e_conservationthe online magazine No. 9, April 2009

http://e-conservationline.com/

edit

oria

l

Crisis and Opportunity: a glance towards the Economics of Conservation

The world is said to be in crisis. People are facing new realities and as our perspective of

the world we live in changes, it also changes our own personal values. Although most of

these problems initially started in the economic domain, we should not forget it is the

economy that runs our entire existence. And cultural heritage is no exception.

The economic value of Cultural Heritage is unquestionable: being part of the national

identity, important for both local citizens and foreign visitors, tourism is a drive of

progress, creating employment and originating revenue at local and national levels.

It is obvious, thus, that conservation of the cultural stock is important.

Despite this, there are virtually no studies of the economic impact on conservation of

cultural heritage. European countries spend less than 1% of their gross domestic product

on culture, of which conservation is only a tiny fraction. Cultural heritage and its

protection are, however, presented as a priority in Europe. Isn’t that an apparent

contradiction?

Conservation is normally taken for granted by the general public and it is seen as a

governmental role which automatically preserves and protects at all cost. However,

lack of investment in conservation is the order of the day. And whoever is in the market

right now is feeling it. Even more so, I dare to say, that investment in the conservation

of cultural heritage was never as serious as in other fields considered to be of more

importance.

One of the problems of conservation is its economical sustainability, or its capacity for

investment return, in order to maintain the cultural stock. When sustainability is assured,

for example through tourism, I believe that the investment in conservation is even

greater. However, we can not rely only on factors such as tourism, which are seasonal

and tend to be volatile, as it has now been proved. Thus, protective strategies have to

be engineered and implemented.

These strategies should be drawn up by the many different actors in the field, among

which conservators should be included. How conservation is made, who does it and its

quality are essential aspects for the outcomes of those strategies.

Beyond a general strategy, these must also have a local dimension. Conservation-

restoration is usually a specialised service provided by small and medium enterprises

which could benefit from measures to promote employment. Nowadays, due to the eco-

nomic constraints several companies are being driven to bankruptcy, closing down due

to the lack of work and often professionals are migrating to other fields seeing that

they can’t survive on their true vocational path. Meanwhile, a large part of our precious

specialised workforce is being lost.

If we are to survive, to maintain our profession and its relevance to the protection of

cultural heritage, we should also question the models we have been following so far

and reassess our actions, from business models to services we provide to the society.

Everything is open to reassessment. What better time to do it than now?

Rui Bordalo,Editor in Chief

e_conservation

www.prorestauro.com

NEWS 6

51

ARTICLES

CASE STUDY

62HERITAGE IN DANGER

34

CONFERENCE REVIEWS

Securing the Future:

Indigenous Cultural Maintenance Symposium

February 23, 2009, Melbourne, Australia

Review by Jen Fortune, Kelly Leahey, Jane Manallack, Vanessa Pitt,

Charlotte Walker and Nurul (Noni) Zachri

The Challenges of Conservation in Archaeology,

Architecture and Museums: Turkey and Beyond

November 14-15, 2008, Istanbul, Turkey

Review by Anca Nicolaescu

The Matter of Image: Old Portuguese Recipe Books and

Treatises for the Preparation of Pigments Applied in Painting

March 10, 2009, Lisbon, Portugal

Review by Rui Bordalo

ANNOUNCEMENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS

May - June 2009

Rural Heritage Digitisation and Preservation:

First Experiences of a Research

By Lia Bassa

The Conservation of Context.

Montmaurin, the Venus of Arles and Mozart for Eternity

By Pierre-François Puech and Bernard Puech

The Role of Fungi in the Deterioration of Movable

and Immovable Cultural Heritage

By Irene Arroyo

Study and Restoration of a 19th Century Oil Painting

from the Slovak National Gallery

By Petra Hoffstädterová Dostálová and Jana Sanyova

Târgoviste, Monuments at Risk. The Royal Church

By Oliviu Boldura and Anca Dinã

EVENTS

10

40

e_conservation 5

INDEX

14

16

6

PROJECTS

21

24

new

sSECURING THE FUTURE:

INDIGENOUS CULTURAL MAINTENANCE SYMPOSIUM

Review by Jen Fortune,Kelly Leahey, Jane Manallack, Vanessa Pitt, Charlotte Walker

and Nurul (Noni) Zachri

February 23, 2009Melbourne, Australia

Website

Art sales in Indigenous communities

provide funds to support a variety of

Indigenous health and community

empowerment programs that are not

currently funded by any other means.

Indigenous culture is used by all

Australians to build economic and

professional bases for activities that

include museum and gallery atten-

dance and sales, the ever-increasing

trade in the art market, music indus-

try development, dance and theatre,

and education programs at all levels.

However, a recent Senate Inquiry

indicated that current funding, education, legisla-

tion, and support to develop sustainable cultural

maintenance and development programs run for

or by Australian Indigenous communities is inade-

quate. It is clear that current support to the Indi-

genous cultural sector is not equivalent to the

wider societal benefits.

On the 23rd of February 2009, the University of

Melbourne and the Centre for Cultural Materials

Conservation (CCMC) in collaboration with the

Australian Commercial Galleries Association (AC-

GA), the Koorie Heritage Trust (KHT), and the

Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural

Organisers: The University of Melbourne, Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (CCMC) In collaboration with:Australian Commercial Galleries Association (ACGA); Koorie Heritage Trust (KHT); Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development.

e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

Development hosted the first ever Indigenous

Cultural Maintenance Symposium. A key objective

of this symposium was to investigate issues raised

by the 2007 Senate Report Indigenous Art –

Securing the Future, and the subsequent Govern-

ment response. The symposium brought together

a diverse range of people, including Indigenous

and non-Indigenous leaders and intellectuals,

industry stake-holders, and artists involved in

the Australian Indigenous arts and crafts sector.

Indigenous representation in the event was

strong, as two thirds of the speakers were Indi-

genous.

Jason Eades, CEO of the KHT and a Gunai man

from Orbost, presented an opening address,

which followed a Welcome by the University’s

Vice Chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis, and an

Acknowledgement of Country presented by

Michelle Evans. Eades voiced the importance of

protecting Indigenous artists against unfair

trading practices. He discussed the need for

support for artists to protect themselves and

their art from unscrupulous art dealers and art

practices. Eades identified that “a strong and

healthy community has a strong and healthy

culture”, and part of the Art Centres’ duties is

the intergenerational transmission of that cul-

ture through education and training. There was

a lively discussion following his talk that focused

on the feelings of disconnection experienced by

many Aboriginal youth from their culture. It was

suggested that the internet may be used as a

tool for reestablishing connection, as it had

become a communications medium for the new

generation.

The day was divided into lectures and discussions

surrounding three topics: Programs and Industry

Responses, and Indigenous Identity, Art and Cul-

ture; Community and Artists; and Education,

Scholarship and Knowledge.

In the first lecture session, Beverly Knight (AC-

GA President) gave an overview of the ACGA’s role

and participation in the Senate Inquiry. Knight

believes that the ACGA can play an important role

in education, participation, fair representation

and development of Australian Indigenous artists’

careers. The need for the Australian government

to act more decisively to reduce the exploitation

of artists was mentioned.

Lydia Miller (Executive Director) of the Australia

Council (AC) provided an overview of the AC’s role

in the arts industry. Miller spoke of issues in cre-

ating supportive infrastructure for Indigenous

Australians, and defining goals and objectives to

support key organisations. She sees art and cul-

tural activities as an asset of modern communities

which need to be developed through said infra-

structure and funding.

Christine Davidson (Executive Officer) of the Asso-

ciation of Northern, Kimberley, and Arnhem Abo-

riginal Artists (ANKAAA), said that ANKAAA recog-

nises the important relationship Indigenous Aus-

tralians have in that region to their heritage, to

sea and to country, which is at the core of their

shared activity. Davison stated that ANKAAA are

pushing for proper training for Indigenous people

as Art Centre managers to ensure the continuation

of these centres for the benefits of the community.

While principally a place of producing and selling

artwork, Art Centres also provide an opportunity

for money to go back into communities and can

function as a place of education, training, and a

museum or “keeping” place.

Professor Marcia Langton (Foundation Chair of In-

digenous Studies at the University of Melbourne)

was of the opinion that the current Aboriginal

identity is “multi-plex”, not solely Aboriginal but

a combination of many influences. Langton also

outlined the issue of ethics and unscrupulous

e_conservation 7

8 e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

practice in the art industry, including art fraud,

authentication and provenance issues. While

believing that people need to take individual res-

ponsibility, she stated that Indigenous artists

also need to be given the means to be able to de-

cline quick cash payments. One possible solution

is to have an authentication label and ethical codes

for Indigenous artworks, which would help serve to

educate buyers on their provenance. The need for

a policing mechanism and penalties to those who

do not attend registration requirements was also

discussed.

Following the session, talk centred upon the power

of consumers, both to exploit but also to make a

difference. Official contracts were mentioned as

a measure to help prevent exploitation of artists

and consumers. The role of information techno-

logy in bringing communities together to foster

communication about this issue was raised. It is

believed that information technology is currently

not used to its full potential due to inaccessibility

in remote communities. Regarding contractual

models, it was made clear that the design would

specifically be for Australian Indigenous people

and not copied from overseas models.

The Wilin Centre’s Michelle Evans introduced the

next group of talks, focused on community and

artists. As Banduk Marika discussed in this session,

when social issues are high on the agenda, the

creation of art cannot always be a priority. Marika,

a Yolngu elder from Yirrkala in Northeast Arnhem

Land and Director on the Collections Council of

Australia board, spoke about how she sees the re-

lationship between country, community and art.

Aboriginal identity is often represented through

art and is part of the language of the community.

However, as Marika stated, country comes first

before art and an understanding of the Aboriginal

art community cannot be obtained without first

looking at social issues plaguing that community.

Elaine Terrick, Indigenous artist from East Gipps-

land, spoke about some of these issues, including

her experiences imparting traditional knowledge

to Indigenous youth. In order to maintain the

culture of Indigenous communities, traditional

knowledge must be transferred from the elders

to Aboriginal youth. In Terrick’s experience, she

has found this to be difficult to do, due to a lack

of enthusiasm from the Aboriginal youth them-

selves. “How do we make art exciting enough so

that kids will want to walk with us?” she asked.

Terrick stated that following the traditional arts

of one’s ancestors is of great importance and

she is frustrated that while Aboriginal communi-

ties have a strong voice, they are not managing

the communities themselves. She gave the exam-

ple in East Gippsland, where Aboriginal people

do not have administrative control of their own

organisations.

Evans discussed the ways in which the VCA’s Wilin

Centre is unique in its education opportunities for

Indigenous artists and related areas. Access to

education, such as the Indigenous Arts Management

course, fosters community by focusing not only on

students but also the wider Indigenous arts sector.

Ben McKeown, Melbourne based artist and descend-

ent from the Wirangu people, is a VCA Masters of

Visual Arts graduate and received academic sup-

port from the Wilin Centre during his studies. He

spoke to Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett,

Director of CCMC, about his background and art

practice. McKeown discussed how his connection

to country has been affected by the constant

moving of his family in his youth. For him family

and community support is of great importance to

artists and one of his reasons for attending VCA

was to learn to articulate himself as an artist.

McKeown’s work changes to suit the environment,

combining not only his Aboriginal culture, but his

experiences at large.

e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

One of McKeown's paintings, titled 'I Wonder',

was used the production of posters, brochures

and other forms of advertisement for the event.

This session revealed the dynamic culture of Indi-

genous arts and demonstrated different views and

approaches, both in the meaning and creation of

works of art. Recognising the different requirements

for different Aboriginal people was reiterated.

Lyndon Ormond-Parker and Gary Pappin from eMob

spoke about their work documenting and cata-

loguing Aboriginal artifacts and human remains

held in international collections, making this in-

formation accessible to Australian Aboriginal

people through digital technology. The project

aims to encourage Aboriginal artists to reclaim

their cultural birthright and revive connections

with material held overseas, thereby rejuvenating

cultural practices in relation to that material. The

database has been created in consultation with

Aboriginal communities Australia wide, however

it is not just for Aboriginal people, but rather an

opportunity to bridge the gap in the cultural ex-

change with other artists in the country. Parker

and Pappin hope to extend the database to include

information relating to fundraising opportunities,

and scholarships with universities.

Judith Ryan, Senior Curator at the National Gallery

of Victoria (NGV) for Indigenous Art was the final

speaker of the symposium. She spoke about the

important work the NGV does to research and

document the provenance of all Indigenous art-

works held in their collection. With regards to new

acquisitions, it is NGV policy to buy work only when

the provenance is known, and they prefer to pur-

chase from Art Centres and ethically represented

Indigenous artists.

Over the breadth of the symposium we heard from

a variety of speakers who presented different views

and experiences, and there are of course many more

views from people across the country. As with all

living culture, the Aboriginal culture is constantly

evolving and adapting to modernisation. New tools

may be used alongside traditional tools, and yet

the final product will be no less Aboriginal.

The symposium had the desired outcome of being

beneficial for all concerned with many partici-

pants expressing an interest in continuing discus-

sions in the near future. The invaluable information

and recommendations gathered from the Indige-

nous Cultural Maintenance Symposium will soon

be made available in a formal publication of pro-

ceedings.

About the authors

Jen Fortune, Kelly Leahey, Jane Manallack, Vanes-

sa Pitt, Charlotte Walker, and Nurul (Noni) Zachri

are all students of the Masters of Cultural Materials

Conservation program at the University of Mel-

bourne, Melbourne, Australia. These six students,

under the guidance of Associate Professor Robyn

Sloggett, developed and managed the Indigenous

Cultural Maintenance Symposium.

9

Cave painting of man playing didgeridoo. Photo by cimabue, August 14, 2007. Some rights reserved.

10 e_conservation

THE CHALLENGES OF CONSERVATION IN ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE AND MUSEUMS: TURKEY AND BEYOND

November 14-15, 2008Istanbul, Turkey

Organisers:The Research Center for Anatolian Civilizationshttp://rcac.ku.edu.tr/

The Department of Archaeology and History of Art,Koç Universityhttp://www.ku.edu.tr

Review by Anca Nicolaescu

An International Symposium organized by the

Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations and

the Department of Archaeology and History of

Art, Koç University, took place in Istanbul on 14 -

15th November 2008.

Through its topic, The Challenges of Conservation

in Archaeology, Architecture and Museums: Turkey

and Beyond, the symposium covered a wide range

of actual issues important for the future of conser-

vation field in Turkey, from both the philosophical

and technical point of view.

As Jerry Prodany from J.P. Getty Museum was

saying in his keynote speech, Turkey is facing a

big challenge in finding its own way of dealing

with the immense and varied amount of heritage

and its preservation. Therefore, such a symposium

which gathered specialist speakers from all over

the world was very inspiring and welcomed.

Alessandra Ricci - associate Director RCAC, Prof.

Dr. Sami Gülgöz – dean, College of Social Sciences

and Humanities, Koç University and Ismail Ka-

ramut - director of the Archaeological Museum

addressed the symposium’s welcoming message,

emphasizing its main goal of understanding the

importance of a comprehensive view in dealing

with such a variety of heritage - monuments,

artifacts and excavations that are taken place in

living cities.

In his keynote speech - “Why and for whom: Pro-

fessionalism and Change in Conservation”, Jerry

Prodany made a brief history of conservation

following the evolution of the terminology and

its principles, raising questions regarding the

definition of heritage values, for whose memory

we preserve it and for how long we plan to: one

generation, many, millenniums? He spoke about

how, all those problems, together with the

CONFERENCE REVIEW

11e_conservation

context or object’s symbolism, are influencing

the conservation approach.

