Haltadefinizione is returning to Città di Castello (in the province of Perugia) for the digital acquition of the Standard of the Holy Trinity by Raphael. The ICR, (Italy’s Central Institute for Restoration) has just completed restoration work on the painting, in time for the exhibition “The Gaze of the Young Raphael” curated by Marica Mercalli and Laura Teza, in Città di Castello’s municipal art gallery, which closes in January of 2022.
This work is one of the first to be attributed to Raphael and is currently the only one of his works that is displayed in Città di Castello. This case is a perfect example of how new technology can be applied to conservation of works of art.
Haltadefinizione performed the first digital capture on the Standard of the Holy Trinity in May of 2021, just before the extensive restoration work was begun. Another digital scan was performed again just after restoration, in order to document its changes from before to after. The most recent scan will allow restoration specialists, scholars and casual students to have a close view not only of Raphael’s brush strokes, but to look into the ICR’s technique, which has restored the painting to the image quality that had been lost over the centuries.
ICR chose the vertical hatch technique for the restoration of the Standard. This gives a more accurate reading of the work while also showing clearly at close range, areas that were in need of intervention.
“We have come back to Città di Castello for digital acquisition of Raphael’s Standard of the Holy Trinity, after this important restoration work,” says Luca Ponzio, the founder of Haltadefinizione. “With our photographic technique, that we developed with our partner Memooria, we can monitor the conservation status of the work, before and after restoration, and then plan for future digital captures, for continued monitoring. What’s more, digital acquisition has no effect on the original work at all, in fact, it contributes to its protection.”
The ICR, Italy’s Central Institute for Restoration, has endorsed Haltadefinizione’s photographic technique. Digital acquisition has become an important tool for conservation and monitoring the status of works of art.
Visit the Haltadefinizione website to examine Raphael’s Standard of the Holy Trinity before and after the restoration, to see all of its details, colors, shapes and perspectives covered by the passage of time and then revealed.
