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e-conservationthe online magazine No. 12, December 2009
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Sustainability in Conservation-Restoration
e-conservation
By the time this editorial is published the Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009 will be going on.
This is the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the relationship between conservation-restoration
and the rest of the world in general, and more precisely, its sustainability.
Nowadays sustainability as a word has become almost a cliché, however its concept should be
reconsidered. The term sustainability is most commonly used when referring to environment but it
is quite rarely used in conservation issues. However, our activity does affect other areas, having a
particularly direct impact on three main sectors which are all interconnected: works of art,
environment and society.
Obviously the correct intervention on works of art is the main focal point of we professionals, but
there are some factors that have not yet been assessed well enough, such as the real consequences of
repetitive interventions on the same artwork. The environment involves not only the short-term
consequences of our decisions but more so the long-term consequences which are, if not dis-
regarded, often ignored. We are becoming evermore aware of our carbon footprint and indeed carbon
is mainly responsible for climate change. We tend to forget that there are many processes that could
be more eco-friendly than most of our usual professional practices. And finally, society because it
involves a wide set of factors such as cultural tourism or the socio-economical impact of conservation.
The technological revolution that our society is going through has had a positive influence on our
methodologies and even some of our techniques. However conservation practice in workshops has
not changed that much in past few decades. In fact, new equipment and materials may be available
to us but the practical work is still performed in the same basic ways.
Being aware of the sustainability factor could even be understood as a measure of preventive
conservation. The best practical methods are already dictating principles that reduce and minimise
consumption; for example, the use of ‘cold’ lights in exhibitions is art and environment-friendly.
However, best practices are not always the priority concerns that we may take into our workshops.
For example, what exactly do we do with the remains of the solvents? Do we all store and then
deliver them to a specialised residue company? Unfortunately, I’m afraid not.
In the case of solvents, very few are innocuous for ourselves or the environment, they are
dangerous and extremely toxic, even cancerous. Still, they are vital for conservation procedures
such as consolidation or cleaning. From this point of view, the use of gels was a major
breakthrough as it helps to significantly reduce the actual amount of solvents that are later
released into the environment or manipulated by the technician. The use of laser technology is
non-toxic and is already a common practice in stone-based materials but there is still much
research to be done about its use on organic materials. But are there really any ecological
treatments? Is there any research being carried out in this field? Not to my knowledge. The use of
nanomaterials (solvent-free) is advancing in huge steps and its application to conservation should
be better considered, not only because of its impact but also for ethical concerns.
It would be interesting to assess the consequences of our profession on the environment, on
society and even on the economy. The study of these aspects is still at a teething stage. We lack
much information which may be required to make decisions and to take on responsibility for more
conscientious practices.
Although this subject is normally not discussed on the international sphere, there will be a
conference in May 2010 in Barcelona organized by Grup Tècnic precisely about these issues that
promises to be extremely interesting. A ‘must go’ in my opinion.
Rui Bordalo
Editor in Chief
NEWS & VIEWS 6
ARTICLES
69
ARP PROCEEDINGS
47
Let’s Pin the ‘Long Tail’ on the Conservation Donkey
By Daniel Cull
REVIEWS
I Symposium on Conservation-Restoration of Golden Woodcarving
and Sculpture. Preserving the past, Securing the Future
November 26-27, 2009, Porto, Portugal
Review by Rui Bordalo
COST Training School: WoodCultHer
Wood destroying insects, fungi and moulds decay on wooden
cultural heritage objects and constructions
March 16-20, 2009, Hamburg, Germany
Review by Oana Chachula
The 3rd Conservation-Restoration Workshop for the Artistic
Components of Historic Monuments
October 14-16, 2009, Bucharest, Romania
Review by Anca Dinã
UPCOMING EVENTS & CALL FOR PAPERS
January - February 2009
Conservation in Action: Welcome to the “CSI Lab”
by Virginie Ternisien
Examination of Some Inorganic Pigments and Plaster Layers
from Excavations at Saqqara area, Egypt
Optical Microscopy and SEM-EDS Microanalysis
by Hussein Hassan M.H. Mahmoud
Les dilemmes philosophiques de la conservation-restauration
by Pierre Leveau
Detached Mural Paintings in Portugal
The Conservation-Restoration of the Fragments from the Alberto
Sampaio Museum in Guimarães
by Maria Alice de Sousa Cotovio
Mudejar Ceilings. Study, Conservation and Restoration
by Carlos José Abreu da Silva Costa
EVENTS
8
59
INDEX
23
18
8
25
38
13
PROJECTS
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LET’S PIN THE ‘LONG TAIL’ ON THE CONSERVATION DONKEY
Conservators often consider ourselves
natural collaborators, and we do tend to
play well with others, but, what do we
actually mean by collaboration, and
could there be scope for wider collabo-
rative efforts? In many respects col-
laboration entails more than simply
'working together', the hope is that
through bringing different people to-
gether the whole will be greater than
the sum of its parts; creating a result
that could not have been achieved had
the people been working individually
and collated their results. Collaboration
then suggests that in fact 1 + 1 really
does equal 3. Traditionally collaborative
efforts required institutional support,
necessitating considerable costs, prin-
cipally in terms of management and
oversight. However, with the advent of
social media communication costs have
dropped, meaning institutional method-
ologies are no longer the only feasible
collaborative method.
