2015
DECEMBER 2015
The Scientific Committee meets to take stock of the analysis and cleaning trials of the pilot-project on the vault
Absorbing compresses start to be applied in order to extract soluble salts from the vault
NOVEMBER 2015
Politecnico di Milano has installed an anemometer on top of Falconiera tower, where Sala delle Asse lies: do the wind’s speed and direction affect the room’s microclimate?
The work on the lunettes is insidious: according to the restorers, it is not easy to intervene on a painting which has been restored several times in the past. But removing the oldest restorations may generate great surprises…
OCTOBER 2015
Giovanni Valotti, president of A2A, visits the site together with his staff
The project to valorize the Sala delle Asse during Expo
Antonio Sansonetti of ICVBC-CNR extracts the salts on the vault: they will be sent for laboratory testing
The study of the lunettes goes on and results start to come out
SEPTEMBER 2015
The multimedia installation in Sala delle Asse continues to attract many visitors
The study project of the vault and the lunettes goes on, and the ICVBC-CNR accomplishes the FTIR spectroscopy
Professor Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums and member of Sala delle Asse Scientific Committee, visits the work site
Serena Romano, returning from the inauguration of the exhibition “Giotto, l’Italia” at Palazzo Reale, climbs into the scaffoldings to admire the restored Monochrome
AUGUST 2015 – ON HOLIDAYS
LUGLIO 2015
Interview: Maria Teresa Fiorio talks about the stay of Leonardo in Milan and his conception of painting
JUNE 2015
The pilot-project on the vault has started. The restorers work on branches, leaves and blackberries
MAY 2015
Interview: Cecilia Frosinini illustrates the techniques of the transposition of the drawing in mural painting
APRIL 2015
Carmen Bambach, conservationist at the Drawings and Prints Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Vincent Delieuvin, conservationist at the Paintings Department of the Louvre Museum, visit the work site and talk with the restoration experts
The Sala delle Asse is open. Visitors may admire the restored monochrome and, thanks to the multimedia installation designed by Culturanuova, listen to the history of the room and of the complex restoration intervention, directly from the restoration experts!
The restored monochrome also raises the interest of French television: on the scaffolding, the operators of France 1
Interview: Antonio Sansonetti of ICVBC-National Research Centre describes the trials for extracting soluble salts from the walls of the Sala delle Asse
MARCH 2015
The cleaning of the monochrome is nearly completed. Restoration experts work at the grouting
The restoration of the Sala delle Asse is described to the RAI TV crew of BELLITALIA
Worksite photographer Mauro Ranzani documents progress in the work on the Western wall, where a landscape has been rediscovered
The staff of Politecnico di Milano inspects the Ponticella di Bramante
Interview: Antonio Sansonetti from ICVBC explains molecular spectroscopy analyses
FEBRUARY 2015
The work of integrating gaps in painting with plaster begins
A trunk appears on the eastern wall. The reading is made clearer using tablets of solid gel..
..and with a lancet
Another fragment of tree with a large knot appears on the eastern wall
But the most impressive discovery is on the western wall: a landscape emerges under several layers of plaster
The new discoveries must be presented to the press: a new laser technique for plaster removal is experimented for the occasion
On May 18, Council member Filippo Del Corno with Claudio Salsi, Michela Palazzo and Cecilia Frosinini presents to the press the findings emerged
Participants in the press conference include Giovanni Valotti, president of A2A..
..and Ettore Pietrabissa, general director of ARCUS
FAI (national foundation for the protection of Italian art and landscape) presents to the press the art history class “Leonardo. A life”
Restorers Fabrizio Bandini and Paola Ilaria Mariotti wait for the press conference, with Massimo Chimenti, president of Culturanuova
Link: This video illustrates for the reporters a multimedia project created by Culturanuova to highlight the value of the Sala delle Asse during EXPO
JANUARY 2015
The restoration of the mural painting is strictly connected to the study of architecture: it is necessary to examine the extrados of the vault in the room
In the extrados Politecnico di Milano surveys the architectonic and thermo-hygrometric characteristics of the room beneath Sala delle Asse
An exceptional guest arrives in the Sala delle Asse: Italian song-writer Roberto Vecchioni is welcomed by Claudio Salsi and Francesca Tasso
Roberto Vecchioni will talk about the Sforza dynasty and the Sala delle Asse on Rai Storia, in an episode dedicated to Italian “Signorie”
Meanwhile, the work of uncovering continues on the walls
Interview: Antonio Sansonetti (ICVBC-National research Center) explains the microscopic examination of samples taken from the Sala delle Asse