Giotto goes digital
April 24, 2010, 8:04 am
Posted by Joseph A. Komonchak
Great efforts are still in course to restore the precious works of art damaged by the earthquake that in 1997 devastated Assisi. Among them are the Giotto’s paintings of the life of St. Francis. As part of the effort, a virtual display has been prepared that compares the present state of the paintings to what they looked like when first painted. You can read about the show here and find examples at the end of this article in Corriere della Sera.
Great slide show at the end, indeed. Giotto justly deserves his great reputation. The only time I’ve been to Assisi so far, it was right after the Basilica was re-opened, and I was moved enough seeing Giotto’s work that I bought a postcard set which had copies of his paintings from the Basilica.
I very much enjoyed seeing the digitally restored versions. I think it would be fascinating to see digital restorations even when the artworks themselves are not being restored.
I know nothing about restoration, and I know restorationists can do wonders with paint sampling and such, but can we really be sure of the accuracy of these digital restorations? (With my limited Italian, I did not fight my way through the Corriere’s article, which might indeed answer this question).
It calls to mind a trip to Switzerland some years ago, which included visits to the great churches at St. Gallen and Einsiedeln. My memory of them was all white and gold roccoco, but now the historic preservationists seem to have gone to work on them, and they are a riot of color — historically accurate, no doubt, but takes some getting used to.
Or is it just my age?
Dr. Clifford: I have had the same reaction to the restored images. I remember being startled by the vibrant colors of Botticelli’s great paintings, and the fuss there was over the restoration of the cieling of the Sistine Chapel. I do not know if there is any controversy over these Giotto frescos. That blue is really striking, a bit overwhelming in fact.
My reaction was initially the same as that of Dr. Clifford and Fr. JAK: the blue is VERY blue.
Methinks age definitely has something to do with one’s reactions.
However, I will be visiting Assisi in mid-June and can’t wait to see these restorations.