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Inventing the Future without Forgetting the Past

Some time ago a fellow conservator told me in an informal chat that conservators

from developing countries tend to be very good professionals because "they know

how to do a lot with little".

Dealing everyday with technology I realize how much we may get used to it. In

conservation, as much as in other fields, there is a thin line between using tech-

nology for our profit and depending on it. Although I agree with my friend’s opinion,

I also believe it is not only a question of developing versus industrialised countries

but big budget institutions versus low budget institutions, wherever they are.

Conservation requires conservators to make use of their creative skills, not only in

their approach to the works of art but also in the solutions they find. These last can

not depend only on technology. The young generation is eager to implement new

technology-based solutions, and even though traditionally it is said that conser-

vators are conservative, this professional need has been losing strength over time.

We have developed a love-hate relationship with technology that is exemplified in

the application of lasers and digital imaging. Laser technology was first applied to

conservation some decades ago while digital imaging has been around since the 80s.

Despite the fact that these technologies are available, and even that there has been

much research and development on these subjects, technology is still far away from

the regular conservation workshop.

Still, there is a driving force against this natural friction, well exemplified this issue

in the article about the VARIM project. This Spanish initiative combines the spectral

analysis of paintings and open-source software, designed with a user-friendly inter-

face, in order to enable hands-on conservators to use it.

In this issue you can also read two interesting conference reviews. Christabel Blackman

is sharing her reflections based on her experience at the Getty’s conference “The

Object in Transition”, held last January in Los Angeles. The second is Anca Dina's

review of the annual conservation conference held in Romania, where the most

important conservation projects are presented. Among other interesting articles,

there is a particular study about the curious history of the art collector Georges de

Batz seen from the perspective of the conservator Niccolo Caldararo. This case-study

brings us the research, history and examination of a Roger de la Fresnaye painting

from the de Batz art collection.

I hope you will enjoy the reading!

Rui Bordalo,

Executive Editor

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CASE STUDY

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HERITAGE IN DANGER

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CONFERENCE REVIEWThe Object in Transition: A Cross-Disciplinary Conferenceon the Preservation and Study of Modern and Contemporary ArtThe Getty Conservation Institute24-26 January 2008, Los Angeles, CaliforniaReview by Christabel Blackman

Conservation-Restoration Workshop for the Artistic Components of Historic MonumentsRomanian Ministry of Culture and Cults20-21 March 2008, Bucharest, RomaniaReview by Anca Dina

2008 WORKSITESConservation of the Mural Paintings from the Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel – “Mantuleasa”by Simona Patrascu and Anca Nicolaescu

UPCOMING EVENTS April to June 2008

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTVARIM - A Useful System for Acquiring and Composing Imagesin Painting Analysis Techniquesby Juan Torres, Alberto Posse, José Manuel Menéndez, Araceli Gabaldón,

Carmen Vega, Tomás Antelo, Marián del Egido & Miriam Bueso

MATERIAL STUDIES AND CHARACTERISATIONMaterials Used in Romanian Manuscripts from 15th to 19th century - Stereomicroscopyby Mihai I. A. Lupu

CASE STUDYGeorges de Batz. The Mysterious Case of an Art CollectorExtraordinary Found by Examination of a Paintingby Niccolo Caldararo

Survey and Drawing for a Conservation-Restoration Project.A Study for Genoa and Savona.by Giulia Pellegri

Emergency and Preventive Conservation Interventions of Abandoned Churches in Transylvaniaby Péter Pál and Lóránd Kiss

EVENTS

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INDEX

DOCUMENTATION

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For those who have not yet had the opportunity

of visiting the Getty Center, it is a singular and

enticing place that offers a unique and mar-

velous experience to any and all visitors. For

conservators it represents an idealistic reverence

for our vocation in its monumental presence

and is a magnanimous attraction. Altruistically,

it is what we all aspire to, the inclusion of

conservation at the highest and most essential

level in life. Geographically it is stoically posed

upon its very own verdant mount, perched

above the sprawling flatness of L.A., and in

some way it is a symbolic destination for us,

a proverbial Mecca.

In the final days of January 2008, the "Object

in Transition: A Cross-Disciplinary Conference

on the Preservation and Study of Modern and

Contemporary Art" was offered by the Getty

Research Institute and the Getty Conservation

Institute. A lunchtime course was also offered

to conference participants about INCCA,

International Network for the Conservation

of Contemporary Art, (www.incca.org).

No conference fees were charged and about

500 people came from all corners of the planet.

Optimal organization and attendance, along

with a varied agenda and an exhibition of the

works that were central to the conferences led

to a successful encounter all round.

The participation of some of the most focused

and experienced contemporary art conservators,

historians and curators in the conference

presentations or in the extremely lively and

THE OBJECT IN TRANSITION

A Cross-Disciplinary Conference on the Preservationand Study of Modern and Contemporary Art

January 24-26, 2008Los Angeles, California

Organisers:The Getty Conservation Instituteand the Getty Research Institute

www.getty.edu

North Building, Getty Center

Review by Christabel Blackman

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articulate audience who continually jostled

and vied for the microphone to transmit

challenging outlooks, pertinent questions or

relevant anecdotes, made for a worthy and

memorable experience. Although a general

sense of agreement was never a conclusive

issue, inquisitive doubts and continual 'door

opening' to new fields of thought were

incisive and in abundance.

Contemporary works of art pose theoretical

and technical challenges which are continually

addressed by conservators, curators, historians,

artists and many others. However the challeng-

ing problems which do arise may often be

parallel dichotomies. The intentional use of

rapidly degradable materials, turn conservation

into an almost impracticable endeavour.

The decisions that are taken about an object’s

conservation are subjective and because of

the nature of decision making, are effected by

who makes what decisions about conservation

and the historically cultural moment in which

they are made. Conservation moves between

the vulnerability of the physical object and

the understanding of its meaning and thus the

importance of the consequences of decision

making in conservation. And that’s why

Conservation matters!

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

Getty by night

It is a difficult task to compress so much

information into a simple review and I highly

recommend readers to peruse their particular

interests by logging onto the excellent video

session reproductions available on the Getty

website.

In contemporary art, the very concept of the

object controls its physical facts and parameters,

but its actual physical state is beyond being

merely conceptual. These physical restrictions

and even the artist’s original intent often rely

on people’s subjective experience and memories

as documentation, because of the limitations

that exist in extensively documenting the nature

of these works. Jeffrey Weiss (former Director

of Dia Art Foundation, N.Y.) commented on

"the importance of addressing bigger questions

that are also about interpretation, the choices

that we are making. (…) it is important to

protract greater ideas. Self criticism is important

to look at, the choices we make now rather

than twenty years ago, are also pertinent to

this time, and in thirty years’ time we will be

looked back upon."

The influence and importance of "artist’s intent"

was an issue that sprung up continually over

both days. How important is artist’s intent,

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Coffee break and time for reflection

and can it always be obeyed, at all costs?

There seemed to be a popular view that the

artist does have the right to intervene and

continue to dictate his intent over his works

during his lifetime and even sometimes post-

humously through his estate or decreed inten-

tions. But what was the original intent, and

can that change? Is it affected by the artist’s

evolution or technological advances (i.e. "if

this technique was available when I first made

this work, then I would have used it", and

therefore it is valid to remake the work using

such-and-such technique)? Should greatly

deteriorated works of art that have modified

beyond recognition be remade? But is that still

the artist’s work or not? Who is responsible to

make the decisions about an artwork? Is it

exclusively the artist?

These sorts of questions lead the way to prob-

lems of authenticity. What is authenticity? Is

it in the object or the concept? If an object

with grave irreparable problems is simply remade

by the artist, is that the original object now?

What is historically significant authenticity?

Objects are made in an interpretive moment

and when they are to be conserved this is an

equally interpretive moment as that of its

creation. The 'utopian truth' of original intent

and the changes that have come about over

time leads us to consider our own role as

conservators in the creation of what authenticity

is. Is age authenticity? And for that matter

what is authenticity?

There was an ensuing discussion about au-

thenticity, which included a lot of defensive

audience commentaries. Indeed, ethics and the

decision making process become key questions.

What is it we desire when we go to see an

object, is it aesthetics, history, the object

itself? There are often competing narratives

within the same artwork which need to be

maintained, how do we achieve this?

In the section about "Artist's Voice: History's

Claim", big questions were posed and different

viewpoints offered distinctive answers. Does

history always defend the present? Pip Laurenson

(Tate, London) engaged the audience and fellow

speakers in some interesting lines of thought.

The idea of finishing a work of art, gallery

exhibition and thence the sale to a museum

no longer exists. Sometimes a work is translated

into another medium and an installation or

performance piece may become a video. So is

this the documentation or is it an evolution

of the artwork? Do we have a responsibility to

future accurate historical display of these works?

Anne Wagner (Professor of Modern and Contem-

porary Art, Uni. of California) added more inter-

esting ideas; that the death of the artist or

the consequences of the museum as a recrea-

tional destination may impose changes on the

CONFERENCE REVIEW

artwork; as the work circulates historically it

may change, and lose intention; as objects,

they are unstable because often they are

movable objects and can keep being reinstalled;

context greatly influences the artwork.

In some way there seemed to a humble observer

like myself to be a 'Botox principle' occurring:

that the intentionality of contemporary art was

to isolate a moment in time and negate aging

which is a contradictory dichotomy because

‘agelessness’ implies discarding objects due to

their age. The intentional rejection of the age

factor is a negation of the ephemeral physical

object and part of the 21st century 'Botox'

obsession about lifespan consequences.

In the interesting discussion entitled "Life and

Death of Objects", Yve-Alain Bois (Art History

Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study

in Princeton, New Jersey) said that "if a work

is going to die anyway and it’s just slower

in storage, then why not at least let a

generation enjoy it? Trying to find a rule,

I don’t think that it is possible. Every work

requires a different attitude. The ethical,

aesthetic questions change with time, that’s

why it’s hard to find a common denominator,

because it would become so general that it

would no longer mean anything."

There were many comments that contemporary

conservation often clashed with the established

Codes of Ethics. There is a close intertwining

between technical decisions and ethical

questions so in the end the conservator needs

to resort to common sense and prudence.

David Bomford (Associate Director for Collections

at the J. Paul Getty Museum) commented

"We must address the fact that we are adrift,

there are certain uncertainties and there are

uncertain uncertainties. All our old training

rules have changed because the paradigms

of making art have affected the paradigms

of conservation. When will the alternative

discourse replace the present one?"

Getty Center East Building, housing the Getty Conservation Institute

A place to wander and wonder, the grounds of the Getty

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

Christabel Blackman (b. 1959, Australia) holds

a Masters Degree in Conservation and Restoration

of Cultural Patrimony (Universidad Politecnica de

Valencia, Spain) specializing in easel painting and

a Diploma in canvas and panel easel paintings

(Istituto per l’Arte ed il Restauro, Italy). She lives

in Valencia, Spain, where she is a free-lance

senior paintings conservator.

He also went on to say "The residue of greater

works of art that exist has been edited by time

and history. The editing process of contem-

porary art has barely started. Perhaps the life

and death of objects is part of the editing

process that exists." If the habit of cabbage

throwing still existed, David would have received

a generous serving from the protesting audience’s

heated response.

It occurred to me that many of the present day

dilemmas are due to the creation of artworks

that have a limited life-span. Human beings

had previously tended to create works of art

that perjure time during many generations, and

therefore it is now difficult to come to terms

with objects that have a lifespan (or ‘life and

death’) that may be witnessed within a single

generation. Conservators, curators and art histo-

rians do not want to take on the responsibility

of euthanasia decisions about the finality of

artworks that have been intentionally made with

ephemeral materials. Needless to say, this is

without mentioning the economical questions

The Getty Center

Reviewed by Christabel Blackman

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

that arise from the conclusive and final "death"

of a work of art or the prestige and status anxiety

created by its loss in the public sphere.

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

CONSERVATION-RESTORATION WORKSHOP

for the Artistic Components of Historic Monuments

20 and 21 March 2008Bucharest, Romania

Organiser:Romanian Ministry of Cultureand Cults

www.cultura.ro

The "Conservation-Restoration Work-

shop for the Artistic Components of

Historic Monuments", hosted by the

Romanian Ministry of Culture and Cults,

took place in the pleasant environment

of the Ministry conference hall in 20

and 21 March 2008.

In its second edition, the event

gathered prominent personalities in

the conservation-restoration field,

being the most recent opportunity for

the Romanian professionals to meet

and present their work.

All those interested in cultural heritage topics

were present, such as conservators, art histo-

rians, chemists, physicians, curators, young

professionals and students. This meeting aims,

on one hand, to keep and strengthen the link

between the specialist conservators and the

younger professionals and, on the other hand,

to bring into discussion and search solutions

to the actual problems that concern the cultural

heritage conservation.

The event was opened by Mircea Angelescu,

director of the General Direction of the National

Cultural Heritage, and by Dan Nicolae, architect

at the Direction of Historic Monuments and

Archaeology, who sincerely welcomed such

an initiative to discuss the problems that

conservators face, hoping at least a part of

them may find solution. It was shown that

with time, the importance that the Ministry

is giving to this cultural heritage sector, and

implicitly the funds made available through

the National Restoration Plan, helped to the

promotion of several monuments with important

artistic components, such as the Bukovinian

Review by Anca Dina

mural painting ensembles and the Christian

symbols and graffiti from Basarab. Unfortunately,

the available funds are insufficient to face the

wish for renewal and modernisation of many

historic monuments, as well as their advanced

state of decay. Therefore, it is essential to involve

in these actions all parties, starting with the

Ministry, the beneficiary and actual owners,

the community, the municipal councils and

the city halls. At the end of the opening, the

invitation for the third workshop was launched.

The workshop comprised 25 communications.

In the first day, Ecaterina Cincheza–Buculei

and Tereza Sinigalia, renowned art historians,

were invited to moderate the sessions. In the

second day, the discussion panels where

conducted by the hosts, conservator-restorer

Oana Gorea, the organiser of the event, and

Dan Kisielevici, councillor from the Ministry of

Culture and Cults.

The audience was presented with several case-

studies of the undergoing or recently finished

conservation projects. Several problems that

the heritage faces have been underlined -

decays due to incorrect previous interventions

were shown; technological and stylistic

studies were exposed and different types of

material deterioration of works of art have

been analysed. The presentations referred

mainly to conservation works from Romania,

although some aspects from France and Italy

have also been stressed. The objects of study

were mural paintings, conserved in situ or

as detached fragments, wooden paintings

or stone based materials.

With regard to the given problems and the

polemics developed by the present themes,

different directions can be outlined. Starting

with the restorer approach to the work of art,

it is worth mentioning his primary observations,

which concern the stylistic and technical analysis

or the study of the existent decay mechanisms.

Two of the papers dealt with this subject:

"Decay of the mural painting from the Church

Dormition of the Virgin, Humor Monastery, in

Suceava", presented by the conservator Maria

Dumbravicianu and completed by the research

carried out by INOE (National Institute of

Research and Development for Optoelectronics)

on the 3D scanning of the monument, and

"Technological and stylistic aspects of the

paintings by Costin Petrescu in the Concert

Hall of the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest",

presented by the restorers Anca and Sergiu

Petrescu.

Well appreciated was the intervention of

conservator Simona Patrascu for the exterior

mural painting conservation from Coltea

Church in Bucharest. Located in the centre

of the capital, the church was subjected to

extremely aggressive deterioration factors

which drove in time to the decay and the

disintegration of its mural paintings. In these

circumstances, next to the problems raised by

the paintings conservation, the aesthetical

The event was opened by Mircea Angelescu, director of the General Direction of the National Cultural Heritage,Dan Nicolae, architect at the Direction of Historic Monuments and Archaeology and Oana Gorea, conservator-restorer and organiser of the event from the Ministry of Culture and Cults.

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presentation was a big challenge for the

restorers. An archaeological approach was

chosen to the conservation of the support

and lacunas, using coloured, texturised fillings,

in order to valorise the 17th century painting

fragments. There is, however, a discontentment

regarding the dissonant aesthetic rapport

between the conservator’s option for the

presentation of the mural painting surface

and the constructor’s solution for the final

aspect of the towers. Yet, through such an

aesthetical recovery, the church partially

regained its original aspect.

Another case worthy of interest due to the

importance of the monument and for its un-

fortunate and sad finality is the restoration

of the 16th century monument "Deer House",

a case presented by the specialist conservator

Dan Mohanu. The presentation, entitled "The

Deer House from Sighisoara, from stratigraphic

research to the complete reconstitution of the

facades, a critical view", is focused on the

research carried out by the restorers that

brought to light plaster layers and historical

limewashes, among which a Latin inscription

and the unexpected representation of the two

bodies of the deer united by the corner between

the building’s facades. According to the author,

the archaeological restitution of the facades

aimed to preserve all the aged traces of this

building. In the same spirit, that of authenticity,

together with the fundamental principle

of materials compatibility, the plaster and the

limewash were to be applied and modelled

according to the traditional technology. However,

what resulted at the end of the collaboration

between the beneficiary and the restorers is

very far from the initial proposal. The ancient

layers of plasters are no longer visible, the

original image being replaced with that of a

cold, famous house, empty of its history.

From the actual deformed image, the only sign

reminding that this is the "Deer House" is the

deer representation on the corner of the facades.