An alternative vision for collaboration is
beginning to develop. This system relies
not on the inevitable 'professional class'
created by institutions but on the mass-
“It was play rather than work which enabled man to evolve his higher faculties - everything we mean by the word ‘culture’.”
By Daniel Cull
(Herbert Read) [1]
amateurization created by social media, systems
that allow users to co-ordinate their own co-opera-
tion. Although unable to direct and control the
collaboration there is a greater degree of flexibility
and access to a wider group of collaborators, be-
cause such online collaborations invariable make
use of the ‘power law’ distribution; also known as
‘The Long Tail’. This law makes use of all possible
contributions, no matter how small, a model that
would be economically untenable for any institution.
As these new systems fight for space with existing
institutionalized approaches we are entering a pe-
riod of chaos, that may be as far reaching as that
instigated by the printing press. The lack of scribes
in contemporary society suggests that we can pre-
dict the outcome of this period of change and if
“we can see it coming, we might as well get good
at it” [2]. How our institutions reconfigure them-
selves to the changing media landscape will de-
termine their ability to survive and remain useful
for our profession and for society as a whole.
For contemporary conservators, influenced by an
ongoing “revolution of common sense” [3], it is
Photo by twopinkpossums. Some rights reserved.
e-conservation
incumbent upon us as a profession to consider
models of collaboration that allows everyone -
public and professional - to play a part, in their
own way, for such methods might assist us in un-
derstanding the values and significance material
culture plays for different people. Furthermore,
if “conservators provide a paradigm not just for
fixing things when they are broken, but for a wider
social ethos of care, where we individually and
collectively take responsibility and action” [4],
the development of a public conservation dis-
course could be considered a social duty. As a
profession then social media might allow us to
hold a far reaching discussion that many recog-
nize as necessary but have not yet been able to
develop into a reality. So, while the world is spin-
ning us around and confusing us in terms of which
direction to take, let’s remember that culture
should be fun, there should be an element of play
and experimentation within our approaches, cul-
ture should be joyous and lived not stuffy and dull,
let’s think in terms of a children’s party games and
together find a way to pin the long tail of collabo-
ration on the conservation donkey [5].
Notes
[1] H. Read, Anarchy & Order; Poetry & Anarchism,
1938
[2] C. Shirky, Institutions Vs. Collaboration, TED:
Ideas Worth Spreading, 2005;
available at URL
[3] S. Muñoz-Viñas, Contemporary Theory of
Conservation, Elsevier Butterworth-
Heinemann, London, 2005
[4] J. Holden and S. Jones, It’s A Material World:
Caring for the public realm, Demos, London,
2008; available at URL [pdf]
[5] ‘Pin the tail on the Donkey’ is a children’s
game, see URL
DANIEL CULLConservatorThe Musical Instrument Museum
Daniel Cull is a Conservator, Wikipedian, Social Networker, and Blogger from the West Country of the
British Isles. Trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, where he received a
BSc in Archaeology, MA in Principles of Conservation, and an MSc in Conservation for Archaeology
and Museums. He was later awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the
American Indian/Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. He currently works as an ethnographic
musical instrument conservator at the Musical Instrument Museum, in Arizona.
Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com
Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org
VIEWS
e-conservation 7
Review by Rui Bordalo
The Portucalense University (UPT) organised last
26 and 27 of November the I Symposium on Con-
servation-Restoration of Golden Woodcarving and
Sculpture (I Simpósio Conservação e Restauro da
Talha e Escultura – Preservar o passado, garantir o
futuro). The conference took place at the university
auditorium in Porto, Portugal.
UPT is a private higher education institution, cre-
ated in 1986, that offers a Bachelor in Conservation
and Restoration within the Education Sciences and
Heritage Department. It was through this Bachelor
that the symposium was organised.
The event meant to bring together several spe-
cialists, both from academy and companies, to
discuss the latest technologies, methodologies
and interventions on golden woodcarving and
sculpture, with an emphasis on recent projects
from the north of Portugal. One of the interesting
aspects of this symposium is that several students
helped to organize it, among which some even
presented communications. This is due to the fact
that some students are professionals already work-
ing in the field, and with many years of experience,
with several backgrounds and trainings. The pre-
sent degree they are now undertaking is an effort
to obtain a certified training within the latest
education model, the Bologna process.
The morning session was started by Dr. José Tedim,
art historian and professor at UPT, with an inter-
esting and personal insight into the several work-
shops of religious sculptures that existed in Porto
during the XIX and early XX centuries. There were
several important workshops at that time that cre-
ated many of the sculptures that are still in churches
from Porto and the north region of Portugal. It
was explained how these workshops evolved, how
the locations of these artistic centres changed in
time between the margins of the Douro river and
their relationship with other well-known centre
of religious imaginary, in Braga. A curious mention
was that Dr. Tedim shares several personal memo-
ries of this subject, as his family was run one of
the major workshops at that time.
