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The Raphael's Cross

Prize(s) Winners in Visitor Experience & Museum Exhibition
Company Marco Miglioli | ArchiLight Studio
Lead Designers Marco Miglioli
Architecture Company Luca Rolla e Alberto Bertini
Interior Design Company Luca Rolla e Alberto Bertini
Client Museo Poldi Pezzoli
Photo Credits Andrea Ceriani and Marco Miglioli
Other Credits Display cases construction: Bagatti Bronzisti. Electrical system: GiPas
Completion Date 2022
Project Location Milano, Italia. Museo Poldi Pezzoli
Company Link View
Entry Description

In 2022 the "Processional Cross with Franciscan Saints" by Raffaello Sanzio was relocated inside a new display case in the rooms of the Poldi Pezzoli museum. The Cross was placed within an architecture which recalls the sequences of rooms in noble Renaissance palaces. To avoid shadows from the glass and glare, created by lights outside the case, the sources were hidden inside the case itself. This expedient also allowed the surfaces of the cross to be lit with a grazing light to bring out details and punchings. This new light made the work more brilliant and luminous as if it were an article of fine goldsmithery. However, the lights, close to the surfaces of the work, would have led to an imbalance in the distribution of light between the foot and the upper terminal of the Cross. To overcome this problem, a special film was glued on top of the surface of the case which, while maintaining transparency, reflects part of the light on the Cross, making the lighting homogeneous. Other films have been inserted inside the custom-made lighting fixtures which modify the beam, distributing the flow only along the two arms. Since the color rendering of the golden surface of the cross differed from that of the frames of the paintings displayed in the room, additional filters were used inside the projectors to modify the light spectrum and thus harmonize the warm tones of all the golds.
Sustainability Approach

The choice of the lighting fixtures to be used for the cross fell on a modular track system whose sources can be easily replaced in the event of a fault so as not to have to throw away the entire lighting system unnecessarily. In line with the lighting of the cross, the lamps which we used for the other works of art in the room are also replaceable (MR16 LED with GU5.3 socket).
The special film, used to reflect the light on the upper part of the cross, allows the lighting to be used more efficiently, avoiding dispersing the luminous flux into the space; this translates into greater energy savings too.
The luminaires are connected to a DALI power supply with individual addresses to facilitate the design of a "connected lighting" system based on IoT devices. This would translate into an improvement in energy efficiency, an optimization of the well-being and a protection of the art works.