One of the most touching masterpieces of the Renaissance will be welcomed back to Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, after a restoration lasting 10 years. The Madonna of the Goldfinch, painted by Raphael in 1506, shows Mary with John the Baptist and Jesus as children at her feet, and John offering Jesus a goldfinch which the latter strokes. The goldfinch symbolises Christ’s crucifixion because it is a bird that feeds among thorns. One legend has it that a goldfinch plucked out a thorn that was digging painfully into Christ’s brow as he was on his way to be crucified.The painting, 42in by 30in, was executed when Raphael was 23. It was a wedding gift for Lorenzo Nasi, a wool merchant from Florence. The painting’s problems began in 1547 when Nasi’s house collapsed, smashing the picture into 17 pieces. It was put together using nails and painted over by a contemporary of Raphael, Ridolfo di Ghirlandaio, to hide the joins.

It found its way into the possession of the Medicis, the ruling family of Florence during the Renaissance, and the original radiant beauty of the painting was further obscured by successive attempts to cover up the damage. So when Opificio delle Pietre Dure, one of Italy’s state-run picture restoration laboratories, was approached about the possibility of restoring the picture to its original splendour, it approached it with great diffidence. “This patient gave us the most shivers and the

most sleepless nights,” Marco Ciatti, head of the paintings department of the lab, told Reuters. “We spent two whole years studying it before deciding whether to go ahead, because with the damage it had suffered in the past – which was clearly visible in the X-rays – a restoration attempt could go wrong.”

In the end they decided to proceed, and the restorer who pulled the short straw was Patrizia Riitano. The painting has been her life for years. “I am just a technician but I probably know this painting almost better than Raphael,” she said. “He looked at it of course, but all these years I have been looking at it through a microscope.” She headed a team of 50 including wood specialists and photography technicians.  The restoration team decided that the larger nails holding the picture together should stay, as removing them risked doing more harm. The grime obscuring the picture’s beautifully balanced golds, reds and blues has been meticulously stripped away.                                                                                                                       Now, Madonna del cardellino, as it is known in Italian, is the centrepiece of a show on the restoration at Florence’s Palazzo Medici, before returning to the Uffizi. Antonio Natali, of the Uffizi, said: “We will celebrate it like the return of our prodigal daughter.”

The operations of painting restoration, often carried out with the use of optics, to amplify the operative field.

restorers image: Patrizia Riitano (for the painting)

restorers image: Patrizia Riitano (for the painting);

restorers image: Patrizia Riitano (for the painting);

The laboratory operating Opificio delle Pietre Dure

Group photo of the professors, restorers, art teachers, team Opificio

Another excellent patient given a new life Opificio. In the images, the restoration of the gates of Paradise Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

The cross painted by Giotto probably around 1285 – 90. The restoration directed by the Superintendent Marco Ciatti, in collaboration with Cecilia Frosinini Paola Bracco, Ottavio Ciappi (for the painting) in collaboration with the restoration of paintings by Cesare Paliero and Kyoko Nakahara Ciro Castelli, Mauro Parri and Andrea Santacesaria (for the wooden structure) They then worked Camilla Mocenni, Oriana Sartiani, Scarzanella Chiara Rossi, Caterina Toso

The Madonna of the Goldfinch, Raphael in 1506, X-rays carried out to analyze the various layers of paint and touch-up over the years.

The Madonna of the Goldfinch, Raphael in 1506, restoration l

The three phases of the restoration of the famous work by Raphael.

Leonardo da Vinci. Adorazione dei Magi, the restoration.

The restoration of antiques, a difficult procedure that requires high capacity.

Dr. Carlo Lalli . Curator, director, coordinator.Director, restoration coordinator. Deputy director of the chemistry lab. Analyst of the state of conservation of works of art.

Leonardo da Vinci. Adorazione dei Magi

Dr. Marco Ciatti, Superintendent of Opificio Delle Pietre Dure. While explaining the restoration of the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, The Adoration of the Magi