“The provision adopted by the General Directorate of the Ministry of Culture on the transfer of funds to the Capodimonte Museum from the Uffizi endowment dates back to the first days of last October. Therefore, long before my appointment as director of the Museum and the Royal Forest of Capodimonte”.
This was stated by the former director of the Uffizi Gallery and current director of the Museum and the Royal Forest of Capodimonte, Eike Schmidthighlighting that the transfer of resources falls within the provisions of national legislation on payments to the State, which are normally equivalent to 20% of income, and can be increased ad hoc by ministerial decree, as has also been done several times by the predecessor of the current Minister of Culture.
“This is a choice in favor of the Capodimonte Museum adopted in full respect of the logic of the law which provides for the possibility of financing the activities of other museums with the income from tickets registered by state structures that register millions of visitors per year.”Schmidt added.
Furthermore, with regard to the activities carried out during the direction of the Uffizi, it is worth providing some details about a series of works started and completed from the Boboli Garden, today at the center of a series of notable discoveries in the press. by a former Superintendent of the historical-artistic, archaeological and landscape assets of Florence, Prato and Pistoia at rest.
Regarding irrigation of espalier hedges, we must correct our approach because historically espalier hedges have never been irrigated, as also demonstrated by the forty-year historical memory of historical gardeners. Furthermore, when we talk about “rows of tankers” it is confused with the barrel vehicle that was used for summer irrigation of some areas, but not of the hedges, as is still done within the framework of ordinary maintenance.
It should be added that in each area where in recent years new hedges have been planted (see for example along the walls near the Mostaccini) or new trees (viale dei Platani, cypress alley, adjacent old spider houses to viale dei Platani) irrigation systems have been created (temporary for the rooting phase of the plants or permanent).
Regarding the pruning of the hedges, with the start of the contract relating to the ordinary maintenance of the green that dates back to January 2022, it went from a biennial to an annual frequency, providing for the pruning not only of the front of the avenues, as was done in the previous decades, but also restoring the trimming at the top and the pruning of the internal front, in order to reconstitute the historical plant architecture that was lost due to lack of previous maintenance.
In the fountains of the Garden, then, with the exception of the fountains of Adam and Eve, the Peasant, Narcissus and Love, historically fed by springs, the remaining fountains did not work.
As of 2020, the following fountains have been reactivated: Fountain of Jupiter, Fountain of Madama, Fountain of Ganymede, Kaffeehaus Grottina, Fountain of the Monkeys, Fountain of Bacchus, Fountain of the Birds, Fountain of the Mostaccini, Fountains of the Garden of Camellias and drinking water sources.
In addition, last year the comprehensive restoration projects of the Nettuno basin and the Island basin were deposited and financed with the planned reactivation of 120 water jets. The same applies to the Cerchiate with the annual pruning and the transport area and the old labyrinths: starting in 2017, the monitoring and evaluation of the stability of all the trees present in the area was carried out, historically never before carried out, with the subsequent execution of the intervention needs derived from the evaluations, in terms of pruning, felling, and replacement of tree specimens that are still in process.
Additionally, a massive overhaul and restoration of the entire sewer and surface water drainage system for the entire ancient Labyrinths area is underway, something never before done.
Last but not least, in the spring of 2022 the Kaffehaus was completed and immediately after the tender for the cafeteria service was completed and we are awaiting the results of an appeal to the TAR by the second place winner, who is now has reached the Council of State and an upcoming decision.
Finally, it is worth noting that in the last seven years 55 state-owned homes have been released to transform them into cafeterias, games rooms, educational centers, offices, warehouses and laboratories. In the meantime, all of these projects have been approved and mostly financed, and several construction sites are already underway. Far from the figures that the retired former superintendent feared, the rent of all the accommodation together brought the Superintendency less than 8,000 euros per month, with an average rent of about 150 euros per apartment, parking included: including that of the former superintendent, who after his retirement continued living in the 84 m2 apartment in Boboli for 223 euros per month, parking included.
Rome, February 20, 2024
The MiC Press and Communication office
© 2021 MiC – Published on 2024-02-20 18:52:23 / Last update 2024-02-20 19:00:21