After a five-month-long
restoration, parts of the Room of Achilles at Skyros in the
Domus Aurea (Golden House in Latin), the vast palace built by
Emperor Nero after the great fire of 64 AD in the heart of
ancient Rome, are back to their original splendor.
The work was carried out thanks to the sponsorship worth
100,000 Swiss francs, or nearly 90,000 euros, provided by the
Foundation Isabel & Balz Baechi.
The foundation has previously donated money for renovation
work at the sanctuary Sacro Monte di Varallo and at Rome's Villa
Farnesina.
The partial restoration started at the Domus Aurea provides
an insight into what the palace will look like when more work
has been completed, said Alfonsina Russo, the new director of
the archaeological area of the Colosseum.
The restoration is "a taste of what we will be able to find
at the Domus Aurea", said Russo, referring to work planned for
all of the 30,000 square meters of painted surface at the
palace.
"This palace was a great laboratory of experimentation".
"Here worked architecture masters, painters like Fabullo who
had Greek painting as great examples".
Russo also said that the specific restoration work carried
out so far has revealed the use of precious materials like the
golden leaf, a symbol of the "ostentation and luxury that
'Princeps' Nero loved to surround himself with".
Specifically, restorer Claudia Fiorani said that only by
cleaning the room's tassels - one on a vault and another on a
wall - "the results are surprising".
"We were able to bring back to life characters and anatomic
details that surely inspired Renaissance masters", she said.
"This room truly showed all of Nero's luxury", not only "for
the extensive use of gold" but also because one of the figures
that is not yet entirely visible is shrouded in mystery and has
raised the interest of art historians, the restorer explained.
"It is surely a woman and very important because of the use
of purpurrissumum to paint her, a very precious and expensive
pigment made by crushing millions of mollusks", also said
Fiorani, adding that her identity is yet to be discovered.
The partial restoration so far carried out, said the director
of the renovation work Maria Bartoli, "is also useful to get an
idea on the timing and cost" of the work necessary on the entire
building.
Alessandro D'Alessio, the scientific director of the
monument, said the past year has been "difficult" but there is
hope restoration work will gain new momentum with the
appointment of the new director.
"So far we have secured 80% of the painted walls, which was
urgent".
The culture ministry has already allocated 13 million euros
for more restoration work expected to start by the end of the
year, including on the vaults of Trajan, which collapsed in
2010, said D'Alessio.
The director said additional work is already being planned
for all of the "16,000 square meters of ceiling surface",
possibly with more private sponsors.
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