The Wall Street Journal - 26.11.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, November 26, 2019 |A

V

enice is on a resto-

ration mission after

a flood inundated

the city, causing

widespread damage

to its priceless cul-

tural heritage.

On Nov. 12, Venice suffered its

worstacqua altaor “high water” in

more than half a century. Waters

rose more than 6 feet above their

historical average level. Around 80%

of the city was flooded, causing

damage that Venice’s mayor esti-

mated at above $1.1 billion.

Officials at artistic and cultural

sites are assessing the effects on

treasures inside their centuries-old

buildings. In some cases, the esti-

mated cost to restore the sites and

the masterpieces they house will

reach millions of euros. Authori-

ties also cautioned that the worst

might not be known until a thor-

ough assessment, which may take

months, is completed. The cost

could rise, as more damage might

emerge. Even after the waters of

the lagoon retreated, they left be-

hind salt that can corrode marble

and mosaics, walls and columns.

“We’ll discover the damage to

the city day after day,” said Michele

Bugliesi, dean of Ca’ Foscari Univer-

sity of Venice. “This event has

brought the fragility of the city to

everybody’s attention again.”

After the flood, hundreds of vol-

unteers, many of them students,

carried old books and documents

to safety, or at least reduced their

exposure to water, making their

restoration easier.

A number of institutions, in-

cluding Ca’ Foscari University,

launched calls for donations. Some

cultural foundations, such as

Fondazione Querini Stampalia,

have warned that they don’t have

enough resources to fix all the

damage and migh be forced to

choose what to repair.

Donations, including about $1.

million from Russia, have arrived

from all over the world. Italy’s

government has allocated about

$72 million to repair damage in

Venice and the surrounding area.

Here’s how some sites have fared:

Saint Mark’s Cathedral

The basilica, a landmark of the la-

goon city, was inundated. Its loca-

tion on the waterfront is one of

the lowest points of the city, and

so it is often affected byacqua

alta. But this time was different.

The water entered the central

part of the cathedral, which is

highly unusual. After the waves

broke a window, water poured

through the cathedral crypt. The

crypt last was flooded in 1966, when

Venice suffered the only recorded

flood in its 1,400-year history that

was worse than the latest one.

The latest floods eroded the

base of many of the cathedral’s

columns, making their precious

but now fragile Greek marble

crumble in some places.

Twelfth-century mosaics cover-

ing the cathedral’s floor suffered

damage considered severe but not

permanent. The flood washed

away some of the tesserae of a fa-

mous peacock mosaic.

Pierpaolo Campostrini, head of

the board for the maintenance of

St. Mark’s, said more thorough

examination of the damage is

needed to assess if the basilica’s

stability risks becoming compro-

mised over time.

“The floods have caused an ag-

ing of the cathedral of 50 years in

one day,” Mr. Campostrini said.

Benedetto Marcello

Conservatory

Part of the 19th-century conserva-

tory’s archive of historic prints

and manuscripts, including items

of inestimable value, was sub-

merged. Ground-floor storage

space once presumed safe fromac-

qua altawas soaked by the excep-

tionally strong flood.

Some 1,500 volumes of music

were completely or partially sod-

den, including 18th-century editions

of scores by composers Antonio Vi-

valdi and Domenico Cimarosa.

Soon after the flood, conserva-

tory staff and many volunteers

cataloged all the wet volumes and

put them in boxes to send them to

a specialist company. The special-

ist initially will freeze the docu-

ments to stop bacteria from devel-

oping, to stabilize ink and soluble

colors, and to prevent pages from

sticking together. After the docu-

ments are dry, some will need res-

toration to ameliorate the blem-

ishes left by the water.

“We absolutely are not on our

knees. We acted very fast to save

what could be saved,” said Giovanni

Giol, president of the conservatory.

“But the damage was very heavy.”

Other Churches

About half of Venice’s 120

churches were flooded, according

BYGIOVANNILEGORANO

1/4 mile

1/4 km

San

Servolo

Island

Giudecca Canal

V E N I C EVENICE

San

Marco

San

Marco

GiudeccaGiudecca

CannaregioCannaregio

San

Polo

San

Polo

GrandCanalGrandCanal

1/4 mile

1/4 km

Keylocationsthatsuffered

flooddamage

Churches

Other landmarks

SaintMark’sCathedral

Someof the tesserae of a

famous mosaic on the

basilica's floor were lost or

broken. Precious marble from

the bases of some columns

washed away.

LaFeniceTheater

Violent waves

corroded the outer

walls of the theater,

letting water in.

SanGiacomodall'Oriochurch

Marble was lost from stairs inside the

church. Water damaged a 16th-century

painting by Andrea Meldolla.

BenedettoMarcello

Conservatory

Some 1,500 volumes

went underwater,

including historic editions

of scores by composers a

and Domenico Cimarosa.

to the city’s patriarchate. Damage

ranges from infiltration of water,

which over time can cause walls to

crumble, to the destruction of mo-

saics and the loss of or damage to

historic crucifixes and candelabras.

Among the most affected

churches are San Moisè, San Gia-

como dall’Orio, San Cassiano,

Sant’Alvise, San Marcuola, San Polo,

the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta

in Torcello, the Basilica of San Do-

nato in Murano, Santi Apostoli and

Santa Maria Mater Domini.

The Italian government esti-

mates that repairs will cost an av-

erage of $66,000 for each church.

Authorities also are monitoring

the stability of the churches’ tall,

slender campanili, or bell towers,

using satellites.

“The priority now is to manage

the more imminent risks, which

could come from the subsidence of

more vulnerable slender buildings

such as the bell towers,” Italian

government official Riccardo Frac-

caro told reporters.

Teatro La Fenice

This 18th-century opera house just

reopened, after being shut for al-

most two weeks. Floods put its

electrical and fire-safety systems

out of order for days.

Waves propelled by strong

winds corroded the outer walls of

the theater while water poured in.

La Fenice, where works by Verdi,

Rossini and other great Italian

composers premiered, had been

painstakingly rebuilt after a fire

gutted it in 1996.

Flood repairs will cost around

$2.2 million, said La Fenice’s gen-

eral manager and artistic director

Fortunato Ortombina. But he added:

“I am worried for the future.”

Fondazione Querini

Stampalia

At this cultural foundation, famed

for its library, museum and exhibi-

tion center, a rare collection of

19th-century publications includ-

ing newspapers and magazines

was damaged by water in the li-

brary’s ground floor.

Water also entered rooms dis-

playing a show by Swiss painter

Luigi Pericle. The works weren’t

damaged, but the foundation had

to close the exhibition. The foun-

dation estimated its repair bill will

come to around $550,000.

Venice Tries to Restore Damaged Art

Mosaics in Saint Mark’s Cathedral and a musical archive are among treasures damaged by historic flood

Police near Saint Mark’s Cathedral,

above. Damaged books at the Querini

Stampalia Foundation, right and

below, were treated after the flood.

Mopping up, left, in Saint Mark’s Cathedral, where flooding damaged mosaics on the floor and eroded the bases of many columns. The basilica’s famed peacock mosaic, right, lost some of its pieces.

LIFE&ARTS

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