“Restauro virtuale”: una proposta per gli affreschi di Palazzo Belimbau (Genova)

The paper illustrates a proposal for the restoration of the piano nobile hall frescos of Palazzo Belimbau (Genoa), painted by the XVII century columbian cycle of Lazzaro Tavarone. They are one of the first representations of Indian Americans in Italian Painting. During WWII, frescos lost some portions of the figurative text, then reintegrated with mortar; the central scene represented on the vault, showing Christopher Columbus received by the Castillan Royalty, is characterized by a large lacuna which bothers the total perception of the painting. The logics of minimum intervention and the will of avoiding any interaction between old and new materials, have led to consider the possibility of a "virtual restoration" of the painting.