professional records - Ger-sO

Company organization and development
GER-SO S.r.l. works in the field of the conservation and restoration of works of art, in other words
contracted projects and services to conserve and restore items of high cultural value both in the form of
property and moveable items.
We participate and win national tenders put out by both public and private organizations.
The projects we are entrusted with involve the restoration of monuments, listed buildings, stuccowork,
cleaning mural works painted with tempera and oils, stonework, old theatres and theatre curtains, wooden
artefacts, tapestries and works of art painted on cloth and tableaux.
Our firm specializes in laser cleaning, recognised as the most effective restoration technique. Laser cleaning
produces high levels of precision, selectivity and minimum impact on the work of art undergoing treatment.
We carry out in-depth examination and diagnosis using a range of perspectives and parameters to identify the
very best solution for restoring a variety of materials. This interdisciplinary approach gives us the edge over
more traditional techniques.
At our head offices in Monte San Pietro near Bologna, we coordinate our team and manage relations with
our company stake-holders.
Our two technical units, one based in Monte San Pietro and the other in Genoa, are made up of architects
with specialist knowledge of how to safeguard and restore of items and property belonging to Italy’s cultural
heritage; they are expert at designing and planning our operations.
All our technical operators are used to carrying out in-depth analysis and diagnosis to achieve a fully
knowledgeable picture. They plan and execute each and every step of their projects with method and
purpose. Starting from the preliminary study of the work which includes research into historical and
bibliographical sources, a general and detailed photographic survey, an analysis of the work, of its materials
and degree of dilapidation and a consistency check (conducted with the official bodies in charge of
safeguarding) of the methods and working procedures.
All activities are carried out under the attentive eye of the Technical Director so as to ensure adherence to
every stage of a well-balanced plan drawn up on the basis of in-depth, specialist knowledge.
At every level of company activity, our staff, currently numbering 47 units, regularly participate in
professional training and updating courses. These also include courses on the latest regulations and norms
concerning on-site safety in the workplace.
We insist on fostering the development, knowledge and overall expertise of our operators as we believe this
approach results in higher levels of professionalism and help so censure the overall efficiency of our firm.
A dynamic company strongly geared to satisfy customer satisfaction, GER-SO is well positioned to offer
both institutional and private customers reliability and know-how. Its working teams are well versed in the
use of the latest technologies and are equipped with a series checking procedures guaranteed to provide
quality in every stage of the project: its planning, design and completion.
Restoration Activities
GER-SO is officially qualified to operate on public works.
It has received certification from Euro-Soa for the OS2 category "Decorated surfaces and moveable assets
of historical and artistic interest” in Class V. We are also qualified to design and build within the framework
of Classification III.
All fields of activity developed at our offices and studios in Monte San Pietro and Genoa as well as all acts
of conservation and restoration carried out on site, are certified in conformity with the recognised standard
ISO 9001:2005.
In its almost thirty years of restoring works of art, GER-SO has gained in-depth experience through its
activities working on protected assets - many of which stand out for their noteworthy historical and artistic
importance.
A high level of professionalism and ethical criteria has helped the firm to make use of a substantial network
of loyal customers. The following is a list of the most significant and prestigious acts of restoration of Italian
monuments GER-SO has undertaken in recent years:
• The Baptistery in Pisa
• Rimini Cathedral, known as the “Malatesta Temple”
• The St. Francis Holy Convent in Assisi
• Loreto Basilica
• The St. Nicolas Convent Chapel in Tolentino
• The Chieri Arch of Triumph in Chieri
• The Certosa of Pavia: here, specially studied laser cleaning techniques have produced excellent
results on the stonework.
The Malatesta Temple of Rimini
Luca Signorelli Melozzo da Forlì
Loreto Basilica
The Baptistery in Pisa
GER-SO has also undertaken the upkeep and restoration of important fresco cycles attributed to artists of the
calibre of Melozzo da Forlì, Luca Signorelli, Amico Aspertini, Luca Cambiaso, Lazzaro Calvi, Pellegrino
Tibaldi, Federico Zuccari, Cristoforo Roncalli, Giulio Benso, Domenico Piola and Cesare Maccari.
In the field of paintings and canvases we should mention our restoration of Lorenzo Lotto’s “Crucifixion” recognised as one of the greatest works of the Italian Renaissance and also Pietro Vannucci’s famous oil
tableau “The Annunciation.”
Famous Italian theatres and theatre curtains that have regained their former splendour thanks to GER-SO are
the Rossini Theatre in Pesaro, the “Gentile" in Fabriano, the Stabile in Potenza, the Ventidio Basso in Ascoli
Piceno, the Auditorium" in Foligno, the Angelo Mariani in Sant’Agata Feltria, the Comunale in Porto San
Giorgio, the Dell'Aquila in Fermo, the Nicola Vaccaj in Tolentino, and the Augusto Massari in San Giovanni
in Marignano.
