Preserving Time: The Restoration Reopens the Album of a Nineteenth-Century Voice
Close-up of three people leaning over an open album. Luisa Papotti, in the center, carefully turns a page.
The National Museum of Risorgimento Italiano presented the restoration of Olimpia Savio's Album, a precious testimony to the cultural and relational milieu of nineteenth-century Italy.
The restoration, carried out by restorer Valerio Capra, restored legibility and stability to a fragile and extraordinary work: a complex collection of letters, autographs, sonnets, drawings, and memoirs collected by Olimpia Savio throughout her life. A personal archive that recounts relationships, encounters, and a profound desire to preserve her time, leaving a trace of it.
The album contains illustrious signatures — from Cavour to Mazzini, from Dumas to Voltaire and Dickens — alongside more intimate and silent fragments, providing a portrait of a cultured, aware woman who was a protagonist in the cultural life of her time.
The restoration project was carried out under an agreement with Rotary International District 2031, whom we thank for their concrete support in protecting and enhancing the Museum's historical and archival heritage.
The restoration comes at a particularly significant time: on Friday, June 5th, at 18:00 PM, as part of Archivissima – The Night of the Archives, the album will be the focus of the discussion "Voices and Silences in Olimpia Savio's Album."
Olimpia Savio's album lies open on a wooden table, with a page of French manuscript and, on the right-hand page, a watercolor of a landscape. A roll of protective paper rests on the manuscript. The album shows obvious signs of fragility and age.
Olimpia Savio's album is open on a wooden table, with a page of French handwriting and, on the right-hand page, a watercolor of a landscape. A roll of protective paper rests on the manuscript.
A welcome moment in the museum hall. In the foreground, Olimpia Savio's restored album on the table. In the background, some event attendees greet each other.
Luisa Papotti, president of the museum, and two other attendees examine Olimpia Savio's album, open on the table. One of them, to her left, points to a page.
Close-up of three people leaning over an open album. Luisa Papotti, in the center, carefully turns a page.
Luisa Papotti speaks to the audience with a microphone, standing in front of a large historical painting depicting a scene from the Risorgimento.
Technical presentation of the restoration. Daniela Orta, head of the museum archives, and restorer Valerio Capra are sitting at a table with a laptop. Capra points to a screen showing a slide titled "State of Conservation," with an image of the album's green cover and its technical specifications.
Numerous attendees surrounded the restored album at the end of the event, photographing it with their phones. The scene reflected the interest and emotion aroused by the presentation of the historical document in the museum hall.
