How are the Bronzes doing? That more than 50 years after the discovery, an accurate internal check-up of the two warriors of Riace is necessary is now well known: it emerged last November on the occasion of the international conference promoted by the Regional Secretariat for Calabria of the Superintendence, and confirmed by the same director of the National Archaeological Museum, Carmelo Malacrino. Now the undersecretary for culture repeats it, Vittorio Sgarbi, whose response to an interpellation by the Senator Mark Lombard it is an opportunity to take stock precisely in the days that mark the 51st anniversary of the discovery of the two warriors, which took place on August 16, 1972. No “critical conservative issues”, says Sgarbi, but “further checks” will still be carried out. Lombardo’s question is clear: «Press reports report controversies on the correct identification of the state of conservation: is it true that the Bronzes should be studied again to evaluate their state of conservation? According to the experts, 10 years after the relocation of the Bronzes to the bases, it would be advisable to bring them back to a horizontal position to be able to observe them both inside and outside». So Sgarbi replies, making an equally clear picture: «As regards the current conservation and display conditions of the Bronzes, according to what was reported by the director of the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria the protection currently consists in the periodic monitoring of the state of conservation of the statues through close inspections of the external and internal surfaces, the latter by means of an endoscopeor. Thanks to the systems with which the rooms are equipped, the thermo-hygrometric parameters suitable for conservation are also guaranteed». And again: «On the occasion of the international conference promoted by the Superintendence Regional Secretariat for Calabria, held at the Museum between 10 and 12 November 2022, all the main scholars and restorers who had dealt with the Riace Bronzes in the previous decades had the opportunity to see the two statues exhibited in the room and no one has represented conservation critical issues».
