Fifty years after being badly damaged in massive floods in Florence, a Renaissance masterpiece has been unveiled to the public.<br /><br /> The presentation of Vasari’s Last Supper – repaired only over the past decade thanks to new techniques – coincides with numerous events to mark the anniversary of the disaster that struck the city in 1966.<br /><br /> The Prime Minister and other officials have taken part, thanking those involved in the massive clean-up. <br /><br /> Millions of pieces of art were lost or damaged, but a lot was saved thanks to an army of local and international volunteers who became known as the “Angels of the mud”.<br /><br /> One foreign volunteer, Dutch art historian Renny Van Heuven, was among those there for the anniversary. <br /><br /> “We were always busy with laying (out to dry) paper and books, old books,” she said. “But I also cleaned sculptures. For instance, in the crypt of the Santa Croce and …. that was totally filled with oil.”<br /><br /> At least 35 people died in the floods in Florence with thousands of people left homeless and scores of shops forced out of business.<br />
