The rigged statues of Palazzo Chigi

hands and penis to Venus and Mars .
In times of cutbacks to cultural heritage,a restoration cost of 70 000 €. The works were placed in front of a blue backdrop very kitch, built by the architect of Prime Minister, Mario Catalano
CARLO ALBERTO BUCCI

ROME - Venus has regained both hands. Mars, together with the right, also lost his penis for some time. Miracle at Palazzo Chigi. By the express will of Silvio Berlusconi. And in spite of the restoration of the rules prohibiting false and repairs that affect the historical authenticity of the artwork.

The famous marble group, with the Roman portraits of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina on bodies of "Greek" Gods of Olympus, has undergone a cosmetic surgery that is likely to have serious negative effects on the sculpture by 175 AD . And the image of the school of Italian restorers in the world. Thus, after the controversy over the move from the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian to Palazzo Chigi (residence of the Prime minister), a new storm is about to fall on the 1,400 pounds of precious marble.

At the express request of the Chairman of the Council and the insistence of his architect Mario Catalano, the Ministry of Culture has completed an operation of "compensation" for the missing parts of classical sculpture, found at Ostia in 1918,. This choice contrasts with the virtuoso Italian road to philological restoration. And that clashes with the current regime of austerity that the Minister of Culture Sandro Bondi and the Economy Tremonti have required the protection of heritage (-46% funds for 2011): It is true that the cost of restyling shall be borne by the Presidency of the Council, but those 70 thousand euro could stop some most urgent intervention in the Italy of Pompeii, which collapsed instead of being spent on make-up.

"why in China the sculptures appear as new and ours have arms and heads missing? Complete the statues" would tell the prime minister after he saw , February 25, the Group of Mars and Venus, the statue of Hercules cornucopia and the statue draped and veiled women, from the classroom V of the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian in Rome, already cleaned up ahead of the loan. So it was that, while the "Veiled" was going to decorate the apartment of the Prime Minister at the Palazzo Chigi, the marble of the Antonine age was performed in the courtyard during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on October 7 and by pretend that the time has not passed the bodies of two imperial divinity, mutilation.

For years, Italian restorers hold classes and workshops in China on the conservation of works of art as they come from centuries of history. In the case of Mars and Venus, it is as if the teacher had left to divert the pupil. The arms, the genitals of the god of war and other parts of the hairs made of clay and marble, join almost seamlessly to the body of the original sculpture that draw the viewer in deception and violate the rules of the Italian restoration it plans to "declare "the difference between ancient and modern.

With the release of Mars and Venus by Berlusconi seems to be back to the centuries in which the cardinals were in Rome to complete the Baroque sculptors mutilated and headless statues found in the vineyards of the Eternal City, but today no one dreams of using multiple pins metal to support the prosthesis. Doubt also about the blue sky as backdrop ,which is the result of Hollywood-style Catalan architect: a scene that has nothing to do with history, style and decoration of the century building that belonged to the Chigi.

Authorised by the former superintendent of Rome Giuseppe Proietti, the "restoration" forced to work a dozen experts in the Roman College. In an attempt to limit the false history, the technicians of the Ministry have carried out studies on the shape and measurements of the missing parts through to similar metrics on statues: what is the position of the fingers that touch of Venus and Mars must be as long as its member?

The permanence of the 228 cm statue at the Chigi Palace, however, is hanging on the edge of the government crisis. And therefore the additions on the beautiful goddess and the male partner. The clearance of 29 March 2009 the then superintendent Angelo Bottini Rome - noted the request came from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers after one year before the prime minister had been struck by the statues - provided that "the loan will last until the end the legislature. " Once back at the Baths of Diocletian, where he hopes to soon end up in the renovation of the rooms, Mars and Venus are likely to be released by the parties reversed. No museum wants in his collections false hairpieces and attributes.