101-CM-2017_Milano, Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, H. Olivieri, sculpture-fountain "Palma"

Facilitated description:

 

La Palma is a metal fountain.
Heromino Olivieri built the fountain in 1618.
The fountain is kept at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
The Centre for Conservation and Restoration "La Venaria Reale" (CCR) restored this work in 2017.
The restorers cleaned the fountain from the damage caused by the aging of the metal.
The restorers made the missing parts and applied them to the fountain.
The work was placed in the basement of the church of San Sepolcro in Milan.
This environment was not suitable for conservation so the work was moved to the entrance of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana on a basement suitable for conservation and exhibition.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the palm by Heromino Olivieri, commissioned by Federico Borromeo for the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, was carried out on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the foundation of Rotary Milano Aquileia. The project was an opportunity for an in-depth study of the work through historical and archival documentation and scientific investigations (UV fluorescence, XRF, stereo microscope, endoscopy, X-rays). It was thus possible to retrace all the phases crossed by the palm from the design, to the installation, to the various locations that it has had over the centuries in different areas of the Ambrosiana up to the current arrangement at the entrance to the Pinacoteca. Involvement in the project has also been extended to students in the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage degree programme at the University of Turin as an educational activity.

Restoration

The intervention was aimed at improving the conservation conditions, the aesthetic appearance and the static restoration of the product. Therefore, not considering the original location of the work, placed in the underground crypt of the Church of the San Sepolcro, it was considered appropriate to dismantle the palm and reposition it in a more suitable context from a climatic and exhibition point of view.
The restoration began with a cleaning with brushes and vacuum cleaners and then with scalpels, taking care to thin the historical patina without eliminating it. For the iron pipe inside the trunk a rotating metal brush was used. At the end of the cleaning and chemical stabilization of the iron oxides, consolidations and retouching were carried out in a localized manner. In addition, in order to restore the aesthetic reading of the work, some missing elements have been created. ex novo. Finally, a protective was laid out.
In view of the new location of the palm a new base has been designed, made from a copy of the original one, which is too heavy for the historic attic of the entrance to the Pinacoteca. In addition, to ensure greater stability, a stainless steel support has been inserted in the inner part of the trunk of the sculpture. 

 

Bibliography

The Palm of Federico Borromeo: study, restoration and restoration of the seventeenth-century sculpture-fountain, edited by S. Abram, Cinisello Balsamo, Silvana Editoriale, 2019.