RESTORATION OF THE "BELA ROSIN" SLABS

by F. Franchi © L'Informatore del Marmista - Giorgio Zusi Editore

The funerary monument is in Namur Belgian Black and required patient restoration work.

"La Bela Rosin" is the popular name of Countess Rosa Vercellana Guerrieri di Mirafiori, wife of King Vittorio Emanuele II, born in Moncalvo (Casale Monferrato) in 1833 and died in Pisa in 1885. In 1847 she went to court to present a petition on behalf of her soldier brother and made the acquaintance of the King, then heir to the throne, arousing deep feelings in him. She was made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda and married the King in a church ceremony in 1869 and morganatically in 1877. She bore two children, Vittoria and Emanuele Alberto, born in 1850 and 1851. The funerary slabs in her tomb, originally located in the mausoleum at Mirafiori, were moved to Turin Monumental Cemetery to protect them against further deterioration. The heirs of the Savoy family entrusted restoration work to Fratelli Sommo Co., one of the oldest stone workshops in Turin

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The operation involved 4 slabs in Belgian Black marble from Namur, one of "Bela Rosin" herself with a shield and 3 family members, all seriously damaged. Two of the latter slabs are cut in half width-wise. The last figure is by now several pieces, abraded, "cooked" and almost illegible. Restoration experts treated the broken slabs by re-uniting the fragments with black mastic and carefully re-honing portions of the surface to eliminate crumbling parts and greyish, degraded limestone formations, revealing "sound" material without compromising the engraved area. The artefacts were then secured on a slab of serizzo stone to protect the Belgian Black marble against contact with the ground, as well as water-proofing treatment. The slab of Count Gastone Guerrieri was too damaged to be saved and a replica was therefore made. Fratelli Sommo looked after the finishing of the slab in Belgian Black stone and engaded sculptor Frans Ferzini to carve the lettering. He took copies of the letters form the original in order to remake the entire epigraph. To ensure excellent for the entire complex, it was decided not to paint the lettering and to exploit colour contrasts to exalt the slabs, which were then placed on the ground. The slab of Rosa di Mirafiori, still in relatively good condition, stands on the front wall, with the shield of the royal family.