FEBRUARY 2026
Monthly Progress Summary
OVERVIEW
The first conservation operations began in the western part of the Grotto and in the Manger. The intervention zone was screened from visitors, allowing the team to combine close inspection, material and deterioration mapping, stratigraphic study, cleaning trials, electrical safety work and environmental monitoring.
KEY PROGRESS
- Completed high-resolution pre-intervention photography and mapped rock, plaster, timber, metal and marble elements; manual tapping identified plaster at risk of detachment.
- Recorded historic wall-slab fixing and bedding layers, stonework behind the marble, and floor infill extending to about 40 cm; additional mortar samples were collected.
- Validated dry cleaning, controlled water-based cleaning and localised use of 1% Tween 20, then extended the method to rock, plaster and marble while preserving the historic patina.
- Uncovered several polychrome mosaic fragments beneath surface deposits and documented their exact positions and individual tesserae.
- Surveyed the electrical installation, corrected hazardous connections, removed degraded components, tested emergency lighting and installed temperature, humidity and VOC sensors.
IN BRIEF: Cleaning was under way across the defined intervention area. Laboratory results for additional samples and continued environmental data collection remained pending.
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