Abstract:

Cesare Brandi 1906-1988 was born in Siena; he studied law in University of Siena and in 1928 History of Art and took a second degree in University of Florence. Between 1934-1961 he taught Medieval and Modern Art in University of Rome. He had an assiduous and successful career in the Administration of Antiquities and Fine Arts, as a superintendent, director and an inspector. In 1933 he founded the first restoration laboratory in Bologna. His most challenging work was the establishment of the ‘Istituto Centrale del Restauro’ in Rome; he was the first director and had the mission of organizing an interdisciplinary teamwork for conservation. He wrote more than fifty articles and essays on aesthetics, art criticism, conservation and restoration and art history. He gave various courses at University of Rome on art history and theory and practice of restoration at graduate level. After 1948 Brandi became an active conservationist in the international sphere and was demanded for missions, conferences and consultancies for UNESCO. He won several prizes for art criticism and was awarded with many honorary titles. In 1967 he took the chair of Modern Art History in University of Rome and lectured until he reached mandatory retirement age. He was the vice-chair of ‘Italia Nostra’ and chair of the Committee for Artistic and Historical Heritage of the National Council for Cultural Heritage. He passed away in 19 January 1988 in Siena. His most important work is ‘Teoria del Restauro’ for the conservators of movable and immovable heritage. According to him, conservation of works of art is a moral obligation for any member of a civilized society. In his theory, he defines restoration as ‘criticism in action’ which is practiced directly on art and must comprehend the forms and premises behind the forms and respect the material integrity. In conservation and restoration laboratories he aimed to organize interdisciplinary teams which were composed of scientists, conservator-restorers, art historians and architects when architectural conservation was the subject of the works. His theory is an integral part of Dialoghi di Elicona, Carmine, Arcadio, Eliante, Celso in Segno e imagine , Le due vie, Struttura e architettura and Teoria Generalle Della Critica. The theory of restoration deals with artistic creation process of an art object, the uniqueness of works of art, time in relation to the work of art and restoration with regard to aesthetic and historical cases, treatment of lacunae, re- integration in architectural conservation and restoration of the paintings and sculptures. Brandi defines restoration as comprehension of an art object or architecture in its integral unity from the standpoint of historical and aesthetical instances respecting the original materials. He states that the restoration re-establishes the potential unity without any falsification besides time is another important criterion in restoration and restoration should not interrupt the historical time line of the object between the creative process and the duration of the restoration. His theory was critised for concentrating on art objects and monumental architecture and for being based on aesthetics. Although architectural conservation of more humble buildings need more practical interventions and creation of minimum living standards still should respect general rules of restoration which were listed in Venice Charter of Icomos 1964 . Restoration theory and definition of restoration was strictly built by Brandi in the long run which was first stated by Ruskin opposing the unity of style and then discussed by Boito, Giovannoni and Annoni in the first half of the twentieth century.

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