About the history of conservation in San Galgano: from the abandonment to the first interventions by Gino Chierici
In the overall aim of contributing to a history of San Galgano’s conservation - still sparse and incomplete,
despite the notoriety of the monument - this contribution explores the events that affected the complex
from the beginning of its abandonment to the dawn of the decisive intervention carried out by Gino
Chierici (1920-24), thanks to the study of several unpublished documents. The result is much more
complex process than it appears at first sight, as it involves a lot of relevant figures of the contemporary
debate on conservation in Italy. In fact, started in 1894 with the declaration of the complex as a national
monument, continued with some conservation interventions between 1910-12 by the superintendent
Cesare Spighi and with a first attempt of state acquisition, the process of protection and conservation of
San Galgano certainly owes a lot to Chierici even though it still continued after the relocation of the latter
from Siena to Naples, when the final transfer of the remains of the entire abbey complex to the State was
achieved in 1934.
