05-AL-2011_Rome, Palazzo del Quirinale, P. Piffetti, Drop-down chest of drawers with two doors ‘Doppio Corpo’, inv. PR 373, DP 1668

Facilitated description: 

 

The double body is a wooden cabinet formed by a chest of drawers with an opening desk and at the top by a wardrobe.
Pietro Piffetti made the double coporo at the beginning of 1700 with different types of wood, turtle shell, metals and ivory (material that is obtained from the tusks of elephants)
The double body is kept at the Quirinal Palace in Rome.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the double body in 2011.
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analysis to study how the interior of the furniture is made.
Restorers have eliminated wood-eating insects.
They cleaned the cabinet with special UV lamps.
They glued the raised wooden parts and rebuilt the missing parts with similar lengo.
They added a subtle color state to make the parts added with the restoration recognized.
They painted the double body to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The ‘La Venaria Reale’ Conservation and Restoration Centre has been identified, in agreement with the heads of the Quirinal Palace’s Artistic Heritage, as the institute to be entrusted with disassembly and handling assistance and cognitive and conservation work on the site. Double body of Piffetti. The project is part of the initiative neu_ART, which enabled the Centre to equip itself with an X-ray and tomography apparatus for the 2D and 3D computer reconstruction of large-scale works of art. In this way it was possible to visualize the internal structure of the objects, investigated thanks to the different radiopacity of the constituent materials.
At the end of the restoration, the work was exhibited at the Reggia di Venaria in the exhibition Beautiful Italy. Art and identity of capital cities (17 March - 11 September 2011).

 

Restoration

A disinfestation was carried out on the work to prevent possible future infestations. Particularly complex was the cleaning phase, carried out with an innovative method using UV lamps, to ensure a differentiated treatment of the surfaces. A consolidation of the tiles was then carried out, while the missing decorative parts were reintegrated with the same material as the original (radiographic recognition methodology was applied to the restoration tiles).  The cleaning of the embossed golden metal applications was performed with the laser methodology, while that of the buffer threads by abrasive. The pressing lifts were glued and the gilding gaps were grouted and retouched with watercolor and micacea powder (spotting technique). Finally, protective material has been applied to all surfaces.

 

Bibliography

- C. E. Spantigati and S. De Blasi (eds.), The restoration of wooden furniture. The Piedmont cabinet shop. Studies and research, Nardini Editore, Florence 2011;
- S. De Blasi, M. Nervo, M. Ravera and C.E. Spantigati, Structural characters of Piedmontese eighteenth-century cabinetmaking: historical documents, restorations and new technologies. The ‘La Venaria Reale’ Conservation and Restoration Centre, in M. Vasques Dias (eds.), Restoring Joints, Conserving Structures, Proceedings Tenth International Symposium on Wood and Forniture Conservation, Amsterdam, 8-9 October 2010, pp. 98-107;
- L. Morozzi, Study and restoration of the "double body" at the JRC in Chronicles 4. The neu_ART project: studies and applications. Neutron and X-ray tomography and imaging for cultural heritage, Marco Nervo (eds.), Torino, Editris, 2013, pp. 89-91;
- AAVV., Computed tomography applied to wooden cabinet-making furniture: the "double body" of Piffetti del Quirinale. In Turin, in Chronicles 4. The neu_ART project: studies and applications. Neutron and X-ray tomography and imaging for cultural heritage, Marco Nervo (eds.), Torino, Editris, 2013, pp. 92-103; 
A. Re, F. Albertin, C. Avataneo, R. Brancaccio, J. Corsi, G. Coto, S. De Blasi, G. Dughera, E. Durisi, W. Ferrarese, A. Giovagnoli, N. Grassi, A. Lo Giudice, P. Mereu, G. Mila, M. Nervo, N. Pastrone, F. Prino, L. Ramello, M. Ravera, C. Ricci, A. Romero, R. Sacchi, A. Staiano, L. Visca, L. Zamprotta, X-ray tomography of large wooden artworks: the case study of “Double body” by Pietro Piffetti, in Heritage Science, pp. 2-19, 2014 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-014-0019-9).

Thesis

- Digital radiography and computed tomography: development of the instrumental apparatus and analysis of cultural heritage, Master’s thesis by Chiara Ricci, Prof. Alessandro Re, Master’s Degree Course in Sciences for Cultural Heritage, academic year 2010-2011.
- The finishes of cabinetmaking furnishings. Study on historical and synthetic materials and new technical approaches to restoration through two case studies: the ‘Mazzarina’ in Palazzo Madama and the ‘Doppio corpo’ in P. Piffetti’s Quirinale, Master's thesis by Lavinia Calvi, Prof. Gianna Ferraris of Celle, Master's Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, academic year 2011-2012.

 Conferences

- X-ray tomography of large wooden artworks: the case study of “Doppio corpo” by Pietro Piffetti, IAEA Conference Center-Vienna, Austria, 18-22 June 2012, EXRS2012 (European Conference on X-Ray Spectrometry) (Article)
- Results of the Italian neu_ART project, XTACH11 (International conference on the use of X-ray and related Techniques in Arts and Cultural Heritage), 7-8 December 2011, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 
- Digital X-ray and tomography with linear scanning detectors for the neu_ART project, XCVII congress SIF (Società Italiana di Fisica), 27-30 September 2011, L’Aquila