the Vatican Museums and many many other projects on site and in museum. But it is not the quantity of square meters or the num- ber of projects that make the professional quality of one person. And these are not the motivation for ICCM ho- nouring Antonio with this medal. In the late 1970s, Antonio got a position as professor of conservation of mosaic at ICR in Rome and in this role he trained dozens and dozens of conservators. In 1983, he joined ICCM in Aquileia. First of all, he is a great innovator: he never stopped look- ing for new, efcient and compatible technical solutions for conserving mosaics: amongst others, the practice of

XXIII MANAGING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH MOSAICS. THE 11TH CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF MOSAICS, MEKNES cutting the mosaic in small pieces for lifting. Tis is a technique that Antonio imported in conservation prac- tice directly from the mosaic making technique and this replaced the use of removing foors by rolling them or cutting them in big square sections. Te Antonio solu- tion transformed mosaic lifting from a very complicated, costly and dangerous operation into an action that con- servators without the use of equipment (like cranes and trucks) can easily implement. Another important practice that he introduced is the in- termediate passage on clay, which means to re-lay tempo- rarily the mosaics on a fresh clay bed to treat them before the reapplication on a new support. Tis is extremely useful when you deal with mosaics badly detached in the past from the site and without documentation so that, before the fnal re-laying on a new support you need a check control and a treatment. In 1982, at the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro, Antonio Cassio used aerolam panels as support of mosaics applied from the front side, cutting and assembling fragments of surfaces of about 1 m2, very easy to handle, the so called “piccoli pezzi”. But, apart from the above and other, technical inno- vations that Antonio introduced in the profession, I would highlight the best part of his character: that is, his genero sity towards his colleagues and particularly his students. His studio was always open, his projects had al- ways room for collaborations, visitors and patrons. And, aside from the high professional standards, Antonio dis- seminated his enthusiasm and passion for the work. I would like to conclude this short presentation with a story of 38 years ago, when, at the end of the academic year at ICR, I was going with Antonio to the archaeo- logical excavation at Settefnestre, in Tuscany, for a one- month feld experience in mosaic conservation. When driving there, I asked Antonio what we were supposed to do. His reply was: “How can I know if we have not arrived yet?”. I said “I suppose that, thanks to your experience, you know what we will do well in advance”. He was almost upset and replied: “Remember, each mosaic is diferent from another and you never know in advance which will be the best strategy to follow and treatment to apply..… You must go next to the mosaic, sit and wait for the moment

XXIV Presentation speech given by Roberto Nardi to the ICCM General Meeting. Roberto Nardi

when the mosaic itself will tell you what to do”. Tis is a lesson that lasted for 40 years and still today, before ap- proaching a new project, it comes up in my mind, telling me to take time, to be modest, to study the monument, to look for the problems and the solutions, both written on it and ……. wait for the moment when the mosaic itself will tell me what to do. For this and for many other reasons I am so glad that today Antonio is with us, and I would like to thank him once more for all he gave to us, to ICCM and to the world mosaic heritage.

Roberto Nardi Vice-President of ICCM

Meknes, Morocco, October 25, 2011

In recognition of his pioneering services of many decades to the safeguard and conservation of mosaics, ICCM, the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics, honours Antonio Cassio with a medal.

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