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C2  ·  25 words

Restoration in Italian

A treatment that has to be capable of being undone.

Practise this list

From these 25 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.

More about this list

The twenty-second entry is la doratura, gold laid on in leaf thin enough to move in a breath, and the two languages have taken that image to opposite conclusions. English made it a reproach. « To gild the lily » is to decorate what is already beautiful and so to spoil it, and the phrase is a welding together of a line in King John that pairs gilding refined gold with painting the lily: the play says both, the idiom kept one flower and one metal. Most of what English built on gilding carries the same suspicion of surface — « a gilded cage », « the gilded age », « gilt-edged » for a thing whose shine is the selling point. Italian went the other way. Dorare la pillola is to gild the pill, which is to soften bad news for the person who has to swallow it: an act of tact, and English sugars the pill rather than gilding it. So the same gold leaf is a criticism on one side and a courtesy on the other, and on this page it is neither — here it is a technique, and a guazzo says which one.

The words

Noun (m) (15)

Grammar for these: Definite article: il, lo, la · Indefinite article: un, uno

l’intervento minimothe minimum interventionNoun (m)C2
L’intervento minimo è il primo principio del mestiere.Minimum intervention is the first principle of the craft.
il legantethe binderNoun (m)C2
Il legante distingue una tempera da un olio.The binder tells a tempera from an oil painting.
il saggio di puliturathe cleaning testNoun (m)C2
Il saggio di pulitura si fa in un angolo nascosto.The cleaning test is done in a hidden corner.
il ritocco pittoricothe retouchingNoun (m)C2
Il ritocco pittorico resta riconoscibile da vicino.The retouching stays recognisable from close up.
il telaio a cuneithe keyed stretcherNoun (m)C2
Il telaio a cunei permette di ritendere la tela.The keyed stretcher makes it possible to tighten the canvas again.
il restauro della cartathe conservation of paperNoun (m)C2
Il restauro della carta lavora spesso in acqua.Paper conservation often works in water.
il prodotto di corrosionethe corrosion productNoun (m)C2
Il prodotto di corrosione racconta dove è stato sepolto l’oggetto.The corrosion product tells where the object lay buried.
il clima della vetrinathe climate inside the caseNoun (m)C2
Il clima della vetrina si controlla con un registratore.The climate inside the case is monitored with a recorder.
il restauratorethe conservatorNoun (m)C2
Il restauratore documenta ogni passo con fotografie.The conservator documents every step with photographs.
il gel solventethe solvent gelNoun (m)C2
Il gel solvente resta dove viene messo.The solvent gel stays where it is put.
l’impaccothe poulticeNoun (m)C2
L’impacco tira fuori il sale dalla pietra.The poultice draws the salt out of the stone.
lo stucco di integrazionethe fill materialNoun (m)C2
Lo stucco di integrazione riempie la lacuna fino al livello.The fill material brings the loss up to level.
il trattamento in anossiathe anoxic treatmentNoun (m)C2
Il trattamento in anossia elimina gli insetti senza veleni.Anoxic treatment kills the insects without poisons.
il tampone di umiditàthe humidity bufferNoun (m)C2
Un tampone di umidità smorza gli sbalzi nella cassa.A humidity buffer damps the swings inside the crate.
il recupero d’emergenzathe emergency salvageNoun (m)C2
Il recupero d’emergenza comincia con un elenco di priorità.Emergency salvage begins with a list of priorities.

Noun (f) (10)

Grammar for these: Definite article: il, lo, la · Indefinite article: un, uno

l’analisi dei materialithe analysis of the materialsNoun (f)C2
L’analisi dei materiali precede ogni decisione.Analysis of the materials comes before every decision.
la sezione lucidathe polished cross-sectionNoun (f)C2
La sezione lucida mostra tutti gli strati uno sopra l’altro.The polished cross-section shows every layer one above the other.
la scagliaturathe flakingNoun (f)C2
La scagliatura si ferma con un consolidante.Flaking is stopped with a consolidant.
la foderaturathe lining of the canvasNoun (f)C2
La foderatura sostiene una tela ormai fragile.Lining supports a canvas that has grown fragile.
la desalinizzazionethe desalinationNoun (f)C2
La desalinizzazione richiede molti bagni successivi.Desalination calls for many successive baths.
la condizione di prestitothe loan conditionNoun (f)C2
La condizione di prestito fissa anche il livello di luce.The loan condition also sets the light level.
la proposta di interventothe treatment proposalNoun (f)C2
La proposta di intervento elenca anche ciò che non si farà.The treatment proposal also lists what will not be done.
l’etica della professionethe ethics of the professionNoun (f)C2
L’etica della professione chiede interventi reversibili.The ethics of the profession ask for reversible treatments.
la riflettografia infrarossathe infrared reflectographyNoun (f)C2
La riflettografia infrarossa mostra il disegno sotto il colore.Infrared reflectography shows the drawing under the paint.
la doraturathe gildingNoun (f)C2
La doratura a guazzo si può lucidare a pietra.Water gilding can be burnished with a stone.

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