November 26-27, 2009 Porto, Portugal
Organiser: Portucalense University
http://www.uportu.pt/
I SYMPOSIUM ON CONSERVATION-RESTORATION OF GOLDEN WOODCARVING AND SCULPTURE
REVIEWS
Preserving the past, Securing the Future
8 e-conservation
Mr. António Pereira, conservator-restorer of sculp-
ture and student at UPT, presented the practical
case of wood treatment of the altar and sculpture
of the Holy Spirit of Moreira do Lima chapel. The
wood was particularly weakened by an attack of
wood boring insects. This attack was serious as
several structural timbers became instable jeop-
ardising the entire altar. Among other operations,
the intervention included the disassembly of the
structure and the disinfestations and the stabili-
sation of the support. Although the ethical criteria
were always kept in mind, including that of the
minimum intervention, there were some elements
that had to be replaced to ensure the structural
integrity. At the end, some relevant issues con-
cerning the future maintenance of the altar were
discussed.
The afternoon session was started by arch. José
Falcão, director of the Department of Historic and
Artistic Heritage from the Diocese of Beja, on the
inventory project that the diocese undertook. Beja
is located in the south of Portugal and it is the
religious centre of the region of Alentejo, which
is perhaps as large as it is rich in heritage. The
size of the region and the elderly population are
among the factors that allowed an increase in theft
of cultural heritage. In 1985, the Department of
Historic and Artistic Heritage was created and with
it the mission of making an inventory of religious
heritage. This was an important step as it was the
first diocese to implement such a project leading
the path to all the others. Among other factors,
the inventory has allowed to (re)discover works of
art, to bring the population closer to their heritage
and even to promote conservation and restoration
interventions.
The next talk was given by Graça Lobo, conservator
and student at UPT, who prepared a communica-
tion based on her latest interventions on golden
woodcarving. I never stop being surprised by some
study cases such as this, where a chapel altar that
was disassembled by some mysterious reason was
scattered across several houses and barns. The
contact with the population in this case was very
important as it succeeded to bring many pieces
of the altar together, some of which appeared
anonymously. Although the altar was in poor
conservation state, it was possible to assembly
most of it.
The afternoon session continued with an interven-
tion by Fernando Ribeiro, from the Center of Con-
servation and Restoration in Viseu, who continued
the series of communications focused on wooden
supports. His intervention was somehow radical
as he defended that at the moment there are plenty
REVIEWS
Opening ceremony. From left to right: Dr. Fátima Matos Silva, Dr. Isabel Freitas, Dr. José Tedim, António Pereira and Sofia Faria.
Main entrance of Universidade Portucalense.
e-conservation 9
professionals having a strong theoretical know-
ledge but lacking a good practical experience
that should be given during the university years.
Even more, he went further condemning many
recently trained professionals to “hide under the
principles of conservation, such as the minimum
intervention principle, to minimise the lack of their
practical knowledge”. This was the source of an
interesting but rather short discussion in the debate,
as these topics are difficult to discuss being always
limited to the speaker’s competences.
After a much needed coffee-break, it was my own
turn, as conservator-restorer and professor at
UPT, to speak about the use of laser technology
for the cleaning of polychromies with a focus on
polychromed sculpture and golden woodcarving.
I believe that the majority of conservator-resto-
rers are still not familiarised with this technology
which is still in research stage for its use in poly-
chromy, and so my intervention started with the
explanation of the technique, equipments and the
possible practical uses. However, there are many
technical and physical problems that prevent lasers
from being used for cleaning polychromed sculp-
ture on a standardised basis. Concerning the golden
woodcarving, research has shown that laser clean-
ing is a promising technique although few study
cases are available.
The last presentation of the day was given by Mi-
caela Duarte, conservator-restorer and professor
at UPT, who introduced the audience to an inven-
tory project that is being performed with the Dio-
cese of Braga and the Museum of Alberto Sampaio,
in Guimarães. The undergoing project gathers
several teams that catalogue all the works of art
from the churches in the diocese of Braga and,
whenever possible, prepare a room to serve as
archival room of the catalogued pieces. It was
interesting to see that some churches rediscovered
pieces they didn’t know they have.
The second day of the symposium was started with
a presentation of arch. Raquel Oliveira in place
of Ernesto Oliveira, professional and student at
UPT, who performed an intervention to a series
of paintings from a chapel in Vila do Conde. The
chapel is somehow special as it is located just near
the Atlantic ocean, which favoured a long term ex-
posure to humidity. The intervention was focused
on the 40 panel paintings from the ceiling that
were separated by gilded frames. Although the
treatment of the paintings was without particular
interest, the treatment of the wooden support and
the reassembly of the paintings and frames be-
came the focus of the intervention, which entailed
interesting aspects such as the air circulation near
the ceiling due to the proximity of the ocean.
André Varela Remígio, conservator-restorer of
sculpture, spoke about the intervention he per-
formed on the reliquaries of the sanctuary of the
10 e-conservation
Views of the auditory during the conference.
