The panic about the danger to the Arena Chapel seems a bit
over the top. It is true that the Chapel is unlikely to
survive an earthquake following the idiotic roof
'restorations' of 1963/4 which put concrete up there, but
there is not much that can be done about this now, I
suspect. Padua was indeed once destroyed by an earhquake-
in about 1090 I seem to remember, at a time when the city
would have been mainly made of wood, mud and brick. Even
with its wooden beams intact, the Chapel is unlikely to
survive such an event. Perhaps we should accept that to
have had the Chapel for 700 years is very lucky, and any
earthquakes that come along now... Well, Giotto is
awesome but so too is Nature.
As to the flooded crypt, changes to the water table in the
area have made this an inevitable fact too, and not much can
be done or probably should be done. It has been flooded for
at least 100years, and the crypt may even have been planned
to absorb such flood waters originally. Capilliary action
does not reach so far up the walls as to endanger the
frescoes in the Chapel above, which seem to have adapted to
the water's presence over the centuries and are stable in
this respect at least.
More immediate dangers have arisen from the great wafts of
humidity, dust and warm air which enter the Chapel each time
the door is opened, causing the damage which has been
evident in the Last Judgement above the door for at least
two hundred years. Closing the door, installing a glass
vestibule at the old side entrance (closed 200years ago)
with an air-filtration system, and limiting entrants to 20
at a time, will do much to prevent the worsening of the
problem, and is a solution which has been called for for
these past 30years. As far as I could see when I was last
there, the new vestibule is a very lightweight and largely
freestanding structure.
The present admin has also installed low-wattage
daylight-imitation bulbs and reopened ventilation holes in
the roof that were closed during the 1963/4 idiocy. It has
also sealed leaky 19thC window frames.
Further steps could certainly help more; rerouting traffic
in the area, possibly even building a replica (like some of
the prehistoric French cave painting sites) to siphon off
the tourists.
Scare stories don't help to support the efforts of a
well-meaning administration which is already hampered by
lack of funds and crippling fear of international criticism
from people who should know better.
Laura Jacobus
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