Italian expert led a course on retouching at the Faculty of Restoration.
Date: January 2023
The renowned Italian restorer Paolo Pastorello visited the Faculty of Restoration at the University of Pardubice to teach students the methods of retouching in practical lessons. A group of 15 restoration students were able to meet and learn from an Italian expert who works all over the world.
Paolo Pastorello has been involved in the restoration of such works as the decoration of the tomb of Nefertari in Luxor, Egypt, the murals by Giotto, Cavallini and Cimabue in the Upper Basilica in Assisi, and the murals in the Farnese Gallery by the Carraci brothers in Palazzo Francese in Rome. He also restored canvases and panel paintings by artists such as Perugino, Tintoretto, Bronzino, Jan Gossart, Gerard David and others. Although this was the third time he had taught this course in Litomyšl, he now visited the faculty after ten long years due to the busy programme.
The week-long course focuses on the topic of vertical tratteggio, the legendary method of recognizable retouching developed at the Central Institute for Restoration in Rome, and is distinguished by its intensity, with students spending each day practicing the method. Under the supervision of a master, they practice pencil exercises, various brush techniques leading to the understanding and practice of color-spaced line retouching, as well as its actual realization on a plaster panel with a technological replica of a mural.
"Although trattegio is not the preferred retouching technique in our country, we believe in the usefulness of the course in the global application of our graduates. In addition, the students have the opportunity to meet a personality who, in addition to his wealth of restoration experience, also has a reputation as a teacher who annually prepares candidates for the legendary Central Institute for Restoration in Rome, which is a valuable professional experience for them," explained Jan Vojtěchovský, Vice Dean for International Cooperation of the Faculty of Restoration at the University of Pardubice.
