• Project: Paving restoration
  • Year: 2021
  • Type: Ecclesiastical property
  • Financing Committee(s):
    • Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali
    • Save Venice Inc.

Project description

The sumptuous floor of the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a precious Petrine treasure chest of the Venetian Renaissance, has been the subject of conservative maintenance promoted thanks to the support of Save Venice inc. The last significant restoration that involved the floor dates back to the end of the nineteenth century when the flooring was completely disassembled and rested, keeping its own design but making sensitive variation to the materials. The emergency operations led by the IVBC on the floor of the nave because of the exceptional high water on the 11st November 2019 highlighted an uneven state of conservation of the stone surfaces, numerous critical situations and made it necessary a repentine conservation program on the entire flooring of the nave and choir. Widespread degradation phenomena that affected both the stone tesserae and the bedding mortars, mainly due to the high levels of humidity together with the significant saline concentrations, typical of the lagoon environment, were found. The intervention consisting in the operations of desalination of the surfaces, cleaning of coherent deposits and encrustations, and integration of the missing bedding and inlays, has allowed the full restitution of the interpretation of the surfaces in its chromatic and formal contents. Afterwards, maintenance was also carried out on the stone cladding of the lower register of the choir and of the staircase.

Project realised with the support of the Veneto Region.