COLLABORATIONS

Sphragis started collaborating with the Italian National Archives in the 1980s.

The prestigious National Archives of Venice set up a dedicated internal laboratory and was the first to entrust the restoration and conservation of its many prized wax seals to Bruno Becchetti. After their successful restoration a special exhibition was staged at the Museo Correr in Venice to showcase the steps undertaken and the results achieved.

Thereafter, the most important Italian National Archives, such as the Central Archives of the State of Rome, the Historical Archives of Aosta, the National Archives of Arezzo, Bergamo, Bolzano, Faenza, Florence, Genoa, Mantua, Naples, Palermo, Piacenza, Pisa, Ravenna, Savona, Siena, Turin and Verona asked Sphragis to restore and preserve their seals - especially wax and lead seals – as well as their immense archival heritage.

The work commissioned by the Archives of Montecassino Abbey and carried out between 1989 and 1995 required total dedication and commitment.  The immense sphragistic treasure of the old abbey made up mainly of papal bulls was restored and reproduced in its entirety to ensure its future conservation.

In addition, many Soprintendenze overseeing the preservation and conservation of the documental heritage of private archives have employed Sphragis to restore and conserve seals and parchments.

To date Sphragis has restored about 3,000 seals in addition to those restored by Bruno Becchetti in the Vatican Secret Archives between 1980 and 2005.

It has also studied and conserved about 1,500 documents.