REVIEWS
Monastery of St. Mary of Alcobaça. 48 busts and
10 arms from different saints were treated during
this intervention. It should be mentioned that this
intervention was published in the issue number
11 of e-conservation.
Adriana Amaral, from the North Regional Delega-
tion of Culture in Porto, presented “Integrated
Heritage”. During the communication, numerous
examples of built heritage, namely churches, re-
tables and sculptures were shown, including their
conservation state before and after the interven-
tion. The danger heritage faces due to lack of
maintenance, among others factors, was under-
lined. Inumerous photos were shown of an incredi-
ble poor conservation state demonstrating that,
unfortunately, people that are responsible for he-
ritage are not always aware of how (or sadly even
why) that same heritage should be conserved.
Dr. Luisa Reis Lima, art historian and professor
at UPT, introduced the audience to the study of
the golden woodcarving of Braga, which was one
of the most prolific centres in the production of
altars. The problematic of past ‘renovations’ on
golden woodcarving that have altered permanently
many of altars with the loss of important artistic,
and historic, information was highlighted.
The afternoon session started with the presenta-
tion of Dr. João Oliveira, coordinator of Criminal
Investigation from the Judiciary Police (PJ), en-
titled “Criminal Prevention on the Culture Domain:
the Judiciary Police Projects”. The investigation
of art theft is, under the Portuguese law, respon-
sibility of the PJ. Police have also a museum dedi-
cated to the works of art that were apprehended
and could not be returned to their owners, in most
of the cases because they were never claimed or
they belong to anonymous owners who do not
complain about the thefts. Thus, the police have
developed some projects focused on preventing
e-conservation 11
thefts rather than just solving them. Two projects
were initiated - Igreja Segura (Safe Church) and
S.O.S. Azulejo (S.O.S. Tiles) - in collaboration with
many partners, as alert and sensitisation campaigns
with the objective to promote information and
safety measures to protect the cultural heritage.
The next two presentations focused on the inven-
tory effort that the Diocese of Porto is developing.
For a welcomed change, Manuel Amorim, priest
and Director of the Department of Church Cultural
Assets from the Diocese of Porto, was the only
speaker without a PowerPoint presentation, allow-
ing the audience to focus on his words. His talk
focused on the history and the human side of the
project. Upon request of the Bishop of Porto, the
inventory started in 2006. An incipient effort had
been made much earlier although based solely on
a volunteer basis and did not achieve results due
to the lack of human and economic resources. At
the present, the Diocese has 6 technicians that
are cataloguing churches from the periphery to
the centre of Porto. The second speaker, Dr. José
Costa, also from the same Department, presented
some of the technical details of this project, such
as training actions, multimedia applications and
safety among others.
Dr. Carlos Pombo, specialised photographer of
works of art and professor at UPT, made a very
interesting presentation concerning the photo-
graphy of cultural assets and its intricate prob-
lems, including aspects like the analog vs. digital
preventive measures to have in mind during the
photographic session in order to minimise the
possible damage to the works of art. As informa-
tive as illustrative, it was one of the best presen-
tations from the symposium.
Finally, the last presentation was given by arch.
Paula Silva, Director of the Services of Cultural
Assets of the North Regional Direction in Porto,
REVIEWS
12 e-conservation
REVIEWS
who spoke about the intervention case studies
on built heritage that were funded within the QREN
(National Strategic Reference) framework. From
interventions in the historic centre of Porto to
complete rehabilitations of monasteries in the
north of Portugal, a wide and very complete cata-
logue of interventions was shown during the pre-
sentation in order to illustrate the work performed
by the Regional Direction over the past years.
I would like to congratulate the organisers for
their initiative. It was a successful one, with over
150 attendees, showing that the public has a real
interest on this topic. Also, it is always useful to
see diverse reports of interventions on important,
or less notorious woks of art and other projects
that otherwise would be difficult to know about.
During this type of conferences I usually find my-
self thinking that it would be ideal to find a com-
plementary way to keep track of the professional
practice on national level besides conferences, al-
though until then this is really the only way to share
information in our field.
RUI BORDALOConservator-RestorerContact: rmbordalo@e-conservationline.com
Rui Bordalo is conservator-restorer specialised
in easel paintings and the Editor in Chief of
e-conservation magazine. At the moment he
teaches at Universidade Portucalente, in Porto.
He is also member of ARP (Associação Profissio-
nal de Conservadores-Restauradores de Portugal),
and E.C.C.O. (European Confederation of Conser-
vator-Restorers' Organisations) Committee since
2005.
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
13e-conservation
REVIEWS
During 16-20th March 2009 in Hamburg, Berge-
dorf (Germany) took place an intensive training
workshop focused on the decay of wooden cutural
heritage objects and constructions, as part of the
COST Actions, program COST IE 0601. The participa-
tion was open to young or senior researchers, only
upon invitation. The WoodCultHer action of COST
project is aimed to enhance the interaction be-
tween wood scientists across Europe and to con-
tribute this way towards the development of the
study and conservation-restoration of wooden
cultural heritage objects.
