THE GUARDIAN
By Jonathon Jones
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| Roll up! Roll up! … Leonardo da Vinci’s The last Supper is unveiled in 1999 after 20 years of cleaning and repainting, but the problem with restoration is that it gets people overexcited. Photograph: Carlo Ferraro/EPA |
VATICAN CITY---(T)he Vatican has history with art patronage. It has a genius for getting money for art from the great and the good, not to mention the bad. Now it is pioneering new ways of attracting money in the 21st century. The Vatican Museums have launched
Patrum, an app designed to create a community of philanthropic supporters for the artistic treasures of the Vatican. It’s a kind of elite crowdfunding venture.
Patrum sounds lovely and philanthropic, but it is pandering to the culture of restoration that does as much harm as good. I’m sorry, but restoration is a dangerous obsession that needs restraining. [
link]
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| Offered to everyone, free of charge, Patrum is an exciting new platform for art lovers |
