Taking Care of the Past

A Visit to the Restoration Laboratory – Museo “S. Castromediano”, Lecce - 20^th March 2026

photo by Claudia Mazzei

Not everybody knows that Lecce’s main museum, named after Sigismondo Castromediano, was originally a Jesuit school called “Collegio Argento”. The building itself, which dates back to the second half of the 19^th century, impresses the visitor for the peculiar contrast between its ancient façade and the contemporary style of the interior, completely renovated in the 1970s. As well as its precious collections, the museum hosts a restoration laboratory, which the Berkeley Circle had the opportunity of visiting, thanks to its director Mary Coppola.

The group was led through several rooms and corridors to the big hall where the works of art of the past are brought back to their original colours and splendour: a place where modern technology coexists with traditional tools, so much so that rabbit glue is often melted in big pots to be used instead of thermoplastic glue, which can also be necessary.

photo by Claudia Mazzei

At a glance, we noticed tall statues of saints, big tables with Roman findings and ancient canvases: all of them were being restored in the lab. Then Mary explained that the statues, which represented two of Lecce’s patron saints, were made of wood and needed restoration mainly because they had been attacked by woodworm, while the Roman findings came from the archaeological site of Rudiae and had to be cleaned from dirt before being assembled like in a sort of puzzle.

photo by Claudia Mazzei

A beautiful oil painting by Pasquale Grassi coming from a church in Martignano depicted “Il sacrificio di San Pantaleone”, (Saint Pantaleone’s sacrifice) he being the patron saint of the village. After being cleaned from layers of grey dirt with special solvents, the painting finally showed its original vivid colours on an uneven, almost cracked (craquelure) surface, the very sign of its authenticity.

photo by Claudia Mazzei

Mary made it clear that philological restoration is a conservative approach that aims to preserve the authenticity of the work of art: that is why it rejects historical fakes, making the added interventions clearly recognizable. The rigatino, for example, is a special technique used by restorers to cover damaged areas in paintings with very fine vertical parallel lines so that they are easily distinguishable from the original painting, but still blend with it in the distance.

photo by Claudia Mazzei

The final part of the visit was dedicated to fourteen papier-mâché Stations of the Cross, which had just undergone restoration. They were made by Raffaele Caretta, a famous maestro cartapestaio (papier mâché master) who operated in Lecce between the end of the 19^th century and the first half of the 20^th. Only six of the stations were signed by the master, which means that the others were probably made in his bottega (workshop) by his pupils.

The restored Stations will soon return to the chapel of the “Collegio Argento” (i.e. in the museum) to be admired in their original bright colours. The “care workshop” has completed its task and the works of art can be given back to the community.

Many thanks to Mary for disclosing the secrets of her lab and, above all, for the work she does every day to preserve our archaeological and artistic heritage!