103-MT-2022_Varese, Villa Panza, 3 African masks

Facilitated description:

 

The three masks represent the heads of men.
The masks are made of different materials such as wood, leather, hair.
The masks are kept at Villa Panza in Varese. 
Villa Panza is an asset of the Italian Environment Fund. 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the masks in 2022. 
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analysis to understand how the masks were built. 
The restorers before the intervention studied similar masks preserved at the Museum of Civilization in Milan. 
The restorers cleaned the masks of dust. 
They reinforced the parts that were coming off. 
They painted the parts that had lost color. 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

Restoration

The intervention on the three African masks, preserved at Villa Panza in Varese, was an opportunity to deepen the knowledge of the constituent materials of these finds. The comparison with the restorations carried out by the Center in 2020 on similar works from the Museum of Cultures of Milan (MUDEC) and the elaboration of a complete diagnostic campaign (UV florescence and micro-invasive analysis in infrared spectroscopy FT-IR) have allowed to deepen the study on the techniques of realization and the nature of the degrades, thus directing the restoration. The phases envisaged by the intervention project were: removal of inconsistent particulate deposits with surgical vacuum cleaner and careful dry cleaning, consolidation of adhesion defects, compensation of gaps and aesthetic restitution with lowering of visual disturbance.