Inv.:  (numerous pieces-contact Office for details)
Artist: Anonymous XII century painter
Date: End of XIV century A.D.
Dimensions:  Various
Material: Ivory

Housed in the collections of the Museo Profano and Museo Sacro is a large series of ivories from the Embriachi Workshop, a famous ivory-carving family.  They transferred from Florence to Venice at the beginning of the 1400’s, producing numerous masterpieces of the “minor arts”, including the well-known altar frontal for the Certossa of Pavia (1400-1409).  The collection includes: triptychs, tablets, plaques, mirrors which are all adorned with both sacred and profane figures and subject matter.  Most of the objects in the Museo Sacro were conceived as individual works of art while those in the Museo Profano are parts of dismembered coffers.  In many of the works, one can recognize the special handcraftsmanship “alla certosina” seen in the wooden supports, which are inlayed with rare woods, mother-of-pearl and fragments of painted ivory placed in geometrical designs.  The large number of objects stresses the fact that this is one of the most important ivory collections world-wide, in need of extensive restoration and an updated revaluation.

STATE OF PRESERVATION:

• The selected works are dirty, with various types of incrustations and dust. They are also poorly glued onto their wooden supports, which has caused additional damage to the objects themselves.  Further damage to the objects was caused by their old attachments to their metallic supports.  They have also suffered from direct exposure to sunlight and drastic temperature shifts.  Many of the ivories have yellowed on the back because they were conserved on velvet cloth.

RESTORATION PROCESS:

• Chemical, physical and structural analysis; identification of the adhesives & glues used

• Dismantling of the wooden supports

• Chemical and mechanical cleaning of the surfaces

• Consolidation & integrations and making of new support structures

• Making of a climabox where the ivories will be conserved

• Photographic documentation: before, during and after restoration

Cost for the ivories:  $25,875.00

Cost for the climabox:  $1,365.00

Total Cost:  $27,240.00

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