Trying to analyze Turkey situation he pointed out

that conservation must be dynamic, even though

“Charters are important in unifying our effort”

they must be in concordance with the specificity

of the country and its heritage.

Concerning Turkey’s issues he took into account

the complexity of the country where tourism is a

national resource and thus, heritage is “consumed”

by huge amounts of visitors (24 millions in 2007).

Therefore “it can not be just one model that

Turkey can look at, within the envelope of EU it

must find its own solutions” to improve its mana-

gement and maintenance in handling its cultural

heritage.

The presentation was followed by animated dis-

cussions about the significance of interdisciplinary

work in the conservation field, the necessity of

specialists and professional organizations.

Alessandra Rossi made an interesting parallel

regarding the need of a wide view approaching

when dealing with heritage preservation. Giving

an example from archaeology where there are

different ways of quarrying, either digging “holes”

or working in wide excavation - “cliff approach-

ing”, she draw attention to the fact that monu-

ments are sometimes regarded as simple built

heritage, loosing thus their authenticity given

by the whole contextual factors of the site.

The symposium had three sections covering the

architecture, wall paintings and archaeological

conservation.

Each section had interesting presentations done

by specialists invited from all over the world, giving

thus various examples and different points of

view and making possible the ideas exchange.

During the section concerning the architecture

conservation there were three talks covering

different issues. The case study presented by

Martin Bachmann from German Archaeological

Institute, discussed the “Recent Restoration

Work of the DAI in Pergamon“ which was opened

for public in 2004. The presentation “Consolidation

of Natural Stones used in the Facades of Dolma-

bahçe Palace” done by Ahmet Ersen, Istanbul

Teknik Universitesi (ITU) focused on the expe-

rimental work aimed to research the efficacy of

the consolidants by evaluating the changes in

the physical properties of the untreated and

treated samples of the respective tuff stones.

An ample talk regarding “On site and Laboratory

Investigation for the Diagnosis of Historic Build-

ings” was given by Luigia Binda from Politecnico

di Milano. Through the examples presented from

Italy and Vietnam she highlighted the necessity

of a ”better knowledge of the materials and the

structure of the buildings” for enhancing the

quality of the interventions. The use of modern

materials and technologies were proved to be

inadequate during recent earthquakes due to the

incompatibility with the original ones.

Even more, the presentation was very interesting

giving a very good systematization of the ways

of designing the structural investigations, diag-

nosis and new procedures for investigation.

A view from the presentation of Martin Bachmann from DAI , Alman Arkeoloji Enstitütü, entitled"Recent Restoration work of the DAI in Pergamon”.

CONFERENCE REVIEW

12 e_conservation

The wall painting conservation section comprised

two talks from the Turkish part. A case study

regarding the restoration works done in 2007-

2008 campaign on the wall paintings from the

Old Andaval Church of Constantine and Helena

in Nigde was presented by Fazli Açikgöz from

Nigde Muzeum.

Gülseren Dikilitaş, a freelance conservator, made

an assessment of the current state of knowledge

regarding identification of the degradation and

the passive conservation of the wall paintings

from archaeological sites in Turkey.

The second day was dedicated to the conservation

of archaeological objects, having as topics: “Con-

servation at Archaeological Excavations: Sharing

Responsibilities or Not?” by Hande Kökten, from

Ankara University (Turkey) and “Mosaic Conserva-

tion between Knowledge and Operative Methods”

presented by Claudia Tedeschi from the School

for the Restoration of Mosaics, Ravenna (Italy).

A very interesting paper was presented by Andy

Holbrook, Collection care manager from the Im-

perial War Museum, London (UK): “Conservation

and Conservation: A brief report on how IWM

(Imperial War Museum) and UK Museums are

beginning to tackle environmental management

in a climate of global warming”.

The project demonstrated how it is possible to

achieve a sustainable environment through

cheaper, more efficient and effective means.

Without using sophisticated high tech equipment

or interventions, the problem of environmental

management was solved through simple passive

solutions after a systematic and meticulous re-

search of the space (the museums buildings are

usually converted to meet the necessity of a mu-

seum and therefore not very efficient) and of

the exterior and interior environment and possi-

bilities, causes and effects. He showed that, in

the case of the Imperial War Museum, only by

blocking up the windows and insulating them on

both sides, the stabilization of the microclimate,

easy to be controlled in a professional way, and

the reduction of the energy losses were achieved.

Ending the successful symposium, Orkan Köyağa-

siöğlu from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology

(INA), Turkey, spoke about “Conservation and

study of ancient shipwrecks: The importance of

conservation in understanding ancient ship

construction and reassembling of shipwrecks”.

Showing how important is the cooperation be-

tween archaeologists and conservators on the

excavation sites for better understanding of the

technologies and best treatment solutions, he

highlighted once again the importance of the

Luigia Binda, Politecnico di Milano, “On site and Laboratory Investigation for the Diagnosis of Historic Buildings”.

Fazlı Açıkgöz, Niğde Müzesi, “ The 2007-2008 Documentation, Conservation and Restoration Works of the Wall Paintings of the Old Andaval Church of Constantine and Helena in Niğde”.

CONFERENCE REVIEW

13e_conservation

interdisciplinary work in a conservation and re-

search project.

This last presentation of the symposium made

actually the connection with one of the excursion

offered by the organizers to the participants at

the impressive ongoing archaeological excava-

tion at the Yenikapı site. During the construction

works for building a tube underneath Bosphorus

and connecting the continents of Europe and Asia,

in 2004 the site of the Byzantine commercial

harbour of Theodosius has been discovered.

According to the researches done by the Institute

of Nautical Archaeology (INA) from Bodrum, the

harbour “was in use from 4th century until rivers

silt filled it in around 1500”, and became the

greatest nautical archaeological site of all times.

Due to the conditions of the soil which remained

very damp long after the harbor silted up it was

possible for the archaeologists to recover amazing

sensitive artifacts witnessing the Byzantines’

trade and military power, such as 32 shipwrecks

including the first Byzantine galleys ever found,

a huge amount of artifacts, several docks, buildings

and even a church foundation. Still, during Yeni-

kapı excavation the history of Istanbul went back

further than it was previously thought when four

Neolithic burials where unearthed, revealing that

there were settlements dating back 8000 years.

Thus, the symposium concluded in the breath-

taking Yenikapı site, where the attendance had

the extraordinary chance to experience and re-

call its topic, “Challenges of Conservation in

Archaeology, Architecture and Museums”.

Left: Hande Kökten, Ankara Üniversitesi, “ Conservation at Archaeological Excavation: Sharing Responsibilities or Not?”

Claudia Tedeschi, School for Restoration of Mosaic, Ravenna, “Mosaic Conservation between Knowledge and Operative Methods”

CONFERENCE REVIEW

14 e_conservation

AS MATÉRIAS DA IMAGEM: antigos receituários e tratados portugueses para preparação de pigmentos aplicados na pintura

THE MATTER OF IMAGE: Old Portuguese Recipe Books and Treatises for the Preparation of Pigments Applied in Painting

March 10, 2009, Lisbon, PortugalOrganiser: Centre of History from the University of Lisbon

Review by Rui Bordalo

For those interested in the study of art materials

and techniques it is always a surprise to be able

to attend a conference fully focused on a single,

important historical source. I am refering to a

Portuguese treatise on illumination, “O livro de

como se fazem as cores” (or The book on how to

make colours), dated 1262 and whose authorship

is attributed to Abraham ben Judah Ibn Hayyim.

This document is the oldest medieval Judeo-

Portuguese text and was written with Hebraic

characters.

The conference As Matérias da Imagem (The Matter

of Image) was organised by the Centre of History

from the University of Lisbon (CHUL) and was

held in the Faculty of Letters (FLUL) of the same

university in March 10th 2009.

The event was organised for the dissemination

of the work developed in a research project –

“As Matérias da Imagem: os pigmentos na trata-

dística portuguesa entre a Idade Média e 1850”

(The Matter of Image: pigments in Portuguese

treatises from the Middle Ages to 1850) -

dedicated to the study of art technical treatises

and performed by the Centre of History (CHUL)

in partnership with the Department of Chemistry

of the Faculty of Sciences (FCUL) from the Uni-

versity of Lisbon.

The conference was organised in 5 different ses-

sions in order to offer an overview of the work

performed in the project and covered various

topics from the study of the treatise to the re-

production of pigments based on old recipes.

The first two sessions were focused particularly

on the study of the treatise, while the others

comprised analytical studies of pigments and

the study of the European context of technical

literature production.

The first session - O Livro de como se fazem as

cores I - was presented by Ivo de Castro, Professor

at FLUL, and Devon Strolovitch from the Cornell

University (USA). As linguists, this first session

focused on the particularities of the language

used in the treatise. For those interested to know

more about this topic, chapter 4 of Strolovitch’s

PhD thesis is a critical edition of the book and it

is available online at www.jmrg.org/strolovitch/

disspage/4.pdf.

The second session - O Livro de como se fazem as

cores II – was presented by Luís Urbano Afonso

(FLUL/CHUL) and Mark Clarke from the University

of Amsterdam. Dr. Luis Afonso presented the full

history of the treatise since it was first studied

by Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi in 1803. It was

CONFERENCE REVIEW

15e_conservation

him who attributed the authorship to Abraham

ben Judah Ibn Hayyim although this is no longer

certain once several handwritings were identified

in the book. Most likely the document was pro-

duced by copyists and through time each owner

added some notes and comments to it. Mark

Clarke’s presentation focused on the European

context of the treatise. For most professionals, who

are not knowledgeable of medieval art treatises,

his presentation was a good introduction to the

mediaeval production of art books. In fact, it was

mentioned that most researches concentrate on

the known Il libro dell'arte by Cennino Cennini

and Theophilus manuscript while this treatise is

seldom referenced. There are nearly 450 manu-

scripts in Europe that refer to art materials but

while mostly are compilations, there are only few

original treatises fully justifying the importance

of the study of this book. It is believed that the

manuscripts we know today are not original books

from the workshop, where the artists use to write

their instructions, but final versions from those

books.

The third session – Material Analysis of Portuguese

Mediaeval Art – comprised two presentations.

The first talk, given by Adelaide Miranda and

Ana Lemos from the New University of Lisbon

(UNL), focused on the formal comparison of the

three mediaeval copies that are know in Portugal

of the Aviarium (book I of De bestiis et aliis rebus),

a book about birds. In detail, the technique and

the colour of some illuminated figures were ex-

plained. The second talk was given by Maria João

Melo, Catarina Miguel and Ana Claro from UNL

and was focused on the identification of the ma-

terials used in the Aviarium by means of several

analytical techniques. Apart the complete iden-

tification of the pigments and medium, interesting

details were also revealed such as the practice to

mix vermilion with red lead, most likely because

the former was quite expensive. The origin of

some materials in Portugal was also discussed, as

indigo and a lake dye were identified and these

materials were likely brought through Arab

commerce.

The forth session – Technical treatises for pigment

preparation – included three presentations made

by researches from the University of Lisbon (UL).

The first talk was given by Vanessa Antunes and

Isabel Dâmaso Santos, who had researched seve-

ral documents, from contracts of the XVI century

to treatises and XXI century dictionaries, and

studied the etymology, the evolution of the history,

use, variations and meanings of three prepara-

tion-related terms: preparação, imprimatura and

aparelho. The second talk was given by Patrícia

Monteiro from the Institute of Art History, who

presented a study of the “Breve tratado de Ilu-

minação”, an anonymous manuscript without

date and whose author would have been from

the Order of Christ. The manuscript is original,

except for one chapter which was actually copied

from the “Arte da Pintvra” by Philippe Nunes. It

is composed of 88 folios and has not yet been

published. Several references, however, to the

techniques of many artists were found such as a

varnish recipe used by El Greco and the description

of the preparation of a panel by painters Vasco

Fernandes and Luz Morales. Vitor Serrão, Professor

at FLUL, spoke about pigments used in paintings

from the XVI and XVII centuries and referenced

in Portuguese contracts. It was noticed that de-

spite the existence of nearly 1500 contracts from

that time period, details concerning the art ma-

terials to be used are rarely mentioned. Unlike

Spanish contracts, the Portuguese are profuse in

vague terms such as the best or the richest when

referring to materials. However, the researcher was

able to compile a list of over 30 artist pigments.

Finally, the fifth and last session – Reproducing

recipes of pigment preparation in laboratory –

CONFERENCE REVIEW

16 e_conservation

comprised three interesting presentations. The

first was an experiment presented by Ana Paula

Carvalho from FCUL. The researcher prepared lead

white in laboratory conditions based on a recipe

given by Philippe Nunes in “Arte da Pintvra” (1615).

As the production of lead white is a naturally slow

process, it was attempted to change several ex-

perimental parameters in order to assess their

influence on the speed of the product reaction

and transformation from lead to lead acetate and

basic lead carbonate. The products obtained

during the different steps of the experiment were

analysed by analytical techniques. It was concluded

that the temperature was not a fundamental pa-

rameter as it was not enough to precipitate the

transformation while the presence of CO2 is a very

important factor for the transformation.

The second talk, given by P.M. Gonçalves from

UL, was focused on the study of the traditional

production of red lead. For this, a traditional

wood oven was used and the oven temperature

was monitored in order to correlate it with the

shades obtained by the heating.

The last presentation was made by António João

Cruz from the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, who

presented a comparative study between the “Livro

de como se fazem as cores” and the “Mappae

Clavicula”, which is a compilation dating from

the year 821-822 but with additions from the XI

and XII centuries. For the comparative study of

the recipes, a series of less common materials

were selected in order to maximise the probability

of finding comparisons: ouro músico (“music

gold”), azul de prata (copper acetate), azarcão

(minium), azinhavre (verdigris) and vermilion.

It was found that there are some similarities but

in fact no close connections could be made, which

underlines the complete originality of the “Livro

de como se fazem as cores” as a treatise. Never-

theless, an influence at the vocabulary level

concerning the use planet names to designate

metals was noticed by the author.

The conference highlighted the importance of

the study of old manuscripts and treatises for the

technical art history. The historical knowledge

of art materials is relevant not only for the history

of art but also in other fields such as conserva-

tion and it can be also very helpful in the study

and technical analysis of paintings. It is a highly

interesting subject that I would like to find more

often in publications. The conference has shown

that the study this important treatise is not as

developed as thought so I would like to congra-

tulate the project promoters to have taken this

step forward. Moreover, I look forward to seeing

the conference postprints and the results of the

project published by the organiser.

Disaster risk management should be a priority

in the protection of Cultural Heritage. Earth-

quakes are unpredictable and may often be the

cause of immeasurable losses.

This was the case of the Italian city of L’Aquila

that was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude

earthquake on 6th April 2009.

L’Aquila, the capital city of the Abruzzo region

in central Italy, is merely at 100 km from Rome.

The epicentre was located at 7 km from L’Aquila

and reports said that the destruction was veri-

fied on a 30 km radius reaching several historic

villages such as Villa Sant’Angelo or Borgo di

Castelnuovo. The first efforts were devoted to

rescue the possible survivors but the loss of lives

and homes is devastating: a total of 294 people

were killed, 28,000 were left homeless and up

to 15,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

After the rescue operations the attention shift-

ed to the cultural heritage. In mid April, the

EARTHQUAKE IN ITALYCultural Heritage Disaster

CONFERENCE REVIEW

NEWS

17e_conservation

Ministry of Culture started an inventory of the

churches, historic building and their respective

contents in the region of Abruzzo. According to

the Italian ministry of Culture, at least 500 his-

toric churches have been destroyed or damaged

in the catastrophe.

