Cultural Heritage

“The damaged paintings, sculpture and buildings that are familiar to us are but the visible tip of the iceberg. There is so much more in danger:  pages of Renaissance music that have never been played, manuscripts that have never been copied, archaeological findings that have never been evaluated. Much that we do not yet know about ourselves is there in the mud. It will take years of restoration and of scholarship to retrieve it from oblivion. 

Then there are the things we know and love. How tragic it would be if so many precious works of hand and spirit which man has cherished for centuries are to be lost because we do not care enough.” 

Jacqueline Kennedy, Honorary President of CRIA,undated appeal letter (CRIA PITTI 07.09.00630) 

Prof. Ludovico Ragghianti on Florence Flood (“Italian Professor”) CRIA MISC 1.05

Man clearing out water and mud from the interior of Santi Apostoli
Drying furniture at the Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi cloister
Cleaning the courtyard at Museo Horne
Detail of water line on the arches in the courtyard
Furniture drying outside the Baptistery after the flood
Debris from the flood on the floor of Santa Croce
Furniture drying in the courtyard of the Bargello
Damaged wooden lectern with flooded papers
Furniture drying in the courtyard of the Bargello
Flood damaged objects laid out on the floor of the Bargello
Leif Plahter (on right) and Norwegian restorers
Books and paper dry on the floor of the first floor of the Bargello