One particular restoration of particular technical significance was the decorated false ceiling of the Gabriello
Chiabrera theatre in Savona following the collapse of the arched roof in 1999.
Recent and ongoing theatre restorations include Siena’s Rinnovati Theatre and the restoration of the historic
theatre curtain of Bari’s Piccini Theatre.
As part of the Turin restorations to mark the Winter Olympics of 2006, GER-SO was responsible for
restoring the double “Stairway of Honour” which connects the Courtyard to the Marbles Hall. Thanks to
GER-SO’s intervention the decorations, the allegories depicted on the vault and the adornments in memory
of illustrious historical Piemontese and Turin personalities can now shine once more.
Restoration of the Main Town Hall or Palazzo Civico was achieved by recovering the internal façades of the
Courtyard of Honour and the Mayor’s Reception Room.
The final part of this restoration allowed the public to see the two-flight stairway of the Carignano Palace,
commissioned by Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia and entrusted to Guarino Guarini. This is recognised as one
of the highlights of Piedmont Baroque architecture. This Stairway had suffered badly from infiltrations and
multiple repainting. It has now regained its former splendour thanks to specialised structural actions,
plasterwork and the use of natural lime as a veiling agency.
A short examination of GER-SO intense restoration work of monuments and works of art in the City of
Genoa now follows. This is part of the complex project to reclaim this city’s vast artistic and architectural
heritage, famous above all for its magnificent painted façades using frescoes techniques.
Genoa - Doria Spinola Palace
Genoa - St. Mattew’s Church
These works started in early 2000 to mark the Genoa G8 political summit of the same year and have
continued also in the context of Genoa, European Capital of Culture in 2004. They are still underway today.
Restoration projects carried out in 2001 include the strengthening of the façades of the Doria Spinola Palace,
the current seat of Genoa Prefecture. This features nineteenth-century decorations and frescoes by the Calvi
Brothers. That year GER-SO also restored the central Church of the Annunciation designed by Carlo
Barbino and the frescoes inside St. Matthew’s Church painted by Giovanni Battista Castello (the
“Bergamasco”), Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli and Luca Cambiaso.
Restoration works completed in 2004 include work on the late eighteenth century decorated façades of the
De Ferrari Palace often referred to as the “Belimbau”. This completed the urban of the Annunciation Square
started in 2001 with the restoration of the church of the same name, the restoration and strengthening of the
decorated façades of the Pinelli Palace; the Suffragi Chapel at the Pantheon, the Staglieno Cemetery and the
strengthening and rearrangement of one of the most important frescoes by Luca Cambiaso known as the
“Ratto delle Sabine”. This last work of restoration was rendered necessary due to the partial collapse of
2004.
The Gabriello Chiabrera Theatre
GER-SO is currently active in the Liguria region restoring frescoes in a number of prestigious ambiences:
the Cambiaso Centurione Palace (including the famous "Bacchus Arianna" Hall) with the central frescoes
of the same name by Domenico Piola dated 1679), frescoes gilded plasterwork in the St. Stephen’s Church
in Lavagna, decorated façades within Villa Chiarella at Chiavari and frescoes at Our Lady of Health’s
Church in La Spezia.
In December 2006 GER-SO completed the restoration and strengthening of the Our Lady of the Assumption
Basilica in Genoa Sestri Ponente (with works by artists such as Giulio Benso, Giuseppe Leoncini, Paolo
Boccardo, Domenico Piola, Nicolò Barabino and Domenico Fiasella).
Our firm then went on to open two sites of artistic significance in the centre of Genoa.
Genoa – Grimaldi-De Mari Palace
Genoa – Cambiaso Centurione Palace
The first concerns the Grimaldi-De Mari Palace often known as the "Palazzo della Meridiana" because of
the painted clock which replaces a window. Its restoration involves the internal decorations and rooms
containing frescoes by Luca Cambiaso and Lazzaro Calvi.
The second site is at the ancient Church of St. Siro, first built in the 4th century and formerly Genoa
Cathedral.
Internal decor was almost entirely carried out by the Carlone Brothers. Tommaso handled the ornate
plasterwork and Giovanni Battista painted the frescoes in the middle nave, the dome ("the Glory of St. Siro")
and the choir ("the Basilisk Miracle"). The other wall paintings adorning the chapels and side-naves are by
Domenico Fiasella, Domenico Piola and Gregorio De Ferrari.
Genoa - Church of St. Siro
The project to enhance the front of the Marciana Bookshop, one of Venice’s most important buildings and
monuments, deserves a special mention.
