ANCIENT MOSAIC FLOOR
CHIESA DI SAN ZACCARIA - VENICE
CLEANING OPERATION AND RESTORATION OF THE ANCIENT MOSAIC FLOOR
- Client: Patriarcato di Venezia
- Project: Arch. Andrea Gallo
- Direction of works: Arch. Andrea Gallo
As reported in the “Gente Veneta” article of February 7th 2020, the restoration was due to the damages caused by the exceptionally high tide that hit Venice in November 2019.
Here we worked on a mosaic pavement with tiles in the shape of triangles or “wolf’s tooth” dating back to the XII century. This floor is situated one level lower than the current floor.
First off, we removed the residues of sand, salt and fragments left behind by the high tide.
We then proceeded with the cleaning the pavement with an aqueous solution enriched with surfactants. The purpose of this solution, emulsified on the surface with soft brushes, was to disinfect from the salty water and to avoid humidity to go deeper into the structure.
The solution was carefully removed, the surface deeply rinsed, and the excess water diligently suctioned.