Moreover, this representation was also distorted

by the abusive chromatic integration.

Prof. Dan Mohanu, specialist conservator-restorer, presenting "The Deer House from Sighisoara, from stratigraphic research to the complete reconstitutionof the facades, a critical view".

Coltea Church in Bucharest, after the conservation of the exterior walls painting, intervention conducted by the conservator Simona Patrascu.

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Dan Codrescu, mural painting conservator,

presented comparatively some few examples

regarding the experience he accumulated on

worksites in France and Italy. The final task of

the restorer, in what concerns the work of art,

and implicitly, the aesthetical approach must

be permanently reported to the already stated

principles. The problems risen by each work in

particular, the diversity of the lacunas and the

necessity of adaptation of the restoration

principles at each particular case demonstrate

that the conservator main task must be to

respect the professional deontology. However,

with all the intention to preserve the unaltered,

authentic image, there are situations when the

decision belongs only partially to the conservator,

due to the pressure exerted by the beneficiary

or sponsor. This aspect was pointed several

times during the debates, as these situations

are real and they threaten the heritage with

the falsification of its identity.

A complex intervention of mural painting

conservation was recently finished by the

conservator Elena Murariu. Here, specialists

confronted problems due to the consistent

accumulations and limewashes on the colour

layer affected by salt crystallisations. Moreover,

the presence of cement in the support, the

plaster detachments, the difficulty raised by

the colour reattachment and the aesthetical

approach to the lacunas, prove once again the

necessity of seeing the conservation intervention

as a unitary action at all levels. Besides the

conservation of the interior and exterior mural

paintings, other works that requested the pluri-

disciplinary collaboration between specialists

and a rigorous planning of the interventions

were made.

An important conservation project of a stone

monument was presented by Benjamin Nagy

concerning the intervention made on the

exterior sculpted decoration of the Baroque

portico of St. Peter Church in Cluj-Napoca.

Here, environmental factors drove to the

decay of the monument, mostly humidity and

freezing-defreezing process. The monument

presents, thus, multiple fissures and material

detachments, the presence of vegetal colonial

formations, incompatible additions with the

nature of stone. Restorers’ intervention was

focused on the preservation of the authenticity

and integrity of the work, reducing firstly the

risks involved by the intervention itself.

Image from the presenation of Elena Murariu, conservator of mural painting, showing the case study entitled "Conservation works from the hospice of Bistrita Monastery in Valcea. Problems and solutions."

Dan Codrescu, mural painting conservator, presenting "An experience concerning aesthetical approach – France and Italy".

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As all the papers presented were equally

interesting from different perspectives, it is

impossible to discuss at large each one of them.

However, we must highlight Claudiu Moldovan’s

intervention at the Snagov Church Monastery

in 2007 and that of Constantin Ritivoiu on

the iconostasis from the St. Nicholas Church

in Bucharest. Also, it should be reminded of

the intervention made by the young conservator

Maria Magdalena Drobota with Professor Oliviu

Boldura, that was focused on the conservation

of the fragments detached from the Princely

church of Curtea de Arges. Interesting cases

were also presented by Istvand Tuzes, about

the recovery of the paintings from Apor manor

from under the limewash layers and by Peter

Pal and Lorand Kiss on the research for the

identification of Transylvanian mural paintings.

An appreciated research was that of the young

professional Georgiana Zahariea together with

Professor Oliviu Boldura. The research was

focused on the properties of some materials

used in the consolidation of mural paintings.

The theoretical approach to some organic or

mineral consolidant agents was based on

laboratory tests and in situ situations. At

"The beheading of St. John the Baptist" Church

in Arbore, several emergency conservation

campaigns took place over the years. The

actual conservation project made possible to

study in-depth all the aspects. Thus, it was

observed that the product used 30 years ago

for consolidation of the support - calcium

caseinate - does not achieve its purpose due

to the high contraction degree, with time,

becoming a merely filling material with no

adhesive properties. This product was largely

employed by the conservators at that time,

being the only consolidant agent that was

available locally. However, at that time, calcium

caseinate served to the imperious safeguarding

of the monument.

Another research, this time focused on the

identification of an artwork by the Romanian

artist Petre Alexandrescu, was presented by

the conservators Oana and Dumitru Gorea. The

identification of the painting the "Descent from

the Cross", from Antim Monastery in Bucharest,

was only possible due to the restoration inter-

vention which revealed the original image from

under several overpaint layers. The work was

completed by a resourceful research that esta-

blished the origins of the painting, this being a

replica after the famous work of Daniele da

Volterra from the Trinita dei Monti church in Rome.

The well-attended workshop - among the audience, were experienced conservator-restorers, conservation scientists but also young professionals.

The Church from Arbore, a site in conservation, presented by Georgiana Zahariea and Prof. Oliviu Boldura from the point of view of the historical conservation interventions.

CONFERENCE REVIEW

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Another focus of the discussions was to point

out faulty treatments applied in the conservation

of some artworks. It was reminded about those

interventions on wooden support that aim at

the consolidation of the support and the treat-

ment against insects infestation using wax or

rosin. According to restorers Cornelia and Dinu

Savescu, these methods induce different types

of degradation at the support level which

implicitly influence the painting layer, as in

the case of the iconostasis from the Church of

Stelea Targoviste Monastery. Gabriela Stefanita

proved once more the great deal of damage

that paintings suffer due to incorrect inter-

ventions, showing comparative archive images

and photos of the present state of conservation

from St. Spyridon Church in Subesti. Another

aspect of this debate was the rather recent

paintings, from the last century, which are not

appreciated for their artistic value and thus, are

threatened with the ablation or the repainting.

As a conclusion to that already mentioned, it

should be said that the initiative for this event,

organised under the auspices of the Ministry of

Culture and Cults, is laudable. This occasion

gave specialists the opportunity of expressing

their ideas in regard to the ideal and optimal

conditions for a conservation process. At the

same time, it was possible to learn from the

particularities of each intervention and to

follow the evolution of the works. Some very

acute problems this unprivileged domain

confronts with right now were brought into

discussion. Those works that responded to the

conservation principles were well appreciated,

together with the observation spirit and the

correct attitude of the restorer. Nevertheless,

those attitudes of interpreting the professional

exigencies were critically commented.

It is striking, however, the absence from these

debates of those persons with decisional role

in heritage conservation, such as the bene-

ficiaries, who could have learned some of the

problems in this domain. This was one of the

wishes of the Ministry of Culture and Cults,

which tries to change the actual perception

on the restoration interventions into an indis-

pensable action which helps to the safeguard-

ing of the memory of a nation.

The initiator of the event, conservator Oana

Gorea, expressed some of the impressions and

experiences gathered on this occasion:

"I wish to thank all the participants for their

interest and participation to this event.

I am extremely pleased by the high number

of participants, especially of the young

professionals generation, who are given here

the opportunity to familiarise with problems

met “in situ” on the conservation sites for

the artistic components. At the time of my

graduation, me and my colleagues were not

given the chance to present our work and share

our experiences within different worksites, thus

now, through my position within the Ministry,

I wish to create this opportunity for the new

generations. The purpose of such action was to

resurge an older tradition which unfortunately got

lost with time, and that was to disseminate

Debates on the theme of recent monuments conservation, a subject brought into discussion by the study of Raluca Bitiu Dancus Ceicu, "Churches, monuments to-come".

CONFERENCE REVIEW

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and value this meticulous, laborious and little-

known work. I am faced almost every day,

during the receptions or inspections of the

worksites, with the rich activity of a large

number of conservators which I consider must

be shared. These efforts, our problems and

solutions, methodologies, briefly, all our

accumulated experience must be known

at least by our colleagues.

Another aim of this event was to valorise the

work of the young generation of conservators,

that comes now with a large experience

acquired during the university and completed

by scholarships or courses in other countries.

These people are often faced with complicated

work situations, such as faulty execution

technique, use of poor materials and incorrect

monument keeping, yet their work is rarely

made public. The Ministry tired this year to

reward these extraordinary efforts, by

according three prices for the worksites

finished last year. Within the framework

of the “Conference of the Specialists in the

National Cultural Heritage Domain” from

Sinaia, three important conservation works

were rewarded: the restoration of the mural

painting from the hospice of Bistrita

Monastery in Valcea, the conservation of

the mural paintings and decorations from

the Fronius House in Sighisoara and the

conservation works from the Concert Hall of

the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest."

Review by Anca Dina, conservator-restorer,

mural painting specialist.

For collaboration, we thank Oana Gorea,

conservator and initiator of the event from

the Ministry of Culture and Cults of Romania.

Text translated by e-conservationline.

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CONSERVATION OF THE MURAL PAINTINGS from the Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel – “Mantuleasa”, in Bucharest

Worksite supervision:Simona Patrascu and Anca Nicolaescu,

specialist conservator-restorers

Period: since October 2007

It is not very common to find in the middle of

a tourist capital such as Bucharest a historic

monument in such advanced state of decay as

the Mantuleasa church. However, this was the

situation that the church faced until very

recently. Out of sight between high modern

buildings, it seems that all this time Mantuleasa

draw back from the traffic of the city centre,

remaining somehow isolated from the consider-

ation that it is worthy of.

Fortunately for the monument an on-site conser-

vation project was started by Restauro Art Grup

and continues at the moment under the coordi-

nation of Simona Patrascu and Anca Nicolaescu,

conservator-restorers of mural paintings.

Brancovenesc1 monument, Mantuleasa church

is a reference for the Romanian art from the

early 18th century. According to the portal

lettering, the church was erected in 1733, by

Mariia, the sister of Boyar Manta and by Stanca,

his wife. The monument is characterised by

equilibrated form and shape, refined by sculpted

1 Constantin Brâncoveanu (1654 – 1714) was Prince of Wallachia between 1689 and 1714. The architectural style derived from his name - the "Brâncovenesc style" - is known as a synthesis of Renaissance and Byzantine architecture.

Mantuleasa Church (up) and the portal inscriptions (down).

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18 e_conservation

decoration and painted ornaments, such as

vegetal motifs and stylised crosses. Simple and

elegant in a basic chromatic scale (red, black

and ochre), the ornaments embellish the church

tower, the porch columns and arches.

Unfortunately, time left several traces over the

monument such as environmental factors, earth-

quakes and the parishioners’ needs. Thus, several

inevitable repairs and modifications took place

since its erection until 1924 when a first written

testimony concerning a conservation inter-

vention is mentioned in the archives. The most

important modification was the enlargement

of the interior space of the church, by the

extinction of the wall between the narthex

and the nave, meant to divide members from

different social classes. Suppressing the wall,

however, had major negative effects on the

stability of the entire architectural ensemble.

Another unfortunate intervention was the oil

repainting of the interior murals, with the

exception of the porch vaulting.

Still, the 1924 project recovered as much as

possible from the original aspect of the church,

both at the level of architectural components

and wall paintings. The restoration of the paintings

focused on removing the oil repainting and

cleaning the original and was performed by

Paul Molda, conservator-restorer. The procedure

used on that time to remove oil repaintings

was not appropriate in regard to the conser-

vation principles, using rich lime and sodium

bicarbonate, soda provoking more damage to

the original painting, such as exfoliation,

powdering and salt efflorescence. After the

earthquake from 1940, the severe damages

required a new intervention, this time however,

one destructive by its own nature: the tower

were rebuilt using reinforced concrete, the

masonry was remade of rich lime, the bricks

were darned with cement, the ensemble was

consolidated with coupling bars, the interior

painting was washed and replenished and the

facades were remade together with the orna-

ments and the exterior painting.

What we see today on the painting is the result

of the damages made by these several factors,

from candle smoke to previous actions in the

spirit of restoration. The painting, however, is

still an 18th century reference, with its simplified

chromatic harmonies, made up by blue (charcoal

black and lime), green (clay pigmented with

iron hydroxide) and red (clay with anhydrous

iron oxide).

Both the architecture and the mural painting

of high quality require a rigorous approach to

the undergoing conservation intervention. The

The porch columns with decoration in a basic chromatic scale (red, black and ochre).

NEWS

19e_conservation

project is structured according to the priorities

and among its aims, it proposes:

- The conservation of the exterior painted deco-

ration and the renewal of the plaster and the

architectonic profiles. At the moment, all the

facades were plastered except the tower profiles

from under the cornice and the medial belt

which still presents painted ornaments. From

this reason, they are now in an advanced, un-

aesthetic state of decay. The intervention in

these areas will be executed by construction

specialists supervised by the conservators’ team.

The final aim of this intervention is to regain

the artistic configuration of the monument.

- Emergency intervention to protect the areas

where consolidation works are already undergoing,

both on the inside and outside of the church.

Porch north vaulting, actual conservation state.

Nathex to central nave, during the conservation.

NEWS

20 e_conservation

even

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- Assistance for the structure consolidation works.

- The conservation of the interior mural paint-

ings. The conservation project proposal was

made after a preliminary thorough in situ re-

search. Thus, several stratigraphic tests were

carried on to establish the painting stratigraphy,

tests for the removal of the adherent deposits

and improper anterior repairs. After in situ

sampling of the support, salt crystallisations,

anterior intervention mortars and paint layer,

the research laboratory provided data regarding

the nature of these materials which helped to

the establishment of the appropriate inter-

vention methodology.

At the present time, the consolidation of the

structure was finished, based on the good

cooperation between our conservator’s team

and the constructors. The areas to be consoli-

dated by injection were previously prepared

by the conservators. Initially, the damages

were hard to evaluate due to the thick layer

of dirt that covered the entire surface. During

the preliminary operations for the emergency

intervention, the previous repairs were removed,

fact that facilitated the evaluation of the

monument’s stability and unity. Thereby,

measures were taken for a safe emergency

intervention: scaffoldings to sustain the

arches, especially the triumphal arch in the

central nave and the north and south arches

Detail of a saint medalion, dome. Initial state of conservation (up), after the removal of previous improper repairs (upper right) and after filling of the lacunas with mortars (lower right).

NEWS

21e_conservation

Restauro Art Grup S.R.L. was founded in 2000 by the

conservators Simona Patrascu, Anca Nicolaescu and Silviu

Petrescu. It is a conservation enterprise accredited by the

Romanian Ministry of Culture that has run several conservation

projects for important historic monuments in Romania,

among which the conservation of the mural ensemble from

the Surpatele Monastery (2002-2003), the mural painting

conservation from the Church of Jgheaburi Monastery

(2003-2004) and the conservation of the exterior murals and

original renderings from Coltea Church (2006).

from the narthex, which presented severe cracks

and strong detachments of the masonry.

As an emergency conservation operation, the

degradation of the painted surface has also

been stopped, by the consolidation and re-

attachment of the pulverulent colour layer on

extended areas. This operation was performed

by treating differentially the multiple types of

detachments of the surface, this selective

treatment up to each degradation type having

accomplished the adherence of the colour

layer to the support.

Presently, a new stage is undergoing, that of

the aesthetical presentation of the lacunas:

large areas are to be treated archaeologically,

using coloured mortars, small lacunas of the

support and colour layer are to be chro-

matically integrated by tratteggio and finally,

the small loses of the colour layer by velatura.

Our intervention had the aim of assuring the

entire ensemble a high resistance capacity,

adequate for an eventual future seismic activity.

By the end of the year, we expect to finalise

the conservation of this monument. Once accom-

plished, the final results of our intervention

are to be presented in a future article.

Text by Simona Patrascuand Anca Nicolaescu

NEWS

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May

200

8

Stone Consolidation in Cultural Heritage - research and practice

8th Triennial Meeting for Conservators of the Baltic States

Apri

l 200

8

AIC 2008 Annual Meeting

Date: 21 –24 April Read more...

Place: Denver, USA

The theme for AIC’s 2008 Annual Meeting

is Creative Collaborations. The theme is

an intentionally broad, meant to highlight

successful projects completed by conservators

partnering with professionals in other fields,

such as scientists, engineers, artists, owners/

shareholders, or industrial representatives.

Technarte2008

Date: 24-25 April Read more...

Place: Bilbao, Spain

TECHNARTE is an international conference on

art and technology that seeks to become the

most important event of its kind. The aims are

to present technological developments that

enhance a broader expression of modern art,

and to provide a forum for debate and reflection

on the convergence between technology and

art. It was born as a conference where the most

important thinkers in the sector and the most

advanced technologists can be heard.

Heritage 2008: World Heritage and Sustainable Development

Date: 7-9 May Read more...

Place: Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Portugal

HERITAGE 2008 aims to gather in an International

Conference several worldwide experts on the relation-

ships between Heritage and Human Development,

Natural Environment and Building Preservation.

One of the main goals of the Conference is to promote

significant discussion on these relevant issues.

More and more Heritage must be addressed in innovative-

sustainable ways, underlining the role of human and

natural heritage as one of the contra-hegemonic trends

in a more and more global world.

The events in this section

are linked to the original homepage

of the organisers. In case the event

does not have an individual page,

the calendar of events will open at

www.conservationevents.com.

Click on "Read more..." to find out

more details about each event.

Date: 6-7 May Read more...Place: Lisbon, Portugal

This Symposium will focus on the present state of the

art and state of the practice as regards consolidation

mechanisms, degradation of consolidated stones, novel

products for consolidation and long term monitoring of

consolidation interventions on monuments aiming at

discussing both research and practical issues.

Date: 7-10 May Read more...

