Vatican thanks Lynton for donation
Lynton Lasers has been thanked by one of Pope Francis’ six Essays, Cardinal Bertello, for the donation of its Compact Phoenix™ laser to The Vatican City Museum.
The Compact Phoenix™ laser, which uses similar technology to that used for tattoo removal, has been donated to help tackle one of its more unusual challenges. It will be used by the Vatican City Museum to remove hundreds of years of dirt and grime from some of its most treasured historical artworks.
Dr Martin Cooper, one of the UK’s leading laser conservation specialists explained that “laser cleaning enables conservators to remove unwanted layers without over cleaning or damaging the valuable surface of the artwork. “This laser is perfectly suited to the work the Vatican Museum has been looking to carry out, and will help ensure the conservation of some of the world’s finest artworks.”
Andy Charlton, chairman of Lynton Lasers Ltd, who attended a trip to Rome to mark the donation, said, “Our laser cleaning systems provide conservators with an extremely gentle method of cleaning and removing dirt from very fragile surfaces; for example, even from a badly weathered marble surface desperately in need of consolidation. “We were informed of the Vatican’s dilemma by our Italian partners, Quanta Systems, and decided a donation of our Compact Phoenix™ laser would be the perfect solution”.
The weekend trip consisted of guided tours of the Vatican Gardens, private viewings of the Picture Gallery and lunch in the Gregoriano Profano Museum, finished off with a tour around the “Pope’s Farm”, a real farm where the Pope has cows for his milk, tomatoes for his meals and yoghurt for his breakfast.