Designed by Jacopo Sansovino, the Bookshop, together with the Ducal Palace on the edge of St. Mark’s
Square, shall be restored by means of an international sponsorship.
Plakativ Media Limited (UK) and GER-SO in a joint project with the Venice Administration which shares
the same values and ideals, have promised to restore six stone arches to their former splendour within 18
months.
Venice – Marciana
The O.B.C. Stable Consortium
In October 2004, together with other established
restoration firms, GER-SO S.r.l., formed “Consorzio
Stabile O.B.C.” for the purpose of providing
effective solutions to problems related to items
officially considered part of Italy’s – and the world’s
- cultural heritage.
The will to establish a collective work-force in the
field of the restoration and valorisation of cultural
heritage items sprang from a working relationship
between various groups following the 1997
earthquake in the Umbria region of Italy. These
groups also interacted at successive important events
such as the 2000 Jubilee of the Catholic Church,
Genoa, European Capital of Culture in 2004 and the
Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006.
State-of-the-art equipment of the most sophisticated nature and its highly professional and experienced
operators (specialised in art history, archaeology and architecture) make the O.B.C. Consortium a reference
point for particularly complex and multifaceted projects. It is also seen as a suitable instrument for raising
the awareness of Institutions and public opinion vis-à-vis the restoration of Cultual Heritage assets.
The competence of its technical staff borne out by numerous project carried out on behalf of Italy’s Cultural
and Heritage Ministry, and the management of certified sites operated in conformity with ISO norm ISO
9001:2005 constitute a sure guarantee of the quality of our work in reference to categories OS2, OS25 and
OG2.
In particular, reference to category OS2 namely “Decorated surfaces of Historical and Artistic Significance”
the O.B.C. Stable Consortium, certified in Class VII – is, in the Italian market, now recognised as leader in
the sector of the conservation and restoration of works of art.
The Consortium is currently restoring the noteworthy complex the Casale Roman Villa in Piazza Armerina
in Sicily, a historical and artistic site of extreme importance pertaining to the late Roman period.
Officially recognised as a World Heritage site, protected by UNESCO and considered one of the most
important sites of Roman art in the world, this Roman villa stands out both for the intricate nature of its
architecture and its rich decorations.
Principal Works
Ancona - Palazzo del
Governo
Bologna - Basilica di
S.Petronio
Chieri - Arco Trionfale
Fano - Chiesa di Santa
Maria Nuova
Foligno - Auditorium di
San Domenico
Loreto - Basilica della
Santa Casa - Santa Casa
- Rivestimento
marmoreo
Macerata Santuario Basilica
Madonna della
Misericordia Facciata
Monte San Giusto Chiesa di Santa Maria
della Pietà in Telusiano
Piazza
Armerina Villa
Romana del
Casale
Perugia Duomo di San
Lorenzo
Genova - Casa Beato Don
Luigi Guanella
Genova - Chiesa di San
Matteo
Genova - Chiesa di Santa
Croce e San Camillo
Genova - Chiesa SS.
Annunziata del Vastato
Genova - Palazzo De
Ferrari denominato
"Belimbau"
Perugia - Monastero
di Santa Giuliana
Pisa - Piazza dei Miracoli
Battistero
Rimini - Arco d'Augusto
Rimini - Tempio
Malatestiano Facciata
Rimini - Tempio
Malatestiano Interno
Genova - Palazzo Doria
Spinola
Genova - Pantheon
Genova - Villa Cattaneo
Imperiale di Sant'Angelo
Genova Sestri Ponente Basilica di Nostra Signora
dell'Assunta
Lavagna - Chiesa di Santo
Stefano
Loreto - Basilica della
Santa Casa - Campanile e
Facciata
Savona - Cattedrale
Savona - Teatro
Gabriello Chiabrera
- Facciata
Savona - Teatro
Gabriello
Chiabrera Plafone
Teramo - Cattedrale di
San Berardo - Portale
principale
Tolentino Basilica di San
Nicola Cappellone
Tolentino Basilica di San
Nicola Facciata
Genova – Basilica di San
Siro
Loreto – Basilica della
Santa Casa - Cupola
Loreto - Basilica della
Santa Casa - Sagrestia di
San Giovanni
Torino - Palazzo
Carignano
Torino - Palazzo
Civico - Cortile
d'Onore
Torino - Palazzo Civico Scalone d'Onore
Loreto - Basilica della
Santa Casa - Sagrestia di
San Marco
Venezia - Palazzo
Grimani a San Luca Corte d'Appello
Loreto - Basilica della
Santa Casa - Santa Casa
Venezia San
Marco Libreria
Marciana