The historical centre of the city was completely

devastated. The transept of the 13th century

basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio collapsed.

The cupola of the Santa Maria del Suffragio church

cracked leaving the stucco at open sight. Among

the damaged churches was also Sant’Agostino

church, which dome collapsed onto the city’s

historical archives. Rare documents were later

salvaged from the building, such as the 13th

century charter granting city status. The bell

tower of the church of San Bernardino di Siena

collapsed as well as Porta Napoli, a gate built in

1548 in honour of the Emperor Charles V, was

reduced to rubble. Some few building, however,

survived such as the church of San Liberatore a

Maiella, which was rebuilt in the 11th century

after an earthquake in 990.

Outside L’Aquila, the 14th-century Tower of Medici

and the altar of the church of Sant’Angelo col-

lapsed, the ceiling of the church of Poggio Cono

felled down and the facade of the church of

Sant'Agostino was damaged.

In Rome minor damages were also reported, such

as cracks in the 3rd century thermal baths built

by the Emperor Caracalla.

On a more positive note, the earthquake made

possible an archaeological discovery, according

Italian daily La Stampa. 15,000 year-old prehis-

toric dwellings up to five meters high were un-

earthed in L’Aquila. Local experts are exploring

the caves which are considered to have been

shelters used by the first shepherds to inhabit

the area.

A Vatican official, Francesco Buranella, issued

an appeal to international conservation-restora-

tion institutions to adopt damaged objects and

to perform the necessary interventions.

30 million euros were requested for the emergency

works required in the main historical buildings.

The Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has promised

access to a special fund. However, the total cost

of the conservation-restoration operations was

estimated in 100 million euros. The reconstruc-

tion of the city may cost as much as 12 billion

euros. Meanwhile, the Italian government allo-

cated 5 million euros to help rebuild museums

damaged by the earthquake.

There is hope to recover one day some of these

valuable historic monuments from their loss

and with them, the identity of Abruzzo region

and of its inhabitants will hopefully be recovered.

Church of Santa Maria in Paganica, near L'Aquila, after the earthquake. Photo by pablo72, April 11, 2009. Some rights reserved.

The News section is publishing diverse

information on cultural heritage topics, such

as on-site conservation projects reports,

conferences, lectures, talks or workshops

reviews, but also course reviews and any other

kind of appropriate announcements. If you are

involved in interesting projects and you want

to share your experience with everybody else,

please send us your news or announcements.

For more details, such as deadlines and

publication guidelines, please visit

www.e-conservationline.com

SILK ROAD CITY IN DANGER

The historic centre of the millenary city of

Kashgar is in danger of disappearing. Kashgar

is regarded as the most important trade centre

in the Silk Road, an extensive network of

commercial routes that have connected Asia,

Europe and Africa for over 2000 years. Kashgar

is home of the Uighur people and is located in

the southwest of Xinjiang, China, near the

border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is a

2100 years old city where most of the buildings

are historic monuments.

The preservation of the city of Kashgar is very

important - without it the Silk Road couldn’t be

classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

However, nowadays the city is facing problems

related to the real estate, the increase of tourism

and lack of proper preservation policies.

The government was planning a renovation of

the city but the plans were not known until the

beginning of this year. In February, the local

government started a program called “Old Town

Reconstruction Project for Old and Dangerous

Houses” focusing on the houses of nearly 50,000

families. Local authorities have been requesting

the cooperation of every citizen. According to

18 e_conservation

NEWS

Id Khar Mosque at Kashgar. Photo by Colegota, October 2005. Some rights reserved.

NEW PROJECT Open Source Software for Conservation Documentation

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

e_conservation magazine is open to articles

submission on a wide range of relevant

topics for the cultural heritage sector.

Next deadlines for article submission are:

for Issue 11, August 2009 – submissions due

1st July 2009

for Issue 12, October 2009 – submissions

due 1st September 2009

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.

the plan, 65,000 houses were at risk, in need of

renovation or reconstruction. However, the

project seems to plan the demolition of the old

houses and the construction of high apartment

buildings. Plus, the government has started to

relocate many of the Uighur people to settlements

out of the city.

The future of Kashgar seems to be undermined,

either on its social or cultural dimensions, and

this significant city may be lost forever if proper

urban plans in respect to the historic heritage

are not made in time.

For details on the impact this is having on the

city, please see http://en.bjchp.org/english/

thefutureofkashgar.pdf.

19e_conservation

NEWS

A new project that has the purpose of building

an open source application for documentation

in conservation is being started. The project is

supported by the Mellon Program in Research

in Information Technology (RIT) and in its initial

phase, it is focused on the community design of

the software. This year the project will gather

input from conservators and conservation sci-

entists concerning their requirements, in order

to establish an “application that would support

and help to manage their work, its documenta-

tion, and related scientific data”. Two community

design meeting took place in March (New York)

and April (London) and the narrative summaries

of the discussions as well as a final document

with the results will be available for the public

by the end of the year on the project’s blog.

For more information and updates please visit

http://www.conservationspace.org

Are you reading this?So is everyone else...

e-conservationline

For advertisingand other information on publicity,

please contact

general@e-conservationline.com

and request a copy of our mediakit.

even

ts

Never Superficial! Challenges in Conserving Murals/ Architectural Surfaces

Facing the Challenges of Panel Paintings Conservation: Trends, Treatments and Training

May

200

9

The atelier practice of Vincent van Gogh in its historic context

Date: 14-15 May Read more...

Place: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The subjects would cover the study of the paint-

ing techniques, the materials used (changes

and current behaviour), characterization tech-

niques applied to these studies, relevant

conservation related conclusions (preventive

conservation, cleaning, treatments, etc.) and

importance of this work in the context of his

time (artistic currents at the time, historic

documentary sources).

Living in the Past: Histories, Heritage and the Interior

The 6th Modern Interiors Research Centre

Conference, Kingston University

Date: 14-15 May Read more...

Place: Kingston, UK

The annual conference of the Modern Interiors

Research Centre has established itself as a leading

forum for international interdisciplinary debate

on the history and theory of the modern interior.

In 2009 the Conference will bring together art,

architectural and design historians, practitioners

and curators, to examine and debate the theme

of the interior as a marker of history.

Conservation 2.0-New Directions AIC Annual Meeting

Date: 19-22 May Read more...

Place: Los Angeles, US

The 2009 AIC Annual Meeting theme is Conservation 2.0-

New Directions. This program will highlight the ways in

which emerging technologies will affect the conservation

field. Six workshops will take place during the conference.

The events in this section are

linked to the original homepage

of the organisers or to the

calendar of events at

www.conservationevents.com.

Click on "Read more..." to find

out more details about each event.

Date: 15 May Read more...

Place: Hildesheim, Germany

On the occasion of Prof. Dr. Ivo Hammer's retirement,

the Hornemann Institute is holding a colloquium on

challenges in conserving murals and architectural

surfaces. Renowned Specialists will speak: Prof. Dr.

Mauro Matteini, Prof. Dr. Thomas Danzl, Markus Eiden,

Prof. Dr. Ivo Hammer, Dr. des. Stefanie Lindemeier, Prof.

Jurgen Pursche, Prof. Dr. Nicole Riedl, Elodie Rossel.

Date: 17, 18 May Read more...

Place: Los Angeles, California, US

This symposium will highlight recent developments in

panel paintings research and conservation strategies,

ranging from specific treatment projects to related exhi-

bition issues. The symposium will also include discussion

of education and training needs. Symposium speakers

and contributors have been invited from around the world

and include specialists in the structural treatment of

panel paintings, as well as curators, scientists and con-

servation specialists in related fields.

e_conservation

e_conservation

Forum for the Conservation and Restoration of Stained-Glass Windows

Fundamentals of Creating and Managing Digital Collections

Date: 27-29 May Read more...

Place: San Diego, California, US

This popular three-day conference presents the essentials

of digitization for those who wish to expand their digital

knowledge. From file formats to funding, from metadata

to rights management, learn how to create and manage

sustainable digital collections. Topics include collabora-

tion, planning a digital project, selection for digitization,

scanning basics, image capture, metadata, sustainabi-

lity and digital preservation, outsourcing and vendor

relations, essentials of delivery systems, copyright and

rights management, and funding strategies.

Preserving the Evidence of Industrial Society

NKF-Congress 2009

Date: 24-27 May Read more...

Place: Copenhagen, Denmark

The theme of this conference is the special issues arising

from the conservation of industrial cultural heritage,

industrial materials, products and production equipment.

As an illustration, the large number of objects, their

dimensions, function and material complexity often

present a challenge to a traditional conservation strategy.

Icon Ceramics and Glass Group Annual Group Meeting

Date: 28 May Read more...

Place: London, UK

The main theme of this year's conference focuses on

the Sir Percival David Collection of Chinese Ceramics.

This outstanding collection of one thousand seven

hundred ceramics, ranging in date from the 3rd-20th

century, is considered the most important collection of

Chinese ceramics outside mainland China and Taiwan.

Mecenas e Patrons. A encomenda artística e a Igreja em Portugal

III Ciclo de Conferências para o Estudo dos Bens Culturais da Igreja

Date: 28-30 May Read more...

Place: Lisbon, Portugal

Tendo como objectivo primeiro abordar a relação que se

estabelece entre a encomenda de obras de arte e a

Igreja em Portugal, a iniciativa visa, em particular,

promover o debate em torno da actividade mecenática

desempenhada por figuras da Igreja, membros de

ordens religiosas e eclesiásticos de um modo geral.

A conferência estará centrada nos tópicos:

- Mecenato e patronato artístico

- Encomenda e aquisição de obras de arte

- Sensibilidade estética e litúrgica

May

200

9

Date: 01-03 June Read more...

Place: New York, USA

The theme of the Forum will be "The Art of Collabora-

tion: Stained Glass Conservation in the Twenty-First

Century".

The three day Forum will consist of two full days of oral

presentations and poster sessions at The Metropolitan

Museum of Art, one of the world's largest and finest art

museums. The conference is open to all interested

stained glass professionals, including conservators,

conservation scientists, architects, cultural heritage

managers, art historians, students, etc. The venue is

intended to provide an unprecedented opportunity for

experts from Europe and The United States to meet and

share their expertise and experience.

The Forum is being held under the auspices of the

American Corpus Vitrearum and the International

Committee of the Corpus Vitrearum for the Conservation

of Stained Glass.

June

200

9

22

Museums and Capital Development: project planning and delivery

Researching Ivory

Integrating Scientific Analyses, Historical Data, Artefact Studies and Conservation Needs

Date: 09 June Read more...

Place: London, UK

This workshop presents an opportunity to influence the

future directions of ivory research and the development

of protocols for best practice for sampling, analysis and

conservation of this finite resource. It will appeal to indi-

viduals who are involved in the exhibition, curation, conser-

vation and the monitoring and control of the illegal con-

temporary trade in ivory products, among others.

Artists’ Writings 1750 - Present

Date: 05-06 June Read more...

Place: London, UK

Despite Matisse’s warning that ‘he who wants to dedicate

himself to painting should start by cutting out his

tongue’, artists in the modern period have frequently

expressed themselves in writing (whether memoir,

fiction or theory). This conference will ask what motivates

artists to write, how they view the relation between

their visual and textual practice, and how they use

writing to manipulate or challenge the public reception

and critical interpretation of their work.

Historic Houses as Documents of Social Life and Traditional Skills

DEMHIST - International Committee for Historic House Museums

Date: 19-24 June Read more...

Place: Stavanger and Sand, Norway

The event is focused upon the conservation and manage-

ment of house museums, Norway having a long tradition

of preserving historic buildings in open-air museums,

but also as independent houses on their original sites.

Art today – Cultural property of tomorrow. The conservation and restoration of contemporary artwork

Date: 24-26 June Read more...

Place: Paris, France

Contemporary artworks present specific characters and

cannot be treated as “classical” artworks: aim,

frequently different, materials used, closely tuned with

their time, the use of special techniques or aertefacts

(video imaging, electric circuits, radio, electronics, etc.),

links within great number of such artwork and contem-

porary society, finally in many occurrences the fact

that the artist would be still alive – and then would be

able to give his opinion or to play a part in an eventual

restoration – all these elements are setting up a whole

combination of very particular conditions and obliga-

tions that, as far as we could see, widely justify the

organization of an international congress on this topic.

June

200

9

Continuous improvement through sharing knowledge and learning from the past

Date: 29 June - 2 July Read more...

Place: Leicester, UK

Museums and Capital Projects is a Masterclass for

museum professionals involved in commissioning and

managing capital development projects. This three day

event will provide an introduction to project delivery by

exploring and offering insight on different client

perspectives and project issues. The workshop will also

provide a sustained and intensive opportunity to share

individual capital project issues with colleagues and

receive feedback. The class prioritises a collaborative

process and is open to museum professionals involved

in any capacity in a capital project. The Museums and

Capital Projects Masterclass is one in a series of events

that have been developed by the Department of Mu-

seum Studies at the University of Leicester since 2003.

EVENTS

e_conservation 23

RURAL HERITAGE DIGITISATION AND PRESERVATION:

FIRST EXPERIENCES OF A RESEARCH

by Lia Bassa

proj

ects

Foundation For Information Society

25e_conservation

RURAL HERITAGE DIGITISATION AND PRESERVATION:

FIRST EXPERIENCES OF A RESEARCH

There is a complex branch of economic life:

tourism. It includes and makes use of many

branches of economic and cultural life as well

as it contributes to international relations.

Therefore, it is very difficult to define its place

in the structure of the management of a country:

it is sometimes attached to foreign or inner af-

fairs, to the highest political leading section or

subordinated to economic or cultural ministries.

We have tried to set up a connection between

touristic market development through IT tools

to heritage management that partly belongs to

conservation processes and partly to pure eco-

nomy. In the course of our research we could

identify an area to be examined that concentrates

all the problems and questions raised in this

subject - rural heritage houses.

Their exploration exists all over the world.

Either by the presentation of individual houses

or by the presentation of the customs, architec-

ture and way of living of a community, i.e. by the

so-called “skanzens”. The first open air folklore

museum of the world, the Skansen in Stockholm

was opened in 1891. Numerous countries followed

this example in the middle of the 20th century.

We have visited some of these houses from the

Baltic states to India and found that there is a

vast interest in these buildings, tools and ancient

vocations.

The original houses are very special points of

interest, scattered all around in each country.

In Hungary there are approximately 300 rural

heritage houses representing folk heritage. If

a country, farm or village house is operating as

a museum where the tools of past industries are

collected and presented, or where the rooms are

furnished according to their old function for

tourists to visit them, it can apply for an official

qualification of "Rural Heritage House". Some-

times the tools are shown in their past functions

displaying the origins of the industry or agricul-

ture of former periods. Additionally, each nation

has its own folklore including textual, poetic, mu-

sical and dancing traditions. The value of these

houses can be best introduced by information and

knowledge management techniques and many

areas can make profit out of these achievements,

even if the target of the examination is "nothing

else" but buildings representing the past of

their inhabitants.

The objective of our "Rural Heritage" program has

been to draw the attention of visitors arriving

from any country, from any social layer to make

acquaintance with the rural life in its original

surroundings. For people arriving from various

backgrounds, to get to know how other types of

people live can be a useful experience. Moreover,

this type of touristic visit can be profitable for

both sides: it produces financial and cultural

benefits for the participants as well as for the

servicing areas like hotels, restaurants, roads,

shops etc.

Cultural heritage, either tangible or intangible,

must be considered as integral part of the econo-

mic life. It means that the investments in this cul-

tural sector are elemental parts of the value chains

that absolutely require an information system as

Figure 1. Csesztreg (South West Hungary).

