Vatican Museums

Works on paper, as well as their conservation and the careful choice of paper materials to be used for inevitable restoration work, will be the focus of the conference organized by the Vatican Museums for Tuesday 15 November, at 04.00 p.m.

The comparison between the two main categories of paper used in art restoration, Eastern and Western, as well as a shared reflection on their different uses, will animate the meeting that will feature one of the outstanding features of the Pope's Museums: the Paper Restoration Laboratory, which "takes care" on a daily basis of an art collection that is very heterogeneous in terms of type of support, technique of production, geo-cultural area of origin and the period to which it belongs.
Among the topics to be addressed: the methodological importance of diagnostic investigations on the conservation materials used in order to verify their compatibility with the original constituent supports; the concept of evolution applied to materials in relation to the progress of restoration techniques; the recognition of the Italian papermaking tradition; the undisputed value of Japanese techniques and materials, such as Washi paper; the fortunate discovery of Korean Hanji paper; the unique restoration project of Mimmo Paladino's L’aquilone; and the relevant issue of the restoration of contemporary art objects.

The greeting from the Director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, will be followed by a presentation by Chiara Fornaciari da Passano, director of the Paper Restoration Laboratory, and also moderator of the conference. Paolo Crisostomi (Scuola del Patrimonio) will open the programme of speakers, and will then give the floor to the other speakers: Maria Vera Quattrini (ISCR), Alberto Benato and Gloria Biasin (Praglia Abbey), Flavia Serena di Lapigio (Vatican Museums) and Nella Poggi Parigi (Studio Poggi).