Hidden in Plain Sight: Misunderstood Masterpiece

This lecture explores Francesco Pianta’s extraordinary 17th-century carved bookcase in Venice’s Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Through groundbreaking research, it reveals the remarkable detail and illusion of this unique wooden sculpture, widely regarded as one of the finest achievements in Venetian wood carving. Caroline Bendix is a library conservator accredited through the Institute of Conservation. She has worked on over 500 collections in the UK and abroad, including St Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, advising on all aspects of in situ book care. She has written three of the British Library’s guides on preservation and in 2019 was awarded the Plowden Medal for her “outstanding work in developing in-situ library conservation”. Since 1992 she has been the National Trust’s Adviser on Libraries Conservation, the adviser and trainer for The Arts Society’s Heritage Volunteers projects. Caroline is on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s advisory panel for Lambeth Palace Library.