Marchese Tomb, 1881

Restoration work began Dec. 12, 2016 and took four months

The Marchese tomb by Domenico Carli, 1881

The sculpture prior to restoration.

The Marchese memorial, Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa, Italy.

We restored all four statues in this crossing area, bringing back the original beauty of this section of Staglieno Cemetery.

Portrait relief on the pedestal of the Marchese sculpture.

Portrait of Carlo Marchese, on the pedestal of this monument

Detail of the Marchese statue.

This is the work of Domenico Carli, a prolific and masterful sculptor who lived from 1828 to 1912.

Cleaning the Marchese sculpture

Our art restorer washes the Marchese sculpture with distilled water, after using a poultice to soften the black crust and loosen the dirt.

A detail of the restored sculpture

Inscribed on the base of this sculpture are the words “Fate elemosina, chi da al povero dona a Dio”, which translates as “Give alms, those who give to the poor give to God”. The allegorical woman reaches into her purse for a coin.

The restored sculpture

With restoration, her original serene beauty has once again appeared.

Domenico Carli (1828-1912) blended the realism of late 19th century Italian sculpture with traditional classicism. Carli worked for many years as a student of and assistant to the great Genovese sculptor Santo Varni. Once he established his own studio, he produced numerous works at Staglieno and for churches in Genoa, along with two colossal sculptures for the cathedral in Panama, and works that went to Guatemala, Uruguay and Russia.

This is the tomb of Carlo Marchese fu Francesco and his wife, Fanny Merani. This sculpture was covered with an uneven dense layer of dirt and black crust, and is in a location of the galleries particularly subject to humidity and winter frost. Black crust is a phenomenon of the deterioration of marble, where the surface of the marble combines with dust and pollution, and breaks down forming a hard crumbly skin on the sculpture. Removal of this dirt and thin crust is essential to protect the sound marble underneath, and to stop further erosion.

Restoration began with dusting of the entire sculpture, and in a few of the weakest areas, consolidation of the stone. This was followed by deeper cleaning through use of cellulose poultices applied to the surface which draw out the dirt. Inorganic solvents were used to dissolve in some areas the heaviest staining. Afterwards the surface was be consolidated with a very thin of a paste of lime or marble dust, or with calcium or ethyl silicate. This protects the surface, bonding it together to preclude further weakening. This was followed with the application of dilute microcrystalline wax. All work was be supervised by the art historians and restoration specialists of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio, the agency that protects all of Italys artistic treasures. We carefully document every phase of the work.

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