Place: Tallinn, Estonia

The aim of this meeting is to enhance the role of

preservation of cultural heritage as well as to point out

the importance of the conservation. Theoretical and

practical approaches to preservation, conservation and

research as well as new technical solutions will be

presented and discussed during the sessions.

e_conservation

arti

cles

Preparing for the Unexpected

Protection and Security for Cultural Collections

Date: 12-13 May Read more...

Place: Philadelphia, USA

This program is intended for staff charged with

collections care, including conservators, librarians,

archivists, curators, collections managers, and

stewards of historic house museums, and for staff

responsible for the safety of collections, such as site

and facility managers and security and safety staff.

Museum studies in the 21th century

The Problems of Research and Teaching

Date: 14-15 May Read more...

Place: St. Petersburg, Russia

Saint-Petersburg State University invites you to take

part in the international scientific conference "Museum

studies in the 21th century: the Problems of research

and teaching". The topics themes are: Museum as a

phenomenon of modern culture; tasks of modern museum

studies; scientific investigations in the museums;

ascription and examination in the museums; protection

of the museums; Museums and tourism.

International Paper Historians Congress 2008

Date: 27-30 May Read more...

Place: Stockholm, Sweden

The event will be organized in conjunction with the 100

years anniversary of SPCI, the Swedish Association of

Paper and Pulp Engineers. The overall theme of the

Congress will be The Birth of an Industry – from Forest to

Paper during the 19th Century and it will concentrate on

describing the huge structural changes that took place

during this period when the papermaking changed from a

handicraft type of activity to a continuously operating

process industry.

Vernici, Solventi e Colori da Ritoco nel Restauro

Date: 20-23 May Read more...

Place: Vicenza, Italy

Attraverso una serie di lezioni teoriche, dimostrazioni e

sessioni pratiche, questo workshop si prefigge di

aggiornare i restauratori/conservatori ai più recenti

sviluppi nei materiali e tecniche di verniciatura.

May

200

8

Mar

ch 2

008

Technologies and Techniques.RX Futures Conference 2008

Date: 10 May Read more...

Place: Reading, UK

RX, Research Exchange in the History of Art, Architec-

ture and Design, is a consortium of nine university

departments (Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Kingston,

Oxford Brookes, Reading, Roehampton, Southampton

and Warwick). Its third annual postgraduate conference

takes place on 10 May 2008 at the University of Reading.

Art2008 - 9th International Conference

Non-destructive testing, microanalysis and

preservation in the conservation of cultural

and environmental heritage

Date: 25-30 May Read more...

Place: Jersualem, Israel

The main objective of Art2008 is bringing together

experts in nondestructive evaluation and material

analysis with professionals from the fields of

preservation of cultural heritage, archeology, art

history and architectural researchers of ancient

structures.

24 e_conservation

EVENTS

Study and Serendipity: Testimonies on Artists' Practice

June

200

8

Multivariate Analysis and Chemometrics applied to Environment and Cultural Heritage

Date: 1-4 June Read more...

Place: Ventotene Island, Italy

The Meeting will be interest to theorists, researchers,

professors, experts, technicians, involved in multi-

variate techniques in order to improve the knowledge

of the environment and of the cultural artifacts. Every

analytical technique/method is welcome if it can be

used in a multivariate way.

Symposium on Archaeological Storage

Date: 6-8 June Read more...

Place: Los Angeles, USA

This symposium will bring together directors of

excavations and of centralized storage repositories for

archaeological collections, archaeological conservators

who have achieved innovative and accessible storage

methods, and archaeologists who have developed

digital management systems for portable finds.

Workshop in Paste Paper in Conservation

Date: 9-13 June Read more...

Place: Ascona, Switzerland

Historical paste paper techniques as needed for

adequate infills and bindings have not changed

fundamentally since the 17th century.

This course will help participants to understand the

fascinating processes, "read" the originals and

produce the required papers. Insights into history,

chemistry and surfaces are given. Insights into history,

chemistry and surfaces are given.

Digital Directions

Fundamentals of Creating and Managing Digital

Collections

Date: 10-12 June Read more...

Place: Jacksonville, USA

This revitalized version of the three-day School for

Scanning conference presents the essentials of

digitization and is geared toward participants with a

beginning or intermediate level of digital knowledge.

From file formats to funding, from metadata to rights

management, learn how to create and manage

sustainable digital collections.

Latest research into painting techniques of Impressionists and Postimpressionists

Date: 12-14 June Read more...

Place: Cologne, Germany

The event is planned to accompany the exhibition

„Painting Light – Hidden techniques of the Impressio-

nists“. The keynotes of the event are information on

the current state of scholarship and interdisciplinary

exchange between conservators and art historians.

June

200

8

Date: 12-13 June Read more...

Place: Glasgow University, Scotland

The aim of this meeting is to explore artists' practice

from all disciplines and periods as recorded in visual

and written testimonies; from treatises and manuals to

correspondence, ledgers, diaries and journals, as well

as images: paintings, prints, photographs, film etc.

e_conservation 25

EVENTS

arti

cles

AREAS OF PUBLISHING

Conservation TreatmentMural Painting

Painting

Stone

Sculpture

Textiles

Paper / Documents

Photography

Metals

Tile / Ceramic / Glass

Furniture

Music instruments

Ethnographic assets

Archeological objects

Conservation ScienceScientific research

Material studies and characterisation

Analytical techniques

Technology development

Biodeterioration

State-of-the-art

Reviews

Preventive ConservationTheoretic principles

Case studies

Documentation in ConservationStandardisation

Documentation methods

Data management

Conservation TheoryEthics

Conservation History

Art History, Iconography,

Iconology, Chemistry, Physics,

Biology, Photography, Cultural

Management, Museology,

Computer Science, Legislation

and Juridical Processes,

Conservation Policies

and any other field applied to

Conservation and Restoration

of works of art.

Check out more: www.e-conservationline.com

JUAN TORRES, ALBERTO POSSE, JOSÉ MANUEL MENÉNDEZ, ARACELI GABALDÓN, CARMEN VEGA, TOMÁS ANTELO,

MARIÁN DEL EGIDO & MIRIAM BUESO

VARIM

A Useful System for Acquiring

and Composing Images in Painting

Analysis Techniques

Introduction

Along the history, art has always been linked

to technology development. As new techniques

have arisen, the way artists show their ideas

has changed. Nevertheless, technology progress

has not only affected the creation of artistic

compositions but has also improved their study

and analysis, as well as their conservation and

restoration. The different sort of analysis offer

different information about works of art:

advances in the chemistry field make possible,

for instance, to carry out an exhaustive study

of the art materials’ composition, new tech-

niques of microscopic analysis provide with

more data about the state of the paintings, etc.

The increasing development of the computer

systems and the advances in the image pro-

cessing algorithms and computer vision not

only provide new instruments of analysis

but also permit to improve the ones already

existing. In addition, this improvement allows

the reduction of costs, making the technology

accessible to a greater number of conservator-

restorers, curators, art historians and researchers

in general.

Having this idea in mind, the VARIM project

(Visión Artificial aplicada a la Reflectografía de

Infrarrojos Mecanizada – Computer Vision

applied to Mechanized Infrared Reflectography)

was born. In this project, a complete system

for acquiring and composing the infrared re-

flectography mosaic was designed and created.

This system is able to create, in an automatic

way, the entire image of the underdrawing

layer of a painting using advanced computer

vision techniques. But its main importance

lies in offering study tools even to users having

scant resources and knowledge due to a user

friendly design. Moreover, it is an all-purpose

tool which not only can create a reflectographic

mosaic but its modular structure makes possible

its use for other analysis techniques such as

radiography, as further shown.

VARIM history

The infrared reflectography [1] is an analysis

technique used since the 70’s and it consists

of acquiring a set of contiguous images of a

painting using a video camera sensitive exclu-

sively to the infrared area. These images are

later merged to obtain a unique image called

mosaic. A large number of images of a painting

are required so small details can be appreciated.

The final mosaic offers information about the

underdrawing layer which is not directly visible

by the human eye. Although this technique

has been used for decades, the traditional

method entails several problems that make

the task very slow and tedious. Moreover,

as it was already stated, this kind of analysis

has not been accessible to modest institutions.

Thus, VARIM project tried to solve a set of

problems which can be found in other systems

offering a versatile tool for everyone.

Among the difficulties, VARIM has brought

improvements to old methods, such as:

- Usually, the acquisition task is done in a

manual way, placing the camera in front of the

desired area of the painting for each capture.

If a high resolution is required, the number of

captured images must be increased. This implies

a monotonous task, placing and controlling the

camera in the right position.

- The mosaicing is also a manual task. The user

should select the sub-images one by one and

mark at least a similar point in two of the

28 e_conservation

JUAN TORRES et al.

consecutive sub-images. Depending on the

number of sub-images, this task can involve

several hours of tedious work.

- In the traditional method, different computing

applications are used for each step: acquisition,

processing and mosaicing. To handle several

programs for the same process can cause incom-

patibilities among them while integration in one

only makes easier the user’s tasks.

- The imperfections of the infrared camera, the

mechanical elements and the variations in the

light conditions make very difficult to obtain

high quality mosaics.

This way, VARIM provides different tools that

solve the difficulties already enumerated, as

well as it brings additional advantages to be

mentioned further on.

System Description

The VARIM system is formed by two components:

the physical devices composing the hardware

architecture, and the software application

which handles these devices and includes

useful image processing tools. Although not

all the physical devices are available to any

user -for instance the infrared camera is an

expensive device- the software application

can be used independently to acquire colour

images and to join any kind of images, i. e.,

colour, ultraviolet and radiography ones. In

addition, the software is distributed for free

and released under the terms of the GPL

license. Any interested person can download

the application from the web page of the

VARIM project.

Figure 1. VARIM application

29e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

Figure 2 shows VARIM’s physical diagram archi-

tecture, which is composed of the painting, a

mechanical position system (handled through

an Ethernet module), a near infrared camera, a

lighting system, and a PC platform with a frame-

grabber.

The mechanical position system is formed by:

- A stable structure that allows camera con-

trolled movements among an area of 1x1 meter

Figure 2. VARIM’s physical structure set up for infrared reflectography mosaicing

(two degrees of freedom) operated by the PC

using the Ethernet module. This structure can

be transported to place it in front of the work o

f art at the laboratory or outside (left and

center images in Figure 3).

- A mobile structure that makes the stable

structure to achieve a height of 6 meters,

allowing the system to reach paintings that

can not be moved, such as those in a church

(right image in Figure 3).

Figure 3. Hardware sub-system.

JUAN TORRES et al.

The system is able to move the structure in a

smart way, acquiring each sub-image that will

configure the mosaic and inserting them auto-

matically in the application. This process is

carried out without any other human intervention

besides the input of some data: the initial and

the final positions and the selected overlapping

area between the acquired images. Human

errors during the movement are thus avoided

with this automatic acquisition.

The lighting system is placed in a fixed way on

both sides of the painting in order to obtain a

uniform light condition all over the painting

surface.

Software application

VARIM application is designed as modular

software and it can be used separately. The

different modules are as follows:

- A Video and Image Acquisition Module (VIAM).

This is the module in charge of the camera control,

that is, the automatic acquisition of the sub-

images which compose the entire mosaic.

- An Image Processing Module (IPM). Some

generic image processing tools are imple-

mented in this module besides the mosaicing

algorithms (VIPS library is used). As well as

the generic tools, three important methods

have been designed and developed:

1. A noise pattern suppression method.

This is an algorithm able correct the wear

that some old infrared cameras have. This

wear produces an undesirable pattern in

all the captured images.

2. A geometrical distortion correction algo-

rithm [2]. Some cameras show a geometrical

distortion due to the imperfection of their

lenses. Thus, a method for correcting this

effect has been implemented.

3. An automatic luminosity control inFigure 4. VARIM software,main and secondary windows

31e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

acquisition [3]. This algorithm has been

implemented in order to maintain a regular

luminosity during the acquisition process,

correcting the differences in the incident

light and its variation in each capture.

- A Mechanical Control Module (MCM). It

is in charge of the manual and automatic

movement and of positioning the camera

in front of the painting.

A main window interface, where all the acquired

sub-images are listed and organized by rows,

gives access to all the implemented func-

tionalities. Figure 4 shows an example of the

application. The background window lists the

acquired sub-images; the foreground window

shows the composed mosaic, together with a

detail of a particular union and its position in

the whole mosaic. In order to form the mosaic,

every image registration in the mosaicing

process requires one or two correspondence

points in two consecutive (horizontal or

vertical) images, points that are found by an

automatic algorithm [4]. Then, VIPS library

is used to merge the two images using those

automatic calculated points. Figure 5 shows

an example of this image registration.

Figure 5 - Automatic image registration

As an example, one of the most recent studies

has been selected: "Estudio comparativo de

tres pinturas sobre tabla". This study presents

the fieldwork done due to the "Sumas y restas

de las tablas de Arcenillas" exhibition in the

Zamora Museum. In this exhibition, three

wooden paintings belonging to an alterpiece

ascribed to Fernando Gallego were shown:

"Adoración de los Magos" (nowadays in the

Museo de Bellas Artes of Asturias), "Noli me

tangere" and "Pentecostés" (both in the

Zamora’s Cathedral Museum). It is believed

these paintings were made in the 15th century

for the altarpiece of the Zamora’s Cathedral.

In the 18th century, this altarpiece was

replaced and purchased by a nearly village

called Arcenillas. In 2007, a comparative

analysis of the three paintings was requested.

The applied intervention protocol was the

regular one used by the IPHE’s laboratory of

Physics Studies and the stages where VARIM

was used were divided into two steps: the

acquisition and mosaicing of the infrared

reflectography and the mosaicing of the

digitalized X-ray images.

As earlier stated, some of the features of

VARIM are available using specific physical

devices. For instance, to acquire images in

an automatic way, the mechanical position

system is required. Nevertheless, the compo-

sition of any kind of images and the image

processing tools can be used without any

restriction.

Applications and Results

Nowadays, the VARIM application produces

very satisfactory results. Indeed, almost all

the projects carried out by the Physics Studies

area of the Instituto del Patrimonio Histórico

Español (IPHE) use this software application.

32 e_conservation

JUAN TORRES et al.

Figure 6. “Adoración de los Magos” (visible).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

33e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

The infrared reflectography

The first stage in a study on the response of

a painting to infrared radiation is to decide

between a better spectral or spatial resolution.

Thus, initially a double sampling of the paint-

ing is done because the type of sensor to be

used depends on the pigments’ properties:

infrared reflectograph (mounted in an analog

camera) or CCD (mounted in a conventional

digital camera, with no infrared filter).

In this case, the spatial resolution was the

decisive feature, thus a CCD was chosen. This

kind of sensor is low cost (compared to the

infrared one) and more accessible to

researchers.

All the images acquired and composed were

obtained using VARIM application and the

study was divided in four stages:

Figure 8. “Pentecostés” (visible).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

Figure 7. “Noli me tangere” (visible).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

1. Decision of the size of the mosaic. As this

depends on the motif to be studied, its size

was decided using a previous tracking of the

painting.

2. Location and assembly of the mechanical

position system. The mechanical support is

usually taken in pieces because of the move-

ment. Because of this, it is important to check

if all devices are perfectly adjusted before

acquisition. Moreover, this system must be

placed parallel to the painting from a distance

previously established in order to obtain a

correct automatic composition. Later, the

camera was placed in its support using a B+W

093 filter to avoid visible radiation inside the

camera lens.

3. Acquisition and mosaicing. Using contiguous

images, horizontal and vertical, the partial

displacements were decided in order to obtain

34 e_conservation

JUAN TORRES et al.

Figure 9. “Adoración de los Magos” (reflectography).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

35e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

a correct overlapping area between images.

This parameter depends on several factors but

the main one is the type of drawing. Once the

images were acquired, they were integrated in

the workspace and the final mosaics were

obtained.

4. Analysis and exhibition of the obtained

results [5]. As a conclusion, some similarities

in the preparatory drawing of the three paint-

ings have been found. In fact, this also occurs i

n other studied paintings from the same author

(Fernando Gallego), as for instance, in the altar-

piece of Trujillo (Cáceres) and in "La Virgen de

la Rosa" (Salamanca’s Cathedral Museum).

Next, some observations can be drawn from the

pervious statements. Firstly, the drawing is of

high quality and the lines are confident, ex-

pressing a vigorous image. Moreover, in general,

the visible composition fits with the prepara-

tory drawing. A first approach to the pieces

Figure 11. “Pentecostés” (reflectography).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

Figure 10. “Noli me tangere” (reflectography).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

could give the sensation of great differences

but similar areas demonstrate that the creation

process is the same. Lastly, only one label1

(regarding the green colour, "verde") has been

found in "La Adoración de los Magos" (Figure 9).

The X-ray analysis

First of all, it must be mentioned that this is a

comparative study which will comprise other

11 wooded paintings from Arcenillas’ Church

(Zamora). Thus, all the X-ray belonging to the

wooden boards were made2 and developed3

under the same conditions. The used film4 has

1 The artists usually draw some texts in the underdrawing giving instructions to their pupils. In this case some labels regarding colours were drawn.2 Each X-ray was obtained in one shot using a Philips MCN 165 device under the parameters 40 kV and 184 mAxs/m2.3 In an automatic process during 8 minutes and 30 ºC.4 Type II norm ASTM (D-7 by AGFA)

36 e_conservation

JUAN TORRES et al.