RURAL HERITAGE DIGITISATION AND PRESERVATION

26 e_conservation

their background. Consequently, the settlements

possessing cultural values have a definite role in

the appropriate establishment of the value chains.

By increasing the local awareness in heritage

elements, we assist the inhabitants to establish

their identity and economic life, we help them

understand why it is important to preserve and

transmit heritage to future generations and also

how it can be profitable for the present community.

Heritage is our common treasure but without ade-

quate information provision and management, it

cannot draw attention on its importance and can-

not be shared. The indispensable organisation,

technical elaboration and implementation need

a special level of knowledge, tools and practice.

One complete digital presentation pilot has al-

ready been prepared out of the network of nearly

300 buildings registered on the Tentative List of

Hungarian World Heritage sites. It includes all

information about the access, environment, his-

tory, inner and outer structure of the houses as

well as the description and presentation of the

objects within the houses, also covering the in-

tangible heritage relationship (environment,

folk art, music etc). The information package re-

ceived can be made available and used by the

local authorities and site managers as well as for

touristic purposes. Moreover, any special, local

request of features can be added to satisfy their

needs and assist their work. Data are recorded cor-

responding to the national conservational, mu-

seological and ethnological rules and standards.

The houses in Hungary can be qualified as rural

farmhouses and thus appear on the official list.

Unfortunately, many of them do not comply with

the conditions, as the requirements are too ex-

pensive to be implemented by a small settlement.

The current situation is that there are about three

times more farmhouses, local collections and no

doubt intangible heritage to be protected than

those listed. Our research team has visited most

of them and tried to record the existing houses

that could be potential receivers of visitors.

The Hungarian Open Air Folklore Museum has

granted a funding for some selected houses to

digitise their collections. It is very important

because these houses lack financial resources to

protect their heritage in an appropriate way.

They generally have a local caretaker who is fer-

vently committed and possesses many objects,

pictures, written documents or recipes of tradi-

tional dishes. Caretakers are generally members

of a local dance or music group or just the orga-

nisers of local events, and are grateful if someo-

ne shows interest in their customs.

In the course of the processing, various sorts of

data collection, registration, archiving and retri-

eval methods have been applied. Any heritage

site management project attempts to:

- Detect and document unauthorised changes;

- Partially automate these processes;

Figure 2. Táp (Western Hungary).

LIA BASSA

27e_conservation

- Adapt business Facility Management (FM)

methodologies to heritage site management;

- Integrate FM IT technology into the preserva-

tion process;

- Develop a decision support system model.

The recording, description and maintenance of

values are milestones to a permanent work that

is time and money consuming but a returning in-

vestment to be implemented only by the coopera-

tion of numerous experts and organisations. We

could only start the process.

The most recent rapid development of network

analyses prove that description, investigation

and thus management of heritage objects can be

carried out very efficiently by exploring all of

their attributes and connections. The relations

can be set up based on the collection of all sorts

of qualities and functions of the objects. Thus,

the network can provide us with a good tool for

the analyses of the relations and the grouping of

the objects or object attributes. The establishment

of a complete heritage network will enable us to

understand and eventually reengineer the nature

of heritage preservation irrespectively from the

fact whether it is a built heritage, a natural crea-

tion, an artefact or any living being.

As in Hungary the professional training is at a high

level, the number of experts to be employed is Figure 3. Ceramic bottle to keep the liquid cool (Hidas).

Figure 4. Bottle opener from the last century (Hidas).

Figure 5. Vase from the last century (Hidas).

RURAL HERITAGE DIGITISATION AND PRESERVATION

28 e_conservation

sufficient, the crucial problem for heritage pro-

tection being the lack of resources of owners

(cultural organizations, private persons, local

governments). The solution applied in most cases

for the establishment of maintenance, renovation,

development, even archiving is to submit various

applications to EU and other funding organiza-

tions. The database created by our work can es-

tablish a good base for these claims. It can be

used not only for the writers of the bid but it

can give a full picture to the evaluators to enable

them to a sound judgement. In the course of the

evaluation process, it becomes clear what is

mostly needed and where, for the correct opera-

tion of the heritage site and in the same time, it

reveals clearly how the investment can be turned

profitable and what are the means to obtain the

most out of it.

The access to the database enables managers,

authorities and owners to set up statistics con-

cerning the collection. Other visitor statistical

figures can also be applied for decisions concerning

infrastructural investments. For instance, it is

proved that when selecting a hotel via internet,

the amount and quality of information about the

surrounding points of interest can have a very

powerful impact on the choice of the tourist.

In the long run (after three years), the data pro-

cessing is able to produce internal relations and

also enables researchers and experts to draw re-

levant conclusions regarding protection and uti-

lization. For this work stage another branch of

informatics can be involved: data mining.

This method is necessary because the increase of

the amount of records impedes the access and re-

trieval of data and these collections are hard if

not impossible to be handled by traditional tools.

The special methodologies and processes esta-

blished aim at a sort of "informational treasure

hunting". The hidden point, correlations or re-

gularities of the databases can be disclosed by

this method. Data mining can contribute to the

application of the collected and systematically

arranged data into three directions. Firstly, it

helps touristic experts to find out the establish-

ment of targeted developments by exposing

precise and detailed data of collections. Secondly,

it assists caretakers to be prepared for the ex-

pected types and periods of visits by the identifi-

cation of exact visitor requirements. Thirdly, the

decision makers, professional bodies and autho-

rities possess a full set of data, nevertheless they

can make a selection of the relevant ones for

their own purposes.

In consequence of these achievements both the

invested work and publicity fees can be decreased

producing thus more revenue for preservation of

values, maintenance, research and renewal. There-

fore, the awareness and interest in the site can

grow, effecting an increase in the number of visi-

tors and generating more income that can be in-

vested in further development.

The purpose of our research is to document the

methods of this data recording process, to enable

all the users for applying the database with ease.

Besides, it can also be qualified as a conservation

job by providing assistance for the scientific

Figure 6. Hidas (Central Hungary).

LIA BASSA

29e_conservation

records and access for market values.

In the course of our work, it has become clear by

now what we would like to disseminate to every-

body interested in preservation. The continuity

of history must be safeguarded. We can not allow

civilisations or their constructions, physical or

spiritual testimonies to disappear anymore because

it can also have a strong influence on the econo-

mic and financial position of a given area. People

educated and living among such circumstances

should be aware of their shared legacy of the com-

mon heritage. In order to enable them to keep

and convey it, their identity has to be defined

and preserved deliberately by setting up syste-

matic and comprehensive educational projects.

Their contribution to community building and

knowledge transfer can and has to be successfully

implemented.

Heritage is a value and in the 21st century its

objective is not only the protection of the envi-

ronment and human creations but the validation

of these universal values. The world heritage

principles can orient future generations to enable

them to separate good from bad, right from wrong,

true from false, genuine from fake.

Our intention has been to present a description

of the network of the Hungarian rural farm houses,

of a network system of cultural heritage as well

as the establishment of a special information

management system of their data complying with

the Operational Guidelines of UNESCO’s World

Heritage Convention.

In addition to the implementation, the following

supplementary results are expected to be obtained

Figure 7. The inside of a farmhouse (Western Hungary).

RURAL HERITAGE DIGITISATION AND PRESERVATION

30 e_conservation

and used in the future:

- The authenticity of the registration list to

increase;

- The improvement of the preservation level;

- The promotion of site popularity;

- The establishment of direct connection with

touristically important sites;

- The development of the capabilities of reception

of sites;

- Mobilisation of the attention of inhabitants

(especially that of the youth) for the impor-

tance of traditions;

- Promotion of interest for folkloric arts.

Research has proved that the tasks of such loca-

tions have never been dealt with before from this

overall aspect and it has never been put into

practice in Hungary. The work of several different

institutional communities have to be harmonized

which can be implemented by the use of our data-

base and information management system.

On the one hand, attention must be drawn on

the fact that although heritage conservation

processes are cost consuming, their result can

be turned back into new economic investments

that, at the end of the development, produce

profit.

On the other hand, this research for recording

and processing tangible and intangible data not

only for heritage preservation purposes but also

for the benefit of economy, culture and education,

can set an example for other organisations or

countries to treat heritage as part of the overall

life of a nation.

Figure 8. The “clean room”(living room) of a farm house (Eastern Hungary).

LIA BASSA

31e_conservation

For closing, see here below a collection of se-

lected bibliography concerning the relation be-

tween heritage, documentation and information

management. It also shows that these relations

are not invented today, nevertheless the closer

connection of these branches of science are still

not widely used. The reason for it can be many

folded. On the one hand – and this might be the

main reason, especially in Central Europe – there

is a huge, unfortunately increasing lack of finan-

cial resources. On the other hand, this might be

the slowly decreasing side – the separation of

professions, meaning that everyone is an expert

only in one subject and does not regard his own

area through the eyes of another related field,

in spite of the fact that the border territories

provide the most exciting spheres for research

work.

Architectural Heritage: Inventory and Documentation Methods in Europe, Proceedings of a European colloquy organized by the Council of Europe and the French Ministry for Education and Culture Direction du Patrimoine, Nantes, October 28-31, 1992, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 1993

P. Askerud and E. Clément, Preventing the Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property: A Resource Handbook for the Implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, UNESCO, Paris, 1997

J. Bold, “Patrimoine Architectural: Cooperation de Centres de Documentation”, in Villes, Architectures, Metiers: Banques de Données des Savoir-Faire, Atelier du Patrimoine, Marseille, 1990,4-7

J. Bold, “Technical Assistance for a Computerised Heritage Documentation Centre in Malta”, Architectural Heritage No. 23, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 1992

R.G. Chenhall and P. Homulos, “Museum Data Standards”, Museum, Vol. 314, 1978, 205-212

Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage of Europe (revised), Valletta, 16.I.1992, Council of Europe Treaties ETS No. 143

Core Data Index to Historic Buildings and Monuments of the Architectural Heritage, Recommendation R (95) 3 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member states on co-ordinating documentation methods and systems related to historic buildings and monuments of the archi-tectural heritage, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 1995

Council of Europe, Cultural Heritage Division, CC-PAT (93) 131, 2. (Report on Prague meeting on threats to the movable heritage in central and eastern Europe)

Getty Art History Information Program and International Council of Museums International Documentation Committee, Developments in International Museum and Cultural Heritage Information Standards, Getty Art History Information Program, Santa Monica, 1993

A. Grant, Spectrum: The U.K. Museum Documentation Standard, Museum Documentation Association, Cambridge, 1994

Handbook of Standards, Documenting African Collections, International Council of Museums, Paris, 1996

R. Harrison (ed.), Manual of Heritage Management, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994

S. Holm, Facts and Artifacts: How to Document a Museum Collection, Museum Documentation Association, Cambridge, 1991

Humanities Data Dictionary of the Canadian Heritage Information Network, Canadian Heritage Information Network, Ottawa, 1993

International Guidelines for Museum Object Information: The CIDOC Information Categories, International Council of Museums, Paris, 1995

N. Lang and S.D. Stead, “Sites and Monuments Records in England - Theory and Practice“, Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, BAR International Series, 1992, 69-76

C.U. Larsen (ed.), Sites and Monuments. National Archaeo-logical Records, The National Museum of Denmark (DKC), Copenhagen, 1992

Figure 9. Sledge from the early 20th century.

RURAL HERITAGE DIGITISATION AND PRESERVATION

32 e_conservation

Minimum Categories for Museum Objects: Proposed Guide-lines for an International Standard, International Council of Museums, Paris, 1994

Protecting Cultural Objects in the Global Information Society (video), Getty Information Institute, Santa Monica, 1996

D.A. Roberts (ed.), European Museum Documentation Strategies and Standards, The Museum Documentation Association, Cambridge, 1993

S. Ross, J. Moffet and J. Henderson (eds.), Computing for Archaeologists, Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, Monograph 18, 1991

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and English Heritage, Thesaurus of Monument Types: A Standard for Use in Archaeological and Architectural Records, RCHME, Swindon, 1995

Specification for Representation of Dates and Times in Information Interchange, (ISO 8601: 198S/ ES EN 28601: 1992), International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva, 1988

R. Thornes, Protecting Cultural Objects through International Documentation Standards: A Preliminary Survey, Getty Art History Information Program, Santa Monica, 1995

R. Thornes, Protecting Cultural Objects in the Global Information Society: The Making of Object ID, Getty Information Institute, Santa Monica, 1997

LIA BASSAContact: bassa.lia@infota.org

Dr. Lia Bassa is a researcher at Infota Research

Institute. She is an Expert in Heritage

Preservation and Touristic Relations and the

Managing Director of the Foundation for

Information Society. She holds a MA in English

and French literature and linguistics as well as a

Ph.D in English literature. She is the author and

co-author of numerous articles and lectures on

World Heritage management and heritage

preservation and conservation.

Contact

Address:

Táborhegyi út 18/d.

1037 Budapest

Mail: 1507 Budapest, PO Box 213

Phone: (36-1-) 279 1510

Fax: (36-1-) 279-1511

E-mail: info@infota.org

Website: http://www.infota.org

LIA BASSA

FOUNDATION FOR INFORMATION SOCIETY

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.

Find out more: www.e-conservationline.com

e_conservation

THE CONSERVATION OF CONTEXTMontmaurin, the Venus of Arles and Mozart for Eternity

By Pierre-François Puech and Bernard Puech

35e_conservation

The exhibit of objects in museums opens by its

very presence a reflection on conservation.

Always present there, these objects have the

vocation of describing the world, as most of them

are often deemed worthy of representing a gene-

ralization. Should we consider, like Nathalie Sar-

raute (1900-1999) wrote in “Do You Hear Them?”

[1] that the gaze of the devotees gives a patina

to the objects and that the care of generations

of conservators simply guarantees their survival?

The conservator safeguards, maintains and ensures. The profession combines technical, sci-

entific and artistic responsibilities to ensure the

preservation of our natural and cultural heritage

for future generations. Responsible for classifying

and presenting to the public what is considered

important for future generations, the conserva-

tor is also a curateur (from the Latin curare = to

cure). Thus, (s)he should eventually restore in

order to save what is vulnerable. The methodo-

logy remains deliberately indistinct so that it

can be adapted to each object and developed.

From the viewer’s side, however, conservation

is made for all humankind and not only for spe-

cialists.

Conservation involves several categories but it

always concerns the memory in matters of cons-

cience and transmission. Linguists use the me-

mory of words and compare languages. Thus, it

is evident that action is often originated by words.

For example, in Catalan, the word peug, meaning

‘path’, comes from peu whose Latin root is ped,

where peuada = senyal de peu, or footprint. This

is what René Puech (1914-1995) expressed by

“What was the foot of the walker becomes the

path”. Do not let disappear the path that tea-

ches us, so that we can look for what the objects

say they are, and not for what they seem to say.

It is the spirit that makes the error, so it must

relate to the context of a discovery, be it an

object, an organized set of elements (a structure)

or an organic ruin.

Recognising the contribution of context. The context is defined as being everything that participates or contributes to the significance and particularity of the natural and cultural heritage. This definition requires the unders-

tanding, documentation and interpretation of

the entire conservation context. To preserve this

context we ought to implement the right tools

to ensure a sustainable management. Legisla-

tion, regulations and guidelines were developed

in support of the professional training, to help

manage the way to conserve all the significance

of the context.

