Restoration of the Monument of Ludovico Ariosto, Piazza Ariostea, Ferrara

The iconic Renaissance monument in Ferrara was requested by Duke Ercole I d’Este at the end of the 15th century for the ‘Piazza Nova’ of the Erculean Addition. The project comprised an equestrian statue of the Duke positioned on two monolithic columns with pedestal, capitals and a trabeated system. The project was never completed except for the 10m monolithic column, upon which were placed statues of Pope Alexander VII (1675), Napoleon (1810) and finally Ludovico Ariosto (1833), the symbolic Ferrarese poet. The project involved the removal of recent interventions which were structurally and aesthetically invasive; lowering of the statue using a specially designed engineering technique; disassembling of the eleven stone components of the capital due to oxidisation of the metal connectors; replacing the oxidised parts with new connectors; controlled cleaning of the surfaces and integrating with mortars made on-site with natural and sustainable materials. The purpose of this project is to restore the cleaner and safer Monument of Ludovico Ariosto to the community through a ‘critical restoration’, based on historical knowledge.