Every day, thousands of residents, tourists and art lovers pass through the churches, museums and galleries of Italy. All contain immaculate displays of artwork, collected from the nation's monumental historical periods. Not all the works, however, had an easy life maintaining their beauty. There are countless paintings and sculptures damaged by weather, floods or human destruction. In these cases, restoration is necessary to preserve these symbols, and women like Elizabeth Wicks ensure that these pieces will return to display. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Elizabeth's studio is located in via dei Benci, inside Palazzo Mellini-Fossi a few steps from the radiant Piazza Santa Croce. His studio is quite small, but hosts projects larger than life itself. This small space has seen presences such as the Madonna degli Innocenti, the Death of Saint Joseph and the Deposed Christ. Despite its size, Wicks has the perfect amount of space for projects large and small, all looked down upon by ceiling frescoes and illuminated by sunlight peeking through its large window. Wicks' work consists of art curation, so it mainly involves restoration of paintings, polychrome sculptural lines, wall paintings, canvas and panel paintings, all ranging from ancient to contemporary. These projects are guided by the superintendency when they are carried out for public clients, such as churches or museums, and then for private clients. then I carry out the restoration” Wick's love for art and its history has also been passed down through generations of his family. “My father was a pretty well-known painter and an art history professor and my mother majored in art history in college, and I grew up in the artists' colony of New Hope in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His career was certainly destiny. Wick's first arrival in Florence came on a study abroad program during his junior year at Syracuse University. Upon his arrival he had never heard of artistic restoration and above all its impact on the Florentine community. “I was amazed by the love and care that went into saving the works of art. I think I decided then that I wanted to try a career as a restorer." After six months, she returned to the United States to earn her degree and begin her career as an art conservator in Washington DC. After getting a scholarship to come to Florence for a year to start his master's degree in History of Italian Renaissance Art. “I ended up staying and getting a bachelor's degree in art conservation. I originally planned to move to Australia next, and I still haven't gotten there yet!” The commissions Wicks works on range far beyond paintings, but with a team that includes two other Italian women, they specialize in works ranging from easel paintings, frescoes, wooden statues, terracotta, marble and contemporary works in a wide range on average. Over time, Wicks specialized in canvas murals. “My work mainly involves easel paintings and frescoes. I combined this knowledge with my specialization in mural restoration, then consulted on several projects at Broadway theaters in New York, including the New Amsterdam Theatre, the Belasco, and Radio City Music Hall.” One of Wick's most notable projects was the restoration of a key work of art in the parish of Santa Lucia sul Prato. Although it is not a Cathedral, it has a strong community of devoted parishioners who seriously support the restoration of its art. As part of recoveryAmong the masterpieces of Santa Lucia is the restoration of a seventeenth-century papier-mâché statue of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. “A work that needs restoration is like a patient undergoing treatment: there is a diagnostic phase in which we study the history of the painting, evaluate the problems it presents and decide on the best treatment” Diagnostic tests include x-rays of the painting, photography with ultraviolet and infrared light and microscopic analysis. With Mary, Wicks decided to start with a simple cleaning test, then move on to slowly removing the layers of repaint, leading to the discovery of the original layer. The Madonna project was focused not only by Wicks, but also by the women of the church who pray to the statue. Despite the competition, they persisted in remaining at the high altar. Our Lady helps them to pray with joy. Restoration has a greater impact than visual and aesthetic repair, but it repairs the hearts and spirits of the people who admire them so much. With this in mind, it is crucial to be specific and gentle in the restoration process. A clear diagnosis and a decision on how much work should be done, so as not to permanently damage the artwork. "The actual restoration process usually begins with structural work, such as working on the back of the painting to consolidate damaged areas of the canvas, repairing tears and holes in the canvas, restoring the wood frame, applying a perimeter liner or a new canvas to help support the painting, restoration of the wood in the case of a panel. The final phase is that of surface processing, which may involve cleaning successive layers of dirt, partial or total removal of layers of oxidized paint and repainting. , touching up deficiencies and applying a protective surface coating.” In matters such as these, it is essential to undergo maintenance and closely observe the progress of the work, even if it is necessary to take additional steps in the restoration