“Where it was, how it was”

Published: 2009 - April/May, Cultural and Artistic Paths

The world in which we live in is full of memories of the past but it rarely occurs to us to think that the present that we are witness to, with which we live and which plays a part in our everyday lives, is the result of precious and often passionate work of artists, restorers architects or archeologists, few of their names remembered. A great number of paintings from the past are still with us thanks to interventions that have impeded the decay caused by the passage of time and, often, negligence of man, not to mention the frescoes, thankfully removed from the walls before certain extinction. Leonardo’s “The Last Supper”, that seemed to be destined to disappear completely, was saved thanks to the miraculous and patient intervention, lasting twenty years, of the restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcellon. Even Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel are still enjoyable in their original chromatic splendor, after the last courageous, although very criticized, cleaning intervention.
The architectural examples are even more eloquent. Today St.Mark’s Square seems the same as we see in the paintings by Canaletto and Guardi. But in reality the bell tower we see today is a copy of the one that collapsed in 1902 and rebuilt in 1912. Also the Fenice, “rebuilt” after the disastrous fire in 1996, doesn’t it look the same as the one we saw in the unforgettable opening scene from the film “Senso” by Luchino Visconti, made in 1954? In reality, this reconstruction, which perpetuates “artificially” atmospheres and sensations of the past, gives the illusion that time has passed unaffected, without accident or traumas. In the process of the latest colossal resurrection of The Fenice the contribution by the Venetian architect Elisabetta Fabbri seemed particularly pleasant. We owe to her sensitivity and determination that the new Fenice doesn’t make one weep for the one destroyed in the blaze thirteen years ago. The new theater, fortunately, is not a cheap not an inert copy of the previous one but retains the warmth and unmistakable atmosphere, which were part of the glorious, old theater. Elisabetta Fabbri is particularly proud of this result, obtained with a philological method and as well with a care of every detail, due to the impact that she brought to the work, a year from its completion, with the, unplanned, addition of a set designer.  “Developers don’t completely understand the role of a project” says the architect. “They have the job of constructing in respect of times and costs but cannot predict what will happen. The aesthetic result is not problem for them. For the decoration of the theater they were calling the best Italian craftsmen to prepare prototypes, as if, by costing single pieces of work, the miracle would happen on its own. Strengthened by the experiences gained in other projects, like that for the Scala Theater in Milan, I convinced the Prefecture commission that we needed a single person, to coordinate all the decorative work in the theater, to redesign it “as it was and where it was”. He was not necessarily an architect but a person who can work to rebuild the places out of the time. And thus the developers were forced to call a set designer: Mauro Carosi. The decision was taken at the end of 2002. There was not much time at our disposal, and so all the decorative apparatus in wood and papier mache was made off site and then put into place. For the decoration on the ceiling, which was originally frescoes, we used the same procedure as there wasn’t enough time to create them directly. It seems incredible but the decorators could only use the scaffolding for forty days because we then had to begin the work on the flooring. In any case, all the work was finished in good time and the new Fenice had its inauguration in December 2003 as planned”.
Elisabetta Fabbri graduated in architecture at I.U.A.V. in Venice in 1998 presenting a thesis on “The recuperation of the Arsenale in Venice”, which has an almost predestined feel, because the young Venetian architect was subsequently confirmed as one of the more authoritative experts in the field of recovery and restoration. Not just simple restoration of the surface or the decorative aspect, as some may have been led to believe, because hers, clarifies Elisabetta Fabbri, are interventions by an architect. Like the one in 2003, at the Scala in Milan, where she was in charge of the projection and artistic direction of all works of reconstruction and restoration of the monumental parts of the theater.
Elisabetta is a young and fascinating woman, with an enchanting smile. But her sweet appearance shouldn’t fool you. At work she acts with firmness and determination, which many men would envy. This was recently put to the test, when she was assigned by the artistic direction for restoration work and recovery of production at the San Carlo Theater in Naples. Work that won the enthusiasm of the maestro Riccardo Muti and herself who considers it the flagship of her already intense work.
It doesn’t seem, all in all, that the professional interests of Elisabetta are limited to only theatrical restoration, a field in which she has, on the other hand, demonstrated an exceptional talent. We are convinced that other, adventurous and inedited goals are waiting. We will certainly be hearing about them.