Florence – shining a new light on Giotto
Florence, the Peruzzi Chapel in the Church of Santa Croce; it wasn’t even restoration work – it was a survey to begin planning restoration work, but a remarkable by-product of the study has been an unveiling of previously hidden detail in some of Giotto’s finest frescoes – so fine that they were a source of inspiration to Michelangelo himself.
However, we are unlikely to be seeing what Michelangelo saw as this new detail is only visible under ultra violet light – and continued exposure to such light would only damage yet more these already delicate works. Delicate because the frescoes were not painted on to fresh plaster but were done ‘a secco’ on to already dry plaster – a similar situation to that of Michelangelo’s Last Supper, where the work was carried out with oil paint onto dry plaster.
There are discussions about trying to reproduce this newly found splendour using computer renderings, but for now take a look at this story for some illustrations and video.
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