Art Escapes experience.
Giotto’s colors
Assisi offers two different approaches to the revival of Giotto’s world famous frescoes.
In 1997, the earthquake which shook Assisi shattered the frescoes in the Basilica of San Francesco into over 300.000 fragments. To celebrate the 8th centenary of the foundation of the order of San Francesco, Assisi has decided to stage an innovative exhibition, which enables visitors to both see the restoration work in progress and tour a ground-breaking virtual exhibition. For many, the highlight of "The Colors of Giotto - The Basilica of Assisi, between virtual restoration and restitution" exhibition is the visit to see the damaged wall paintings attributed to Giotto in the Chapel of San Nicola in the Basilica Inferiore of San Francesco. Split into small groups, visitors are invited to climb up on to the scaffolding where the restorers are still busy at work.
After the visit to the Basilica Superiore, art lovers can study further various aspects of the 28 scenes of the pictorial cycle in the nearby Palazzo del Monte Frumentario. The halls of this splendid, and only recently restored, edifice, host the "Giotto come'era" virtual exhibition, in which his celebrated frescoes are recreated, as they would have appeared prior to the damage caused by the passage of time and catastrophic 1997 earthquake. The result of years of research and the latest in sophisticated photographic processing techniques, the exhibition brings to life the vivid freshness of Giotto's original colors.
In a specially reserved room, a full-scale three dimensional reproduction of Giotto's "Confirmation of the order of Saint Francis by Pope Innocent III" is staged. Here, the visitor is invited to "enter the fresco", listening to the dialogues and interacting with the characters. Another virtual installation focuses on Giotto's interpretation of space and perspective, compared with a three dimensional reproduction.
The museum ticket includes the visit to the Palazzo Vallemani Art Museum, in which a number of Giotto's frescoes are housed and used for the study of medieval fresco techniques.
The Colors of Giotto. The Basilica of Assisi restoration and virtual reclaim
Basilica di San Francesco e Palazzo del Monte Frumentario - Assisi
www.icoloridigiotto.it
April 11th - September 5th 2010
Monday-Friday 9:30-18:30, Saturday 9:30-16:30, Sunday 13:30-16:30
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