process the original has been attempted to be restored several times, it can become quite a challenge. “This aspect is complicated and mainly depends on how old the repaint is and whether it covers the original or not. The context of the painting is also important” The community trusts Wicks to restore artworks in a way that reflects their history and conceptualization. “For a piece that is returning to a home or church, the legibility of the work, its visual integrity, may take precedence over a more archaeological reconstruction of the work, which could expose large areas of missing or damaged paint. If the original layer is missing or extremely damaged it may be preferable to keep the overpainting, as it too has become part of the history of the painting.” Most of Wick's commissions involve works of art in churches and museums, as well as privately. clients. The funding comes from the Italian government, or trusted sponsors. The large projects involve a team of technicians, photographers and art historians from the Ministry for Cultural Heritage. Restoration can be a competitive field, as it requires a certain person to be as efficient and precise as possible, but there is a strong need for it in the city of Florence, being an art capital. “Being an art restorer in Florence is like being an actor in London or New York: it's incredibly competitive but also incredibly stimulating, in the sense that here we have the best professionals in the sector in the world. There is much to restore here, but financing projects or reaching potential sponsors is often a challenge. ”In recent years Wicks has been commissioned to restore several paintings for the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and the Museo degli Innocenti, both of which reopened after extensiverenovation works. “For the Innocenti my favorite project was the restoration and research of what was thought to be their oldest painting, the Madonna degli Innocenti. In fact, during the restoration we discovered another painting beneath the surface." This project has been recorded in its entirety and will soon be published in a documentary, The Innocents of Florence. The project is funded by the Museo degli Innocenti and by Jane Fortune, founder and president of AWA, the Advancing Women Artists Foundation. AWA showed interest in Wicks and even sponsored one of his last projects: a two-year restoration of a large altarpiece made in 1767 by Vlolante Siries Cerroti for placement in the church of Santa Maria Maddalena de Pazzi. The altar was damaged in the 1966 flood and later became the subject of a book by Wicks' co-author, The Lady Who Paints, and a short documentary about its preservation. “This year I opened an exciting new chapter in my life.” March, Wicks completed the restoration of a canvas altarpiece from the church of San Paolino in Florence, The Death of St. Joseph. It was just one of three Tuscan works of art sponsored by Banca Inesa San Paolo and which would be presented at the Reggia di Venaria until September. annual students of the master's degree course in Conservation at the University of Viterbo. “The students focused on restoring the works of self-taught artist Bonaria Manca, a Sardinian who began painting at the age of sixty, is now 93, and who decorated her entire home in Tuscania with paintings on walls and ceilings, as well as paintings on canvas and mosaics. The work is exciting and challenging!” Wicks contributed much more than to the aesthetic preservation of the city of Florence, but his work also manifested itself in spiritual and cultural preservation. The city identifies itself with its art: the paintings, the food and the architecture, making Florence as a whole a dimensional work of art itself, scrutinizing opportunities. Florence gave me a career, a son, my family. It gave me the beauty of art, good food and the discovery of this Tuscan world, it gave me life." Florence attracted her from a young age, even before her feet touched the pavement. “I remember when I was fourteen and I was in the school library in the United States. I was looking at a book and saw Spring for the first time. I had never seen something so beautiful. It sounds corny, but I had a feeling, I felt a connection with it. I wanted to be where this painting was. ” As time passed, this feeling became an exceptional reality. Wicks is a part of Florence that keeps the city's reputation alive. She contributes to its magnificence. Currently in his studio, Wicks is reconstructing the Madonna with saints by Bastiano Mainardi (tempera and oil on panel, 1500, Church of Santa Maria Campi). The painting was flooded twice, but an exciting discovery was made under the right arm of the Madonna. Also in the studio is the statue of the Deposed Christ by Volterrano (circa 1680, polychrome stucco, Church of Santa Lucia in Florence), which is the only known sculpture created by the artist. “In our restoration, 12 layers of overpaint, wax, glue and dirt were found covering the original surface.” These discoveries are what Wicks finds exhilarating in his profession “I like this sense of discovery because every work hides secrets and there are inevitably some beautiful discoveries, sometimes not beautiful ones, but there is always a process of discovery during the cleaning” . Restoring and enhancing the work of an artistic legend has its pressures, but there is a feeling of immaculateness that humbles Wicks. “Working on.