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2016 50 Years after the Flood, a Renaissance Painting Restored | The Getty Iris

50 Years after the Flood, a Renaissance

Painting Restored

Ravaged, rescued, restored, and reinstalled, Giorgio Vasari’s The Last Supper is
back on view 50 years after the cataclysmic Florentine ood of 1966

ANTOINE WILMERING | NOVEMBER 4, 2016 | 8 MIN READ

Conservators position a panel of Vasari’s The Last Supper vertically to align the edges of the joint. Archives
of the Opi cio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

The citizens of Florence have an exceptional reason to celebrate today, as one of the city’s most treasured
artworks has been restored and is back on display. Hidden from view for the past 50 years to the day, The Last
Supper (1546) by Giorgio Vasari has returned to the Museum of the Opera of Santa Croce in Florence after a
decade-long conservation project.

Painted on ve large panels, each constructed of several planks, and measuring over 8 by 21 feet, the painting
was damaged in the disastrous Florentine ood of 1966 and considered beyond repair. Or, at least, that was

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the opinion of experts up until ten years ago. With the support of a grant from the Getty Foundation’s Panel
Paintings Initiative, a team of experts at one of the foremost conservation centers in the world, the Opi cio
delle Pietre Dure (OPD) in Florence, have brought Vasari’s artwork back to life.

A Miraculous
470-Year History

I am a rm believer in
miracles, but not of the
kind shrouded in mystery
with billowing smoke and
ickering lights. I believe in
miracles that happen
because of human
ingenuity and resilience,
such as the rescue and
restoration of The Last
Supper. Vasari started the
work in 1546 and painted it
over a six-month period for
the Murate Convent,
located only a few blocks
from the Basilica of Santa
Croce.

The convent and church

are located in one of the
lowest parts of Florence, so
the painting has been
subjected to no less than
seven major oods in its
470-year lifespan. The rst
happened shortly after the
artwork was nished, when
the Arno River spilled over
its banks in 1547. After
1845, the Murate Convent
was repurposed as a Vasari’s Last Supper immediately after its hanging in the Museum of the Opera of Santa
prison, so The Last Supper Croce in Florence. Photo: Antoine Wilmering
was moved to the Santa
Croce, where it continued to remain vulnerable to the Arno.

The most disastrous Florentine ood of modern times occurred on November 4, 1966. After heavy rainfall in
Tuscany in October and early November, a ood wave burst into the city, covering more than 7,000 acres with
water and sewage, and depositing 600,000 tons of mud and debris. The water reached heights of over 22 feet

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in the lowest parts of town, including the area of Santa Croce. Inside the basilica and adjacent museum, it
swelled to well over 8 feet high, damaging many irreplaceable artworks.

During the ood, The Last Supper was submerged in a slurry of water, mud, and heating oil for over twelve
hours, which softened the paint and saturated the wooden support structure. When the sludge receded,
some of the paint and gesso migrated with it toward the bottom of the painting.

A heroic e ort to save the artwork by a team of conservators and volunteers ensued. The rescuers tried to
protect the painted surface by covering it with conservation-grade paper and, when that ran out, any type of
tissue paper they could get their hands on. The sheets of paper prevented the paint from peeling o and
sliding down.

But this was just a rst emergency response. The panels were drenched and needed to slowly dry out in a
controlled environment to avoid warping and splitting. Conservators also had to carefully monitor humidity
levels to avoid mold growth, which would have been disastrous. Faced with this monumental challenge, the
painting’s ve panels were put in storage, where they lay dormant for decades. Vasari’s artwork was almost
given up as a casualty of the ood.

Given this history, it is a

miracle that The Last
Supper still exists. Equally
astounding is the level to
which it has now been
restored. Not only is the
painting back on display,
but for the rst time
scholars can see color
images of it; before 1966,
the artwork had only been
documented in black-and-
white photographs.

Modern-Day
“Mud Angels”

As the ood water receded, Flood-damaged panels of Vasari’s The Last Supper slowly dry out and await further
Florentines, experts from treatment in the Limonaia at the Boboli Gardens. Archives of the Opi cio delle Pietre Dure,
neighboring cities, and a Florence

large number of volunteers

from all over the world—nicknamed “mud angels”—descended on the city to rescue and perform rst-aid
measures to artworks, books, and historic materials. Among them was a young carpenter by the name of Ciro
Castelli. His skills were desperately needed to build gurneys and crates to protect works of art as they were
moved to safety.

Due to the massive support and attention the city received, I think that it is safe to say that the 1966 ood put
the conservation profession solidly on the map, and Castelli found his calling. At the OPD, he became a

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specialist in the structural

conservation of panel
paintings, and he is now
one of the most revered
experts in the world.

In 1986, when I was still at

the beginning of my career
in conservation, I visited
the OPD, and I clearly
remember my awe for the
professionalism and skills
of the conservators. Since
then, I have returned many
times, and my respect for
the institution has only
deepened.

When the Getty

Foundation, together with
colleagues from the Getty
Conservation Institute and The front of the painting before conservation. Because the wooden support shrank due to
the J. Paul Getty Museum, water damage, the paint surface lifted o the support. (The paint layers are obscured by the
began developing the layers of paper that were a xed to the front of the painting to keep the paint attached to
the panel.) Archives of the Opi cio delle Pietre Dure, Florence
Panel Paintings Initiative in
2008, it was considered
paramount to ally with the OPD. As a premier
conservation laboratory and training
institution, the OPD was the ideal partner, as it
represents over 50 years of experience in the
structural conservation of panel paintings. The
Getty Foundation was fortunate to have the
Soprintendente of the OPD, Dr. Marco Ciatti,
serve on the initiative’s international advisory
committee.

