Conservation of the Arch of Septimus Severus: work in progress

Abstract

Given its location and the grandeur of its structure, the arch has participated as spectator and protagonist in all the events that, in the history of the past 17centuries, have characterized the life of the Forum of the Roman republic which later became the Campo Vaccino and is known today as the Roman Forum. This historic legacy has survived to our day through documentary and iconographic evidence, but above all in the surfaces of the monument itself. There are innumerable traces on the marble: these provide precious information but have also damaged the integrity of the surface. The life of the monument has been marked by periods of neglect alternating with phases of re-use, as in the Middle Ages when it was turned into a fortress, as well as infrequent restoration and equally rare programmes of study. We know of structural restorations in the sixteenth century when the mediaeval superstructures were also demolished. Other major restorations were in 1832, with the insertion of iron rods in areas considered unsafe, and in 1903with a general structural overhaul of the monument. Apart from rare occasions during the Renaissance and in the middle of this century [1], which offered little in the way of the technical analysis that such monuments require, we can say that the arch has reached us without the benefit of any objective examination, including scientific and graphic surveys [2]. The innumerable traces on the surfaces of the monument, together with what little remains of the original workmanship and appearance, thus represent a heritage of inestimable value which we have undertaken to conserve; they are the reason for the extreme prudence and respect that have characterized our approach to the work from its earliest phases.