{"id":5307,"date":"2025-07-04T08:51:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T08:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museoarcheologiconapoli.it\/restauro-del-mosaico-di-alessandro-e-dario\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T13:58:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T13:58:24","slug":"the-restoration-of-the-mosaic-of-alexander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museoarcheologiconapoli.it\/en\/the-restoration-of-the-mosaic-of-alexander\/","title":{"rendered":"The restoration of the Mosaic of Alexander"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]The current situation: looking back in time, the reasons for a restoration.<\/strong><\/span>[\/vc_column_text]
<\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]Millions of tesserae make up an exceptionally large surface (5,83m for 3,13 m): in the exedra of the House of the Faun, the big mosaic floor was the heart of a refined iconographic \u201carchitecture\u201d. When it came to light in 1831, it was immediately clear that it was a masterpiece, not only for the uniqueness of the representation and of the size, but also for the good state of conservation: the large damaged parts, indeed, concerned only the left part of the scene, without undermining the central focus of the whole figure. \u201cLifting\u201d the mosaic from its original place, in order to carry it to the Royal Bourbon Museum, was a quite difficult decision to make: after 12 years of strong debates, a commission voted for the removal and, on the 16th of November 1844, the mosaic was put into a box and started its slow journey from Pompeii to Naples, on a cart pulled by sixteen oxen. During the trip, an accident occurred at the height of Torre del Greco and put the work in danger of being damaged: the box fell down on the street. Finally in January 1845, it was possible to open the box and check whether any damage had occurred: fortunately the mosaic was intact. The first destination for the Battle of Issus was, therefore, the floor of room CXL, according to the project of architect Pietro Bianchi; it was the Museum director Vittoria Spinazzola who in 1916 ordered the current exhibition on the wall, in the newly designed mosaic collection rooms. Since then, throughout the century, the \u201cMosaic of all records\u201d has been capturing, with its magnetic beauty, the attention of visitors from all over the world: behind the fascination of a timeless masterpiece, scientists and experts work constantly on maintenance and conservation of a work which, despite appearance, is intrinsically very fragile. The restoration of the mosaic is going to be a complex one: conservation, positioning, weight (approximately seven tons) and its importance from a historic and artistic point of view, all emphasize that a very meticulous and precise final project is necessary. The Mosaic of Alexander shows, indeed, various conservation problems, namely detached tesserae, as well as cracks, little bulges or else depressions on the surface. In particular, the central area on the right shows a visible depression; along the perimeter of the mosaic, there are various bulging points, probably due to the oxidation of metal elements contained in the wooden frame, added up during the moving operations in 1916. Moreover, there are some horizontal and vertical micro-cracks, plus a transversal crack , which were already treated by applying special thin paper bandages, so called \u201cvelinatura\u201d technique, in past interventions. Over the last twenty years, diagnostic research carried out on the mosaic gave an important contribution to detect the need for a general restoration: beside conservation reasons, it emerged the need for a better and more organic comprehension of the work. The diagnostic surveys have consisted of two most significant steps: in 2015, thanks to the contribution of IPERION CH.IT and of the CNR-ISTI of Pisa, a research on the whole condition of the work has been carried out, allowing a distinction between original constituent materials and those ones belonging to ancient and modern restorations. In 2018, with the participation of the University of Molise and the CNR a detailed high-resolution photogrammetric survey has been developed: the 3D model was enriched by a geo-radar survey to check the conditions of the support. These operations have made it possible to appreciate those cracks which are invisible to the human eye, as well as some flaws in the layers of the support.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″]
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