The workshop was organised by Dr. Uwe Noldt, from
Wood Technology and Biology Institute, part of
the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute. The
Institute’s research field comprises beside the usual
issues regarding wood structure, its proprieties
and qualities, studies about wooden buildings and
their preservation as well as studies concerning
the wood-environment correlation.
The course gathered together attendants and lec-
turers from all over Europe. Lectures were given
by Dr. Uwe Noldt, Dr. Tobias Huckfeldt, Prof. Dr.
Olaf Schmidt, Dr. Wolfram Scheiding (Germany),
Dr. Ilze Irbe (Latvia), Prof. Dr. Mitko Karadelev
(Macedonia), Dr. Manuel Cesareo Touza Vasquez
(Spain), Dr. Lina Nunes (Portugal) and Dr. Livia
Bucsa (Romania).
The biological degradation of the wooden monu-
ments and objects is both a serious and a sensitive
arising issue, that sometimes can only be solved
by interdisciplinary collaboration. Therefore the
course intended, and succeeded to bring partici-
pants from different fields, such as conservator-
restorers, scientists, biologists specialized in my-
cology or entomology, engineers and PhD students
having as common interest the biology investiga-
tions, the main subject of this course.
Beside the theoretical concepts taught during the
lectures, the program included laboratory work-
shops, visits at the institute’s laboratory, includ-
ing the experimental ones, and at the Bergedorf
farmhouse.
COST TRAINING SCHOOL: WOOD SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE (WOODCULTHER)
Wood destroying insects, fungi and moulds decay on wooden cultural heritage objects and constructions
Review by Oana Chachula
March 16-20, 2009Hamburg, Germany
Organiser: COST
(European Cooperation in Science and Technology)
http://www.cost.esf.org/The Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology of Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut.
14 e-conservation
REVIEWS
The lectures were divided in two parts. The first
part focused on the study and identification of
wood destroying insects – (most of the lectures
being given by Dr. Uwe Noldt) and in the second
part the interest shifted to fungi and moulds
analysis. An interesting aspect of the presenta-
tions, beside the scientific data, was that the
teachers illustrated their papers with case stud-
ies regarding the biodegradation, investigation
and preventive methods used in their own coun-
tries, this internationality bringing various and
interesting information to the course.
An impressive database concerning the damage
of wood-destroying insects characteristic to dif-
ferent timber species collected from all over the
world was offered as study material for observa-
tions during the laboratory workshops. Moreover
the Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology
provided to each participant all the necessary
equipment for the practical program.
Thus, we were able to microscopically identify the
most common xylophagous insects from building
area, such as House longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes
bajulus (L.)), Longhorn beetles (Phymatodes/
Callidium/Pyrrhydium sp.), Furniture beetle (An-
obium punctatum – DeGerr), Death watch beetle
(Xestobium rufovillosum – DeGerr), Dampwood
borer (Hadrobregmus pertinax (L.)), Horntail wasps
(Urocerus/Sirex sp.), Lyctid beetles (Lyctidae sp.)
and wood ants (Lasius/Camponotus sp.). The in-
tegrated pest management, a very important is-
sue beside the identification of the species, was
also included in the discussions.
Furthermore, the course focused on brown-rot fun-
gi identification and damages produced by Serpula
lacrymans, which we were able to identify during
the laboratory workshops. The lecture on brown
Identifying timber dry rot by microscopy methods during Training School (TS).
15e-conservation
REVIEWS
dry rot problematic, given by Tobias Huckfeldt was
one of the most efficient – as an investigation
biologist without an experience in dry rot specie
identification, I found his paper very resourceful.
Besides useful information, the presentation made
use of numerous descriptive images of the fruit
bodies, which may differ on a macroscopic level.
Therefore, the accent was placed on the micro-
scopic identification and on the micromorpho-
logy of species. Other identified dry rot species
were Coniophora puteana, Antrodia vaillantii,
Donkioporia expansa, Asterostroma cervicolor,
Phellinus contiguus, Diplomitoporus lindbladii,
Paxillus panuoides, Coprinus spp., Peziza repanda
and Gloeophyllum abietinum.
Prof. dr. Olaf Schmidt presented general facts on
wood-damaging fungi and bacteria, molecular
methods for identification of wood-decay caused
by fungi, and techniques, results and valuation.
Dr. Wolfram Scheiding discussed the problematic
of the moulds attack in wooden churches and on
other wooden art objects, such as organ pipes.
He exposed methods of biologic and physic in-
vestigation of the moulds, with reference on air
and laboratory tests, and on conservation-res-
toration safety measures. He emphasized the im-
portance of long term microclimate control, the
necessity of periodic airborne germ sampling and
comparison between indoor and outdoor species
and the assessment of health by medical experts.
Health safety is an important aspect of our pro-
fession, as some mould species are dangerous
for humans (among which Botrytis cinerea and
Aspergillus fumigates). It was assessed however
that if microbiologists respect the safety work
procedures, the contamination risks are minimum.
