On the Apollo with Lyre...
This sculpture is a very peculiar example of a statue entirely
and arbitrarily reconstructed around an ancient fragment.
Of
the original after the Apollo Sauroktonos by Praxiteles there
remain only the torso with thighs and half of the right knee.
A document dating 1565 informs that the colored marbles acquired
to have the sculpture completed were entrusted to Giovanni
Caccini, who probably made also the head and legs. The restoration
intervention, besides eliminating the dirt ingrained in the
pores of the marble, will give the opportunity to verify the
tightness conditions of the numerous integrations, replacing
the unstable putty and strengthening or retouching it where,
over the decades, dirt and oxidation have significantly changed
its color. Specifically, the attempt to give back a surface
as homogenous as possible will have to take particular care
of the presence of different marbles, the ancient torso being
white marble, and the various integrations veined marble. The
cleaning therefore will have to be particularly balanced ,
in order to remove the dirt while preserving the coloring given
by past restorations to tone down the chromatic imbalance given
by the different nature of the materials. |