‘Pure beauty’ – Italy’s great ancient mosaics restored

On a hill overlooking the city of Palermo, Sicily, sits a little-known gem of Italian art: the cathedral of Monreale.

Built in the 12th century under Norman rule, it boasts Italy’s largest Byzantine-style frescoes, second in the world after those of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Now, this Unesco World Heritage site has undergone extensive restoration to bring it back to its former glory.

The mosaics of Montreal were intended to impress, humble and inspire the visitor who walked down the central square, following the fashion of Constantinople, the capital of the surviving Roman empire in the east.

They cover an area of ​​over 6,400 square meters and contain approximately 2.2kg of solid gold.

The renovation took more than a year, and during that time the cathedral was turned into a construction site, with a lot of scaffolding placed over the altar and passed.

Local experts from the Italian Ministry of Culture led a series of interventions, starting with removing the thick layer of dust that had accumulated on the mosaics over the years.

Then they repaired some of the tiles that had lost their enamel and gold leaf, which made them look like black spots from the bottom.

Finally, they intervened in places where the tiles were peeling off the wall and fixed them.

Working on the mosaics was a challenge and a huge responsibility, said Father Nicola Gaglio.

He has been a pastor here for 17 years and has followed the restoration closely, unlike a fearful father.

“The team approached this project almost on tiptops,” he tells me.

“Sometimes there are unexpected problems and they have to stop for a while while they find a solution.

“For example, when they got to the ceiling, they noticed that in the past it was covered with a layer of varnish that had turned yellow. They had to peel it off, literally, like cling film.”

The mosaics were last partially restored in 1978, but this time the intervention was more extensive and included the replacement of the old lighting system.

“There was a very old system. The lighting was low, the energy costs were through the roof and they didn’t do justice to the beauty of the mosaic,” said Matteo Cundari.

He is the Country Manager of Zumtobel, a company that was commissioned to install new lighting.

“The biggest challenge was to make sure we highlight the mosaics and create something that responds to the different needs of the cathedral,” he adds.

“We also wanted to create a completely reversible system, something that could be changed in 10 or 15 years without damaging the structure.”

This first phase of the works cost 1.1 million euros. The second, centered on the central nave, is arranged next.

I ask Father Gaglio what it was like to see the scaffolding finally come out and the mosaics glistening in their new light. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

“When you see it, you’re in awe and you can’t imagine anything. It’s pure beauty,” he says.

“It is a responsibility to be the custodian of such world heritage. This world needs beauty, because it reminds us what is good in humanity, what it means to be men and women.”