As a conclusion to this issue, it should be empha-
sized that the determination of genus or species
Practical identification methods during training school in the laboratory of Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology.
16 e-conservation
REVIEWS
might be significant in order to verify the hazardous
species. Both in situ and laboratory investigation
as well as measures deduction require experienced
experts with knowledge and equipment.
From the Romanian side, Dr. Livia Bucsa presented
an ample paper concerning the biodeterioration
of the wall painting from the Romanian wooden
churches. She described the fungal decay in over
300 wooden monuments, churches and buildings
from open air museum.
On this same subject other interesting examples
were given, like monuments from Latvia (Dr. Ilze
Irbe), churches from Macedonia (Prof. Dr. Mitko
Karadelev), wooden organ pipes from Germany
(Wolfram Scheiding) as well as the relation between
different cleaning methods and fungi formation
risk due to airborne germs contamination.
From Portugal, Dr. Lina Nunes gave an interesting
extensive lecture on problems with termites (Re-
ticulitermes) in Portuguese wooden buildings, as
well on facts regarding the biology, distribution,
generic variation and non-traditional approaches
to subterranean termites control in buildings.
At the end of this course we were able to draw
some important conclusions, such as the fact
that brown dry rot (Serpula lacrymans) attack may
be considered one of the most important dangers
in Europe for wooden monuments or other objects
that contain wood in composition.
Among the reasons for the wood decay caused by
fungi are poor maintenance, non-professional re-
pairs or improper building construction. Examples
were given for some decay typologies and their
incidents in different countries. Brown rot decay
type predominated in the Latvian monumental
buildings with 37% (Ilze Irbe and Ingeborga An-
dersone) and in Romanian historic monuments
and open air museums where it has an occurrence
of 38%.
The aim of this course was achieved: participants
coming from different work fields but all involved
in the research of wood’s biological decay gained
knowledge regarding important aspects such as
its occurrence and evolution, the existent species
of biodeterioration agents on wooden construc-
tions and monuments and which are the risks in
different possible cases.
Different types of timber with exit holes of wood destroying insects, Collection of Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology.
Larva of a wood destroying insect from pine, 'Ergates spiculatus' (LeConte, USA, Oregon Pine), Collection of Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology.
17e-conservation
REVIEWS
Useful links:http://www.cost.esf.org/
http://www.woodcutlher.org/
http://www.vti.bund.de/en/
http://sostermitas.angra.uac.pt/
http://www.termite.com.fr/
http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp
OANA CHACHULA
Biologist
National Research Institute for Conservation
and Restoration (INCCR)
Calea Victoriei, nr.12, S 3, 030026,
Bucharest, Romania
Contact: oana_chachula@yahoo.com
Oana Chachula graduated from the Faculty of
Biology Al. I. Cuza, in Iasi (Romania) in 2002.
She is currently pursuing her PhD in Animal Ta-
xonomy field at Biology Faculty, University of
Bucharest. She has been working at INCCR as a
biologist for 3 years, her current work responsi-
bilities including the biological investigation of
movable objects and historical buildings.
Participants of TS COST 0601 Hamburg 16-20 march 2009.
Work visit at the Bergedorf farmhouse.
Between 14th and 16th of October 2009, the Ministry
of Culture, Cults and Heritage of Romania (MCCPN)
organised the third edition of the “Conservation-
Restoration Workshop for the Artistic Components
of Historic Monuments”. On this occasion, besides
the information presented in the Multimedia Room
of the Ministry, the organisers offered attendees
the possibility to find out in situ the problems that
three monuments from Bucharest and its vicinity
are confronted with. The organisation of this series
of meetings would not have been possible without
the sustained effort of conservator Oana Gorea,
consultant at MCCPN.
The meeting successfully gathered and offered those
present a diverse range of useful information on the
conservation-restoration of cultural heritage. In
this respect, several facets of the field were com-
prised, such as finalised projects or undergoing
conservation works – each with its own aspects and
difficulties (on conservation of mural painting,
stone, wood and stained glass)1, the importance
and advantages of using the laser in conservation
of art works, aspects related to documentation, re-
search and examination of some materials used in
conservation treatments; issues and solutions for
historic monuments heating, a.s.o. It was pointed
out on this occasion – by concrete examples – that
a correct treatment of a monument or a work of art
requires necessary and indispensable information
which can only be acquired by interdisciplinary
cooperation during intervention for the correct
THE 3rd CONSERVATION-RESTORATION WORKSHOP FOR THE ARTISTIC COMPONENTS OF HISTORIC MONUMENTS
Review by Anca Dinã
October 14-16, 2009Bucharest, Romania
Organiser: Ministry of Culture, Cults and
Heritage of Romania (MCCPN)
http://www.cultura.ro
1 Among the presented conservation projects can be mentioned: Elena Murariu - “Interdisciplinary conservation problems at Vioreşti”; Daniel Codrescu - “A worksite of mural painting con-servation at Predeal Monastery, county of Braşov”; Kiss Lo-rand – “Medieval mural painting conservation in two evangelic churches from Sibiu”; Nagy Banjámin – “Degradation causes and preservation interventions – restoration of artistic com-ponents in carved stone at Palace Bánffy, Cluj Napoca”; Ma-rin Coteţiu – “Conservation aspects of a mural painting en-
samble from different ages. Case study: the porch of the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest”; Penyacseck Ştefan – “The conservation of stained glass in the Loupoigne church, Belgium”; Anca Nicolaescu and Dragoş Ene – “Documen-tation and conservation of the mural paintings from Red Maitreya temple, Ladak, India”; Pal Peter – “Stratigraphic researches and conservation of mural paintings in Dârjiu Unitarian Church and Daia Reformed Church, Harghita county”.
