In 1980, in partnership with the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Italian government, WMF established the Misericordia Laboratory to investigate and teach advanced techniques in stone conservation. (...)
In 1980, in partnership with the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Italian government, WMF established the Misericordia Laboratory to investigate and teach advanced techniques in stone conservation. The institution is housed within the Scuola Vecchia della Misericordia, a building constructed in 1261 for the use of a religious confraternity, expanded in the following centuries, and eventually sold, in 1634, to silk weavers for commercial purposes. The scuola was used as a factory in the 19th century and bought by the painter Italico Brass in 1920. In 1974, a restored Scuola Misericordia was sold to the Italian government, and six years later it became home to the conservation laboratory. Today, the laboratory is used primarily to survey the condition of Venetian stonework, which often suffers from harsh climactic conditions and general neglect, and in the treatment of high-priority conservation projects. It is also a major center for research, publication, and training.
