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| Description | The Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), literally meaning Workshop of Semi-Precious Stones, is a public institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage based in Florence. It is a global leader in the field of art restoration and provides teaching as one of two Italian state conservation schools. The institute maintains also a specialist library and archive of conservation and a museum displaying historic examples of Pietre Dure inlaid semi-precious stones artefacts. A scientific laboratory conducts research and diagnostics and provides a preventive conservation service. The records of all the activities developed to date by the OPD are collected and available in three separate archives: the Historical Archive which contains all the documentation on the history of the Opificio till the 1970s; the Conservation Archive related to the conservation/restoration works since 1975; the Scientific Data Archive. The language used in all these three archives is Italian. The records held by the archives concern a wide range of objects: stone and wood sculpture, bronzes, tapestries and textiles, ceramics, wax and glass, paper, movable paintings, wall paintings, jewellery, mosaics, mainly from Middle Ages to present times. The Historical Archive: records held in the Historical Archive concern the OPD activity from 1789 to 1970 and follow the transformation of the Institute from a workshop belonging to the Granduke (1789-1860) to the new set-up at the beginning of 20th century. The Conservation Archive: 12,600 records associated with OPD conservation works since 1975 are held in this archive. It includes different format images and records, only partially digitized. Besides normal photos, special recording technique images are included, as micro- and macro-images, raking light photos, UV photos, X-radiographs, etc. Images are provided to the user in analogue or digital form and their use is subject to the current national laws (Ronchey law). The Scientific Archive: the scientific archive collects the diagnostic results related to the restoration works performed by the Opificio from 1977 to nowadays and to other research projects. At the moment more than 2000 records are stored in the archive. Most of the oldest part of the data and images in records are only in analog form, the most recent ones are in digital form. A wide collection of about 9000 cross-sections from different artworks is also available on request. |
| URL | http://www.opificiodellepietredure.it/ |
| Status | Operational since 1975 |
| Scientific Domains | Material Sciences and Analytical Facilities Social Sciences and Humanities |
| RI Categorization | Databases |
| Location | Via degli Alfani, 78, Florence, Italy |
| MERIL URL | http://portal.meril.eu/meril/view/facilitys/15040 |
