΄Gleaming΄, but are they damaged? Row over the statues

The mayor strongly defended the method used by the municipal service to clean the historic statues during a press conference on Monday. Citing what he described as the Ministry of Culture’s shortcomings in caring for monuments, he argued that the only company in Corfu that undertakes this type of work had offered to carry out the cleaning free of charge, and that it had been done in accordance with instructions the company had previously received from the Archaeological Service for similar work.

The mayor added that the initiative had been welcomed by the majority of residents, judging by the appearance of the cleaned monuments, and said that the effort would continue on the town’s remaining monuments.

Sources at the Ministry of Culture, however, do not share his confidence. They refer to damage that, they claim, was caused to the statues and is being documented in the report being prepared by specialists following an on-site inspection that has been under way since Monday morning.

According to journalistic information, the initial findings concern alteration of the marble’s smooth surface and the rounding of edges, indications of a loss of surface material. In the case of the Schulenburg statue, materials are also reportedly thought to have become detached from the joints, something that is visible even to the naked eye. According to the same information, its restoration could prove to be a complex undertaking, with the possibility that partial dismantling of the monument may even be required. The precise extent of the damage and the appropriate method of restoration are, however, expected to be set out in the specialists’ report.

The case is particularly significant because of the historical and artistic value of the two monuments that were cleaned. The marble statue of Field Marshal Schulenburg, the work of the distinguished Venetian sculptor Antonio Corradini, was created following the repulsion of the Ottoman siege of 1716 and is approximately three centuries old. The statue of Frederick North, Earl of Guilford and founder of the Ionian Academy, in the Boschetto, is the work of Kosmas Apergis and dates from 1883.

Ministry sources also pointed out that the Schulenburg statue was conserved in 2010 by a team of specialist conservators. Scaffolding was erected for the intervention, and the work continued for as long as was necessary to ensure the careful treatment of a monument of such age and importance.

This is precisely the essence of the disagreement that has now emerged between the Municipality and the Ministry of Culture’s services: on one side is the immediately visible aesthetic result of the cleaning, which the municipal authorities point to, and on the other are the conservation standards governing historic monuments and the potential consequences of intervening on the surface of marble that is hundreds of years old.

The final word on whether damage was caused, where it occurred, and to what extent will now rest with the report prepared by the Ministry of Culture’s specialists.

GIORGOS KATSAITIS