Figure 12. “Adoración de los Magos” (X-ray).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos.

37e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

Figure 14. “Pentecostés” (X-ray).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

Figure 13. “Noli me tangere” (X-ray).I.P.H.E. Sección de Estudios Físicos

usually a format of roll of 30 cm width and

61 meters long. The film was cut into strips

of the same height as the boards. Altogether

more than 7 meters of film was needed. Once

the X-ray was obtained, it was digitalized.

The dissemination of the obtained digital docu-

ment is important for conservation and the digi-

talized X-ray makes easier the study of the paint-

ing for a great number of researchers because

no additional and expensive devices are needed.

On the other hand, the preservation of this

digital document is very important and its

manipulation must be avoided. The document

is of high importance as a witness of the

conservation status of the painting.

VARIM was also used in the joint of digita-

lized plates. Previously, other image processing

applications were used but a clear and artificial

line appeared in the joint area due to the lack

of an overlapping area in the images. Using

the union algorithms provided by VARIM, the

joint process is automatic and instantaneous.

On the other hand, the exhaustive analysis

of these documents provides valuable data,

invisible to the human eye. In this case study

(Figures 12-14), some metallic staples were

found in order to reinforce some cracks in

"La Adoración de los Magos" (Figure 12).

The other paintings do not have any staples

in spite of some cracks of the wooden boards.

In addition, some differences were found

38 e_conservation

JUAN TORRES et al.

regarding the fabric placed between the

preparatory layer and the painting. This fabric

is complete in the case of "La Adoración de

los Magos" while the other two painting

present fabric in the panels joints and in the

cracks. Finally, some similarities were found

between "La Adoración de los Magos" and

"Pentecostés", where an incisive drawing and

a clear vanishing point appears in both X-ray

(Figures 12 and 14).

Conclusions

The VARIM system has demonstrated that it is

of inestimable help and has brought improve-

ment compared to the traditional method. VARIM

is an application that integrates in only one

work environment all acquiring and mosaicing

tasks. This makes the entire process more

efficient. Thus, the use of workspaces and the

storage of all the information is done in an

easy and fast way which is especially useful

due to the great number of images that are

handled in each session.

Another interesting feature is the use of temporal

and work directories. Using the application

preferences, the user can specify the work

directory and a different one where the partial

results are stored.

Furthermore, in a real environment, the applica-

tion offers a tool where the acquisition and

mosaicing tasks are user-friendly and easy.

Moreover, thanks to the automatic methods

previously mentioned, the system allows to

save a considerable amount of time.

Even users without deep computer knowledge

can use the application in an easy way, thanks

to the accessibility criteria applied in the design

stage.

Finally, thanks to the fact that the software is

distributed for free, its extensive use and the

obtained feedback made possible to correct

some bugs and to improve its functionalities.

One of the main objectives established at the

beginning of the project was achieved: to

create a functional tool, easy to use and

accessible to a great number of people.

References

1. J. R. Van Asperen de Boer, “A contribution

to the examination of earlier European

paintings”, PhD thesis, University of

Amsterdam, 1970

2. J. Torres and J. M. Menéndez, “A practical

algorithm to correct geometrical distortion

of image acquisition cameras”, IEEE

International Conference on Image

Processing, vol. III, pp. 2451-2454,

October 2004

3. J. Torres and J.M. Menéndez, “An adaptive

real-time method for controlling the

luminosity in digital video acquisition”,

IAESTED International Conference on

Visualization, Imaging and Image

Processing, pp. 133-137, September, 2005

4. A. Posse, J. Torres and J.M. Menéndez,

"Matching points in low contrast images”,

International Conference on Image

Processing (ICIP), San Diego, USA, October

2008 (Under revision)

5. T. Antelo, A. Gabaldón and C. Vega,

"Sumas o restas: incógnitas en torno al

retablo de Arcenillas”, in Sumas y restas de

las tablas de Arcenillas. Fernado Gallego y el

antiguo retablo de la Catedral de Zamora,

Zamora, 2007

39e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

VARIM: A USEFUL SYSTEM FOR ACQUIRING AND COMPOSING IMAGES IN PAINTINGS ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

www.upm.es

Polytechnic University of Madrid

Grupo de Aplicación de Telecomunicaciones Visuales(G@TV)

Visual Telecommunication Application Group

G@TV is a research group that belongs to the

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), one

of the most important universities in Spain.

This group has experience in image/video

processing, in the development of Intelligent

Transport Systems and surveillance systems.

The experience on image and video extends

throughout computer vision applied to art

conservation and restoration, coding, computer

graphics, image restoration and analysis, object

and movement location and tracking, etc.

Instituto del Patrimonio Histórico Español (IPHE)

Spanish Historical Heritage Institute

IPHE operates within the Dirección General de

Bellas Artes y Bienes Culturales of the Spanish

Ministry of Culture and takes care of the

development and implementation of plans for

the conservation and restoration of historical

heritage. Movable heritage and historical

buildings are included.

The IPHE also co-operates with other

public administrations and public or private

institutions for the development of these

plans. The IPHE works on the available

documentation, organization of work produced

and archival on the historic heritage of the

country, as well as research and study of

criteria, methods and updated techniques

in conservation and restoration of cultural

heritage.

JUAN TORREScontact: jta@gatv.ssr.upm.es

He received the Telecommunications Engineer

degree (Hons.) in 2004 from E.T.S. Ingenieros

de Telecomunicación of the Universidad Poli-

técnica de Madrid . Since 2002, he is a member

of the Signals, Systems and Radio communi-

cations Department of the E.T.S. Ingenieros

de Telecomunicación. In 2006, he obtained

the Researcher Aptitude in the Ph.D. program

called "Communications Technologies and

Systems". Nowadays, he is a PhD candidate

researching on the variations of the internal

parameters of the video cameras digital

acquisition.

His master thesis was performed in the VARIM

Project (Artificial Vision applied to Mechanized

Infrared Reflectography) framework, funded by

the Ministry of Industry.

Moreover, he is author of several international

and national papers and scientific contributions

and has been invited to several national

Congresses. In addition, he has taught a

course belonged to a Master in Arqueometry

of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

40 e_conservation

JUAN TORRES et al.

www.gatv.ssr.upm.es

www.mcu.es/patrimonio/MC/IPHE/

ALBERTO POSSE

He received the Telecommunications Engineer

degree (Hons.) from E.T.S. Ingenieros de Tele-

comunicación of the Universidad Politécnica de

Madrid in 2007. His master thesis was performed

in the VARIM Project (Artificial Vision applied

to Mechanized Infrared Reflectography)

framework. His professional interests include

image and digital video processing, image

registration, remote sensing and computer

vision. He is Ph.D. candidate and researcher

assistant at the Visual Applications Tele-

communications Group being involved in

several R&D National and European Projects

in relation with Audiovisual and Remote

Sensing technologies.

JOSÉ MANUEL MENÉNDEZ

He received the Telecommunications Engineer

degree (Hons.) in 1988 and the Ph.D. degree

in Communications (summa cum laude) in

1996, both by the E.T.S. Ingenieros de Tele-

comunicación of the Universidad Politécnica

de Madrid. Since 1988 he is a member of the

Signals, Systems and Radio communications

Department of the E.T.S. Ingenieros de Tele-

comunicación, becoming associate professor

in 1996. His professional interests include

computer vision, image processing, digital

video broadcasting and visual communications.

He has been actively involved both in European

(Eureka, Race, Esprit, ACTS, and IST, since

the II FP) and in national projects since 1988.

Dr. Menéndez has published about 40 inter-

national publications about computer vision

and image processing, both in international

journals and conferences, and he is co-author

of a book (in Spanish) about Audio and

Video Technology for undergraduate

engineering level.

ARACELI GABALDÓN

Bachelor's Degree in Physical Science, X-rays

installation supervisor at IPHE (Madrid) and

the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

(Madrid), she contributes to research and to

develop technical studies with electromagnetic

radiation on cultural beings.

She is employed at IPHE Physical Studies

Section since 1971.

CARMEN VEGA

Ph.D. in Biophysics, she has been collaborating

at IPHE Physical Studies Section since 2001 as

expert on infrared reflectography studies on

cultural assets. She participates on publications

and congresses about this specialised subject.

TOMÁS ANTELO

Bachelor of Arts, X-rays installation operator,

he develops projects on X-rays, UV, IR, visible

studies on cultural assets at IPHE Physical

Studies Section since 1970.

MARIÁN DEL EGIDO

Bachelor's Degree in Physical Science, Curator of

Museums and Chief of IPHE Scientific Department

since 2000, she is involved in several projects

on scientific studies of cultural heritage.

MIRIAM BUESO

Bachelor of Arts and Archaeology, Graduate

in Conservation on the speciality of Archae-

ology and Assistant Curator of Museums, she

is working at IPHE Physical Studies Section

since 2005, contributing to develop research

and publications about physical studies of

cultural assets.

41e_conservation

VARIM PROJECT

we accept articles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian, acceptăm articole în Engleză, Spaniolă, Portugheză, Italiană şi Română, aceptamos artículos en Inglés, Francés, Español, Portugués, Italiano y Rumano, nous acceptons des articles en Anglais, Français, Espagnol, Portugais, Italien et Roumain, accettiamo articoli in Inglese, Francese, Spagnolo, Portoghese, Italiano e Rumeno, aceitamos artigos en Inglês, Francês, Espanhol, Português, Italiano e Romeno.

MATERIALS USED IN ROMANIAN MANUSCRIPTSFROM 15th TO 19th CENTURYStereomicroscopy

by MIHAI I. A. LUPU

Introduction

The paper presents the results of compared

stereomicroscopy for the pigments used in the

Romanian manuscripts dated between 15th and

19th century from the National Museum of Art

of Romania (NAMR) collection. This type of

analysis was done because it was not possible

to take samples for microchemical analysis.

An Olympus stereomicroscope SZ 60 was used

to compare the pigments with others already

determined. The results are presented synthetically

and show similarities with the pigments used

in the same period in Western Europe [1, 2].

Three different kinds of inks were determined:

a black one - containing vegetable charcoal;

a gold one - gold powder; and a red one -

cinnabar or red lead. The pigments correspond

to all those already mentioned for that period:

ceruse (white lead), ultramarine, azurite, smalt,

malachite, red and yellow ochre, cinnabar and

red lead, green and brown earth, massicot and

litharge, orpiment and realgar, gold sheet and

some unidentified organic pigments.

Another possibility to make these analyses

without sampling was carried out using the

following in-situ techniques: X-ray Fluorescence

(XRF), micro-Raman, Fiber-Optic Fourier Transform

Mid-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy and Near

Infrared (NIR). This was possible due to the

European research project MOLAB with the help

of the University of Perugia in 2005 at Putna

Monastery which focused on the research of

the most important illuminated Romanian

manuscripts from the 15th century. The results

indicated the presence of: gelatine, iron gall

ink and charcoal for the black ink; colloidal

gold for the gold ink; and cinnabar for the red

ink. According to the analyses, the results

were similar to those obtained by stereo-

microscopy (SMC), but much more precise

and it was possible to determine calcite and

gypsum, even in very small quantities. [3]

The Romanian Medieval Art Department of

NMAR contains a collection of 33 illuminated

manuscripts from the 13th to the 19th century,

some written in Greek, some bilingual, written

in Greek-Romanian and Slavonic-Romanian,

one in Romanian written in Slavonic and one

in Latin alphabet.

This study presents the results of the microscopic

research in the visible and U.V light for 13 of

these artworks, for the pigments used in the

miniature paintings and manuscripts decorations

(Table 1), which were presented in the second

volume of the book “Miniatura si ornamentul

manuscriselor din Colectia de Arta Medievala

Romaneasca”, published by Simetria, Bucharest

(2006), written by the Romanian art historian

Liana Tugearu.

Imag

e 1,

Man

uscr

ipt M

s. 1

0/12

617.

44 e_conservation

MIHAI I. A. LUPU

No. Name Inventory No. Year Language Monastery County

1 Gospel Ms. 4/12611 1435-36 Slavonic / Bulgarian Neamt Moldavia

2 Gospel Ms. 6/12613 1511-12 Slavonic / Romanian Neamt Moldavia

3 Gospel Ms. 7/12614 1518-19 Slavonic / Romanian Walachia

4 Gospel Ms. 9/12616 16th century Slavonic / Romanian Putna Moldavia

5 Gospel Ms.12/12619 1579 Slavonic / Romanian Walachia

6 Gospel Ms.10/12617 1575 Slavonic / Romanian Moldavia

7 “Omliile” Ms.31/68257 1581 Slavonic / Romanian Walachia

8 Gospel Ms.11/12618 1583 Slavonic / Serbian Walachia

9 Gospel Ms.13/12620 16th century Slavonic / Romanian Moldavia

10 Gospel Ms.20/12627 1940 Slavonic / Romanian Walachia

11 Gospel Ms.21/12628 1946 Slavonic / Romanian Radauti Moldavia

12 "Rand la slujba" Ms.22/12629 1656-57 Slavonic / Romanian Walachia

13 "Talcuire" Ms.18/12625 ~1775 Slavonic / Russian Ukrainian

Kiev

Table 1. The studied manuscripts, the monasteries or counties where they were made and the period.

Results and discussions

Table I presents in chronological order the

studied manuscripts and the Monasteries or

Counties where they were made.

The Illuminated Manuscripts are written in the

Slavonic alphabet, which was used in the official

Romanian medieval documents and by the

Orthodox Church between the 12th and the

19th century.

The manuscripts were made in Moldavia,

the north-east side of the Romanian present

territory and in Walachia, the south-east region.

The first of them was written in Bulgarian and

the last one in Russian-Ukrainian language.

Most part of the illuminated manuscripts have

two different kinds of decorations: one of them

is used for the beginning and the final parts of

each Gospel (images 1-3 and 5) while the other

one depicts the images of the Four Evangelists.

Sometimes the authors used the same pigments

while other times differences between the number

and the tones of the used colours can be seen.

Identification of the materials was made by

comparison with original pigments. The results

are presented in Table 2.

Image 2. Manuscript Ms. 10/12617, detail of decoration.

45e_conservation

ROMANIAN MANUSCRIPTS

Imag

e 3,

Man

uscr

ipt M

s. 4

/126

11

46 e_conservation

MIHAI I. A. LUPU

Manuscris / Pigment

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Lead White

Massicot

Litharge

Oripiment

Realgar

Yellow Ochre

Red Lead

Cinnabar

Red Ochre

Azurite

Smalt

Lapis lazuli

Malachite

Green Earth

Brown

Gold

Indigo

Black

Table 2. Pigment results. Pigments presence is shown by the coloured rectangles.The numbers of the manuscripts are correspondent to Table 1.

As an example, the manuscript MS 9/12616 from

Putna Monastery, Moldavia will be presented.

Decoration: red lead, red ochre, green earth,

azurite, gold powder, litharge, candle black.

Illustration: red lead, red lead + charcoal

black, malachite, green earth, yellow ochre,

reddish-violet: cinnabar + lead white + azurite,

azurite, red-orange: cinnabar, Natural Umber,

charcoal black, pink: cinnabar + ceruse, gold

powder, lead white (image 4).

The difference between the decoration and

illustration consists in the double number

47e_conservation

ROMANIAN MANUSCRIPTS

of colours, 7 for the first and 14 for the

second. The miniaturist tried to represent

in a pictorial mode the Four Evangelists,

and thus, he could not limit himself to use

a smaller number of colours - he either mixed

some of them or added more pigments.

In this particular manuscript the technique is

most similar with that used for the Byzantine

Icons from the Balkan Peninsula (Greeks,

Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian) and Russia.

The portraits are painted from dark colours

(proplasma) to lighter ones.

This method does not permit to see if the

ground layer from the Gospel illustration is

similar with that usually used for icons. In

the Illuminated Manuscripts the original

technique uses the whiteness of the vellum,

prepared with lead white [3].

Previous studies regarding Romanian icons

from the same period and the comparison

with the Illuminated Manuscripts indicate

the use of best quality pigments (lapis-lazuli,

massicot, litharge and orpiment), especially

in the 15th century, when the Byzantine

culture was very well represented in Moldavia

and Walachia. Until the 18th century, gold

was preponderantly used for text and

illustration; after this, it was replaced with

yellow ochre.

Acknowledgements

This study could not have been possible

without the decisive contribution of Ms. Liana

Tugearu, art historian, specialist in Romanian

Illuminated Manuscripts.

I would also like to thank my colleague, Carmen

Tanasoiu, art conservator, for her help with the

documentation for this paper.

References

1. M. Clark, “The analysis of medieval European manuscripts”, Reviews in Conservation (2001), pp. 3-172. Cenino Cennini, “The Craftsman’s Handbook”, translated by Daniel V. Thompson, Jr., Dover Publications, New York (1960)3. MOLAB, “User Report”, Access, Research and Technology for the Conservation of the European Cultural Heritage (2005) 4. J. Plesters, “Cross-section and Chemical Analysis of Paint Samples”, Studies in Conservation 2, (1956), pp. 134-155 5. M. I. A. Lupu, "Microchemical Analysis of Inorganic Materials used in Romanian 16th-19th Century Icons”, Part I, Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Non-destructive Testing and Microanalysis for the Diagnostics and Conservation of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage ART’99, Rome, May 1999, pp. 2141-21516. M. I. A. Lupu, “Microchemical Analysis of Inorganic Materials used in Romanian 16th-19th Century Icons”, Part II, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Non-Destructive Testing and Microanalysis for the Diagnostics and Conservation of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage (ART 2002), Antwerp, 2-6 June 2002, pp. 631-639.

