I dolia nel giardino del MIC di Faenza: studio diagnostico per il restauro

In the center of the garden of the MIC, Faenza, five dolia of Roman production are placed. The largest artefact (inv. 10366,1) comes from Giarre in Sicily and was purchased by the MIC in 1940. The other four objects (inv. 19074-19077) come from San Paolo in Civitate in Puglia and were donated to the Museum in 1978. The largest dolium was placed in the courtyard of the former Faenza State Art Institute for Ceramics in 1950 and later in the garden of the MIC, in 1978. The other artefacts were located in the garden of the Museum in the second half of the 1980s. The long outdoor exposure has determined a considerable progression of degradation, mainly ascribable to biological colonization but also to phenomena of disintegration of the terracotta, combined with salt efflorescence. Conservation issues and the composition of ceramic mixtures were the objects of an in-depth diagnostic investigation that clarified the suitability of maintaining the dolia outdoors and provided indications for the restoration project, detailed in the methodological choices, which is scheduled to begin in 2021.