New light for religious art

The Church of San Giorgio in Braida is one of the most important buildings in the city of Verona. Defined a "miniature art gallery" for the quantity and value of the artworks it contains, it is a building of absolute architectural and artistic value. The church, which is located on the left bank of the river Adige, preserves the best of 16th century Venetian painting: works by Felice Brusasorzi, Giovanni Francesco Caroto, Jacopo Tintoretto, Girolamo dai Libri, Romanino, Moretto da Brescia and the altarpiece of the high altar which depicts, in an admirable composition by Paolo Caliari known as il Veronese, the Martyrdom of St. George. Enhancing the magnificence of the paintings, reducing operating costs and updating an obsolete system are the objectives of the new lighting project commissioned by the Diocese and of which Performance iN Light is a partner. The Italian company collaborated in the development of the general lighting system and provided customised solutions, expressly created for the building, in harmony with the space and the works themselves.

The new lighting project focuses on the painting of the Martyrdom of St. George, which forms the backdrop to the presbytery, becoming the focal point of a path that leads visitors to discover all the church's works. The architectural projectors in the FOCUS+ series were the most suitable to meet the needs of the project. They were implemented with LEDs in a special version in both the 2,700 K warm colour shade and Ra>90 colour rendering. In this way the colour tone is faithfully reproduced, thanks to an effect similar to that obtained with halogen lamps, but avoiding ultraviolet and infrared emissions, and thus protecting the integrity of the precious works over time. The luminaires have been painted white (RAL 1013) to blend into the sacred environment and enhance the works of art even more. To preserve the delicate stone details and follow the irregularities of the walls, adjustable anchorage brackets have been designed to allow the projectors to be precisely oriented.

To provide general lighting, dozens of FOCUS+ 3 with medium rotosymmetric optics were used in the large nave. The same fixtures in the version with asymmetrical optics are used to illuminate the interior of the dome, while FOCUS+ 1 projectors with elliptical optics light four groups of three three-mullioned lights in the drum on which the dome rests, defining the profiles and making the volume perceived. GUELL 2 projectors with intensive 3,000 K concentrated optics, which are installed on the cornice, enhance the floor that is a unique jewel of its kind. In the work Madonna con bambino (1526) by Girolamo dai Libri, even more emphasis has been placed on the painting by integrating the projectors with a linear NOTTURNO light fixture that provides additional grazing light. To emphasise the paintings on the sides of the church, in the eight chapels overlooking the central nave, FOCUS +1 spotlights have been chosen, and positioned so as to avoid shadows and any kind of glare. The fixtures generate poles of luminous attention that help discover the sacred characters depicted.