Image 4. Manuscrpit Ms. 9/12616, Luke the Evangelist.

48 e_conservation

MIHAI I. A. LUPU

Image 5. Manuscript Ms. 6/12613, ensamble of decoration.

49e_conservation

ROMANIAN MANUSCRIPTS

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

e_conservation magazine is open to the submission of articles on a wide range of relevant topics for the cultural heritage sector.

Next deadlines for article submission are:

for Issue 5, June 2008 – submission due 30 April 2008

for Issue 6, August 2008 – submission due 30 June 2008

Nevertheless, you can always submit your manuscript when it is ready. Between the receival of the manuscript until the final publication may pass up to 3 months according with:- the number of the manuscripts on hold, submitted earlier by other authors- the release date of the upcoming issue- the pre-allocated space in the magazine to each section

Please check our publication guidelines for more information.

Read more...

MIHAI I. A. LUPU

Contact: lupu@art.museum.ro

National Museum of Art of Romania

Calea Victoriei 49-53, Bucharest Romaniawww.mnar.arts.roPhone: 0040-21-313 30 30Fax: 0040-21-312 43 27

Mihai Lupu is a conservator scientist

at the Conservation Department of National

Museum of Art (MNAR) from Bucharest.

He has continuously worked in the

conservation field since 32 years,

performing research and acquiring

experience in different materials such

as metals, graphic documents, painting,

mural painting and textiles.

He collaborated on the analysis and

conservation of the mural paintings from

Agapia Monastery and several other painted

monuments from Romania. The results of his

research were published and presented at

national and international conferences

among which ART 1999, 2002 and 2005,

Triennal ICOM-CC meetings in 1987, 1993

and 1996, METAL 1995 and 1998, etc.

He was also member of the Artistic

Components Commission, Ministry of

Culture and Cults from Romania.

50 e_conservation

MIHAI I. A. LUPU

case

stu

dy

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by NICCOLO CALDARARO

GEORGES DE BATZ

The Mysterious Case of an Art Collector

Extraordinary Found by Examination

of a Paintingcase

stu

dy

GEORGES DE BATZ

The Mysterious Case of an Art Collector

Extraordinary Found by Examination

of a Painting

Cultural objects appear in our museums as the result of the efforts of particular individuals who

decide to collect certain kinds of objects for a variety of personal reasons. As a cultural trait we

find collections in many different cultures, civilizations and different periods of history. One

example is the Aztec collections mentioned by many of the Spanish at the time of their contact

with Native American societies and summarized by Pietro de Marytr in the early 16th century.

This paper investigates two mysteries; one describes the personal journey of one modern

collector, whose contributions to two major American museums were substantial, but whose

history is little known especially regarding his demise and the dispersal of his personal fortune;

the other mystery surrounds a huge painting he possessed and its examination.

Part I: The Nature of the Collector

The story of Georges de Batz, accomplished

collector and dealer in fine arts, encompasses

two mysteries, one which is about his fortune

and another which tells the tale of the authen-

ticity of a painting he possessed at his death.

I first met Georges de Batz (Figure 1) in early

1979 when I accompanied Achenbach Foun-

dation Assistant Curator Maxine Rosston to

his home on Polk Street in San Francisco.

It was not the usual duty for a museum pro-

fessional. I was to provide moral support and

act as that kind of convenient person who can

produce the reminder that it is time to leave.

This was really the most essential part of my

role as I was to learn later, since Mr. de Batz

was neither threatening nor formidable. He was,

simply, very talkative and very eccentric. Rather

"San Francisco" in many ways.

I worked in the Achenbach Foundation with the

Western Regional Paper Conservation Laboratory

and Painting Conservation Departments of the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The latter

Department was really made up of Ms. Terri

Picante and myself at the time. Mostly we

worked at the De Young Museum as the studio

at the Legion of Honor was only the size of a

large dining room.

It was so small we often had to take large

paintings into the hallway to turn them

around or over to be able to work on the verso

or recto. However, my museum duties did not

qualify me for my task that day. Frankly, I was

chosen mainly due to the fact that I was a

young man and being such I would function as

a distraction for the purpose of Mrs. Rosston's

visit. Achenbach Foundation Director-in-Charge,

Robert Johnson had agreed with Ms. Rosston

that she should not go to Mr. de Batz' apartment

without a "second". Her mission was to deliver

a check to de Batz, an installment payment for

the part purchase and part donation of his rather

lavish, but at the same time, curious and frus-

trating collection of prints and drawings. This

arrangement had been negotiated some years

before by then Museum Director Mr. Thomas Carr

Howe and its arrival was as rewarding a treasure

as its owner was an enigma.

I could not conceive that my brief meeting

with this strange but brilliant little man that

e_conservation 53

GEORGES DE BATZ

day would connect with a grand mystery related

to another fabulous work of art of which he was

the central character. For several years I had

occasionally seen Mr. de Batz in the Achenbach

speaking with Mrs. Rosston and Mr. Johnson.

This was always an animated affair, either

de Batz was upset and angry or happy and

almost delirious. His range of mood was both

unexpected and unnerving. As he was a small

man, with a robust and fleshy body, his

intensity was a surprise, yet since he spoke

French as his native tongue his English became

unintelligible as his ardor increased. One was

left with a great deal of consternation at how

to regard and respond to his distress or joy.

Mr. de Batz had been a collector known to cura-

tors and dealers from coast to coast in America.

His achievements live on in both the Achenbach

Foundation and in the Boston Museum of Fine

Arts (MFA) Asian Art collection, which were first

displayed at the Museum in Boston in 1953.

Both de Batz' connoisseurship and his generosity

are reflected in his museum donations. He was

as great a mystery as his collections were rich.

According to art historian Allen E.J. Carr, de Batz'

father had also been a collector and dealer of

fine art in France. In the preface to the Boston

MFA catalogue of the de Batz collection [1],

Curator George Boas tells us that Georges de

Batz came to the U.S. in the autumn of 1939

on the last ship leaving France as the Second

World War began. Georges arrived with his

baggage filled with drawings. From the begin-

ning of his arrival he impressed all he met with

a wonder for things, from art to "Christmas

tree ornaments from Woolworths". His taste

was of such developed quality that friends and

colleagues soon recognized the virtuoso that

he was, which was certainly remarkable for

how deeply moved he was by every purchase.

His home was considered a private museum

NICCOLO CALDARARO

Figure 1. Photographic image of Georges de Batz,published in the San Francisco Examiner.

by collector and scholar and was so renowned

that a photograph of a part of the interior was

included in the Boston catalogue. From Shang

bronzes to Rembrandt drawings, his apartment

was seen as a most special creation of a rather

rare character.

Yet, if we look for other images of that character,

of personal elements of his life and history, we

are defeated. His abilities are legion in regard

to the arts and we are told that Johns Hopkins

University produced several exhibitions (1940-

1942) organized by de Batz of Persian manuscripts,

old silver, glass, jewelry, textiles, miniatures

54 e_conservation

and paintings. His activities aided the education

of students from 1939 to 1942 by providing

the most exquisite experiences of art and

beauty; demonstrations with examples of

encounters he had had with artists, musicians,

etc. followed by discussions or lectures of the

most lively nature. He organized a catalogue

of the art of Vincent van Gogh in aid of the

American and Dutch war relief at Wildenstein

in 1943 and wrote a number of catalogues for

other exhibitions at Johns Hopkins and

Wildenstein at the end of the Second World

War. But despite all this, we know little of

the man himself.

The time that I visited his apartment in San

Francisco with Mrs. Rosston his garrulous

nature exposed me to a variety of rich vignettes

of famous people – artists, collectors, military

generals, poets, the rich; and within these

tales would be found the lesson of his great

"finds". A Michelangelo here, a Chasseriau

there, and so on. This was the stock in trade

of his conversation, as I recall from his visits

to the Achenbach and from the comments of

others concerning their meetings with him.

His apartment was luxuriously decorated but

a bit crowded and rather cluttered with curios,

artifacts, books, papers and magazines pilled

about here and there on chairs, tables and the

floor. Still, there seemed to be order and not

chaos as he produced objects and documents

from amid these mounds at will to illustrate

some point or story.

It was common knowledge around the Museum

that de Batz had been a friend of former

Achenbach Director E. Gunter Troche. Former

Achenbach Curator Fenton Kastner and former

Asian Art Museum Conservator, Alex Penkovic

often spoke of their association and how this

friendship between collector and Director had

involved both shining lights of exhibitions

and art for the Museums, and shadows of

the Second World War, including trips to

Argentina and Uruguay. Darker recollections

were made about earlier acquaintances in

Europe before the Second World War. It was

rumored that Troche had come to the USA

from South America where he had been a

dealer of fine art. His resumé lacked a certain

precision during the period of the Second

World War in Germany and after, and encour-

aged some rumors and speculation. But this

element of the fragmented history and mystery

of the life of Georges de Batz did not become

important until I was asked to look at huge

painting more than a decade later owned by

Mr. Herbert Hoover of San Francisco.

Mr. Hoover is a successful dealer and appraiser

of fine art and once owned a commercial art

gallery in San Francisco. He is also the author

of a book on the art scene in San Francisco in

the 1980s. In the mid 1990s I conserved a

number of paintings for Mr. Hoover. One day

Mr. Hoover called me to come and examine a

large canvas he had purchased in the 1980s

which had suffered a blow to the surface

(Figure 2).

His apartment was

luxuriously decorated

but a bit crowded and

rather cluttered with

curios, artifacts, books,

papers and magazines

pilled about here and

there on chairs,

tables and the floor.

GEORGES DE BATZ

e_conservation 55

This was a large figurative work of a seated man,

painted on an absorbent ground, typical of

paintings produced in Europe by a number of

painters around the turn of the 20th century

and into the 20s and 30s. Mr. Hoover had pur-

chased the painting at an auction held at Butter-

fields of de Batz' estate. It had been sold as a

rug, unframed and folded several times. But

when he opened it up, he saw it was a painting.

At that time, the late 1980s, he had it framed.

He later purchased a Germain Seligman mono-

graph on the French artist, Roger de la Fresnaye.

The book had belonged to de Batz and contained

the original dedication from Seligman to de Batz

as well as many letters from Seligman to de Batz

relating friendly and warm correspondence

(Figure 3, see online Appendix).

In order to conserve the painting I needed

information about the absorbent ground,

pigments and the working method of the artist.

Such analytical work is not thought to be

Figure 2. Roger de la Fresnaye painting in Hoover Collection.

Figure 3. Letter from Seligman to Georges de Batz.

See also the online Appendix with photographs of letters glued into a book owned by Mr. Georges de Batz.

NICCOLO CALDARARO

56 e_conservation

always necessary in conservation, but is

however very helpful, if not crucial, and in

this case, it was important since understanding

the ground was essential to the conservation

of the work. Mr. Hoover thought that the

painting might be by de la Fresnaye, as the

catalogue contained a number of images similar

to that in the painting and the technique

seemed quite similar. I took samples of the

pigment from the painting and sent them to

Walter McCrone, an international forensic

scientist and expert on pigments and grounds.

He compared the pigment from the Hoover

painting to samples sent from museums which

owned other de la Fresnaye paintings. The

pigments were so similar and the grounds as

well, that McCrone concluded that the Hoover

painting was produced by the same artist

using the same palette (see report, Figure 4).

There was a nagging question about the

painting that bothered me. It was not listed

in the monograph by Seligman [2] and although

Seligman stated in the text that it was not

complete, it seemed strange that someone as

familiar with Seligman as de Batz would possess

a major work by the artist and not share it

with his friend so it might be included in the

artist’s anthology. I contacted the Boston MFA

to find out if any personal papers or other

information on de Batz were available. None

were, and they surveyed local collectors for me

to no avail. Mr. Hoover did the same at the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, but

nothing was found.

Dr. Catherine C. Bock-Weiss of the School of

the Art Institute of Chicago, who had written

on de la Fresnaye considered the painting a

possible work by the artist, but could offer no

information on de Batz or Seligman. She specu-

lated that de la Fresnaye had been involved in

a number of salons and performances. He was

known to have been a friend of artist Marie

Laurencin who was active in the production

of drawings for the Ballets Russes.

Figure 4. Report on analysis of samples by Walter Mcrone.

GEORGES DE BATZ

e_conservation 57

This association is also mentioned by Seligman

[2]. I had extensive conversations with Nancy

Van Norman Baer about Laurencin's work in the

1980s and recognized that the materials often

used in this setting bore a similarity to the

Hoover painting. For example, the canvas fiber

of the Picasso "Rideau…" in the Pompidu Center

in Paris, which I have seen, is the same. Bock-

Weiss suggested I speak to a Mr. Robert M.

Murdock who had interviewed Seligman and

had done some research on de la Fresnaye.

Mr. Murdock was helpful, contacting local

collectors for information on de Batz, but could

not enlighten us either about the painting or

the Seligman/de Batz relationship. While he had

met Seligman, he did not have access to his

papers. Attempts to contact the family were

also not successful. He suggested Dr. Kenneth

Silver at New York University, who had written

about de la Fresnaye [3].

I contacted Dr. Silver who was interested in

helping and thought we might meet when

I examined a painting by de la Fresnaye at

the The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New

York. We were disappointed when we viewed

the painting however, as it had been lined and

coated with a heavy varnish. Nevertheless,

Dr. Silver contributed some advice concerning

both the Selgiman/de Batz link and the nature

of the Hoover painting. A picture of the artist

and the complication of his life came into

focus as a factor in the fate of the painting.

We had known that de la Fresnaye had been

a war hero in France after the First World War,

and that his fame was doubled by the tragic

wounds he had received which prematurely

ended his life and career. Unexpectedly, however,

Silver related that de la Fresnaye was homo-

sexual and that this was entwined with the

family’s regard for him and his public assess-

ment. A relative had controlled the sale of his

work after the war and then after his death.

Paintings and other works had been distributed

to friends and lovers and there was a marked

coolness between family and de la Fresnaye’s

friends. Silver and Murdock both suggested

that access to work might have been limited

to Seligman and that de Batz, who was also of

the same sexual inclination may have had

access to other sources not available to the

family or to Seligman. What might also have

been true, according to Silver, was that the

Hoover painting may have been the property

of families which were dispossessed by the

Nazis. Thus we had at least two explanations

of why the painting would not appear in the

Seligman book; firstly that it had been given

to a lover or friend renounced by the family

and unavailable to Seligman when he wrote

the book, and secondly that it had been seized

by the Nazis and was illegal contraband which

de Batz had somehow acquired.

It still seemed as if de Batz had no past at all,

we could find little about the man as he lived

except for his passion of collecting art and

donating to the public. So we decided to seek

him posthumously. We went to the auction

house, Butterfield's for clues. Here we came to

another dead end. Their records were only kept

for five years and then destroyed. So we went

It still seemed as if

de Batz had no past at all,

we could find little about

the man as he lived

except for his passion

of collecting art and

donating to the public.

NICCOLO CALDARARO

58 e_conservation

to the probate court to find what might have

been the disposition of his property and perhaps

his papers. Here again, we were disappointed.

The probate court had the files containing his

property and the sales, papers filed by this

lawyer, Bruce Walkup when de Batz was found

unable to care for himself and was removed to

a care facility in the early 1980s.

We found the documents created by Walkup

for the sale of de Batz's art but nothing that

could give us a clear picture of what had been

the origin of the painting or its relation to

de Batz. To our amazement, we also found

another mystery, in the final disposition of

the de Batz estate, the last file of the probate

was missing. We could not trace where his

personal effects went or who received the more

than $1 million in proceeds from the sale of

his art and property. I called the Walkup office

in San Francisco to find that Mr. Walkup had

died some years ago. I was able to speak with

the woman who had been his secretary. But

when I asked about the files for Walkup's work

with de Batz she informed me that the office

did not have them. She told me to go to the

de Batz Foundation. I contacted the Georges

de Batz Trust for the Arts, whose only trustee

was a Mr. Henry W. Howard, who was quite

elderly and seemed confused each time when

I spoke to him. I did find out that he did not

have any files or personal effects of de Batz.

I asked if there were any publications of the

Foundation, or other documentation of the

work of the Foundation. He said the Foundation

had been only himself and that he had given

the money away over the years to art organiza-

tions and religious charities, especially those

that had programs for children. I was told there

were no publications about this giving, and

that no records were kept. Mr. Hoover could

not believe this report on the Foundation,

and so he arranged to meet Mr. Howard. This

was delayed several times due to Mr. Howard's

illness, but when it took place he found the

information was correct. There were no

records, the Foundation was nearly out of

money and Mr. Howard referred us back to

Walkup's office. We contacted the Walkup

offices again but were told they had nothing

relating to de Batz or the Foundation.

I called a number of arts organizations in San

Francisco and a few recalled that they had had

visits by an elderly man once in a while who

would hand them a check for $10,000 or so.

And thus Georges de Batz' life was as much a

mystery as the dispersal of his fortune and yet,

Mr. Hoover's painting is a masterwork of a man

sitting in a chair surveying a world with such

interest that one can only imagine the bemused

face of de Batz looking out amid the cubist

fragments.

