It has now emerged that the gallery had to resort to emergency measures to save the Deposition, which Raphael painted on a wooden panel in 1507 as the central part of an altarpiece. Ms Coliva told La Repubblica newspaper that the deformation in the painting had now been reduced. But other priceless works at are at risk, including paintings by Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens, and sculptures by Bernini and Canova. In August as the temperatures soared into the mid-thirties, and humidity levels rose with them, staff at the gallery installed fans and opened windows to cool the rooms and protect the artworks. Many visitors complained of the stifling heat in the museum. “Some customers even felt overcome – and unfortunately, it wasn’t due to Stendhal syndrome,” according to one official quoted in La Repubblica.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 05:32:52 +0000