Speaker: Mara Landi, Architect – Project Manager, “Construction and Restoration” Department, Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Summary
The ongoing need for the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore to preserve the marble surfaces—which, over time, gradually deteriorate due to exposure to the elements— has always required the expert knowledge and intervention of the institution’s highly skilled craftsmen.
When the condition of the original elements no longer allows for their effective preservation or proper restoration, they may, if necessary, be replaced with precision-crafted replicas created at the Stone Carving Workshop — Bottega degli Scalpellini. These replicas are crafted in accordance with the materials, forms, and technical characteristics of the originals, thereby ensuring continuity and preserving the historical and artistic integrity of the monuments.
Over the centuries, the traditions and professional expertise of the master craftsmen have not been lost, but have gradually evolved and been refined in response to changing requirements for the preservation of cultural heritage.
Advances in the theory and practice of restoration, as well as an increasing emphasis on a conservation-oriented approach, encourage experimentation and the introduction of new techniques and methodologies, particularly with regard to the integration and replacement of damaged elements or those that can no longer be preserved.
Consequently, the solutions implemented are the result of an ongoing dialogue between experience, tradition, and innovation. They are developed in accordance with contemporary principles of conservation and restoration, while paying particular attention to the material, historical, and cultural identity of the heritage entrusted to the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore.
Contemporary practice is based on the ability to combine knowledge of traditional materials and techniques with current tools, methodologies, and criteria for intervention. This takes place within the framework of a continuous process of transmitting, developing, and updating the professional expertise accumulated over the centuries.
In this context, the experience of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore serves as a significant example of continuity between the past and the present—a system in which traditional knowledge and techniques are kept alive through interaction with new knowledge, technologies, and conservation methodologies.
Opera’s work demonstrates how the preservation of cultural heritage of exceptional artistic value can be based on an ongoing dialogue between the transmission of historical experience and the capacity for innovation.
This ensures not only the preservation of Florence’s monumental complex, but also the continuity of the knowledge and skills that have accompanied its history and that remain an essential part of its identity to this day.