Part II: Conservation Examination for Treatment: its role in Research using a case study of a painting by Roger de la Fresnaye from the Collection of Herbert Hoover 6/01

1. Introduction

The conservator is often faced with difficult

problems presented by paintings. These prob-

lems can include multiple layers which lack

adhesion, sometimes caused by poor execution

by the artists, by inadequate storage conditions,

incorrect methodology of application, etc.

Perhaps the problem may reside in determining

the original paint from overpainting and

attempting to resolve with the curator or owner

a balanced treatment which reflects the intent

of the artist [4]. Questions of authorship often

arise which can only be addressed by reference

GEORGES DE BATZ

e_conservation 59

to the analysis of similar types based on

scientific analysis [5]. In these cases the

conservator can be asked to join in the art

historical or curatorial debate to investigate

fakes, forgeries and reproductions [6, 7].

Often, however, even the best efforts are de-

feated by the ideas of art styles of the time

and the development of fashionable tastes that

influence the concept of the original [8].

A good example of this is the Shapira Scroll,

a scroll made of skin presented to the British

Museum and other public and private collections

in the last century as an original volume from

the ancient libraries of Israel [9]. As Kahle

and I described [10], the scroll appeared too

new in the context of other scroll fragments

from the same period, but when a detailed

examination of the state of preservation of

these scrolls was put in series and related to

the variations in manufacture and how condi-

tions of storage affected ageing, then the

condition of the Schapira scroll could be

understood and found to be authentic [11].

We will never know, unfortunately, for the

Schapira scroll disappeared.

At times our laboratory has been asked to

solve relatively simple conservation tasks only

to become involved in more elaborate forensic

work. One case of this kind is the Hoover

painting which was brought to our attention

due to distortions in the canvas with a rough

and uneven surface. The owner was concerned

that the painting appeared to be suffering

some deterioration. In this section of this article

I will describe our attempt to identify the condi-

tion of the painting and to study its materials

and method of execution, both essential to

understanding the appearance of the painting

and its conservation and yet, secondarily,

productive in information to the determina-

tion of its authenticity.

2. Canvas

A sample of the canvas was taken at the top

right area above the strainer on the verso of

the painting. Several samples of paint and

ground were taken from the verso of the canvas,

all pigments were sampled. The canvas sample

was compared with the fiber content of several

la Fresnaye paintings in American collections.

The Hemp-like fiber of the Hoover painting can

be found in the sample from the Philadelphia

Museum of Art (which also has a open weave,

gauze-like appearance) and it is well known

that fibers used for artist's canvas at the turn

of this century were quite varied and many

contained mixed fibers [12].

This painting is on a wide woven fabric (likely a

species of hemp). Fiber comparison was made

with samples from several museums (see Table

1). Comparison with standard reference samples

[13, 14] indicates hemp. This fiber is found in

paintings of the period 1900 to 1940 by a number

of painters including, Kirchner, Stat-geschiter

(1911), Paul Klee, Uberschach (1937), Ferinand

Hodler in his monumental mural scenes at the

Zurich Kunsthaus, Jacques Lipchitz in his

"Personnage Debout" (1916), Fernand Leger,

in "Le reveil-matin" (1914), and his "Feme en

rouge et vert" (1914), in Picasso's "Nature

Morte" (1922), in Sonia Delaunay's "Prismes

electriques" (1914) and Nathalie Gontcharova's

At times our laboratory

has been asked to solve

relatively simple

conservation tasks only to

become involved in more

elaborate forensic work.

NICCOLO CALDARARO

60 e_conservation

"Les porteubes" (1911), and was used in numer-

ous other paintings of the period. However, the

specific wide weave of the Hoover canvas is

found on a subset of these works, both large

and small, but generally they are larger.

Interestingly, the Hoover canvas is nearly identical

in weave size, fiber color to a large theatrical

background by Picasso, "Rideau pour le ballet",

"Mercure" (1924) and the already mentioned

Hodler mural.

The painting measures approximately 7 feet

by 10 and one-half feet, but this may not have

been the original size as it has been recently

mounted onto a strainer, while holes in the

canvas indicate an earlier mount which may

have been slightly smaller. These unusual

marks and holes may be related to its original

use, perhaps in a theatrical installation or

ballet piece.

3. Paint and Ground

The pigment appears to be in an oil medium, but

rather very flat and brittle like tempera, coated

in lower center and central figure areas with a

shiny media. The appearance is similar to that

described for French paintings of the period

that are categorized as painted on "absorbent

canvas" [15, 16]. While there was variation in

why artists used absorbent canvases and specu-

lation about this by art historians and conser-

vators [17], in general an attitude was present

that associated the absorbent canvas with a

prohibition against varnishing.

Test results from Harlan Associates for the

ground by FT-IR show it to be composed of

barium sulfate and lead chromate with calcium

carbonate as a minor component. It also con-

tains an ester polymer indicating a natural

resin or oil. If it is oil, it was applied with

a lower oil to pigment ratio. Barium sulfate was

a frequent component of grounds used by French

painters in absorbent ground paintings according

to Bomford et al., 1990. This is similar to the

paint described for "Les Collines au-delà de

Meulan", in the collection of the Indianapolis

Museum of Art [18]. Present tests of the Hoover

Collection painting with gas chromatography

and IR spectrographic analysis indicate a lin-

seed oil medium. Pigments include aluminum

silicate, barium sulfate and lead chromate

(green chromate) and zinc stearate [19].

The ground which la Fresnaye used in his

"The Conquest of Air", in the collection of the

New York Museum of Modern Art is primarily

lead white and a small amount of calcite [20]

(see Figure 5 for detail of pigment on canvas).

Analysis of pigments in a number of paintings

by de la Fresnaye in American collections and

the Hoover painting conducted by McCrone

Associates demonstrated the pigments were

virtually identical and probably from the same

palette (see copy of McCrone report, Figure 3).

The ground is very thin, coarse, and mixed

with pigment in most of the canvas. Thin,

incompletely applied grounds are found on

la Fresnaye paintings in the U.S.A., e.g., "Les

collines au-delà de Meulan" at the Indianapolis

Museum of Art [21]. A sample of the ground

was also analyzed by Harlan Associates indi-

cating it was primarily composed of barium

sulfate and zinc stearate with a binder of an

oil containing palmitic acid and stearic acid

by FT-IR. Emission spectrographic analysis

produced results of barium and zinc, calcium,

magnesium, aluminum, iron, silicon and copper.

Barium sulfate was a frequent component of

grounds used by French painters in absorbent

ground paintings according to Jirat-Wasiutynski

& Newton [22].

GEORGES DE BATZ

e_conservation 61

The size of the original canvas is unknown

as it was purchased wrapped into squares.

The size of the painting, which is now 7 feet

high by 10 and 1/2 foot in length (Figure 2),

is very similar to that of "The Conquest of Air".

There is evidence of an unusual installation of

the painting on the canvas as mentioned. This

evidence is contained in tacking holes in the

canvas as a tacking edge and by tacking holes

which are either painted around by the artist

or had a plate or other cover over them during

the execution of the work. This may be remnants

of how the artist set the canvas for painting

on a temporary easel, or as attached to a wall

in the studio (marouflage). However, this could

indicate the canvas was used as a theatrical

background as the "Picasso Rideau...". The dis-

tortions in the canvas from folding are not

severe and are only noticeable in raking light.

Transmitted light, however, demonstrated the

same feature of the design soaking through the

canvas as in the absorbent ground paintings

examined by Jirat-Wasiutynski & Newton [22].

No damage to the paint layer has resulted and

thus I did not recommend an extensive cleaning,

remounting or other treatment at the time

other than a light surface cleaning and adjust-

ment of sagging in some areas of the canvas

by re-stretching.

A number of paintings by de la Fresnaye are

in public collections in the U.S.A. and were

identified by use of the catalogue raisonné

by Germain Seligman [2]. A survey of these

paintings was undertaken to acquire any

available technical information (Table 1).

Many of de la Fresnaye's paintings in America

are lined and this limits the ability to sample

both fiber and ground for testing. A detailed

study of "The Conquest of Air" at the Museum

of Modern Art in New York City was conducted

to compare surface features, tonality, canvas

and ground. The exercise was not very fruitful

as the painting had not only been varnished

Figure 5. Close-up of paint surface of de la Fresnaye painting

NICCOLO CALDARARO

62 e_conservation

heavily, but had been relined with the wax-

resin method by the Kecks. They had removed

an earlier heavy varnish which had yellowed

[23]. However, in conversation with Dr. Steven

Silver of New York University (NYU), we noticed

that the painting shared some similarities of

execution with the Hoover canvas, most

apparent was the incomplete application

of ground and pigment leaving areas of raw

canvas and ground as part of the painting

surface. This has been shown to be common

LOCATION PAINTING FABRIC WEAVE

Metropolitan Museum of Art Nature Morte aux pommes avec pichet de faience tests results not available

Portrait: Goerges de Mire linen ?

Nature Morte a la bouteille, pipe et pot a tabac tests results not available

La conquete de l'Air linen open filled with wax

A. Silbermann Galleries, New York L'Homme Buvant et chantant (gallery defunct) ? ?

Indianapolis Museum of Art Les Collines au-delà de Meulan linen open weave

Philadelphia Museum of Art Le village de Meulan linen/hemp open weave

Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo Marie Ressort avec ses vaches, la Berbere "linen-like fiber"

open weavegauze-like

Nature morte aux trois anses results not available

Minneapolis Institute of Art La vie conjugale cotton-linen blend

close weave

Barnes Foundation La vie conjugale results not available

Museum of Art, Toledo Nature morte a la cafetiere linen light weight plain weave

Phillips Collection, Washington La Mappemonde canvas relinedno sample possible

Sara Lee Corporation (now in collection of Houston Museum of Fine Arts)

Les Baigneurs sample pending

M. Knoedler & Co. Portrait de L'Artiste not available

Grande nature morte aux tasses blanches not available (on panel)

Musee Contemporary City of Paris Le Quatorze Juillet probably linen close weave

Le Cuirassier probably linen close weave

examined by Richard Buck, found “normal” ground.

Table 1. Fiber analysis of Canvas Information in Museum or Gallery Publications or provided by phone conversations with institution staff.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

in many of de la Fresnaye's works. The de la

Fresnaye painting, "Le Cuirassier" (1910-11)

is now at the Musee d'Art Contemporary of

the City of Paris and appears to be varnished.

I could not examine the verso to determine

if it had been lined, however. The fiber appears

to be linen and close-weaved. The de la

Fresnaye, "Le Quatorze Juillet" (1914) is also

painted on linen and is close-weaved. It does

not show the same ground as the Hoover

painting.

GEORGES DE BATZ

e_conservation 63

64 e_conservation

PAINTING RESULTS SOURCE

The Conquest of Air lead white/calcite Ordonez

Georges De Mire Calcium carbonate Harlan

Hoover Barium sulfate/ zinc stearate Harlan

Frederick Church Calcium carbonate and glue Zucker (reported in Jirat Wasiutynski, 1998)

Les Collines au-delà de Meulan Barium, zinc, calcium,Magnesium, iron, silicon, copper

Harlan

Table 2 - Results of Ground and Pigment Tests

Design and Execution

The design of the Hoover de la Fresnaye is

similar to "L'Homme Assis" (1913-1914) in the

Musee National d'Art Moderne which is smaller

(131x162cm) and less so to "Le Quatorze Juillet"

(1914) which is very small in comparison (74x

92cm). The largest of these two is, therefore,

almost 1/2 the size of the Hoover painting.

However, the La Conquete de L'Air (1913) is

107x89 inches approximately, making it almost

exactly the same size. As Seligman states about

these other two paintings, they were painted

in the period of the years of the great figure

compositions and still-lifes. We must assume that

if the Hoover painting is a de la Fresnaye it would

have to have been painted during this time.

Seligman refers [2] to de la Fresnaye's admiration

of Italian frescos which one biographer notes

is where he derived his fresco-like quality of image

and tone. Such an admiration would insensibly

lead to a desire to paint in a large format.

Cogninet & George [24] come to a similar

conclusion. The support for the painting, a rough

open-weave fabric, is more characteristic of ad

hoc theatrical sets as in a scrim for a Ballets

Russes and de la Fresnaye's association with artist

Marie Laurencin [2] places de la Fresnaye in the

company of artists who regularly worked in the

theater [25;26]. This may be improbable by

the fact that most of Diaghilev's stage settings

were painted in water based pigments on the

floor. All this parallels many other French

paintings of the period where the paint soaks

through the canvas [22] (Figure 6).

De la Fresnaye produced a number of works of

varied subjects which were curious in intent

and also never exhibited in any of the salons,

like the "Jeanne d'Arc" (1912). More interesting

is the fact that de la Fresnaye was interested in

the color experiments of Robert Delaunay [2]

and that "La Conquete de l'Air" is characterized

as an experiment in pure color as Delaunay

was conducting. Many of de la Fresnaye's paint-

ings are executed on an absorbent ground

similar to that seen in Delaunay's paintings.

It is in the gradual increase in such experi-

ment in color and size of painting that we

find a place for the Hoover de la Fresnaye, as

Seligman argues that in "Le Quatorze Juillet"

de la Fresnaye had heroic proportions in mind

for the final version of the canvas [2].

Between 1912 and the first 7 months of

1914 de la Fresnaye's production was consider-

able and in the pressure of the time an ad hoc

work on a fairly cheap support might be expected

which approaches the limits of grandeur. This

is, nevertheless, a dangerous place to approach,

for most fakes and forgeries tend to be created

to fill in such missing pieces of an artist's

NICCOLO CALDARARO

e_conservation 65

As in the mystery of the dispersal

of de Batz's fortune, we cannot

solve the problem either of

the authenticity of the painting

nor of its provenance.

work, the expected great masterpiece which

completes a series [27]. As Seligman states

[2], "Le Quatorze Juillet" was destined to

remain an unfinished monument to an

unfinished life.

Still, we lack the analysis of the ground of

"La Conquete de l'Air", though we have the

results of the analysis of the Hoover painting

and the Georges De Mire. It would be interesting

to compare these results with an analysis of

the pigment in the painting in the Musee National

d'Art Moderne ("L'Homme assis"), with close-

up photos of the weave in the Hoover and Paris

paintings, which might provide additional

materials to our analysis. Analysis of a surface

sample from "La Conquete de l'Air" by Eugena

Ordonez [28] - which may prove to be ground,

although she was not entirely sure - showed

the sample to be lead white and a small amount

of calcite.

Conclusion

The working method in the Hoover painting

compared to that in "Les Collines au-delà de

Meulan" show considerable similarity, with areas

scraped and reworked*, but with similar color

schema piled, drawn and pared down. More

studies of de la Fresnaye paintings for working

method evidence will enhance our understanding

Figure 6. Verso of de la Fresnaye painting in transmitted light

GEORGES DE BATZ

*References to condition and examination notes of paintings taken from documents supplied by various museums and private collectors.

66 e_conservation

of de la Fresnaye's approach. The combination of

the scientific data available from a number of

other de la Fresnaye paintings, compared with

paintings by other artists of the period provide

a strong basis for placing the Hoover de la

Fresnaye in context with the body of work by

Roger de la Fresnaye. Further art historical

information is necessary although the infor-

mation on Georges de Batz and his relationship

with Seligman contained in their letters is

compelling but does requires some clarifica-

tion. What is reproduced in Figure 4 and the

online Appendix are photographs of letters

glued into a book owned by Mr. Georges de

Batz. The letters are written by Seligman to

de Batz and indicate an intimate relationship.

Information drawn from the papers of Mr. Herbert

Hoover, including a sales receipt, show that

the Hoover painting was purchased from Butter-

field's auction a few years after the main sale

of the de Batz estate. Conversations with the

executor of the de Batz estate and the Director

of the Georges de Batz Foundation, demonstrate

that many of the paintings from the de Batz

house and the estate were disposed of outside

of the initial Butterfield's sale. Some of these

were accomplished by the first lawyer for the

estate, Bruce Walkup.

The physical evidence of the materials of the

painting, the method of execution and the

presence of the painting in San Francisco at

the same auction house as the sale of the

de Batz collection and de Batz's connection with

Seligman all go far to establishing a link be-

tween the painting and Roger de la Fresnaye.

It is not the place for a conservator to deter-

mine an attribution of a painting, rather we

more often provide evidence which undermines

such attributions. In this case we have inves-

tigated each and every aspect of the painting

in a physical sense and attempted to disprove

its association with the painter. We have come

to the conclusion, however, that this cannot be

achieved, nor, however, can we use this same

information to establish, without a doubt that

the painting is by the artist.

It is simply beyond our brief and yet we can

recognize that the painting shares material and

aesthetic qualities with works of that artist. Yet

as in the mystery of the dispersal of de Batz's

fortune, we cannot solve the problem either

of the authenticity of the painting nor of its

provenance. How de Batz gained possession of

this painting is a mystery, though we know that

the Ballet Russes did come to New York in the

early part of the last century so if the painting

was created for the Ballet it could have come to

America then. Yet de Batz or his father, who was

also a collector, could have acquired the painting

in France before the Second World War or directly

from de la Fresnaye. All of our questions remain

open and yet the trail has gone cold. In every

case Georges de Batz remains, like the painting,

an intriguing enigma waiting for solution.

