A philanthropist has stepped in to fund the restoration of a 15th-century fresco by Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, ‘The Resurrection’, the Independent reports. The Italian businessman Aldo Osti, who is a former executive of Italian food company Buitoni near Sansepolcro, has stepped in with half of the €200,000 or £160,000; that was needed to save the painting.
Daniela Frullani, the mayor of Sansepolcro, told the Independent: “What can I say, thanks from the bottom of my heart to Mr Osti for sponsoring the restoration as a private citizen of the most important work in our town.”
But experts have warned that ‘The Resurrection’ (1463–65); which is located in the Museo Civico of Sansepolcro, in the painter’s native town in Tuscany, is showing concerning cracks, and flaking, with further signs of discolouration.
The famous author Aldous Huxley had dubbed the painting “the greatest picture in the world” is now set for a lengthy restoration process which has thus been set in motion; with the full restoration process expected to take between one and three years. More details will be revealed in the weeks to follow.
Piero della Francesca’s The Resurrection, which is on display in Sansepolcro in north-east Tuscany, is widely considered as one of the masterpieces of late 15th-century Italian art. A street in a small town in Italy actually bears the name of a British officer who risked court martial to save a Renaissance masterpiece from shelling during the Second World War. Officer Tony Clarke had saved the painting; after orders to shell Sansepolcro, where the Germans were stationed, he had remembered an essay by Aldous Huxley which described the paintings importance. The famous author had dubbed the painting “the greatest picture in the world”.
The masterpiece is now set for a lengthy restoration process which has thus been set in motion; with the full restoration process expected to take between one and three years. More details will be revealed in the weeks to follow.