The world of craftsmanshipThe restorers of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence have restored the portrait of the supreme poet by Andrea del Castagno (1421-1475) to its original color, removing sediments and pictorial retouches that had darkened the colors. An unprecedented image emerged with that brilliance that is proper to mural painting. Moreover, Dante’s face has more youthful features. The detached fresco, dating back to the mid-fifteenth century, which was originally located in Villa Pandolfini near Florence where portraits of “Illustrious Men and Women” were depicted, will be the protagonist of the exhibition in Forlì (Musei San Domenico, from April 1 to July 11), Dante the vision of art, for the celebrations of the seven hundredth anniversary of his death. The painting, which is part of the Uffizi collections, will then be exhibited in Castagno d’Andrea, in the Florentine town of San Godenzo, in Mugello, the painter’s land of origin and stage of Dante’s exile, and then return permanently in the rooms of the former church of San Pier Scheraggio, belonging to the Galleries. The restoration was financed by Linda Balent, of the Friends of the Uffizi Galleries (USA).
