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Paolo Verzone (1902-1982) A Journey in Time and Space | Restoration-1: Vercelli Field

"...whoever observes the four columns of the gate can distinguish the modern parts from the others and will be persuaded that nothing was invented, but that the 2nd century fragments are so numerous and important that they alone set the style of the capitals and bases; only the shafts are entirely modern; however, they left their mark on one of the capitals and it was possible to deduce the exact diameter of the originals." (P. Verzone)

13 January, 1928 Verzone is put in charge of restoring the exposition centre of Casa Alciati (Vercelli) by the Directors of the Leone Civic Museum. The building is a valuable example of a 16th century Piedmontese stately home that originated when pre-exisiting buildings were joined around a large square open court surrounded by a four-sided portico and a loggia supported by columns of serizzo stone with composite capitals.

June 1930 - September 1934 Restoration works performed on Casa Alciati. The new exposition centre is inaugurated on September 15 with a public ceremony.

1937-1939 Paolo Verzone is asked by the ‘podestà’ (i.e., chief city administrator during the Fascist period) of Vercelli to prepare a general restoration project for St. Andrea’s Abbey and its annexes. In preparation for the works, the federal Secretary of the "Fasci di Combattimento" (or combat groups) asks the engineer to erect, within the monumental complex, next to the large monks’ refectory and the parlour beside the crypt, a shrine for the war victims of Vercelli.

In the two important restorations carried out by Verzone in Vercelli, it is evident that he desired to know every detail of the architectonic object, from its formation and transformation to the analysis of its history and the material available. Through direct, detailed observation of the material, of the construction methods and the physical entity of the monument, this analysis is like taking an ideal pathway from outside into the building with the goal of formulating a critical opinion - the basis of the historical analysis and the starting point of works of restoration.

The theory that inspired Verzone undoubtedly derives from Gustavo Giovanni. However, because of his sensitivity to architectonics, the Piedmontese scholar does not tolerate that one should sacrifice the unitarian vision and the very characteristics of the construction with the pretext that works of restoration are scientific and should pedantically announce the addition of new elements.

For these reasons, Verzone turns to restoration by analogy, a practice common in the 1800’s, as exemplified in the case of his restoration of the cornice of Casa Alciati: he is inspired by the shapes of a building of the same age in Vercelli. Instead when required to restore the parapet on the third side of the lodge, he imitates the one on the other sides of the courtyard. For Verzone it is essential that the restoration should reunite and recompose the architectural image that incongruous interventions had deeply altered; the superfluous should be eliminated, renewing the conditions believed to be original without forgetting to declare with clarity the modifications made.