Jewel of the Renaissance, the “Sistine Chapel” of Florence regains its splendor

It’s a tiny detachment on a wall, barely a confetti, green. A dust of pigment, an almost nothing which nevertheless had the effect of a clap of thunder in the Italian sky and worried the Florentines to the depths of their souls. This is because the fragment we are talking about came off from the frescoes of the Brancacci chapel, located at the beginning of the right arm of the transept of the Santa Maria del Carmine church (1268), on thebeyondthe “other” bank of the Arno.

Saving the Florentine Sixitine

Its decoration was entrusted in 1424 to Masolino (c. 1383-c. 1436), collaborating with his student Masaccio (1401-1428), before being completed fifty years later by Filippino Lippi (1457-1504). Three masters among the most famous artists of the Quattrocento, who left a pictorial ensemble often described as the “Sistine Chapel” of Florence.

In November 2020, an inspection was mandated by the City of Florence to assess the state of health of the frescoes. Closer to the paintings, the experts discovered liftings, scratches and even a small detachment of the pictorial layer on the green drapery of the canopy, at the back of the scene representing the quarrel with Simon the Magus. A consultation was immediately set up between the Fine Arts Department of the municipality of Florence, the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the Metropolitan City of Florence and the provinces of Pistoia and Prato, the National Council of Research (CNR-Ispc) and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. We decide on a vast study project, which will be followed by a restoration and consolidation operation if this proves necessary. The entire campaign will be financially supported by the Friends of Florence Foundation and the Jay Pritzker Foundation for an amount of €182,000.

Birth of a masterpiece

Notwithstanding its relatively modest volume (6.84 m deep by 5.68 m wide), the Brancacci Chapel is a monument without equivalent in the history of Western art, a place which has been a lesson for all geniuses of the Renaissance, from Leonardo da Vinci to Michelangelo. For us who contemplate it today, this joint work of three painters, spread over more than fifty years, is a unique witness to the pictorial evolution of the entire Quattrocento.

Fresh peindre

The 15th century is the golden age of frescoes in Italy. Preferred over mosaic, it amazes by adorning the walls of churches, buildings and private palaces with shimmering colors. If its longevity is an asset, its splendor is based on difficult know-how. The artist needs a stable scaffolding and the application of two layers of coating: thericerough, which guarantees grip and on which we trace the design with the verte red, then theplasterwet plaster spread from top to bottom. The actual fresco can begin. We work in small areas, which must not dry, otherwise the pigments will fix. We count in daysa valuable feature for the historians of the Brancacci Chapel who were able to analyze the sequence of days by the traces they left. No fresco is just a fresco: blue pigments can only be applieddry.

Its chronology is closely linked to the political history of Florence. The Brancacci have owned a chapel within the Santa Maria del Carmine church since its foundation in 1367. In 1424, Felice Brancacci, head of a powerful family, merchant enriched in the silk trade, was a leading citizen in Florence. It was on his return from his embassy to the Sultan of Egypt that he ordered the decoration from Masolino da Panicale. He will work with the young Masaccio. Was the twenty-something painter his assistant from the start or did he simply take over after Masolino left for Hungary in 1425? We know that they continued this work together in 1427, then interrupted to honor a papal order in Rome in 1428, where Masaccio died prematurely. The frescoes remain unfinished, especially since Felice Brancacci married Lena Strozzi in 1433, but also the cause of her father, an enemy of the Medici. He suffered the consequences: disgraced in 1435, he dragged his family into exile, who did not return to Florence until 1474. Critical period, when the monks wanted to erase from memories their patronage of the chapel: characters reminiscent of the Brancacci or their allies are transformed, a fresco is replaced by a 13th century painting. The decoration will be completed around 1481-1484 by Filippino Lippi.

Fire and restoration

In 1771, the chapel escaped a fire which ravaged the church. Its colors have nevertheless been seriously altered by smoke, soot and dirt. The heat caused the pigments that contain iron to turn, notably the yellow coat of Saint Peter. The tones will appear to visitors of subsequent centuries as earthy, dark, the perspective of the scenes flattened, the characters losing their contours and their liveliness.

The iconographic program is a cycle of scenes recounting significant episodes in the life of Saint Peter, patron of the Brancacci family. Before the major restoration of 1980, the attribution of each of the paintings to one of the two artists was an inexhaustible subject of controversy. Cleaning the frescoes brings peace. The perfect balance of volumes and perspectives, the shared softness of colors and rediscovered expressions definitively tilt the appreciation in favor of joint work by Masolino and Masaccio, side by side. Certainly, we owe to Masaccio an intense expressiveness of the characters, a new use of light sculpting volumes and an unprecedented treatment of spatiality. But Masolino, a late Gothic painter, brought an exceptional chromatic range. As for Filippino Lippi, the refinement of his silhouettes and the poetry of his colors betray the pupil of Botticelli.

In May 2021, the various “guardian” institutions of the chapel frescoes, academics and private companies therefore signed a protocol for the coordination of this new restoration campaign. Still the term “restoration” is unsuitable, because the objectives were multiple: to carry out an in-depth examination of the general state of conservation of the pictorial cycle, to put in place stabilization solutions if necessary, to bring a new chapter to the study the causes of deterioration and, perhaps, answer some questions about the conditions of the creation of the frescoes. The operation, which lasted two years, was based on a sharing of responsibilities. The superintendence and the CNR-Ispc were responsible for the analyses, monitoring and programming of the activities, while the Opificio delle Pietre Dure was entrusted with the design and implementation of the interventions and the municipality, with the communication campaigns. and valorization.

A reassuring diagnosis

“We could summarize the benefit of this operation in four points, insists CNR-Ispc engineer Cristiano Riminesi. It gave us a better knowledge of the techniques of the masters, then an integral analysis of the architectural structure, then the appreciation of previous restorations, finally the possibility of promoting and disclosing all this work with a new immersive tool, the “Brancacci Pov”. »

From 2020 to 2022, the first, essential phase was that of diagnosis using non-invasive methods using cutting-edge technology: multispectral scanner, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, hyperspectral imaging, infrared vision, photogrammetry, etc. Two positive findings : pigment drops are a consequence of the natural movement of the surface and certain deformations, such as those of the Healing the lameare due to an original architectural warping. Major observation: the restoration of the 1980s, led by Umberto Baldini and Ornella Casazza, fulfilled its role very effectively, the stability of the paintings is real. The intervention may be limited to implementing surveillance measures and archiving discoveries using new investigation technologies. In 2023-2024, the second phase of work was that of small repairs. Light cleaning of surfaces using a hydrogel, and resumption and modernization of the formula of mortars already used in injections in 1980 to consolidate fragilities.

The site had a few surprises in store: it appeared that the construction of the scenes was “engraved” in the fresh coating, rather than drawn only in green. And the foliage which serves as a background for the panelAdam and Eve in Paradise could have been added “dry”, and not incorporated into the work « fresh »a cause of its fragility.

A team of fifteen people (computer scientist, art historian, architect, designer, etc.) has developed an immersive dive into the Brancacci chapel to offer visitors, each having chosen their character, the sensation of walking through the frescoes of the cycle of Saint Peter and therefore, in the universe of the Quattrocento: brancaccipov.cnr.it.

Throughout this work, the chapel remained open to the public. In groups of ten, visitors were able to climb the scaffolding, accessible by elevator, measure themselves against the frescoes as Masolino, Masaccio and Lippi had done, adopt their gaze, get as close as possible to the sumptuous bourgeois of the Quattrocento. Because in Florence, today as yesterday, aesthetic heritage is everyone’s business.