Since 2013 the Battaglia Fine Art Foundry promotes a good intervention practice on these precious artworks, developing a restoration Department specialised in copper-alloy artefacts, able to study and solve all the complex aspects of conservation, for ancient, modern and contemporary pieces.
The Battaglia Restoration Department mainly acts in the Cultural Heritage sector and onto works subject to historical and artistic restriction (Cultural Heritage Code, D.Lsg. 22nd January 2004 n.42). Dr. Bruna Mariani, who graduated from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Academy in Florence, directs certified restoration projects and executions.
The Department researches constitutive materials and intervention techniques, through various methods, in order to perfection the restoration results but also to analyse and solve the decay of copper alloys and finishing patinas.
Many research projects are accomplished in collaboration with important Universities and Research Centres, such as the ICVBC-CNR (Institute for the Conservation and Valorisation of Cultural Heritage, National Research Council di Firenze) and the Restoration Department of the Fine Arts Academy “A.Galli” in Como.
The collaboration with the MaMeCH- Materials and Methods Lab for Cultural Heritage Department / Politecnico di Milano works instead towards more long-term researches, towards building innovative and relevant contributions on the diagnostic materials and methods, publicly shared during international conferences and scientific publications.
The Department of Restoration in Battaglia acts closely with the 100 years old Foundry, which has always retained the role of meeting pole for professional restorers, lost-wax technical consultancy and, most importantly, for specialised assistance in structural reinforcement procedures.
The restoration intervention mainly happens in situ, onto bronze monuments exposed to urban climate, and affected by the corrosion of atmospheric agents.
Bruna Mariani graduated as Cultural Heritage Restorer in 2003, at the Restoration School of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence; she is therefore qualified according to the present law acts (art. 182 D.Lgs. 22nd January 2004 n. 42).
She is specialised in metal restoration (monuments, ornamental objects, ancient weapons, archaeological materials, coins, ethnographic evidences,…). She began working on the national territory in 2004 for private and public clients, such as the Superintendence Authorities for the Cultural Heritage, Church authorities, foundations, various municipalities, museums and private collections. As well as the collaboration with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, she collaborated with the Opera of Maria del Fiore Church in Firenze, the national Museum in Lucca, the Civic Records of the Municipality of Milan, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, The Bagatti-Valsecchi Museum and many other cultural institutions. She also worked with a great number of international cooperation programs, especially in the Middle East, collaborating with the California University (UCLA) and the CNR. Mariani teaches both in the Opificio delle Pietre dure high-education school of restoration and with the Art Academy “A.Galli” in Como.
