“Campagna Toscana” and “Case di Villamagna” by Ottone Rosai are two paintings made with a tempera grassa, using a natural protein binder and oil to apply the colors directly onto the prepared surface, and were made specifically in 1935 for the premises of the station. The two paintings showed small damages (ripples and detachments) due to the variable humidity of the environment and to some recent rather invasive restoration interventions, including the tearing of the pictorial film and the relocation onto multilayer panels.
The degraded points were mapped and the two paintings were cleaned and buffered to obtain a lightening and balancing of the surface while avoiding deep or radical actions, considering the different previous interventions. The intervention then undertook definitive consolidation between the preparatory layers and the surface as well as on the support itself of the paintings that presented deformations in some perimeter areas and on the anchorage inside the frame.
The painting by Mario Romoli “Scena di caccia in Toscana” (Hunting Scene in Tuscany), likely painted in oil or tempera grassa on a previously prepared wall, was also the object of a recent conservative intervention, which was visible thanks to the protective varnish that made the surface shiny. The painting had some losses and small abrasions with micro-lifting caused by condensation and weathering. The painting had an area with a pre-existing lesion that was filled in using an injection of consolidating mortar.
After the phase of flaking prevention, by means of suitable adhesive, we proceeded to the cleaning which included the lightening of the excess superficial fixative and the removal of altered pictorial retouching, allowing for an aesthetic rebalancing.
The delicate cleaning operation was carried out with the use of solvents and non-aggressive materials that allowed for control of the effects and rendering on the surface.
Finally, a pictorial retouching was performed using watercolors.
