Established in the 16th century by the powerful Medici family, the Semi-precious Stone Factory in Florence is one of the oldest institutes devoted to the preservation and restoration of art works.<br /><br />Its new exhibition ‘From the Pharaoh’s Egypt to the Samurai’s Japan’ takes visitors on a journey through space and time. <br /><br />Restoration is a time-consuming task that requires a lot of patience, says conservationist Elisa Bracaloni: “Textiles are everyday items. They are subject to a complex process over the years, especially during the life of the person who wears them. Therefore, a dress will suffer degradation differently from another piece of art, and this depends on how the person wore the clothing.”<br /><br />It took conservationists nearly three years to restore the garments on show, using techniques such as x-ray scans for more precision. <br /><br />Rare and precious examples of works in silk, linen and gold were conserved as part of the relic of one of Christianity’s most revered saints, Saint John the Baptist.<br /><br />“The idea of this exhibition is to offer insight to people, to give them a chance to see how vast and varied the collection of fabrics is, and what you can find in a laboratory that specialises in the restoration of precious, ancient textiles,” says conservationist Licia Triolo. <br /><br />Among the pieces on show is a veil from Siena, dating back to the 13th century, and shoes worn by a 14th century bishop. Other highlights include Egyptian sandals dating back 2,500 years and a waistcoat once worn by a 17th century Samurai warrior. <br /><br />The exhibition is on in Florence until September.
