Restoration of the Statue of Giulio Ricordi
Year: 2016
Location: Milan
The statue of Giulio Ricordi, sculpted by Luigi Secchi and commissioned by friends and employees of Casa Ricordi in the 1920s, was originally placed in Milan at the entrance to the Viale Campania factory, then relocated to the courtyards of the Palazzo headquarters Ricordi in via Berchet and finally forgotten on the corner of a large building with offices and music archives in a shed next to the former entrance of the Ricordi warehouses on the corner of via Salomone and Cassio. The redevelopment project of Piazza della Scala involved the sacrifice of an area used for motorcycle parking with the new and definitive location of the commemorative monument of one of the greatest music publishers of the last two centuries.
The intervention we proposed involved a series of operations aimed at adequately preserving the stone monument.
FIRST PART
A first part of the work focused on close observation which allowed the detection of macroscopic data regarding the construction singularities, objectively identifying and recording the specific characteristics of the constituent elements.
SECOND PART
We subsequently carried out a photographic survey also making use of photo rectification techniques which allow an exact description of the artefact and the acquisition of details useful for the subsequent restoration phase. On the basis of the photographic survey we then created a detailed pathological survey useful for explaining the individual conservation and dismantling procedures of the statue.
For the transport phase, the statue was protected with a non-woven fabric and an energy-absorbing composite structure packaging was created; subsequently loaded into a lorry, it was transported to our laboratory where it was possible to detect the state of conservation of the entire artefact by carrying out various samplings for the carrying out of diagnostic investigations.
Initially we conducted an initial investigation in a non-destructive manner by investigating the stone surface with a portable digital microscope to be able to better focus on the areas for subsequent samples on which to carry out laboratory investigations. In a second step, samples are taken from the previously identified areas to be subjected to the mineralogical-petrographic analytical study.
The interventions carried out can be divided into preliminary, disinfestation, chemical cleaning, consolidation, microgrouting and protection.
The preliminary interventions involved the removal of inconsistent or partially adherent surface deposits and the partial re-establishment of the cortical cohesion preparatory to the subsequent cleaning operations.
In the following phase we carried out the disinfestation of colonies of autotrophic and/or heterotrophic microorganisms through the application of biocide and subsequent mechanical removal, the decolourization of the residues of colonies of microorganisms and a final treatment through the application of biocide to prevent the formation of attacks of autotrophic microorganisms.
For the chemical, chemical-physical and mechanical cleaning interventions we carried out an initial removal of coherent surface deposits, encrustations, concretions and altered fixatives by applying tablets soaked in a saturated solution of inorganic salts or ammonium carbonate followed by a final finishing phase for the removal of residues from compact and adherent deposits with manual mechanical means and precision instruments. We extracted soluble salts by applying demineralized water in suspension with absorbent paper, sepiolite tablets or cellulose pulp.
As regards the consolidation, we proceeded with the re-establishment of cohesion by impregnation with ethyl silicate, while for the microgrouting and aesthetic presentation interventions we concentrated on microgrouting with mortar to prevent/slow down the access of rainwater and humidity. atmospheric inside the degraded stone and on a watercolor chromatic revision for the balancing of the fillings.
To conclude, we carried out a superficial protection of the stone monument to slow down its degradation with polysiloxane.
Once all the work was completed, the statue was returned to the final chosen location, the base parts were reassembled in situ and placed.