What the objects say they are. The “conservation

contract” has as first commandment: Thou shalt

not destroy. Those who want to make the object

speak should not change it. This was, however,

the case of the skull of Mozart in 2008. The muni-

cipal institution of Mozarteum, which conserves

it in its library, has conducted research that has

destroyed two teeth and their alveolars (figure

1). As positive fact, the DNA analysis confirmed

the previous anthropologic research that had

demonstrated that the skull is male despite the

frontal appearance which had once justified the

doubts of some [2]. It is now certain that the

particularities of the skull, which has a feminine

aspect, are indeed distinctive to identify Mozart

(figure 2).

Taking advantage of this case, we should remem-

ber that what is used to conserve paintings and

sculptures stored in museums, is desirable also

for “world heritage” bones that should be con-

served by professionals, aside their museologi-

cal and scientific interest.

The conservation of different objects in the world. The philosopher says that in practice it is

THE CONSERVATION OF CONTEXT

36 e_conservation

PIERRE-FRANÇOIS PUECH and BERNARD PUECH

the world that determines the object. Thus, the

assertion about an object not only differs from one

individual to another but also for the individual

itself, according to the observation perspectives.

In April 2008 in Toulouse, at a meeting of the As-

sociation Sociétés Savantes, the question of safe-

guarding the integrity of the natural and archaeo-

logical site of Montmaurin-Lespugue was discus-

sed. With the “Venus of Lespugue”, work of the

Gravettian modern man, and the “Montmaurin

jaw”, a human remain of outmost significance for

the Neanderthal man, the site has provided valu-

able evidences (figures 3 and 4). However, these

discoveries are now seen as poorly understood due

to the limited research and analysis techniques

Figure 1. Skull of Mozart before the 2008 analysis. The two premolars and the inscriptions which are part of the skull history are still present. © Puech P.-F./Puech B.

Figure 2. Skull of Mozart. The anatomical particularities, especially the appearance of the front, clearly identify Mozart. © Puech P.-F./Puech B.

37e_conservation

at that time, hence the importance of safeguarding

the context which should be classified as World

Heritage [3].

The key for comprehension. At Arles, on June 6th,

1651 excavators digging a reservoir found the

head of a Venus. Fragment by fragment, a Roman

theatre was uncovered, which allowed to assume

that the statue decorated the wall of the stage,

made of a hundred columns (figure 5). In 1683

the city was forced to offer this Venus to Louis

XIV. The sculpture, which can now be seen at the

Louvre, was restored by François Girardon (1628-

1715) who added arms and placed in its hands an

apple and the handle of a mirror (figure 6). It was

criticized that the sculptor repolished the statue,

thus reducing its forms. Only later, the casting of

the original (figure 7), which led to think that

Girardon remodelled the whole statue, proved by

its cracks that it was also restored due to its de-

gradation during the French Revolution. At the

time, the head was not well joint to the body and

Figure 3. The Montmaurin jaw. A human remain of outmost significance of the Neanderthal man. © Puech P.-F./Puech B.

Figure 4. Replica of the Venus of Lespugue. Originally about 25,000 BC, in mammoth ivory, 150 mm. © Puech P.-F./Puech B.

THE CONSERVATION OF CONTEXT

thus, a layer of plaster was applied to cover the

entire statue, this being the reason for the so-

called altered curves (figure 8).

The Venus of Arles, which is a copy of the lost

Aphrodite of Cnidus by Praxiteles (a Greek sculp-

tor active in the 4th century BC, whose sculptu-

res are only known through Roman copies), had

previously been consolidated by the application

of struts on the exterior side of the right hip and

on the right shoulder (figure 9). Girardon resto-

red the moulding by removing the one of the hip

and turning the one of the shoulder into a ribbon.

The Venus of Arles is less voluptuous than the

Venus de Milo, which saw the creation of the

latter. Its style is more conventional in a way,

to emphasize the sight of the face and to be less

nude. This classicism, which gives primacy to the

Venus of Arles over the Venus of Milo, is equally

present in the mouth and the slightly heavy eye-

lids that resemble the Aphrodite of Cnidus, Praxi-

telean work without a doubt.

38 e_conservation

Figure 5. Théatre Antique d'Arles. Columns of the stage wall once adorned by the Venus. © Puech P.-F./Puech B.

Figures 6 and 7. Copy of the Venus restored by François Girardon (below, left); Venus of Arles. Original casting (below, right).© Puech P.-F./Puech B.

PIERRE-FRANÇOIS PUECH and BERNARD PUECH

39e_conservation

In conclusion, we always believe that a museum

object is an object that speaks. No, the object

was made and we tell about it, with the help of

its context, which gives it the right perspective.

These things belong to a country of all pasts. To

understand them means to preserve them bet-

ter. This way of continuance gives the impressi-

on of an afterlife that leads man to save the

deceased objects from disappearing. Isn’t con-

servation, thus, similar to the Egyptian practice

of surrounding the body with objects that had

perhaps intended to provide the very keys to

the gates of eternity?

Figure 8. Venus casting before restoration. Alteration of the surface layer (upper left) and the strut of the right hip and other deteriorations of the plaster (lower left).

References

1. N. Sarraute, "Do You Hear Them?", George Braziller, 1973, pp. 23

2. T.J. Parson, O. Loreille and B. Smith, "Army helps DNA sci-

entists unravel Mozart mystery", ScienceBlog, 2008 [20-

03-2009] www.scienceblog.com/cms/army_helps_dna_

scientists_unravel_mozart_mystery_9713

3. Archaeological Society of Southern France, "Records of the

Academic Year 2007-2008”, pp.5-12

PIERRE-FRANÇOIS PUECHContact: pfpuech@yahoo.fr

H.D.R., Dr. in Dentistry Sciences, Dr. in Geology,

IPH, Le Zénith1, 561 ave. Evêché de Maguelone,

34250 Palavas, France

BERNARD PUECHContact: bpuech@nordnet.fr

M.D., Ophthalmology, Centre Hospitalier Régional

Universitaire de Lille Service d’Exploration de la

Vision et Neuro-ophtalmologie. Hôpital Roger

Salengro Lille

Figure 9. Venus of Arles. Detail showing the resemblance to the Aphrodite of Cnidus (below). © Puech P.-F./Puech B.

THE CONSERVATION OF CONTEXT

THE ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF MOVABLEAND IMMOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

By Irene Arroyo

THE ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF MOVABLEAND IMMOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

By Irene Arroyo

41e_conservation

Introduction

Cultural Heritage, either movable or immovable,

is subject to degradation induced by diverse

living organisms. Fungi are among the most

active microorganisms in these processes. The

nature of the support will determine the type

of degradation. The alteration mechanisms are

different on organic supports (wood, leather,

textiles, etc.) and on inorganic supports (stone,

glass, metals, etc.) due to the heterotrophic

nutrition of fungi. While fungi can use the

organic support itself as nutrients, in the case

of inorganic supports these are transformed by

several metabolites which are excreted and that

may react with the support in different ways.

Fungi Biology

Fungi are living organisms that constitute an

entire kingdom, which shows the great dimen-

sion of their diversity. As expected, they have

numerous common characteristics, the main

one being the heterotrophic nutrition, which

means that they need organic matter for their

metabolism. Most fungi are saprophytes, thus

they decompose the organic matter in order to

absorb the substances that are formed by that

process. Therefore, the assimilation of nutrients

is made by absorption of the necessary substances.

Fungi are composed of thallus which may be uni-

cellular or pluricellular. The latter is filamentous,

the filaments are called hyphae and may be asep-

tate or coenocytic (without septa). In addition,

fungi are generally composed of a fruiting body

where the spores are produced in a great variety

of colours, forms and sizes. The cell walls of fungi

generally contain chitin besides other components.

Their reproduction is sexual or asexual. Beside

the presence of organic matter, fungi need for

their development suitable parameters of envi-

ronmental conditions such as humidity and

temperature. If these conditions are adverse to

the fungi needs, they will operate as limiting

parameters of their development.

Organic Materials

The organic materials from which works of art

are normally constituted belong to two main

groups: cellulosic and proteinaceous. Among

the first group are wood, paper and some textiles

while the second contains other textiles such as

wool and silk, and also leather and parchment.

Fungi deteriorate organic material in respect to

the aesthetic and degradative aspect although

these are not independent as the aesthetic

degradation is sometimes due to the external

manifestation of the chemical transformation

process that the support undergoes. Some

other times it is simply a matter of stains or

other alterations easy to solve, although this

occurs in just a few cases.

Cellulosic Supports

The action of fungi on cellulosic supports is

common for cellulolytic fungi that perform

external digestion through cellulase complex

enzymes that degrade the cellulose in basic

molecules of glucose which are then absorbed

by the fungus. However, there are other groups

beside the cellulolytic fungi that attack the other

components of the support as well. Taking the

wood for example, we know that besides cellu-

lose it is constituted by lignin which is far more

difficult to digest by the fungus but even then

there are several species that can achieve it

successfully. Lignin is an amorphous polymer

formed by the random combination of various

phenols and acids that leads to a three-dimen-

sional structure. The effects of some fungi on

cellulose and lignin are known as rot. Three types

of rot can be highlighted according to the

ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

42 e_conservation

Figure 1, A and B. Different types of wood rot.

residual state of the wood fibre after having

been attacked by certain fungi.

Brown rot. Also known as prismatic and dry, it

occurs when the fungus attacks the cellulose

and the short chains of other polysaccharides,

leaving traces of lignin. In case the wood loses

between 10% and 20% of its weight, it may lose

up to 95% of its mechanical resistance which for

the wood used in buildings (beams, altarpieces,

etc.) may be really dangerous. In the case of

movable heritage the immediate consequence

could be the loss of the work depending on the

degree of degradation. The wood darkens and

dries forming a typically cubic craquelure net-

work, both in the longitudinal and transversal

fibbers. The fungi that cause this kind of rot are

especially the Basidiomycetes such as Serpula

lacrymans or Merulius lacrymans.

White rot. Also known as corrosive and cavernous,

is caused by the fungi that attack both lignin

and cellulose through a system of ligninase and

cellulase enzymes, leaving behind a white residue

and inducing gradually weight loss. They need

very high moisture content (30-60%) appearing

mostly in the wood near the ground, such as sar-

cophagus and materials in basements, and near

ceilings and walls, such as wood coffered ceilings

(artesonados) and altarpieces. The wood might

even lose all its resistance, becoming spongy,

filamentous or laminated, and usually with a

stained and discoloured aspect when compared

to healthy wood. This type of rot is especially

produced by the species of the genera Pholiota

sp., Coriolus versicolor, Fomes sp., etc.

Soft rot. In this kind of rot the fungi attack pre-

ferentially the cellulose of the secondary wall

leaving the wood with a consistency similar to

fresh cheese. However, they can also attack the

hemicellulose and in a much lower degree the

lignin. This type of rot is especially common in

soaked wood, in conditions of high humidity and

in wood that is in contact with the ground, in

areas of archaeological diggings and in under-

ground, underwater or water-saturated environ-

ments. These are Ascomycetes and Deuteromycetes

fungi from where the following genera may be

highlighted: Chaetomium, Xylaria, Alternaria,

Coniothyrium, etc. Most part of the cellular wall

is destroyed forming a typical craquelure when

the wood is dried after the rotting process.

Besides rotting wood, fungi also produce many

other alterations that may not have such dan-

gerous consequences but that are equally un-

desirable when wood is the support of works of

art. Among these are the colorformers, fungi

that stain the wood either through several pig-

mentations that they synthesize or by dark co-

lour hyphae. A particular case of these processes

is the so called blue-stain of the wood in which

the fungus attacks the reserve cells but not the

xylem. Thus, the wood resistance is not compro-

mised which is very important for structural

wood but not for ornamental wood, once it can

undergo loss of pigment or other alterations.

IRENE ARROYO

43e_conservation

Figure 1 C. Fungi colorformers on wood support. Figure 2, A and B. Documents on paper support with fungi contamination.

Among the fungi that produce these processes

are the species of the genera Chlorociboria, As-

pergillus, Aureobasidium, Fusarium, Penicillium,

Trichoderma and Chaetomium.

Continuing with the cellulosic supports, it is im-

portant to have in attention the paper, which is

part of a variety of movable heritage, such as

documents, books, paintings, etc.

Old papers are primarily made from cellulose

although they can contain other compounds de-

pending on the manufacturing process. It is not

out of the ordinary for paper to contain certain

quantities of lignin, hemicellulose, pectin, dyes,

proteins, etc.

The fungi that affect paper may be cellulolytic,

degrading thus the cellulose, or non-cellulolytic,

degrading any of the other compounds. Some

cellulosic and proteinic alterations can affect the

mechanical resistance and the weight of the paper,

while others affect the aesthetics of the work by

pigmentation or discolouration as a consequence

of both endo- and exopigments produced by fungi.

All these processes, of course, are conditioned by

the quantity of moisture that the support contains

and the environmental conditions. Among the

cellulolytic fungi some species of the genera

Alternaria spp., Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp.,

Humicola, Myrothecium, Penicillium spp., Stachy-

botrys, etc. may be found and among the non-

cellulolytic, several species of Chaetomium. These

fungi have been frequently found in books, docu-

ments and prints.

There are two very frequent alterations of paper:

foxing and moisture-induced consolidation of

paper. In both cases, fungi are among the main

causes of these alterations along with other micro-

organisms.

Textiles of vegetable origin, including cotton, linen,

jute and sisal (hemp) are subject to a particular

case of fungi action on cellulosic supports. These

ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

44 e_conservation

are composed of cellulose derivatives: linen of

flax phloem fibbers, sisal of leave fibbers and

cotton of seeds. Among the most frequent alte-

rations produced by fungi on textiles are stains,

discolouration and resistance loss.

Susceptibility to fungi attack depends on both

the cellulose content and on other non-cellulosic

compounds. For example, the presence of lignin

decreases the susceptibility of attack while pectin

and pentose increase it. Cotton contains a 5% of

non-cellulosic compounds and linen 15%.

Textiles with high content of lignin are more re-

silient to microbial attack than those that contain

less lignin.

Protein Materials

Protein and cellulosic materials undergo a similar

degradation process, except for those that are

specific to each of the support compounds.

Fungi degrade proteins. Proteins are polymers

composed of polypeptides, which are made of

amino acids. For the decomposition of these,

living organisms use two types of enzymes, pepti-

dases and proteinases. The function of these pro-

teolytic enzymes is to separate the proteins in

peptides and then into amino acids for an easier

use by the fungal cells.

The most common protein supports are parchment

and leather. The most frequent alterations pro-

duced by fungi in these materials are granulations,

stains, loss of elasticity and stiffness.

Parchment has its origin in the city of Pergamon

from where its name derives. It was made from

non-tanned skins of lamb, goat, pig and donkey.

A particular case was the vellum, made from lamb

and calf embryos. Parchment is composed mainly

of collagen but also has other substances such as

keratin and elastin, and smaller amounts of albu-

min and globulin. Fungi can cause proteolysis of

collagen, but there are a number of factors that

facilitate the process, such as the storage envi-

ronmental conditions and some substances that

reside in the original skin (other proteins, lipids,

carbohydrates, mineral constituents and impu-

rities) which can also be used by the fungi meta-

bolism and facilitate their colonization. Among

the types of fungi found in ancient scrolls are

Cladosporium, Fusarium, Ophiostoma, Scopula-

riopsis, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Trichoderma, etc.

Chemically the leather is very similar to parchment

but it undergoes a skin tanning process. Its sus-

ceptibility to biodeterioration by fungi is also si-

milar but varies according to the different tan-

ning process and the type of dyes used, such as

animal, vegetable, chrome tanning, etc.

Figure 3. Textile degraded by fungi action.

Figure 4 A. Degradation of protein support (parchment) by the action of fungal mycelia.

