Important update from Artwatch on the Sistine Chapel restoration - weep over the before and after pictures above, from their blog. Artwatch has been right about the Sistine restoration from the very start, and it's tragic to see how long it took others to catch up, and to see how some still try to defend what was one of the greatest cultural calamities of the twentieth century.
The Artwatch link in your post does not work - I'll try to find the article on my own. But based on the images that you have shown, this is very, very horrifying news.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know. I've updated the link. Artwatch has a lot of excellent material on the Sistine Chapel. There's more in the James Beck and Michael Daley book, Art Restoration.
ReplyDelete"...it's tragic to see how long it took others to catch up, and to see how some still try to defend what was one of the greatest cultural calamities of the twentieth century"
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it is true. But those who were immediately worried the restoration have been ridiculed or silenced. Along with James Beck, I would remember Alessandro Conti and his rare book, which was published when the work in the Sistine Chapel began: http://goo.gl/dEY8t.
It is the only book by an Italian art historian who in 1986 refused the entire restoration project with large amount of material, historical information and learning about the technique and the preservation of the Sistine Chapel.
A forgotten book, as its author: http://goo.gl/30Gkh
Yours sincerely,
sm
Thanks - a good point. I've read Conti's excellent book, and I've been trying to buy a cheap copy for years! As you say, there were a few people who rightly warned about restoration at the time, but too many in the 'establishment' backed it. John Shearman was a great scholar, but his legacy will be tainted forever with his crazy support for the restoration. Conti, Beck and others have, very unfortunately, been vindicated.
ReplyDelete