NICCOLO CALDARARO

Acknowledgements

A research project like this one cannot be

carried out without the cooperation and

genuine professional care of many conservators,

collectors, art historians and scientists. I am

especially indebted to Walter McCrone and his

wife/colaborator, Lucy for the analysis of

pigments from several museums. The willingness

of institutions to provide samples and take the

time to take them and label and send them

was of great benefit and I am both humbled and

heartened by their dedication to building

our knowledge. David Miller & Don Steele of the

Indianapolis Museum of Art helped in this way,

but also provided other information about the

e_conservation

References

1. George Boas, “An Exhibition of The deBatz Collection”,

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1953.

2. Germain Seligman, “Roger de la Fresnaye with a

Catalogue Raisonne”, New York Graphic Society, 1969.

3. Kenneth E. Silver, “Esprit de Corps: The Art of the

Parisian avant-garde and the First World War, 1914-

1925”, Thames and Hudson, London, 1989.

4. Eric C. Hulmer, “The Role of Conservation in

Connoisseurship”, University of Pittsburgh 1955

(available from University Microfilms International,

Ann Arbor, Michigan).

5. N. Caldararo, "Fake or transitional form? Analysis of

a purported Pre-Columbian Olmec artifact and

comparison with similar published objects from

Mesoamerica", Mexicon, vol. 23, June 2000, pp. 58-63.

6. N. Caldararo, "Tribal art: authenticity and 'fakes'",

Antique West, Feb., 1992, pp. 2,6,32.

7. N. Caldararo, "Profiting from reproductions",

Archaeology, 46, 2, 1993, pp. 14.

8. C. Caple, “Conservation Skills: Judgement, Method

and Decision Making”, Routledge, London, 2000.

9. J. M. Allegro, “The Shapira Affair”, Doubleday,

Garden City, 1965.

10. T. B. Kahle and N. Caldararo, "State of preservation

of the Dead Sea Scrolls", Nature, vol. 321, n. 6066,

8 May,1986, pp. 121-2.

11. N. Caldararo, "Storage conditions and physical

treatments relating to the dating of the Dead Sea

Scrolls", Radiocarbon, 37, 21-32, 1994.

12. Katrina Vanderlip Carbonnel, "A study of French

painting canvases", JAIC, vol. 20, n. 1, 1981, pp. 3-20.

13. W. A. Cote (ed.), "Papermaking Fibers", Syracuse

University Press, 1980.

14. Marilou Florian, "Identification of plant and animal

materials in artifacts", in M. Florian, D. P. Kronkright,

and R. Norton, Conservation of Artifacts Made from

Plant Materials, Getty Trust, Princeton U. Press,

1990, pp. 29-79.

15. L. Mayer and G. Myers, "American Impressionism,

Matteness and Varnishing", JAIC, vol. 43, n. 3,

2004, pp. 237-254.

16. A. Katlan, "American Artists’ Materials", vol. 2,

Madison, Conn., Soundview Press, 1992.

17. D. Bomford, J. Kirby, J. Leighton and A. Roy, "Art

in the Making: Impressionism", National Gallery,

London, 1990.

18. David Miller, Personal Communication, 1998.

19. Harlan & Associates, "Report on the results of GS

and IR spectrographic analysis of samples from the

Hoover Painting", 1997.

20. Eugena Ordonez, Personal Communication, 1997.

21. D. Steele, D. Marquis and D. Miller, Personal

Communications, 1997.

22. V. Jirat-Wasiutynski and T. Newton, "Absorbent grounds

and the matt aesthetic in Post Impressionist

painting," in Painting Techniques: History, Materials and

Studio, Contributions to the Dublin Congress, 7-11

September 1998, ed. A. Roy and P. Smith, London,

IIC, pp. 235-9.

23. Sheldon and Caroline K. Keck, Conservation Report,

dated 9/9/48.

24. Raymond Cogniat and Waldemar George, "Oeuvre

Complete: Roger de la Fresnaye”, Paris, editions

Rivarol, 1950.

25. Nancy Van Norman Baer, “Bronislava Nijinska:

A Dancer's Legacy”, Fine Arts Museums of San

Francisco, 1986.

26. Van Norman Baer, Personal Communication, 1984-88

(and my own personal experience and research while

working with artifacts from the Ballets Russes in

several shows installed in the Fine Arts Museums of

San Francisco).

27. O. Kurz, “Fakes”, Faber and Faber, New York, 1967,

ed. Dover Books.

28. Eugena Ordonez, Personal Communication, 1997.

GEORGES DE BATZ

de la Fresnaye in their collection and worked

with the curators there to answer other

questions. The same role was played by David

Marquis, of the Upper Midwest Conservation

Association Laboratory, Suzanne Penn of the

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Lucy Belloli of

the Metropolitan Museum of Art was also of

assistance, Jim Coddington, Michael Duffy,

Eugena Ordonez and Christopher McGlinchey

of the New York Museum of Modern Art, Andrea

Guidi di Bagno and Wynne H. Phelan of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Professor

Catherine C. Bock-Weiss of the School of the

Art Institute of Chicago, Dr. Kenneth E. Silver

of New York University, Dr. Linda D. Henderson

of The University of Texas at Austin, and

Mr. Robert M. Murdock of New York.

67

Niccolo Caldararo is Director and Chief

Conservator of Conservation Art Service in San

Francisco, a private conservation laboratory.

He is also an Adjunct Professor of Anthro-

pology at San Francisco State University.

He received his BA in Anthropology from

the University of California, Berkeley in 1970

after working in the Anthropology Department's

Archaeology Laboratory under J. Desmond

Clark. He received his MA in Anthropology

with a specialization in archaeological

conservation in 1983 from San Francisco

State University, having set up a conservation

laboratory at the University's Tiburon Center

for archaeological excavations on Da Silva

Island for Dr. Gary Pahl.

Niccolo's research in conservation was concerned

with the evolution of decision making with

specific focus on treatment development by

different conservators dealing with similar

problems, and the durability of treatments

over time. One publication that resulted from

this research was published in Studies in

Conservation, v. 42, 1997:157-164 on painted

surfaces on ceramic and glass. Another was

just published in the AIC Objects Specialty

Group's Postprints for the 2004 Annual

Meeting in Portland, Oregon mainly on the use

of ultrasound and benefited form work with

Robert Organ and John Asmus.

Today his research is organized around how

different peoples preserve their heritage in

contrast with his nearly 20 CAP reports on

specific museums and historical societies

in the USA in the past 20 years. Niccolo has

been employed by a number of museums over

the past 30 years including the California

Academy of Sciences, the Asian Art Museum of

San Francisco, the De Young Museum and the

California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

68 e_conservation

NICCOLO CALDARARO

CONSERVATION ART SERVICE,Caldararo@aol.com

P.O. Box 77570,

San Francisco, California 94107

NICCOLO CALDARARO

docu

men

tati

on

Contribute to conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage in Europe

by GIULIA PELLEGRI

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR A CONSERVATION-RESTORATION PROJECT.A STUDY FOR GENOA AND SAVONA

THE WATERFRONT OF GENOAStudies and Surveys

Introduction

This article concerns the facades of the water-

front of Genoa in Italy, and puts in evidence

the studies about the actual architectonic con-

figuration principally through the deep analysis

of the medieval building components. The 31

single facades of the urban front have been

surveyed and drawn in scale 1:50 in order to

evidence and to study the architectonic, stylistic,

structural, decorative and typological charac-

teristics. The architectonic and decorative par-

ticulars have been drawn in scale of 1:20, such as

building textures which are particular interest-

ing as far as the study of wall stratification units

(Unità Stratigrafiche Murarie) are concerned. The

work was developed on the basis of three funda-

mental themes: Analysis, Survey and Evolution.

Analysis is the first step of the historical and

iconographic research; survey is a very important

knowledge instrument, both architectonic and

formal, especially through the study of the

drawing representation of the building materials;

evolution and building transformations are the

basis to find the original medieval typologies.

GIULIA PELLEGRI

70 e_conservation

Image 1

The survey is not only the process of measuring

a building’s form. In fact the critical survey,

supported by studies about history, town-

planning situations and cultural incidences,

is a scientific method to analyse the building’s

typological, structural, distributive, linguistic

and stylistic characteristics. From this point

of view, historical research becomes essential

to the survey phase as fundamental knowledge

instrument.

Historiography, historical cartography and

iconography represent very important steps

during the study; many pencil proportional

drawings of the facades and studies about

the planimetrical development connected to

Genoa’s historical centre were made.

The first survey stage consisted in direct

measurements which were compared by the

means of more sophisticated survey instru-

ments such as Nikon total station and photo-

grammetry software (straightened photos).

The archaeological stratifications bases were

applied to some parts of the fronts to put in

evidence the historical sequences and to help

to the comprehension of the original aspect

and architectonic form.

The final step of the study concerns the

drawing up of the synthesis cards: general

description of every single front, architectonic-

decorative cards, typological individuations,

survey and analysis of building stratification.

During the research project the author took

into consideration the next principal phases

for the complete waterfront study:

Inspection of the site

- Taking note and examining the object of study

- Checking the accuracy of the previous and

old survey records

- Photographic recognition from panoramic to

detail

Historical Analysis

- Historical research and inquiry about typolo-

gical urban building evolution

- Cadastral and Archive research

- Bibliographic research

- Study of architectonic and town-planning

evolution site

- Planimetric individuation of plots through

spaces and types with the passing of the

centuries

Survey

- Geometric survey with direct method

- Architectonic and metric survey for the

fronts’ details

- Indirect survey using total station Nikon DTM 200

Facade historical stratifications

- Studies upon the front materials characterization

- Individuations and analysis of the wall

historical stratifications

Survey Drawings

- Planimetric individuation of the water-front

buildings in the urban context - scale 1:200

- The 31 studied buildings - scale 1:100 and 1:50

- Wall textures details - scale 1:20

- Plastic and painted facade’s decorations -

scale 1:20

Cards

- General description (data found at the Super-

intendence of Architectonic and Environmental

Liguria Goods, Historical Archive of Genoa,

bibliography)

- Architectonic-decorative description

(front analysis: elevation fascias, individuation

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

e_conservation 71

of decorative, plastic and painted

particulars)

- Typological description (types connected to

the historical matrix)

- USM survey and analysis of the wall historical

stratifications (critical interpretation of the

Harris Matrix)

For every front of Ripa Maris, the study

compared all the literary sources, facts and

known events, photographic documentation

and anterior studies (ancient and original

drawings of the buildings, old maps of the city

of Genoa, historical views and contracts about

plan modifications).

The research also put in evidence the very

important theme: colour-architecture. Genoa is

not only historically the city of Painted Fronts,

and for this reason famous among the many

other “painted” cities in Italy and in Europe,

but Genoa also rises occasions to debate about

the "theme-problem", to compare right metho-

dological approaches and new techniques for

restoration.

This debate concerns not only the architectonic

scale of single buildings (the theme of the

“Painted Fronts” International Congress in

Genoa, 1982) but also the environmental

urban scale: streets, squares and every urban

route. Thus, all the historical or non-historical

components which influence the material

aspect and therefore the historical, social,

morphological and stylistic values must be

considered.

Conservation recognizes the importance of this

contextual aspect as a whole, taking in consider-

ation and associating all the factors required by

the complexity of a historical building.

The Colour is a fundamental aspect because it

is always a characteristic element of a place

and consequently, it is a cultural element, both

as applied colour and as used material.

The waterfront of Genoa is characterized by

a continue colonnade, being planned as

a service infrastructure and not just as

a passageway.

In fact, in 1133 and 1143 "Consules de Communi"

decided (due to the rules for regularizing the

arcade’s forms and materials) to lean the arcade

against the walls of the buildings, with the

intent of boosting houses’ widening by taxes

exemption for new buildings and raisings.

Image 2

GIULIA PELLEGRI

e_conservation 73

Image 3. Drawing restitution of survey from front n.1 to n. 27; original drawing scale 1:50.

Image 4. View of the first part of waterfront - the evident ideal cut of elevated railway.

Historical mentions

The new colonnade was built with 4,5 meters

high stone columns with cross vaults and a

vault or plan roof. In fact, due to the law

approved by the consuls concerning the houses’

widening the total width of the arcade passage

was then comprehended between the arcs and

the houses (actual Via Sottoripa).

During the XIIIth century a new service element -

the aqueduct - was leaned against the walls of

the houses of Sottoripa; in this way it became

possible to build new mezzanines at the height

of the aqueduct’s pipes.

The individuation of a consistent number of

the existent building characteristics of the

different historical phases permitted to re-

construct the progressive buildings transfor-

mation process.

The most significant elements of Ripa Maris

buildings are: building type, distributive and

functional characteristics, linguistic and stylistic

elements, technological and technical-structural

components to testify the many processes

which characterize this unitary architectonical

"organism" (urban archaeological site).

As far as the constructive and material

elements are concerned, Ripa still presents

medieval components: the ponderous

Romanesque buildings became lighter in

the XIIIth and XIVth centuries, using stone,

marble and bricks with new doors and

windows openings, whose traces are still

visible on the walls.

Image 5. Giolfi, L. Giuidotti, view of Ripa Maris buildings with Ponte Reale, Spinola e Calvi leaned to the sea-walls (1796).

Image 6. Upper left: Medieval tissue cut. Upper right: Marble Terrace Plan. Down: Plan of first and second stretch of Carlo Alberto street.

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

74 e_conservation

In the case of the waterfront buildings, which

are the result of elementary cells aggregation,

the unifying horizontal direction plays an

important role both in the elevation alignment

and in the structural elements of the complex

image configuration of the colonnade with

unified and raised houses.

A further transformation phase took place

during the XVIIth century, with the construction

of the sea-wall (image 5).

In 1836, in front of Ripa Maris a new road was

constructed - Via Carlo Alberto – which was

considered a very important commercial street.

In fact to construct this road great cuts of the

medieval urban tissue had to be made (image

6).

The street goes from San Tomaso Door (Porta

dei Vacca) to the actual Raibetta Square, cutting

most of the medieval houses of the Waterfront

first stretch, from Porta dei Vacca to via Ponte

Calvi (lots in succession from n.1-8).

On this occasion the arcades were covered by

new palaces and part of Via Turati arcs

disappeared under the new buildings. In fact,

because of the new Raibetta Square opening in

1861, great buildings with portico have been

erected. The central part, between Via al

Ponte Calvi and De Marini square, remains

the only part with original portico.

The arcades from Via al Ponte Calvi to Vico

Giannini were restored in 1893 and in 1898 as

well as the part between Vico Giannini e Vico

Morchi in 1893 and 1903.

The restoration plan included the demolition

of the parts that covered the medieval portico,

through the recomposition of the internal and

external fronts. Archive research has brought

to light the original plan-drawings for the

painted facades of the buildings between Vico

Giannini and Vico Morchi.

Unfortunately, these painted decorations

completely disappeared, but the historical

photos (from Historic Archive of Genoa) put

into evidence the beautiful, precious facade

decorations (images 7, 8).

The typological description is aimed to put

in evidence the principal matrix courses and

the urban context through a synoptic table

about building types of Ripa Maris.

Some fronts (n. 12, 13, 16, 17, 23, and 25 to

27) are very interesting to study, the walls

stratification research being based upon the

Image 8. Plan drawings of painted facades between Vico Giannini and Vico Morchi, Historic Archive of Genoa, scale 1:100.Image 7. Historical photo, fronts n. 14-15.

GIULIA PELLEGRI

e_conservation 75

critical interpretation and application of the

“Harris Matrix” connected to the date scheme

about direct, absolute direct, absolute and

relative indirect dating.

The unification of all the found elements and

their interpretation as stratified components

help to recover information on the architec-

ture history and on the cultural development

of the environment.

The Matrix card permits to memorize all the

observed data and further, the technological

aspect permits to gather information on the

relationship between superficies, forms and

decorative elements.

As Mariette De Vos noted1, "the correct exam

of materials, techniques and findings used for

decorative facing, their geographic diffusion

and also the precise diachronic, quantitative

and qualitative estimation are necessary to

reconstruction..."

In the case of Ripa, principally there are Basis

Types which are the matrix of the typological

development of the building: one-family

building cell with one (A1) or two arcs (A2)

at the ground-floor, where the access is made

from the portico or sometimes from the lateral

front (variante d’angolo – corner variant), and

two or three original floors on the foundation

level, with reduced height from high to low

and width of the front between four and six

metres.

Generally, the principal front has a central

window, but if the stairs allow, a new slimmer

window can be added (basis type A1). For the

basis type A2, two windows are placed in axis

with the arches of the foundation. The base is

in promontory stone and the elevation part is

made in brick load-bearing wall.

The union of many basis types gives origin to

remelting (transformation of basis types into

multifamiliar-multiple buildings).

Image 9. Synoptic table of Ripa Maris Building Types:A1 Basis type (tipo-base) and Angle Variant of A1.A2 Basis type (tipo-base), Variant and Corner Variant of A2: Remeltings, remelting variants, multiple remelting.

1 Mariette De Vos, "La scheda di unità stratigrafica di rivestimento (pavimenti e decorazioni)", in Storia dalla terra. Manuale di scavo archeologico, A. Carandini, Einaudi, Torino, 1991.