IRENE ARROYO

45e_conservation

Figure 4 B. Leather object with fungi at the surface.

The latter has a fungistatic capacity which serves

as protection to microbiologic attack.

Sometimes, however, some species of the genera

Penicillium and Paelomyces, which are tolerant to

chromium-based dyes, have developed on tanned

leather. In this case, the proteins are not directly

affected by the fungi but the leather is attacked

by the organic acids they produce.

Besides the mentioned protein supports we should

not forget other important and extensively used

supports in cultural heritage that are textiles, in

particular wool and silk used in clothing, flags,

banners, etc. The fibres of these are composed

of fibrous protein structure which confers them

a high resistance to microbial attack. Under cer-

tain conditions, however, there are a number of

bacteria and fungi capable of degrading them.

Among the fungi, representatives of the genera

Fusarium, Aspergillus and Trichoderma stand out.

Inorganic Materials

The biodeterioration of inorganic supports is

radically different because as fungi are hetero-

trophic organisms they do not use the supports

for nutrition but they do alter them deeply with

synthesis products from their own metabolism,

such as inorganic and organic acids. The latter

can produce chelation and form complexes with

metallic cations, which are obtained from the sup-

port. In the case of stone monuments, the deve-

lopment of fungal colonies appears over layers

of organic matter of different origins. Species of

fungi of different genera such as Cladosporium

herbarum, Aspergillus niger, Stachybotrys spp.

and Alternaria have been found on these supports.

Many of these fungi are responsible, along with

other chemical and biological factors, for the for-

mation of black crusts due to the melanin in their

hyphae. The hyphae of the fungus can penetrate

the limestone calcite crystals previously dis-

solved by enzymes.

Some fungi are called endolithic because they

penetrate into the substrate causing "pitting",

a surface that appears to have many small holes.

This alteration has been found on monuments

such as the gate of the Cathedral of Huesca in

Spain, shown in Figure 5.

Due to the presence of organic acids produced

and excreted by the fungi, the stone support

suffers a decrease of pH. Acids may produce

chelation, among which the oxalic acid that

induces a large corrosion of primary minerals

and the complete decomposition of iron-based

components of clay. Organic acids also destroy

the feldspar in granites and participate in the

sandstone weathering.

Figure 5. Limestone from Santa Maria de Huesca (Spain), showing "pitting" produced by fungi.

ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

46 e_conservation

Figure 6. Isolated fungi from different stone supports. A. Lions from the Alhambra Fountain, Granada (Spain).B and C. Sculptures from the facade of the Prado Museum, Madrid (Spain).

Control and eradication of biodeterioration produced by fungi in cultural heritage

Once we understand the way fungi act in the bio-

deterioration of works of art, it is very important

to know which methods of control and eradication

are available for treatment. Of course, the inter-

vention will be different for movable or immovable

heritage and will depend on the organic or in-

organic nature of the support.

The first phase is the identification of the attack,

which means we must confirm that there is truly

a fungal attack. To this end, a sample should be

taken in order to identify the species or the

cause of the problem. By knowing which species

we deal with, we know which damage can occur,

according to its metabolic needs - if there is a

species that causes an aesthetic damage or one

inducing chemical degradation of the support,

for example.

IRENE ARROYO

A

B C

47e_conservation

The identification of fungal species may be per-

formed in 2 ways: by traditional identification

methods, using optical and scanning electron

microscopy or by modern techniques of DNA

identification using PCR and sequencing.

In the first case the samples obtained directly

from the object are grown in a culture media

suitable for fungi. Later, using the techniques

of cellular biology that include specific staining

and microscopic observation, determinant cha-

racteristics such as shape and size of the spores’

fruiting bodies are detected. Subsequently, the

classification is made with aid of dichotomous

classification tables to obtain the identification

of the species involved.

In immovable works, through the cultivation me-

thods calculations can be done to find out, for

example, not only which pollutants but also how

many contaminants are in the environmental

samples, which is clearly very useful to estimate

the contamination degree.

Nowadays, the new molecular biology techniques

are gradually adapting to the study of the biode-

terioration of cultural heritage, such as the Poly-

merase Chain Reaction (PCR). Using this technique,

a complex mixture of DNA can be taken to localize

a single gene (rRNA 18S in fungi), to multiply it

and to obtain a pure solution for study. Potential

applications of PCR are virtually limitless.

Roughly the protocol that is followed is:

1. Culture or environmental sampling;

2. The environmental samples are subject to freeze-

thaw cycles (-20º C, +60º C) for DNA extraction.

Once the DNA is obtained, a first PCR is performed

for amplification if possible, using a series of re-

agents to determine the initial concentrations.

Protocols are already established for other areas

in biology. The DNA amplification is achieved by

using a temperature ramp.

3. The results of the first PCR are then subjected

to a first DGGE (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electro-

phoresis) and the results are checked with aga-

rose gel.

4. The product of the first PCR is used as DNA

template for making a second PCR whose results

are subject to an environmental DGGE.

5. The results are checked with agarose gel and

DNA is extracted from the bands in order to

proceed with their sequencing. Sometimes a

third PCR is required. The sequences obtained

are compared with the NCBI database and only

those sequences above 95% are considered.

The process for the culture samples is shorter

once we already started from isolated micro-

organism unlike with environmental samples

where different DNA is mixed. Thus, in the se-

cond case a single PCR and a single DGEE may

be enough.

Despite the work load and high cost of this tech-

nique, it presents a series of advantages with

respect to the traditional analysis, namely the

accuracy in the species identification, the smaller

quantity of the sample required for the identifi-

cation, which is truly important in cultural heri-

tage, and the retrieval of more real contaminant

data. However, the efforts and the expenses

should be taken into consideration, depending

on the seriousness of the contamination, the

extension of the problem and the nature of the

support. In inorganic supports of immovable

heritage these techniques are being increasingly

used, not only for fungi but especially for bacteria.

In works on wooden support which are placed in-

ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Figure 7. Fungi developing in a basement (winery) where the environmental conditions clearly favor their development.

48 e_conservation

side museums and in controlled environmental

conditions, where contaminants are known be-

cause they are more specific, conventional ana-

lysis methods are generally used.

Once the fungus or fungi are identified, their re-

moval should be addressed taking into account a

series of factors:

1- Works located in a museum, archive, library,

etc.

2- Works located in an exterior environment:

movable and immovable.

To remove the biodeterioration produced by fungi,

in the first place we ought to eliminate the con-

ditions that foster their development, such as

environmental conditions (humidity and tempe-

rature), nutrients, light, etc.

If we take the example of museums, we can con-

sider on one side the museum spaces and on the

other the collections. It ought to provide the

building with a suitable climate, to eliminate all

the humidity sources and to keep it under stable

conditions, never below 50% or above 62%.

Concerning the temperature, this should never

be higher than 20º C. These conditions are ideal

for museums, as we already know, but to control

the biodeterioration not only the needs of fungi

are to be kept in mind. The problem should be

tackled by evaluating the overall, including all

the contaminants and, of course, the supports,

since important variations of the parameters

may affect them considerably. Concerning the

living organisms, fungi may develop at relatively

low temperatures, but although they have an

ideal range (25 - 28º C) we all have experienced

their development in refrigerators at tempera-

IRENE ARROYO

ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE DETERIORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

49e_conservation

tures of 5º C. Instead, they are very demanding

with humidity which should be relatively high,

although the spores may endure lower humidity

levels. Although beneficial for many photosynthe-

tic organisms and microorganisms, too much

light is harmful for fungi, which always look for

the darkest places. The nutrients in the inorganic

supports are more controllable because fungi

need organic matter. Thus, it ought to be careful

in conservation so that no dust particles could

provide organic matter that might be used as

nutrients or other microbial contaminants.

In case of collections, it is much easier to control

the environmental conditions but the nature of

the support is determinant because in most cases

it is made of mixed materials and if it is organic,

it can be a nutrient itself. If a work is contami-

nated, the best way to proceed is to isolate it

from others and to treat it. The treatment will

always depend of the extension and severity of

the attack and the degree of damage of the sup-

port. Sometimes a simple mechanical removal

may be effective although in most cases the use

of a biocide is necessary.

The objects located in the exterior present a

completely different problematic for their con-

servation as it is not possible to control the cli-

matic and environmental conditions. In any case

the proliferation of water leaks and the ascension

of water by capillarity should be prevented, as

this favours not only the development of fungi

but also of other microbial contaminants and

the development of mosses, lichens and vascular

plants. In such cases, the use of a broad-spectrum

biocide is necessary in order to remove the con-

taminants.

Bibliography

[1] C. Ascaso, “Structural aspects of lichens invading their substrata", in Surface Physiology of Lichens, C. Vicente, D.H. Brown and M.E Legaz (eds.), Universidad Complu- tense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 1985, pp. 87-113

[2] R.M. Atlas, N.A. Chowdhury and K.L. Gauri, “Microbial calcification of gypsum-rock and sulfated marble”, Studies in Conservation 33, 1988, pp. 149-153

[3] E. Bryant, Climate process & change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997

[4] G. Caneva, M.P. Nugari and O. Salvadori, Biology in the Conservation of Works of Art, ICCROM, 1991 [5] A. Cepero, “Algunas cuestiones relacionadas con la corrosión, el medio ambiente y el deterioro de los bienes culturales", Revista Documentos 2/3, CENCREM, Cuba, 1990

[6] G. Chiari, S. Sampo and G. Torraca, “Formazione di ossalati di calcio su superficie marmoree da parte di funghi”, in G. Alessandrini (ed.), The Oxalate Films: Origin and Significance in the Conservation of Works of Art, CNR Gino Boza, Milan, 1989, pp. 85-90

[7] X. Domenech, Química del suelo. El impacto de los contaminantes, Madrid, 1995

[8] C. Giacobini, C. Andreoli, G. Casadoro, B. Fumanti, P. Lanzara and N. Rascio, “Una Caracteristica Alterazione delle murature e degli intonaci”, in Atti del 3º Congresso Internazionale sul Deterioramento e la Conservacione della Pietra, Venice, Italy, University of Padua, Padua, 1979, pp. 24-27

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Laboratory of Biology

from the Gabinete de Conservación y Restaura-

ción de la Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad

de La Habana, Cuba, for the use of the photos

in Figures 3 and 4B and to Dr. Amelia Fernandez

from La Habana for the photo in Figure 2B. The

other photos belong to the present author and

to Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España

(IPCE).

50 e_conservation

IRENE ARROYOConservation-scientistContact: irene.arroyo@mcu.es

Irene Arroyo Marcos, PhD, is specialised in

Biology and its applications to cultural heritage

conservation. She works since 1988 at the

Scientific Department of the Institute of Cultural

Heritage of Spain (IPCE), Ministry of Culture.

Previously she was lecturer of Biology at the

University College Cardenal Cisneros and she

worked at the Royal Botanic Garden of CSIC,

the High Council of Scientific Research.

As part of IPCE she has participated in conser-

vation projects such as the conservation of the

Romanic cloister of the cathedral of Pamplona

and the conservation of the dome Regina

Martyrum of the Basilica of Pilar from Zaragoza,

Spain.

Aside her research activity, she has taught as

invited lecturer in masters and short courses in

Spain and abroad.

IRENE ARROYO

[9] A. Martin, Ensayos y Experiencias de Alteración en la Conservación de Obras de Piedra de Interés Histórico Artístico, Fundación Ramón Areces, Madrid, 1990

[10] J.W. Maurits La Riviere, “Los recursos hídricos amenazados”, Investigación y Ciencia, 1991

[11] A. Mentler, H.W. Muller and B. Schwaighofer, “Verwitterung studien an Naturbausteinen in Wiener Stadtgebiet und in Steinbruchendel Leithagebirges in Burgenland”, Mitt. Oster. Geol. Ges. 79, 1986, pp. 309- 325

[12] M. Monte, C. Sabbioni and G. Tapia, “The origin of calcium oxalates on historical buildings, monuments and natural outcrops”, Science of Total Environment 67, 1987, pp. 17-39

[13] L.H.G. Morton (ed.), Biodeterioration of Constructional Materials, Biodeterioration Society, 1987

[14] G. Muyzer, E.C. Waal and A.G. Uitterlinden, “Profiling of complex microbial populations by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified genes coding for 16S rRNA”, Applied Environmental Microbiology, 59, 1993, pp. 695-700

[15] R.E. Newell, H.G. Reichle Jr and W. Seiler, “El monóxido de carbono y la Tierra en llamas”, Investigación y Ciencia, 1991

[16] W.A. Nierenberg (ed.), Encyclopedia of Environmental Biology, Volumes 1-3, Academic Press, San Diego, 1995

[17] K. Petersen, J. Kuroczkin, A.B. Strzelczyk and W.E. Krumbein, “Distribution and effects of fungi on and in sandstones”, Biodeterioration 7, Elsevier Applied Science, London and New York, 1988, pp. 123-128

[18] J.P. Petushkova and N.N. Lyalikova, “Microbiological degradation of lead-containing pigments in mural paintings”, Studies in Conservation 31, 1986, pp. 65-69

[20] J. Pochon and C. Jaton, “Facteurs biologiques de l'altération des pierres”, Biodeterioration of Materials, Elsevier, London, 1968, pp. 358-268

[21] O. Salvadori and L. Lazarini, “Lichens deterioration on stones of Aquileian monuments”, Botanika Chronika, 1989, in press

[22] M.I. Sarró, A.M. García, V.M. Rivalta, D.A. Moreno and I. Arroyo, “Biodeterioration of the Lions Fountain at the Alhambra Palace, Granada (Spain)”, Building and Environment 41, 2006, pp. 1811-1820

[23] M.I. Sarró and I. Arroyo, “Microbiología y Biología molecular aplicada al patrimonio en el IPHE”, Bienes Culturales: Revista del Instituto del Patrimonio Histórico Español 8, 2008, pp. 197-210

[24] L. Tronchoni, “Patologías de materiales pétreos”, in Generalitat Valenciana, Conselleria de Cultura, Educació i Ciencia, Direcció General de Patrimonio Artísic (ed.), XII Congreso de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales, Valencia, 1998, pp. 341–352

case

stu

dy

STUDY AND RESTORATION OF A 19th CENTURY OIL PAINTING

from the Slovak National Gallery

by Petra Hoffstädterová Dostálová and Jana Sanyova

52 e_conservation

The painting was restored between the years 2006 – 2008 in the Restoration ateliers of the Slovak National

Gallery (SNG), as its property. Both the author and the concrete theme of the painting are unknown.

Probably the painting introduces a mythological scene, which belongs to the symbolist art-deco era.

Research such as pigment analysis proved that the painting dates from after 1885. The preserved part of

the painting is a proof of a high quality monumental composition which is marked out with outstanding

work of colour and light.

Introduction

General information

Author: unknown Central European

(Czech?) painter

Artwork: mythological scene

Dating: end of 19th century

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 173 x 118,5 cm

Owner: property of the Slovak National Gallery,

inv. no. O 6948

The painting was brought to be restored rolled

into a thin roll, the painting facing inside. That

is the standard mistake of a layman by manipula-

tion with a painting without stretcher. The tech-

nique is oil on canvas and the motif is cut out

from a large composition. This is proved by a

larger sized triangle shape which is sewn with a

sewing machine to the right bottom corner of the

painting which was not missing anywhere, but

had identical canvas with the ground layer and

colour layer from a different area of the painting.

The attachment of the oil painting onto the

stretcher using nails straight through the painting

layer also proved this find.

