The Riace Bronzes and their conservation are exposed to a risk that could be irremediable. This is the alarm raised by Professor Daniele Castrizio, archaeologist and full professor of Greek and Roman Numismatics at the University of Messina, as well as a member of the Scientific Committee of the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, reporting what was reported by the director of the Museum Fabrizio Sudano, on the presence of critical structural and plant engineering issues in Palazzo Piacentini that require urgent interventions. The most serious problem would concern the anti-seismic bases on which the statues are placed. These are two blocks of marble divided between each other by spheres of the same material, which in the event of an earthquake make the parts slide to absorb the impact and stresses from the ground. According to what Castrizio reported, the bases are seriously compromised and would no longer be able to guarantee the stability of the two warriors. In the event of a seismic event, even a minor one, there would be the risk of the statues falling which could shatter them. In fact, the extreme fragility of the Bronzes, whose creation dates back to the 5th century BC, has been known for some time, so much so that it pushed the Ministry of Cultural Heritage to consider them “immovable and untransportable works”.
Among other problems are the microclimate regulation systems in the Bronze Room
Other problems, as disclosed by the scholar, concern the microclimatic regulation systems of the Bronze Room. «The systems that control temperature and humidity – writes Castrizio – would no longer ensure adequate conditions for the conservation of the statues». The situation, already the subject of discussion within the Museum’s Scientific Committee, had previously been addressed with project proposals deemed suitable. Among these, an expansion and renovation plan for the Bronze Hall, supported by the management and shared by the committee, but still awaiting funding, and already included in the programming of the MArRC’s 2026-2028 Strategic Plan, which envisages “a new configuration of the Bronze Hall and, in particular, the adaptation of the seismic bases of the statues”. In the master plan for the interventions it is specified “that 2027 could be enough”. But in the meantime the Riace Bronzes would have to continue to live with a risk.