Lasers clean ancient Rome column for first time in 40 years

Italian Restorers Deploy Laser Technology to Clean Ancient Marcus Aurelius Column

Italian conservators revealed Thursday their use of advanced laser technology to restore the Column of Marcus Aurelius in central Rome, marking the ancient monument’s first major restoration in four decades.abcnews

The 47-meter (154-foot) marble column, erected between A.D. 180 and 193, stands in Piazza Colonna outside the Italian Prime Minister’s office. During its last restoration in the 1980s, restorers used tiny brushes to remove accumulated dirt, but this time they are employing short-pulse lasers to peel away decades of grime from the 1,840-year-old structure.apnews

Laser Precision Over Traditional Methods

“The laser gives us an excellent result,” said Marta Baumgartner, director of restoration works, according to the Associated Press. “It works faster and above all allows a great respect for the material — for the marble and for the surface layers”.abcnews

The hand-held lasers concentrate flickering beams of light onto the stone, with the heat lifting away black deposits of pollution to reveal the white Carrara marble beneath. According to Reuters, this represents the most extensive use yet of laser cleaning in Italy on an ancient monument.globalbankingandfinance

The team of 18 restorers also employs chemical wraps, sponges and resin to remove smog residue and repair holes created by water freezing and expanding within the marble. Erosion has erased some facial features of the engraved figures over the centuries.apnews

Monument to Imperial Warfare

The column features a spiral relief that loops around the shaft, depicting more than 2,000 figures including soldiers, gods and beasts from Marcus Aurelius’ military campaigns against barbarian tribes along the Danube. The ancient artists rendered graphic scenes of warfare, showing soldiers dragging women and children by their hair, decapitated enemies on the ground, and terrified prisoners with their necks bound together.globalbankingandfinance

The figures carved into the column grow progressively larger toward the top, a technique designed to make them more visible from ground level. “It was a way of making the person who looked at it read the story,” said Valentin Nitu, a restorer on the project. “It really drags the viewer in, seeing it phase by phase, scene by scene with the truly wonderful details”.abcnews

Journalists who climbed 16 levels of scaffolding Thursday received a rare close-up view of the restoration work, though several turned back due to fear of heights.apnews

European Funding Enables Revival

The 2-million-euro ($2.3-million) project is funded by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund. Work began in April and is expected to finish in June, according to multiple reports.abcnews

Pope Sixtus V carried out the monument’s first restoration in the late 16th century, replacing the original statue of Marcus Aurelius atop the column with one of St. Paul that remains today. The column now overlooks the official residence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with parliament located nearby.globalbankingandfinance