18 e-conservation
REVIEWS
identification of degradation sources and of the
presence and the types of biologic agents, for the
identification of previous interventions or of the
quality of materials used.
Another highlighted aspect was the unaltered
conservation of the original, by respecting the
professional principles adopted at international
level, for restricting the aesthetic presentation
level as close as possible to an archaeological
level so that it does not alter or misrepresent the
original image in any way.
In the same time it was insisted upon the correct
use of the terms 'to restore' and 'to remake', 'to
reconstitute' or 'to reconstruct', according to the
different significance that each one has.
Among the presentations that drew attention by
the issues raised and the professionalism of the
approach was that of a project based on the co-
operation between conservators, researchers, bio-
logists and petrographers - Interdisciplinary Re-
searches made at the cave church Corbii de Piatră
(Stone Ravens) from Argeş county (Romania), by
Prof. Ioana Gomoiu, PhD, Prof. Dan Mohanu, PhD,
Prof. Marin Secleman, PhD, Ileana Mohanu, PhD,
Anca Luca, PhD and Sorin Birzoi. The church was
built in the first half of the 14th century in sand-
stone and communicates with the exterior by the
entrance door of the narthex and the two windows
in the nave. Presently, the monument is in the
stage of research prior to the conservation process,
of monitoring the microclimate parameters and
of assessing the conservation state and the degra-
dation causes and sources. The interior a fresco
painting was lost in a large proportion on the
northern wall (towards the interior of the rock)
and is altered by a series of deposits and accumu-
lations of different origins in the rest of the church.
The main degradation factor is humidity , conden-
sation running-off the painting but also at the level
of windows and floor. Among the degradations of
the painting can be recalled fissures and detach-
ments of the support, gaps, efflorescences, organic
and inorganic deposits, colonization processes
due to the biologic activity of photoautotroph or
heterotroph micro-organisms, etc. The church is
a valuable monument by its age, beauty and rarity
where it must be acted by the removal of the de-
gradation sources in order to achieve the preser-
vation of the murals and of the entire ensemble.
Another presentation, this time with the purpose
of a call for awareness, was “Types of degradations
of the panel ceilings in Transylvania”, of conser-
vator Mihaly Ferenc. The panel ceilings, painted on
wooden support in tempera technique, are specific
to protestant and catholic churches in this part
of Romania. According to the data presented by
the author there are only few examples preserved
from the 16th to the 20th century. Mr. Ferenc pre-
Views of the conference from the Multimedia Room of the Ministry.
19e-conservation
REVIEWS
sented the audience with examples for specific
degradations and their causes, as well as a few
conserved works.
The presentation of Mrs. Livia Bucşa, Ph.D., called
attention by focussing on the biological contami-
nation problems of some monuments with wall
painting and the importance of “cooperation be-
tween specialists in the fields of chemistry, biology
and physics with conservators in order to establish
a correct diagnosis and to avoid the confusion be-
tween the nature of deposits and accumulations
existing on the painted area”. To this regard, she
presented two different situations: first, when a
physical-chemical degradation is interpreted and
treated as biological and second, when a biological
degradation is considered a simple deposit of dust
or smoke and treated as such.
On the same note, that of the benefits of interdis-
ciplinary cooperation within conservation projects,
followed the presentations of scientists from INOE,
the National Institute of Research and Develop-
ment for Optoelectronics (Roxana Rădvan, Dragoş
Ene, Laurenţiu Angheluţă, Monica Simileanu and
Cătălin Bălan), regarding the use of non-destructive
methods of analysis and intervention in conser-
vation of works of art, such as LIBS and LIF among
others.
Constructive discussions followed after the pre-
sentations of conservators Katarzyna Górecka and
Prof. Marcin Kozarzewski from Warsaw University,
that outlined the importance of monuments, even
if reconstructed, for the preservation of the natio-
nal identity. The Polish restorers spoke about re-
making and reconstruction of the historic centre
of Warsaw after the destruction during the Second
World War. The authors insisted on two concrete
cases - the Brochow church and the Rosary wooden
church - and spoke about the solutions found for
the conservation of the original elements and the
remaking of the missing ones in order to recover
the unity of the monuments.
In the second part of the event, that is the third
day in the programme, a visit to some monuments
in Bucharest and its surroundings was scheduled
in order to draw attention on some aspects and
concerns related to the undergoing conservation
projects.
