International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
A unique setting rich with flora and fauna, the Garden of Ninfa is an English-style landscape park in the Latina province, recognized as an Italian natural monument. The park was the site of a medieval village of the same name.
In the Italian town of Genazzano, there is a 16th-century nymphaeum, or shrine to the nymphs, attributed to Donato Bramante, the architect and painter known for designing the earliest example of High Renaissance style architecture in Rome. Our archives hold a series of photos and drawings from a study project carried out at the nymphaeum in 1977.
This Etruscan sarcophagus with a couple reclining on the lid dates from between 550-525 BCE and was excavated in Caere (present-day Cerveteri), Italy. At least, that is what was once claimed, before it was revealed to be a fake!
This month, we are showcasing one of the samples taken by Cesare Brandi, the founder and first director of Istituto Centrale per il Restauro (ICR) in Rome, during his visit to the tomb in 1958. Analysis of this and other samples at the time helped experts assess the condition of the tomb and determine whether restoration was possible and how best to carry it out.
From Nefertari’s Tomb (Valley of the Queens, Thebes, Egypt), this image is part of a series of photographic prints taken by Giorgio Torraca during an ICCROM mission in 1978. The mission was to assess the deterioration processes affecting the paintings of the tomb, and draft a conservation and stabilization plan, together with a work programme for the Egyptian Organization of Antiquities (now the Supreme Council of Antiquities).
This image is part of a series of large format photographs depicting main cultural heritage sites and monuments in Cyprus, including Kiti, Kolossi, Kourion, Kyrenia, Larnaka, Nicosia, Paphos, Salamis and Soli.
ICCROM Archives continue to showcase their older photographic prints (1952-1985), which are organized alphabetically by country. From Afghanistan’s heritage (Resource of the Month in October), we move to Algeria, specifically to Tassili. Tassili n'Ajjer is a national park in the Sahara Desert, which has one of the most important groupings of prehistoric rock art in the world. It is a World Heritage Site since 1982.
This photo is of the shrine of the Small Buddha (35 metres high) in the Bamiyan Valley, taken after the restoration work carried out between 1969-1973 by an Indo-Afghan team of experts.