Through the collaboration established with the Vatican Museums for the study and conservation of coffins at the Museo Egizio of Turin, the Centro is partner in the international research project entitled the “Vatican Coffin Project”: the project began in 2008 under the scientific direction of the Vatican Museum Department of Egyptian and Near Eastern Antiquities, with the aim of studying the techniques and materials characteristic of wooden coffins from the Third Intermediate Period and other historical periods, both to define a geography of artistic production in relation to stylistic, formal and technical aspects, and to develop diagnostic and intervention protocols and guidelines, to share at international level.
In addition to the Vatican Museums, the Museo Egizio and the Centro, the Vatican Coffin Project has involved researchers, curators, conservators and conservation scientists from the Louvre, the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF) and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden.
This highly significant project has had numerous positive repercussions, ranging from the Centre’s effective internationalisation to growth in terms of the technical/scientific knowledge and competence of the professionals involved in the research activities.