The main focus of the Panel Paintings Initiative

is to advance the knowledge of current experts
and to bring a younger generation of experts
into the eld. To achieve these goals, the Getty
Ciro Castelli. Photo: Cecilia Mastrantonio
Foundation partners with leading art
institutions in the western hemisphere and
supports side-by-side training residencies.

In 2010, the OPD received a three-year grant for the structural conservation of Vasari’s painting. For the rst
time since the ood, conservators felt ready to face the challenge of The Last Supper’s conservation. The
painting was still in bad shape. The intense water saturation caused the wood to soften and expand, in turn

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stressing the painted surface and causing dramatic cracks and breaks. Wooden supports on the back of the
artwork that kept the multi-panel object structurally sound also failed, leaving the painting in pieces.

The Last Supper was ideally

suited to the initiative,
given its large size and
structural complexity, as
well as the extent of the
damage caused by the
ood. Its conservation
treatment o ered training
opportunities for both mid-
career and advanced-level
conservators. During the
course of the project, three
additional outside panel
experts consulted with the
OPD team, allowing the
trainees to observe peer-
to-peer decision making at
the highest level.

Detail of Vasari’s The Last Supper as it undergoes conservation at the Opi cio delle Pietre
Castelli, a respected and Dure e Laboratori di Restauro in Florence. Photo: Cecilia Mastrantonio
beloved teacher, led the
training residencies at the
OPD. Without a doubt, he
has advanced the
knowledge of a new
generation of structural
panel paintings
conservators. He was ably
assisted by Mauro Parri
and Andrea Santacesaria,
who bene tted from the
initiative’s international
collaboration with
conservation experts in
Brussels, Madrid, London,
and New York.

Seven conservators from

England, Hungary, Italy,
and the United States—
including the J. Paul Getty
Museum’s Sue Ann Chui—
completed training at all Castelli (far right) explains to visiting conservators, (left to right) Alan Miller, Britta New,
George Bisacca, and José de la Fuente, how the new auxiliary support system works on the
phases of the painting’s
reverse of the conserved central panel of The Last Supper. Photo: Sue Ann Chui
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complex structural
treatment.

Skillful Solutions

Take a moment to imagine what it is like to handle a painting of such an enormous size—8 by 21 feet total;
composed of ve panels with a total of 12 thick poplar planks. How many people does it take to maneuver
these large components around? During structural conservation, how can you assure that an intervention at
the back gives the desired e ect at the front? Asking these questions may help you begin to grasp the
complexity of this conservation project.

There are many details to consider and problems to be solved, but to give you an idea of just one, consider
this quote from Parri:

The treatment steps became more complicated from a technical point of view as we
encountered a signi cant gap between the panels and the impossibility of bringing
them closer due to the paint layer bridging them. After some brainstorming, we
decided to apply wedge-shaped inserts along the previously prepared channels with
the point facing down, as wide as the gap, to recreate the foundation on which to
later set down and re-adhere the paint layers.

In 2013, the stabilization of the wood substrate was complete, and The Last Supper‘s ve panels were
reconnected for the rst time in 47 years. It was a momentous occasion. The team’s solution was based on
the support system originally devised by Vasari himself, which has stabilized the painting while also allowing
the wooden panels to move naturally with standard temperature and humidity uctuations.

Work on the nal conservation of the painted surface was completed with the generous support of the Prada
Foundation. A conservation team led by OPD conservator Roberto Bellucci was able to recover an
unanticipated amount of the original painted surface, revealing the artist’s hand in surprising detail. The most
talented conservators in the eld skillfully saved a signi cant painting that was deemed beyond repair. Allora,
many congratulations to the OPD on this remarkable achievement; now it’s time to celebrate!

With the Arno still owing nearby, there is always the looming threat of another major ood, despite the
water management dams that have been constructed upstream. As an extra safety precaution, a high-tech
yet simple device was installed. If The Last Supper is in danger of another ood, a simple press of a button
engages two winches, and the entire painting is miraculously hoisted toward the ceiling out of harm’s way!
_____

Learn more: The Getty Foundation’s Panel Paintings Initiative project for the conservation of Giorgio Vasari’s The
Last Supper (1526) was featured in the PBS NewsHour’s Culture at Risk series in October 2015. The episode focused
on the work of the OPD, which the NewsHour host Je音� Brown described as “part museum, part workshop, part
hospital for threatened treasures.” Watch the episode online.

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A join between planks. Circled is an original dowel that held the two planks together.
Archives of the Opi cio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

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Castelli (at center), Sue Ann Chui (R) and Miller (L) set up a router guide for cutting a V-
shaped track in preparation for rejoining the panels. Photo courtesy Britta New, National
Gallery, London

Castelli monitors the overall curvature of the painting during rejoining of the panels. Photo
courtesy Britta New, National Gallery, London

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Before a new cross-batten can be tted into an original dovetail track to reinforce the
overall structure of the panel, new wooden blocks are glued into the track to replace
damaged wood and level its base. Photo courtesy Britta New, National Gallery, London

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