Raphael’s Deposition in the Borghese Gallery, a masterpiece from his pre-Roman phase, has recently undergone a vigorous cleaning at the hands of restorer Paola Tollo Dickmann (after the original chief restorer, Laura Ferretti, resigned citing personal reasons). Even though the work had been restored and reintegrated between 1966 and 1972, according to Kristina Herrmann Fiore, […]
James Beck At its annual meeting on June 11th in Florence, ArtWatch Italia, a wholly independent not-for-profit organization affiliated with ArtWatch International, elected Professor Piero Pierotti of the University of Pisa as its new President. Pierotti, a specialist on Medieval art and especially architecture, was at the forefront of efforts, culminating in the late 1990s, […]
James Beck A recent trip to Florence’s Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David brought back the memory of a quote by Franca Falletti, Director of the Museum: “But we couldn’t bear to commercialize David.“ Well, turns out the Accademia can bear to commercialize the David, and do it to excess. In an ongoing and prolonged celebration of […]
James Beck “Two trees positioned near the north side of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua — home to Giotto’s extensive fresco cycle — have recently been removed by officials who feared that they could potentially fall and damage the structure. The Central Institute for Restoration was given the task of finding out the causes of […]
In a world where museum boards are composed of the wealthy and the powerful, it is no surprise that there is increasing pressure on the media to be “museum friendly”. In the wake of Professor James Beck’s questioning of the attribution of the Madonna of the Pinks, newly acquired — with much fanfare — by the […]
Petition circulated by the Association to Respect the Integrity of the Artistic Patrimony (ARIPA) ArtWatch International, Inc. and ArtWatch UK The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has a ethological code (1986, revised in 2001) which fixes the moral duties of the museums clearly defined towards the public. Specifically, this code favored contacts between the public […]
“On the evening of December 8th, 2004, ArtWatch International presented its annual Frank Mason Prize to Agnese Parronchi, the Italian restorer. She resigned from the project to restore Michelangelo’s David rather than carry out the cleaning in a manner demanded by the authorities at the Accademia, which she considered injurious to the 500-year-old sculpture. Previous […]
Please join us for our 12th annual meeting, Wednesday, December 8th at 6:00 PM, Art Students League, 215 West 57th Street, NYC Dear ArtWatcher, It is ironic that more money is raised to finance unnecessary cleanings and the ‘sprucing up’ of famous objects to the absolute neglect of monuments desperately in need of critical intervention […]
The Vatican has recently announced plans to restore Michelangelo’s last frescoes in the pope’s private chapel beginning this fall. The two large paintings that are the target of the planned intervention are the Crucifixion of St. Peter and the Conversion of St. Paul. Francesco Buranelli, the head of the Vatican Museums, has announced that they are currently […]
PLEASE READ AND SIGN THE PETITION! CLICK THE LINK IN RED ON THE LEFT ICOM, the International Council of Museums, is a non-profit organization founded in 1946. ICOM’s Code of Ethics for Museums was first adopted by the organization in 1986, and was amended once before in 2001. It was conceived of as a […]