Reseach Center of Italian Mural Paintings
The restoration project of the mural paintings in the Basilica di Santa Croce located in Florence, Italy, were accomplished in the autumn of 2010. This is an international project in which a Japanese university formed collaboration with Italian Institutes on the restoration of art works for very first time. Kanazawa University launched the project in 2005 with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze (the Laboratory of Restoration in Florence, Italy) and the Opera di Santa Croce (the Saint Cross Basilica in Florence). With the latest technologies, we analyzed the series of mural paintings at the basilica di Santa Croce which called ‘La Leggenda della Vera Croce’ (Tale of the Holy Cross) by Agnolo Gaddi. It is approximately 820 square meters large and is one of the largest mural paintings in Italy. Our research has provided a new insight into the position in the art history and the interpretation of iconography.
As a part of the project, one scene of the murals Tale of the Holy Cross has been reproduced in the Kakuma Campus of the university. The replica was made to the original scale, using the same materials, methods and techniques as those used in the original fresco as much as possible.
As our previous achievement was widely recognized, Research Center of Italian Mural Paintings was set up in May 2010. Our next project has kicked off in April 2010, which was funded not only by Kanazawa University but also by the Japanese ministry of Education, Culture, sports, Science and Technology, based at the research center of Kanazawa University, Japan, and also at the laboratory of restoration Florence, Italy. We will continue to work in collaboration for another four years. The aim of this international project is to create digital archives for medieval mural paintings in South Italy, where less progress has been made in the restoration and the conservation of those paintings as compared with those in North Italy. We will conduct a multilateral analysis with the latest scientific technology to make the diagnosis and clarify their actual conditions. Eventually we plan to generate a highly accurate digital archive of our findings.