Image 10. Fronts n. 25-26: Actual plan (left) and hypothetical medieval reconstruction (right)

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

76 e_conservation

The economic growth of Genoa during the XVth

century induced a great level of urbanization

near the port, the multiple remelting being the

most frequent case of typological transforma-

tion of the medieval buildings of Ripa Maris

(Figures 9, 10).

During the centuries, different town-plans and

buildings restorations involving the waterfront

have brought the author to individuate five

principal lots. These lots differ one from the

other because of their many peculiar typologi-

cal and stylistic characteristics.

The study put in evidence the principal phases

of transformation of the single parts: the XIIIth

and XIVth centuries constructive phase, the

floors replacement, the walling up of the arches

and the opening of the XVIth and XVIIth cen-

turies rectangular windows, the remeltings

and raisings from the XIXth century and the

restoration plan of the XXth century that brought

to light the medieval pre-existences.

Images 11-13. Survey updating of fronts n.1 to 8 (upper left), Porta dei Vacca (upper right) and drawing restitutionof survey original scale 1:50 Fronts n. 1 to 8 (lower).

Waterfront’s sections

The first section of the waterfront, from Porta

dei Vacca to Vico del Serriglio, (fronts n. 1 to 8)

is completely modified because of the construc-

tion of the new road Via Carlo Alberto; the arcade

was absorbed into the new foundation of the

new palaces, but the covered arcades “Dark

Ripa” remained unaltered in matter and form.

The second lot, from Ponte Calvi to Vico Morchi

(fronts n. 9 to 17), is particularly interesting

because of the façade continuity. Here, 17

basis types have been fused into the continue

portico, presenting evident traces of the first

constructive phase: the first and second floors

have stone and brick walls and stone with white

marble arches (images 14-19).

The buildings that occupied the actual lot n. 18

were destroyed by the bombs of the Second

World War and so the original buildings were

substituted by modern buildings (images 20-22).

GIULIA PELLEGRI

e_conservation 77

Images 14-19. Survey update of fronts n. 9 to 17 (upper left), photographic images of wall facing stratifications of front n.13 (upper right) and drawing restitution of survey, original scale 1:50, fronts n. 9 to 17 (lower).

Images 20, 21. Fronts 18-19 destroyed from the bombs of the Second World War. Image 22. The new buildings.

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

78 e_conservation

The third portion, from Vico del Serriglio to

Via al Ponte Reale (fronts n. 19 to 22), is

characterized by facades that do not have a

stylistic unity. In fact, the development traces

of remeltings, raisings and unification of

different types must be considered. Here the

portico is partially covered by the aqueduct

(images 23-25).

Image 24. Updating survey of fronts n.19 to 22.

Image 23. Drawing restitution of survey, original scale 1:50, fronts n. 19 to 22.

Image 25. West view of the fronts n. 20-21-22-23 with the original part of aqueduct.

The arcades of the fronts n. 23 to 27 have main-

tained the original medieval peculiarities: the

promontory-stone pillars of the base part, the

traces of acute arches and the facing from the

constructive phase of XIIIth and XIVth century.

Images 26, 27. Fronts n. 23-25-26-27: Matrix of Harris and dating of the wall stratification.

The fronts n. 23 (Cattaneo Adorno Palace), n. 25

and n. 26 are very interesting as far as wall

stratification analysis is concerned: the walls

present different plaster treatments and strati-

fications, making possible to read the construc-

GIULIA PELLEGRI

e_conservation 107

tive phases connected to the different wall

stratification units.

Finally, the last fronts (Via Turati) were erected

over the medieval traces. There are 4 great neo-

renaissance style buildings, with basis part with

rusticated and round arches built in 1866.

Image 28. Front n. 23

Images 29 - 31. Updating survey of fronts n. 28 to 31 (upper left), aerial photography of the Via Turati buildings (upper right) and drawing restitution of survey original scale 1:50 (lower).

Colour and Project for the Waterfront of Genoa

Fronts 1, 2, 3. Porta dei Vacca Front n. 3

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

Colour study of the facades of Ripa Maris: fronts n. 1, 2 and 3. Colour study of the fronts n. 4, 5/6, 7 and 8. Fronts n. 9, 10 and 11. Fronts 9, 10 and 11. Colour study of the fronts n. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Colour study of the fronts n. 19, 20, 21 and 22.

Fronts 20, 21, 22.

Fronts 5, 6.

Front 4. Fronts 12, 13.Front 8.

Fronts 16, 17.

GIULIA PELLEGRI

Colour study of the facades of Ripa Maris: fronts n. 1, 2 and 3. Colour study of the fronts n. 4, 5/6, 7 and 8. Fronts n. 9, 10 and 11. Fronts 9, 10 and 11. Colour study of the fronts n. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Colour study of the fronts n. 19, 20, 21 and 22.

Fronts 12, 13. Via Pia in Savona

Via Pia in Savona constitutes an interesting

case from several reasons. First of all, it con-

stitutes a challenge in regard to the methodo-

logical application for the conservation of the

historical building facades, especially of the

coloured and painted facades, a typical phe-

nomenon of Liguria. On the other hand, this

historical city episode is particularly interesting

for the complexity, richness and stratification

of its valuable architectonic elements.

Contrary to the cases of coastal historical centers

with painted facades, where the architectonic

elements are all uniform, here a totally new

fact can be observed: an historical road axis

of medieval origins, with a series of evolution

building examples, that report to the various

ages, documenting the transformations of the

original medieval matrix with many different

elements of great interest. The facades are also

various in external finishes, so that the continu-

ous street wings of Pia road constitute a sole

testimony palimpsest of buildings history and

of Savona’s historical centre culture. Here,

typical characteristics are in perfect correspon-

dence with those of the Genovese historical

centre and those of Liguria culture.

On Pia road, in the sequence of the compact

buildings with crowd typology, there are still

many medieval building examples, with the

single units testified by the brick arches of the

windows and marked by the medieval hanging

arches of separation between the ground floor

and the first floor. Moreover, some of the most

interesting examples of successive transfor-

mation in the houses’ medieval arcades are

still conserved, due to the commercial

specialization of 1200.

Figure 30. Via Pia n.14 - Graffiti decoration facade.

Figures 31, 32. Photo during survey phase (left) and straightened photo and screening of contrast (right).

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

e_conservation 81

The Renaissance fronts are characterized by the

painted facade, deduced from the contemporary

Genoa models. Some examples are particularly

significant: the palace of the Rovere-Cassinis

(n. 5), the Sormano Palace (n. 1) and the most

recent but very precious graffito example from

the beginning of the twentieth century.

The "requalification" of the fronts of Pia road

contains a more ambitious restoration plan

of a city-environmental image, based upon

an extended knowledge concerning the facades

with decorations, the materials and colours,

the state of conservation and the types of

degradation. It is planned to valorize and

conserve the building culture, which represents

in this case a stratified and rich example of

a strong and evocative medieval matrix.

Figure 33. Restoration of the facades of Via Pia in Savona, survey and graphic restitution. Intervention phases: -Photographic recognition from panoramic to detail; -Direct and indirect survey; -Drawing restitution; -Colour survey (direct); -Fronts analysis, cards: general description, architectonic - decorative - historical description; -Specifications for restoration.

Figures 34, 35, 36 and 37. Pia Street, n. 14, Savona – Digital photos of painted decoration and straightened photos and screening of contrast.

GIULIA PELLEGRI

82 e_conservation

heri

tage

in d

ange

r

Giulia Pellegri graduated at the Faculty of

Architecture of the athenaeum in Genoa in

1994 and since then she is collaborating with

the course of Survey of Architecture at the

Department of Science for Architecture (D.S.A.)

of the Faculty of Architecture in Genoa.

In 1999 she presented her PhD thesis in Re-

search in Survey and Drawing Representation

of the Architecture and Environment. Since

2001 she teaches courses in the areas of

measurement and architectonic survey at

the Faculty of Architecture. She also teaches

several other seminars at the Faculty of

Engineering in Genoa since 2003, focused

on computerized methodologies in survey,

photographic straightening and chromatic

elaborations, among others.

She develops her research at the Department

of Construction, Urban Planning and

Engineering Materials (DEUIM) of the Faculty

of Engineering in Genoa through research

conferment in 2003-04 and 2004-05 and at

the Department D.S.A. of the Faculty of

Architecture in Genoa through research

conferment in 2005-06. She also co-

supervised several degree thesis at the

Faculty of Architecture in 2006/2007.

UNIVERSITY OF GENOA – FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE,Department of Science for Architecture (D.S.A.)contact: studiogpa@libero.it

GIULIA PELLEGRI

SURVEY AND DRAWING FOR CONSERVATION

e_conservation 83

heri

tage

in d

ange

rEMERGENCY AND PREVENTIVE

CONSERVATION

of Abandoned Churches in Transylvania

by PÉTER PÁL and LÓRÁND KISS

The reformed church of Nima before conservation.

e_conservation

The present paper is a contribute to the

conservation works performed on medieval

churches and abandoned or ruined buildings

on the periphery of ethnic communities, in

the light of preservation of their artistic

components (mural paintings, woodcarvings,

wooden furniture, etc.)

The emergency conservation interventions

were made by Imago Picta SRL, a conservation

enterprise that deals with the preservation

and safeguarding of endangered monuments,

research and mural paintings conservation.

Since 2004, the enterprise is focused mainly

on the conservation of church monuments in

Transylvania.

Even if our basic activities are focused on mural

paintings, we consider important to outline the

geographical, social and historical background

of the phenomenon.

Geographical and historical background

All the examined churches are geographically

located in specific regions: the Hungarian

communities, especially those of the Calvinist

Reformed religion, are displayed in Southern

Transylvania, in Alba and Hunedoara counties,

and those in northern Transylvania are

located along the Somes river, in Cluj and

Bistrita river.

The reason for the desolation of these

churches could be due to the fact that along

the course of those rivers, the population

often had to suffer the consequence of raids

more than in hidden territories of mountains

or basins.

Another group of churches is that of the

Saxon Evangelical churches. The departure of

these communities started during the

communist period and ended after the

revolution, due to their massive exodus.

These churches are located mostly in the

south of Transylvania, in Sibiu, in Brasov

County and near the Tarnava river. Another

smaller group can be found in the north of

Bistrita area.

The reformed church of Nima with a protector rooftop.

The church of Chimindia during our intervention.

ABANDONED CHURCHES IN TRANSYLVANIA

e_conservation 85

Our activity started with the research and

the emergency conservation of some of those

churches. We quickly realized that we are

facing not just a few particular cases, but a

symptom affecting larger areas. This kind of

actions require directives for a concept to

organize our work.

We acted voluntarily or partially supported by

civil organizations. This activity was meant to

compensate the lack of governmental support

in such areas. Even though there were endeavors,

until the present time no real help came from

the state.

As a first step of our long term project we

worked on the research of a few endangered

churches. This way we could estimate the size

and location of certain values and to evaluate

the priorities of the interventions.

The first priority was, no doubt, the case

of buildings left uncovered, but bearing

important works of art, such as valuable

wall paintings.

In many cases the mural painting itself was

the factor that mobilized parts of civil society,

such as foundations, and made possible the

minimal preservation for the building, like

in the case of building a roof for the church

of Chimindia.

As far as conservation is concerned, the

churches with formerly uncovered mural

painting took advantage. In most cases,

the amount of interventions did not

exceed the preventive conservation

of the monuments.

The initial state of conservation, details from the church of Ormani.

PÉTER PÁL and LÓRÁND KISS

86 e_conservation

Our leading principle was the preservation in

the light of today's conservation concepts. A

complex conservation and restoration took

place only in a few cases.

In our vision, the research and preventive

conservation of these monuments should be

followed by the creation of a documentary

database distributed to specialists, as well

as to the owners of the monuments.

Even though we are struggling to preserve and

stop the deterioration of these murals, there are

several problems exceeding our professional and

financial possibilities. Such problems include

the monitoring of the monument, its maintenance

in time and its promotion in the local and

European art history, tourism, etc.

Church of Nima, detail of mural painting under conservation.

Detail from Nima Church under conservation. The advanced biologic attack on the surface of the painting can be noticed.

e_conservation 87

ABANDONED CHURCHES IN TRANSYLVANIA

Short study of a particular case

The Reformed church of Nima – the conservation of its mural paintings

The intervention in an emergency status took

place as a request of The Reformed Church of

Transylvania in November 2006.

All started previously in the year 2003 with

a stratigraphic research of the church walls.

That time the building was a ruin with the

roof destroyed and huge vegetation growing

inside. The paintings were discovered in 1970.

Today one can see the fragments of a 14th-

15th century painted layer in the a fresco

technique, depicting a gallery of apostles

The murals on the eastern and southern walls of the church of Nima during the intervention (up) and detail of mural painting (right).

88 e_conservation

PÉTER PÁL and LÓRÁND KISS

on the three sides of the choir. On the south

wing of the exterior walls, a solar disc is visible

with roman digits, and over it an inscription

with capital characters:

The conservation

On the surface of the walls there are several

fissures. These, and the falling stones from

the superior parts of the wall, deteriorated

persistently the layer of mortars.

The mortar became friable and pulverous being

exposed to extreme weather conditions.

Biological attack is also present, with a large

surface covered by mould and fungi, affecting

the surface, especially the color layer.

The methodology was as follow:

- The transitory fixation of the dislocated

fragments of the mortar. Materials used:

Japanese paper and CMC (carboxy methyl

cellulose sodium salt);

- Clearing the surface from additional mortars,

some of them mixed with cement, and fixing

the edges of the original layer. Materials

used: lime-based mortar proportion 1/3

(washed sand with medium granulation);

Details from the southern wall of the altar in the church of Nima.

e_conservation 89

ABANDONED CHURCHES IN TRANSYLVANIA

A.D.:163.. DIE.. MAYGEORGIUS ENYEDI RECTOR SCHOLAE

NEMAINAE

- Injecting the mortar with Primal solution in

the areas endangered by fall off;

- Padding the different size holes and cracks

with an apposite material as color and

structure. Materials used: lime-based mortar

proportion 1/3 (washed sand with different

granulation according to the size of the holes);

- Cleaning the surface of the painting from

lime and impurities;

- Disinfecting the surface by spreading

Sintosept QR 15 solution. Afterwards the

surface was treated with alcoholized water;

- Impregnation of friable mortar with a

silicate based solution. This solution was

applied on the whole surface of the existing

original because of its continuous exposure

to altering weather conditions. Materials

used: Estel 100 (non-hydrophobic).

After our intervention, a protecting roof was

built over the altar with the hope that in

2008 a final rooftop will be executed. The

intervention performed is assuring for now

only the preventive conservation of these

mural paintings.

Our future aim is, besides to sensitize the

public to such cases, to attract and involve

state institutions for financial and professional

support. This way, a larger strategy could be

developed at a regional level, for the safe-

guarding of a segment of art especially

endangered that belongs to the European

heritage.

Details from the mural painting of Ormani after the conservation intervention. The still wet fillings of the lacunas can be seen.

90 e_conservation

PÉTER PÁL and LÓRÁND KISS

Pál Péter (b. 1961, Tîrgu Mures) is a conser-

vator and member of S.C. Imago Picta SRL, a

conservation enterprise that deals with the

safeguarding of endangered monuments, re-

search and conservation of mural paintings,

since 2004. He previously worked for several

conservation enterprises such as S.C. C.R. and

S.C. Ars Antiqua S.R.L, on the conservation of

the church-monuments from Daia and Chilieni

in Covasna. Currently he is also an assistant at

the Human Sciences Faculty of the Sapientia

University in Cluj, teaching "Image Interpreta-

tive Methods and Techniques". He graduated

in Monumental Art and Conservation from N.

Grigorescu Art Institute in Bucharest. He has

received several awards and grants, from the

The Union of Romanian Plastic Artists and

from Kemeny Zsigmond Cultural Institute, for

a postgraduate course in conservation at the

Direction of Historic Monuments in Budapest,

Hungary.

PÁL PÉTER

contact: palpeter@zappmobile.ro

KISS LÓRÁND

contact: kisslori@zappmobile.ro

Kiss Lóránd (b. 1973, Tîrgu Mures),

conservator, is working for S.C. Imago Picta

S.R.L. since 2004. He is also a professor at

the Arts School from Tîrgu Mures. He

graduated from the Arts School in 1991 and

followed education at the Ion Andreescu

Academy of Visual Arts from Cluj, Romania,

obtaining his degree in Graphic Arts in 1996.

He also he attended a course in conservation

from the Direction of Historic Monuments in

Budapest, Hungary, granted by the Kemeny

Zsigmond Cultural Institute. He worked in

on-site conservation projects within S.C. Ars

Antiqua S.R.L. between 1999-2004. At the

moment his activity at Imago Picta is

focused on emergency interventions and

preservation of abandoned monuments

from Transylvania.

Two layers from different time periods on the southern wall of the church in Chimindia.

e_conservation 91

ABANDONED CHURCHES IN TRANSYLVANIA

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No. 4, April 2008

ISSN: 1646-9283

Registration Number125248

Entidade Reguladorapara a Comunicação Social

Propertye-conservationline, Teodora Poiata

PeriodicityBimonthly

CoverPhoto by Rui Bordalo

Mural Painting (1534), Church of"St. John the New" Monastery in Suceava, Romania

Executive EditorRui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata, Anca Nicolaescu

Collaborator:Anca Dina

Graphic Design and PhotographyAnca Poiata, Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

Address Rua Peixinho Júnior, nº 9, 1 D

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