Description of the artwork

The support is a very thin linen canvas with canvas

weft with density of threads 20 x 20 onto a squared

centimetre (figures 2 and 3). On the painting appeared

splitting of the colour layer off the ground. Thin,

one-layer white oil ground and the colour layer were

mechanically damaged with lengthwise cracks as

a consequence of a long-term storage in a rolled

state. This resulted also in tearing of the fine and

brittle canvas and creation of splits with size of a

few centimetres all over its area. Almost all breaks

and splits in the canvas were unreasonably painted

on the back with white colour, since somebody in

the past probably wanted to prevent in this way

the canvas from its further tearing. A vertical 25 cm

perforation in the canvas after a hit was present

in the left top part of the painting.

Figure 1. Mythological scene, unknown Central European (Czech?) painter. Before restoration. © SNG

PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁ and JANA SANYOVA

e_conservation 53

Study of materials and technique

During the visual exam of the artwork by ultra-

violet (UV) light (figure 4), retouches and over-

paintings with local character from the different

time periods were observed under the layer of

yellowed varnish (richness of the hue of the over-

paintings). Comparing the survey with infrared

(IR) reflectography (figure 5) and research of the

layering in the colour, two rounded shapes were

found on the left top part. The X-ray image was not

conclusive due to the materials used in the painting,

which did not allow the recognition of the forms.

Actually, the ground of the painting, which is

applied on the entire surface, contains lead white

while the paint layer was made with zinc white.

Analytical methods

The laboratory research of technique and materials

was carried out in the IRPA/KIK laboratories at

Brussels. For this purpose, the following methods

were used: cross section stratigraphy by optical

microscopy (Axioplan, Zeiss) with white polarised

and UV light illumination (magnifications from

25x up to 1000x); the dyestuffs of organic pig-

ments were analysed by high performance liquid

chromatography and a UV/Vis diode array detector

(HPLC-DAD, Spectratech, Finnigan). The dyestuffs

were extracted from the pigment by mild extrac-

tion. The inorganic pigments were analysed on

the cross sections by scanning electron microscopy

(SEM, Jeol JSM6300 instrument, 15 keV primary

energy) coupled to an energy dispersive X-rays

detector (EDX, Pentafet Si (Li) X-ray detector, from

Oxford Instruments).

Optical microscopy

The observation of the micro-samples in the cross

section by optical microscopy under the normal

and UV light allowed the understanding of the

function of the layers and also permitted to distin-

guish the over paintings (figures 6-8). The varnishes

and some pigments are strongly fluorescent, so

UV light reveals their presence and position.

Two varnishes could be observed under UV, one

being probably the original (layer 5, figure 8)

and the second one over the overpainting (layer

7, figure 8).

Pigments and dyestuffs analysis

There are tree pigments found in the paint layer -

an unidentified azo pigment, Cadmium yellow and

Cerulean blue, which were not in use before the

last quarter of the 19th century. Azo dyes form

a large class of synthetic compounds, which are

characterised by the presence of one or more azo

Figure 2. Microphotograph of fibre using cross-polarized light (200 x enlargement). © SNG

Figure 3. Microscopy research: A linen canvas (200 x enlargement). © SNG

RESTORATION OF A 19th CENTURY PAINTING

Figure 4. Ultraviolet luminescence. © Bedrich Hoffstädter, MFA

54 e_conservation

PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁ and JANA SANYOVA

e_conservation 55

Figure 5. IR reflectography. © Bedrich Hoffstädter, MFA

RESTORATION OF A 19th CENTURY PAINTING

56 e_conservation

linkage groups (-N=N-). Although the azo dyes

appeared soon after the discovery of diazotisation

reaction by Gries in 1858 and were already in wide

use in the 1880's, it was only in 1885 that the first

azo pigment was commercialized [Eastaugh et al,

2004, Perego, 2005].

The presence of Cadmium yellow and Cerulean

blue (Coelin blue) in this painting support also

the hypothesis that it was created at the end of

the 19th century. Salter wrote in 1869 that a co-

balt blue pigment, under the name Coelin blue was

imported to England from Germany since a few

years. This cobalt blue with a tin base "contains

or is mixed with gypsum, silica, and sometimes

magnesia" [Salter, 1869]. Eastaugh et al. notes

that the 1860 edition of Gentele's Lehrbuch der

Farbenfabrikation does not mention cerulean blue,

while the 1880 edition does. Cadmium yellow

was suggested for use as an artists’ pigment by

Stromeyer in 1818, but its commercialisation was

expanded only after 1840, and its use remained rare

until 1870, probably because of its high price (20

times higher than chrome yellow). Cadmium yellow

was found for the first time by chemical analysis

in a painting of Vincent van Gogh from 1887 [Fiedler

and Bayard, 1986].

The other pigments identified in the micro-samples

(figures 7-8) such as cochineal red lake, zinc white

and chrome yellow were also in large use in paint-

ings during the second half of the 19th century.

Figure 6. Localisation of the microsamples. © SNG.

Figure 7. Cross section of microsample A, taken from the background, photographed in polarised light at magnification 200x. Stratigraphy description on the next page. © IRPA/KIK

PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁ and JANA SANYOVA

Figure 8. The same cross section as in figure 7, photographed

under UV light. © IRPA/KIK

e_conservation 57

In conclusion, we can state that the analytical

study revealed the pigments and the character-

istic layer structure of a painting from the end of

the 19th century.

Stratigraphic description of the microsample

(figures 7-8)

7. Varnish and deposits.

6. Over-painting beige layer (the colour of the

surface is darker and yellowier). The beige

matrix is composed of a mixture of zinc and

lead white, although particles of chrome

yellow and red pigment, and carbon black

pigment can also be found.

5. Varnish layer containing zinc and calcium.

4. Grey white layer composed of 4 – 6 coatings

applied “á la prima”, whose borders could

not be distinguished. In the white matrix of

zinc white, particles of Cerulean blue,

cadmium yellow and red, red cochineal lake

and azo-pigments, ochre and carbon black

pigments can be observed.

3. Grey preparation containing zinc white,

chalk, cadmium yellow, carbon black,

Cerulean blue and earth pigments.

2. Lead white - oil (?) matrix ground containing

particles of barite and gypsum.

1. Sizing.

Restoration process

Based on the result of the research technology,

the restoration procedure was set. The first step

in this process was the stabilisation of the very

brittle support of the painting. The reverse was

mechanically cleaned from dirt and from the

white colour covering the rips and breaks in the

canvas. The sewn-on patch on the right bottom

corner was removed. Onto the tears in the canvas

on the reverse were locally applied sheets of

Japanese paper in areas already covered with the

reversible glue Lascaux 375. The whole reverse

side of the canvas was impregnated with the same

adhesive. Then the right bottom corner was added

with original canvas painted with Lascaux 375

exactly made to measure and it was ironed onto

a new canvas treated with gelatine. The lining

using heat and vacuum technology was executed

in two stages. First lining with the paint layer

facing up was applied. In the second stage the

missing part of the canvas was added left up with

the leftover original canvas treated with Lascaux

375 and the lining was realised with the painting

facing down. After the stabilisation of the support

and adhesion of the loosened particles of the

colour layer, a research of colour layer was done.

Most of the over-paintings were applied according

with the original author's form. Two sphere-like

shapes gradually appeared during the cleaning

from under the layer of the over-painting (figure

9). They were visible during the IR reflectography

and readable also on the IR photograph.

Figure 9. Probing of removal of overpaint. © SNG.

RESTORATION OF A 19th CENTURY PAINTING

58 e_conservation

Figure 10. After filling. © SNG.

PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁ and JANA SANYOVA

e_conservation 59

Figure 11. After treatment. © SNG.

RESTORATION OF A 19th CENTURY PAINTING

60 e_conservation

Probing and removal of secondary varnishes, oil over-painting and fillers

Over-painting and fillers from the 20th century

were removed using combination of mechanical

and chemical cleaning, while organic solvents

were chosen which did not damage the original

painting. Only after complete cleaning of the

painting from secondary over-paintings and

fillings, the original handwriting of the author

became obvious with its very sensitively executed

colour shaping in thin, glaze layers.

Filling

The areas of losses of the ground with the colour

layer were based with gelatine and filled with

chalk putty (figure 10). Around the inserted patch

filler was applied with Lascaux 375. With stretching

of the painting onto a new adjustable stretcher

its cut offs were adjusted so that its composition

was enlarged by the formerly bent edges. For re-

viving of the colours of the painting the surface

was varnished with dammar varnish.

Retouching

The filled areas were painted first with aquarelle

colours and the base for the final retouch was

prepared. A mimicking, trattegio style retouch

with glaze like colours on a mastic varnish base

was chosen (figure 11).

Varnish

The surface shine of the original and of the re-

touch was united with a mat varnish in spray. The

film from the dammar varnish in the end united

and secured the protection of the painting.

Bibliography

[1] N. Eastaugh, V. Walsh, T. Chaplin and R. Siddall, The pigment compendium: a dictionary of historical pigments, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004

[2] F. Perego, Dictionnaire des matériaux du peintre, Belin, Paris, 2005

[3] T.W. Salter, Field's Chromatography; or, Treatise on Colours and Pigments as used by Artists, Winsor and Newton, London, 1869, as cited in [1]

[4] I. Fiedler and M.A. Bayard, “Cadmium yellows, oranges and reds”, in R.L. Feller (ed.), Artists’ Pigments. A Hand- book of their History and Characteristics, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986, pp. 65-108

[5] J. Sanyova, “Mild extraction of dyes by hydrofluoric acid in routine analysis of historical paint micro- samples”, Microchimica Acta 162, 2008, pp. 361–370

[6] J. Sanyova, Carmine, Crimson. Kermes and cochineal lake pigments, Collection of the Lectures of the 7th International Seminar on Restoration, Banská Bystrica 26-28 September (2007), Bratislava, 2008, pp. 8-27 and 167-183

Conclusions

After the complete restoration it was possible to

place the artwork among the exhibits of the 19th

century collection in the Slovak National Gallery.

The pigment analysis allowed to determine 1885

as the terminus ante quem non, the date before

which the canvas could not have been painted.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all colleagues restorers,

especially Bedrich Hoffstädter, MFA, from the

Slovak National Gallery for their useful profes-

sional consultations, and Cécile Glaude for her

help in laboratory of Royal Institute of Cultural

Heritage.

A special acknowledgement is due to Barbara

and Stevin Davidson for their assistance in the

translation of the present text.

PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁ and JANA SANYOVA

e_conservation 61

[7] D. Bomford, Conservation of Paintings, National Gallery Publications, London, 1997

[8] G. Émile-Mâle, The Restorer's Handbook of Easel Paintings, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

[9] H. Althöfer, Das 19. Jahrhundert und die Restaurierung. Beitrage zur Malerei, Maltechnik und Konservierung, Callwey, München, 1987

[10] J. Koller, Cleaning of a 19th century painting with deoxycholate soap: mechanism and residue studies, Cleaning, Retouching and coatings. Preprints of the contributions to the Brussels Congress, IIC, London, 1990

[11] K. Nicolaus and C. Westphal, The Restoration of Paintings, Könemann, Cologne, 1999[12] R. Wolbers, Cleaning painted surfaces: aqueous methods, Archetype Publications, London, 2000, pp. 76-80, 116-126, 139-145

[13] Ch. Sitwell and S Staniforth, Studies in the History of Painting Restoration, Archetype Publications, London, 1996

[14] L. Carlyle, “British nineteenth-century oil painting instruction books: a survey of their recommendations for vehicles, varnishes and methods of paint application", in J.S. Mills and P. Smith (ed.), Cleaning, retouching and coatings: Contributions to the 1990 IIC Congress, Brussels (1990), London, 1990

[15] L. E. Richter and H. Härlin, “A nineteenth-century collection of pigments and painting materials”, Studies in Conservation 19, 1974, pp. 76-82

[16] J. D. Carr, T. R. C. Young, A. Phenix and D. R. Hibberd, “Development of a physical Model of a Typical Nineteenth-Century English Canvas Painting”, Studies in Conservation 48, 2003, pp. 145-154

[17] R. Keller, “Lainöl als Malmittel, Rekonstruktionsversuche nach Rezepten aus dem 13. bis 19. Jahrhundert“, Maltechnik/Restauro 2, 1973, pp. 74-105

PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁRestorerContact: petra.dostalova@gmail.com

Petra Hoffstädterová Dostálová (MFA) is a

conservator-restorer, specialist in canvas

and panel paintings.

She graduated in 2002 from the Academy

of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia.

Nowadays she is on Doctoral study at the

Department of Conservation and Restoration

of Easel paintings and Wood panel paintings

at the same Academy. She is working since

2006 in the Conservation-restoration ateliers

of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava,

Slovakia.

JANA SANYOVASenior conservator scientistContact: jana.sanyova@kikirpa.be

Jana Sanyova (PhD) is a senior conservator

scien-tist, specialist in historical paint

technology.

She obtained her M.Sc. in Civil Engineering

from Slovak University of Technology,

Bratislava, Slovakia in 1983 and her PhD.

From Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

in 2001.

She has been working at the Royal Institute

of Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels,

Belgium, since 1990.

RESTORATION OF A 19th CENTURY PAINTING

heri

tage

in d

ange

rTÂRGOVISTE, MONUMENTS AT RISKThe Royal Churchby Oliviu Boldura and Anca Dinã

e_conservation 63

Figures 1 and 2. The Royal Church from Târgovişte, west and south-east elevations.

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

Introduction

The importance of cultural heritage for the iden-

tity of a nation is unquestionable. Despite this,

the protection of some monuments and of their

artistic components is far from being a suitable

conservation model.

Through out our experience and activity of mural

paintings conservation, we encountered severely

damaged monuments imperatively needing safe-

guarding interventions.

Among those that may be considered of a remark-

able historical and aesthetic value, two churches

from Târgovişte, former capital of Wallachia1, are

presented herein: The Royal Church which is part

of the Museal Complex “The Royal Court” of Târ-

govişte and The Holy Emperors Constantine and

Helen Church.

Although their historical evolution was different,

at present both monuments are in advanced state

of decay and are worth being presented as case

studies of endangered monuments. We chose to

start with the presentation of the actual state of

The Royal Church, due to its historical and patri-

monial importance.

The Royal Church of Târgovişte is currently affected

by massive meteoric water infiltration due to the

damaged roof. The effect is visible on the outside

in the form of dark stains slashed by salts efflo-

rescence and gaps where elements of masonry

disappeared. From the inside, particularly aggres-

sive evolution of salts can be seen which has led

to brittleness of the support layer, paint layer de-

tachment and a rapid development of biological

agents, including algae. Basically, moisture infiltra-

tion has joined with the capillarity in some areas

being almost impossible to distinguish how much

from the original painting still survived under-

neath. Beside salts weathering problems, some

fragments of the murals that were detached some

years ago and remounted appear now as folded

into ridges such as a moistened cellulose material.

The Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen Church

was for a long period of time abandoned while

the roof totally vanished leaving free space for

vegetation development. The nave tower also

collapsed and thus the paintings from that area

were lost. Presently the church is covered with a

temporary tin roof partially rusted and is still in

1 Wallachia is the southern geographical region which since 1859 is part of Romania. For approximately three centuries, Târgovişte had periodically shared the state primacy with Curtea de Argeş and Bucharest.

64 e_conservation

Figure 3. Naos, iconographic representation.

OLIVIU BOLDURA and ANCA DINÃ

a grave state of preservation: the church struc-

ture is weakened due to the degradation of the

bricks which left holes in the masonry while the

mural paintings are detaching from the walls, on

the edge of collapsing.

The entire site is in desolate state of dismantle,

with vegetation reaching the walls and masonry

fragments laying around the monument, every-

thing giving the impression of a deserted space.

