D19-MT-2018_Bormio, Collegiate Church of SS. Gervasio and Protasio, Madonna dressed with Child

Facilitated description: 

 

The Madonna dressed with Child is a wooden sculpture with silk clothes. 
The statue was made in 1700-1750. 
The sculpture is preserved in the church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio in Bormio. 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre (CCR) restored the statue's clothes in 2018-2019. 
A restoration student restored the sculpture for his thesis (final exam).
The scientists of the Venaria Center have done scientific analysis to study the clothes of the Madonna and the baby Jesus. 
During the intervention the restorer saw that the Madonna and the baby Jesus had many clothes, placed one on top of the other. 
For the Madonna she found 6 different dresses and for the child 3 dresses. 
The restorer cleaned all the clothes from dust with a small vacuum cleaner. 
She washed some clothes in the water. 
The restorer sewed the ruined fabric parts and put the ruined fabric between two silk veils to protect it. 
In the end, he made several proposals to preserve the statues and all their clothes.

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

Restoration

The restoration of the textile equipment of the Madonna dressed with Child of the collegiate church of Bormio was carried out as part of a thesis project by Lorenzo Guarnaschelli. 
The sculptural group belongs to the tradition of clothed simulacra: statues and sculptures intended for dressing, multi-material objects linked to an archaic popular devotion spread throughout the peninsula since the Middle Ages. 
Of particular interest was the restoration of the textile equipment of this sculptural group, in fact during the restoration numerous elements were identified (six dresses for the Virgin and three for the child), which mark the passages of the era and changes in taste.
The preliminary phase of the intervention included an in-depth graphic and photographic documentation accompanied by non-invasive and micro-invasive scientific analyses.
The restoration has focused on cleaning the numerous elements of the textile kit by carrying out a cleaning by micro-aspiration and washing some elements. For the gallons, cleaning has been appropriated by means of laser technology. 
The consolidation of the fragile elements was carried out with a conservative method using the practice known as ‘sandwich’, incorporating the damaged areas between two silk support supports and stopping the degraded areas at the filza point.
Finally, they have been proposed for the conservation and devotional use of the sculptor group and its textile kit.

 

Bibliography

- L. Guarnaschelli, The textile kit of a sculptural group of Valtellina. Study and restoration, Master’s thesis in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Prof. Simona Morales, University of Turin, academic year 2018-2019.