Monument conservation assessment

The Royal Church2 having as patron The Assump-

tion of the Holy Virgin is part of a monument

ensemble which centuries before (1395-1803)

had civil, military or ecclesiastic functions.

Therefore they suffered in time structural and

spatial changes according to the rulers’ necessi-

ties. Nowadays, the church is the most valuable

part of the complex due to both its dimensions

(30m length and 14m width) and the fact that

the rest of the royal buildings are in a sever ruin

state.

Founded by the boyar Petru Cercel in 1584, the

church suffered several important interventions,

among which some were made during Constantine

Brancoveanu reign: the wall paintings were re-

done, the church floor was remade in stone, an

access staircase was built from nave towards the

loft and four windows were opened on the south

side of the nave.

2 The present research was done by Professor Oliviu Boldura, PhD in collaboration with conservators Anca Dina and Magda Drobotã as part of a conservation project proposal intended to safeguard the mural paintings ensemble.

3 The most recent study was done by Prof. Dr. Corina Popa and Dr. Maria Georgescu [5], dating the mural paintings as follows: the murals recovered after the restoration intervention

from 1962-1963 (the south room of the altar) is probably contemporary with the church construction in 1583. Approxi-mately 90% from the mural ensemble (altar, nave and nar-thex) is part of the Brâncovenesc style and was built in 1698. The semi-vault and semi cylinder of the altar, a part of the tower base and the four semi cylindrical vaults of the nave were repainted in 1752 and 1785 due to damages caused by earthquake, according to the church inscriptions.

The church plan is the one used in Wallachia, de-

rived from Byzantine type known as Greek-cross

plan: without lateral apses, divided in altar,

nave and narthex and followed on the west side

by an open exonarthex - a local characteristic

porch.

The researches confirmed that the facades were

initially covered by a thin layer of lime plaster

ornamented with bricks imitations which was

later decorated with vegetal motifs following

the Brâncovenesc style.

The interior wall paintings were done during dif-

ferent subsequent stages3 which are not yet ex-

actly known. The only certainty is that most of

the mural ensemble was completed during Con-

stantine Brâncoveanu reign. The date and the

e_conservation 65

Figure 4. Naos, image from the intrados of the entrance door.

authors of the mural paintings are known from

the painted inscription placed on the gable of

west nave door and from the church narthex -

they were done in 1698 by Constantinos4, Ioan,

Ioachim and Ştefan.

The monument was affected during time by earth-

quakes, fires or wars5 and thus demanded several

emergency interventions. The archives documents

prove that most of the interventions were made

at structure level for tower and vaulting consoli-

dation but also for the repairing or total remaking

of the roof.

We have noticed that the damages were analyzed

and treated independently and lacked the over-

all view or strategy. The first significant project

comprising the whole monument as an ensemble

was conceived only between 1961 and 1966. The

4 Constantinos was a Greek painter settled in Wallachia who painted important murals ensembles during the 18th century.

5 Traces and fragments of war munitions were documented during the conservation interventions of the monument facades.

researches from that time highlighted, on the

contrary, grave structural problems. The inter-

vention strategy and materials, such as cement,

were adapted from the constructions field and

are well known today for being incompatible

with the original structure. All those repairs

had a direct or indirect negative consequence

on the wall paintings. Thus, some parts of the

murals had to be extracted on the areas where

structural consolidation was done and remounted

afterwards. Furthermore, the construction ma-

terials used caused in time salt weathering

problems.

During our conservation assessment we observed

that in fact the previous intervention didn’t

solved properly the grave structural problems

which are still present on both the exterior and

interior of the monument. Displacement of the

masonry, the effects of the infiltration humidity

still active and the new fissures occurred in the

intervention mortars are proving our assertions.

In our opinion the main cause of degradation of

the monument is the improper roof that caused

water infiltration. At present, this is still a severe

problem as in some areas the infiltration mois-

ture is reaching the floor level.

The effects of the structural degradation and of

the infiltration humidity are visible on the inte-

rior as well, where the wall paintings present

different specific degradation processes.

Fissures and cracks are visible all over the walls,

reaching half a meter width in the altar. Most

of the cracks were previous filled with mortars

which are actually hiding the real extent of the

damage.

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

66 e_conservation

Figure 5. Meteoric water infiltrates through the damaged roof on the level of the masonry structure, causing visible effects on the exterior brick and interior mural surface. On these areas the loss of consistency of the materials, white veils due to the salt migration and dark sports can be observed. Persistent humidity provoked the appearance of algae in the window jamb.

OLIVIU BOLDURA and ANCA DINÃ

e_conservation 67

In the altar vaulting a peculiar deformation of

the murals is visible – here the paintings were

done in a more recent period. The masonry

irregularities are visible through the support

layer. We are assuming that the murals from this

area were applied on a deformed structure that

continued to transform in time.

In what concerns the aesthetic presentation, the

fillings of the support were generally treated in

gray tones but mortars covered by red tones or

chromatically integrated by repaintings in colours

resembling the original are also present.

Concerning the conservation state of the paint

layer we must mention that there are two main

aspects which led to different degradations: the

influence of the diverse phenomenon mentioned

above as the causes of the damages for the whole

monument and the previous interventions, such

as the detachment by strappo and remounting

of some fragments. The paint layer is not covered

by thick dirt deposits as the religious function of

the church was replaced by the museum6 one,

reducing in this way the consumption of candles,

and due to the interventions from the last century

which comprised the cleaning of paintings.

The infiltration humidity also played an impor-

tant role in the paint layer degradation, the ad-

vanced salt weathering producing both efflores-

cence and cryptoflorescence. As a result, salts

veils and different types of flaking appeared on

the paint layer. The water leakage directly on the

painting caused the migration of the colour in

some areas.

6 On the initiative of Grigore Tocilescu and Take Ionescu, the ruins from Targovişte were transformed into the Royal Court Museal Complex in 1892.

Figure 6. Altar, diaconicon vault. The state of the mural painting and even its presence is difficult to assess due to evolution of biological agents and salt development on areas of moisture infiltration.

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

e_conservation

Figures 7 and 8. Damages of the masonry structure are visible on the mural painting as cracks, fissures, displacements, support detachment and surface loss.

OLIVIU BOLDURA and ANCA DINÃ

68

e_conservation 69

The continuous water infiltrations led to very

“expressive”7 degradations of the paint layer;

important parts of the representations have now

an embossed aspect (faces, hands or other details

of characters or ornaments detached from the

paint layer level).

There are areas where the paint layer is completly

lost, detached or just hanging on spiders nets or

fibres from the support layer.

The humid environment with low ventilation and

lightening was a perfect medium for biologic at-

tack development, which now affects the surface

of the paintings in the form of whitish veils or

back spots. Moreover, the large quantity of water

accumulated in some areas has been the ideal

medium for algae growth.

7 The differential loss of the adhesion of the colour layer to the support can be observed in areas where this is composed of white pigments mixed with lime and used in pure form. The colours that were applied thicker detached in the form of scales or have a fractured aspect, giving the impression of a stiff material; the colours applied diluted or without addition of white pigment detach in the form of small scales, being fragmented in small particles.

Figures 9 and 10. Persistent infiltration moisture led to the erosion and disintegration of the support layer through a continuous process of salts migration and recrystallisation.

Figure 11. Nave, decay of the mural painting due to cracks and displacements of the support.

Figure 12. Altar semi-vault, deformations and displacements of the mural painting support.

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

70 e_conservation

Figure 13-17. Salts evolution resulted in the loss of cohesion of the colour layer and of its adherence to the support. The layer of colour is powdery or detached in fragments with size up to several square centimetres. Nave and altar images.

OLIVIU BOLDURA and ANCA DINÃ

e_conservation 71

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

Figure 18. Altar vault, north. Loss of cohesion and detachment of the colour layer due to salts development.

72 e_conservation

Chemical alterations of pigments (minium red,

azurite, yellow or red ochre) are visible in isolated

areas, altering the original chromatic aspect of

the paintings.

The previously retouched fillings have now a glossy

aspect due to the binder used which provoked

flaking of the paint layer when it was carelessly

applied over the original.

Going back to one of the main reasons for the

degradation of the paint layer, the decision of

detaching and remounting some fragments of

the murals to facilitate the structural interven-

tion affected dramatically the respective areas

(a surface of 182 square meters). An intervention

that presumes the extraction of a fragment of

mural painting is leading inevitably to various

damages therefore is well known that this decision

must be only taken after all other solutions are

excluded. In this case the extraction was necessary

due to the grave earthquake damages which were

solved by introducing reinforced cement pillars

in the walls. The detachment was done by strappo

method which implies the removal of the paint

layer and causes irrevocable changes on the origi-

nal mural aspect. The intervention8 took place in

the 60’s when the access to information and new

technologies and materials was very restricted

due the communist regime from Romania, there-

Figures 19 and 20. Nave, north wall. Biologic attack and salts development on the areas affected by humidity infiltration.

Figure 21. Detachment of the colour due to the binder of the repaintings.

fore the authors were forced to elaborate from

scratch the entire methodology and to use only

locally available materials at that time. All these

circumstances made the task even more difficult.

8 Information on the extraction moment - materials used and methodology - can be read in the publication of the authors of the intervention [3].

OLIVIU BOLDURA and ANCA DINÃ

e_conservation 73

After the structural consolidation of the architec-

ture, the wall painting fragments were mounted

in their original places. The damages produced

during the intervention increased in time due to

the characteristics of the material used, their

behaviour on long term and also the new support

proprieties. The instability of the microclimate

and the rise of the dampness played also a nega-

tive role in all this setting.

Presently, the remounted painting fragments

changed dramatically their original aspect.

Various deformations occurred either since the

painting was replaced on the walls, due to the

stiffness of the materials used or during the

removal of the glue and textile layers from the

facing. There are also remains of glue9 on the

original painted surface that are inducing

chromatic alterations.

All these aspects are raising complex issues for

the future conservation of those areas. The glue

stains left on the original surface will be very

difficult to remove; aqueous solutions can pro-

duce deformations of the materials which were

used for strappo and also can reactivate salts

from the masonry that has been consolidated

with cement. The deformations of the paintings

will be impossible to correct due to the stiffness

of the paint layer which occur as a consequence

of the improper materials used during the extrac-

tion. The paint layer is also very damaged, either

detached from the fabric used in the relining or

flaking due to the improper binder used in pre-

vious repaintings.

Conclusions

Presently The Royal Church from Târgovişte, valu-

able monument from the 16th century, is in a poor

conservation state fighting for its survival.

Looking on the whole at the conservation problem

of this church, what emerges is the necessity of

adoption of uniform and effective measures to

9 The adhesive used in the detachment was skin glue (35%) dissolved in water and alcohol, glycerin, calcium chloride - crystals and salicylic acid.

Figures 22 and 23. Due to the detachment and remounting of the mural painting the original aspect of the surface and part of the colour layer consistency were lost. Nave, tower.

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

Figures 24 and 25. Microclimate variations and ulterior alteration of materials used in the detachment process, under the influence of a new support, have led to the appearance of contractions, colour detachment and losses. Details of painting from the nave, tower.

OLIVIU BOLDURA and ANCA DINÃ

74 e_conservation

10 Recently the conservation works for the architecture and structure were started, under the coordination of Arch. Doina Petrescu assisted for part of mural painting by the conservator-restorer Geanina Roşu.

Bibliography

[1] G. Mihãescu, E. Fruchter, Curtea Domneascã din Târgovişte, Ed. Sport-Turism, Bucharest, 1986

[2] C. Pavelescu, Th. Barbu, Soluţii constructive aplicate la restaurarea monumentelor istorice, Sesiunea Ştiinţificã a Direcţiei Monumentelor Istorice, Direcţia pentru Construcţii Arhitecturã şi Sistematizare, 1963

[3] D. Moraru, I. Istudor, Cercetãri în legãturã cu extragerea şi reaşezarea frescei sub forma peliculei de picturã, Sesiunea Ştiinţificã a Direcţiei Monumentelor Istorice, 1963

[4] C. Moisescu, Târgovişte.Monumente de istorie şi artã, Ed. Meridiane, Bucharest, 1979

[5] C. Popa, M. Georgescu, Particularitãţi stilistice şi iconografice ale ansamblului de picturi din Biserica Domneasca din Târgovişte

[6] N. Gika-Budeşti, Biserica Domneasca din Târgovişte, Buletinul Comisiunii Monumentelor Istorice în anul III, Ed. Administraţiei Bisericii, Bucharest, 1910

conserve all the elements that this architectural

ensemble holds. In the first place, measures to

eliminate sources of dampness, namely the

infiltration and capillarity humidity.

Subsequently it should be proceeded to the

structural stability, without affecting the mural

paintings. Ultimately, it is necessary to conserve

the artistic components represented by the sculpted

stone elements and the mural paintings, aiming

to the preservation of all the historical stages10.

The case of The Royal Church from Târgovişte is

one that requires immediate attention. The

monument is in a critical situation but at least

it is now included in a conservation project

which hopefully will recover its authentic value.

Anca Dinã is a conservator-restorer specialised

in mural paintings.

She graduated in Conservation from the Art

University in Bucharest where she also

completed a Master in Visual Arts, with

specialisation in Conservation. She works for

the enterprise CERECS ART S.R.L., having

coordinated several intervention areas from

on-site conservation projects, such as St.

George Church from the “Sf. Ioan cel Nou”

Monastery in Suceava (2003), “The

Beheading of St. John the Baptist” Church

from Arbore (2004–2006) and the Church of

Suceviţa Monastery (2007). She has been

working as assistant editor at e-conservation

magazine from 2007.

Oliviu Boldura is professor at the Conservation-

Restoration Department from the Art University

in Bucharest and holds a PhD in Aesthetics of

Visual Arts. Since 35 years he has been working

in the field of conservation of mural paintings

of important monuments in northern Romania,

some of them being part of UNESCO World

Heritage: Voroneţ, Arbore, Moldoviţa, Probota,

Suceviţa, "Sf. Gheorghe" from Suceava and

Bãlineşti.

On the on-site conservation projects that he

coordinates, he is the promoter of experimental

applications of laser and nanotechnologies in

the mural painting conservation and

documentation.

Oliviu Boldura is member in the speciality

commissions from the Ministry of Culture and

Cults of Romania.

ANCA DINÃContact: anca@zappmobile.ro

OLIVIU BOLDURAContact: oliviu_boldura@zappmobile.ro

THE ROYAL CHURCH FROM TÂRGOVIŞTE

e_conservation 75

e-conservation magazine has now the possibility to publish bilingual articles in html version. Articles in English may also be published in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian, at authors request.

No. 9, April 2009

ISSN: 1646-9283

Registration Number125248

Entidade Reguladorapara a Comunicação Social

Propertye-conservationline, Teodora Poiata

PeriodicityBimonthly

CoverPhoto by Anca Dinã, 2009

Mural painting from The Royal Churchin Târgovişte, Romania

Executive EditorRui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata, Anca Nicolaescu

Associate EditorAnca Dinã

Graphic Design and PhotographyAnca Poiata, Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

Address Rua Peixinho Júnior, nº 9, 1 D

2770-163 Paço de ArcosPortugal

www.e-conservationline.com

All correspondence to: general@e-conservationline.com

LICENCE

Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Portugal

You are free:to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions:

Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by our licence, best by linking to CC website.

Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

e_conservationline informs that the published information is believed to be true and accurate but can not accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may occur or make any warranty for the published material, which is solely the responsability of their authors.

e_conservation magazine is published and distributed under the Creative Commons Licence

Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works.