The visit started at Mântuleasa Church in Bucha-
rest, a monument in a complex conservation-res-
toration process since October 2007, coordinated
by Simona Pătraşcu, mural painting conservator.
This site has already been presented in the 4th
issue of this magazine, but we shall notify that
even if the work is not finalised, the site was closed
for the time being, out of lack of funds. This is how,
a representative monument for the Brâncovenesc
art, located in the centre of the capital, continues
to deteriorate inevitably.
The next visited monument was the 18th century
church of Saint Nicholas, located in Stoeneşti
village, Giurgiu county. The monument presents
structural degradation, has lost its vaults and
suffered several interventions on architectural
elements and artistic components. The church is
operational - the liturgy can still be conducted -
Participants visiting Mântuleasa Church in Bucharest.
REVIEWS
20 e-conservation
but its original aspect is altered by a temporary
flat ceiling, a roof that modifies the proportions
of the monument and by layers of deposits, accu-
mulations and repaintings that affect the reading
of the mural painting and iconostasis image. It
is clear that the monument needs complex con-
servation-restoration interventions at the level
of all components.
Another monument the group visited was the
Potlogi church (1683), where another situation
is faced. The church was submitted in time to
complex interventions, out of which only a few
had the role of conserving the artistic compo-
nents. This is why the original mural painting is
only preserved in the narthex, and unfortunately
this was also altered irreversibly by repaintings.
At present these were already removed, however
in the past the surface of the painting was thor-
oughly hammered in order to increase the adhesion
of a new layer. Therefore, there are areas where
the representations can hardly be identified.
State of degradation of the mural painting from church in Stoeneşti village.
Mural painting from the church of Saint Nicholas in Stoeneşti village, Giurgiu county.
REVIEWS
21e-conservation
The main challenge for its conservation-restora-
tion is the aesthetic presentation of the gaps of
the support layer. Due to the particularity of this
case, Irina Sava, the conservator who coordinates
the work will establish the aesthetic treatment
methodology together with a commission approved
by the Ministry of Culture, Cults and Heritage of
Romania.
Given the diversity of the presentations and the
interesting issues brought into discussion, the
third “Conservation-Restoration Workshop for
the Artistic Components of Historic Monuments”
has made an important contribution on national
level, growing the awareness of specific problems
in the conservation-restoration practice. This
brief presentation was encouraged by the initiative
of the organisers, which we hope will continue
in 2010.
Image from Potlogi church (1683), where the mural painting was hammered in order to increase the adhesion of a new layer.
Photographic credits:
All photos by Anca Dinã and Dumitru Gorea.
Poster by Oana and Dumitru Gorea.
ANCA DINÃConservatorContact: anca@zappmobile.ro
Anca Dinã is a conservator restorer of mural
paintings. She graduated in Conservation from
The Art University in Bucharest where she also
completed a Master in Visual Arts, with conser-
vation specialisation. She works for the CERECS
ART S.R.L. enterprise, having coordinated several
interventions areas from onsite conservation
projects in Moldavia. She is a collaborator for
e-conservation magazine since 2007.
REVIEWS
22 e-conservation
even
ts
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.
IIC Annual General Meeting
Date: 28 January 2010 Read more...
Place: London, UK
A new type of event for IIC will be held; Anna So-
mers Cocks, founder and Editorial Director of
the Art Newspaper, will interview Samuel Jones,
of the Demos think-tank and co-author of the
very influential publication "It's a Material
World: Caring for the Public Realm". They will
explore why conservation should matter. Is
there a crisis in Conservation? Is the profession
losing support? What can be done? The event
will focus on how conservation can and should
position itself as an essential element for the
health of all societies, worldwide.
Ancient Peruvian Textiles Workshop: Animal Iconography
Date: 12-22 January 2010 Read more...
Place: Lima, Peru
The workshop will document, conserve and mount
pre-Columbian textiles from the collection of the
Huaca Huallamarca Museum and Huaca Malena
Museum. This course is geared toward museum
professionals and others with museum sensibi-
lities and excellent hand skills who want to learn
about textile conservation and pre-Columbian
cultures while visiting Peru. Past students have
included conservators from all disciplines, archae-
ologists, weavers, historians, and anyone with
an interest in textiles, ranging in age from
college students to retirees.
Janu
ary
2010
Subject Repositories: European collaboration in the international context
The Fine Art of Crime
Date: 27 January 2010 Read more...
Place: London, UK
The theft of a major work of art never fails to make the
headlines reflecting on both the deep sense of loss felt
by owners, curators and the art loving public and the
total disbelief that such a crime could be perpetrated
against an old friend. The finger of suspicion is pointed
at the mystical billionaire collector whose desire to
possess the painting far outruns any sense of morality
or respect of the law. Using case studies and recoveries
"The Fine Art of Crime" will expose the real motives
and trends in cultural property crime, show how art is
used by organised crime and reveal how art can become
the crime itself.
Date: 28-29 January 2010 Read more...
Place: London, UK
This conference will look at the progress made with subject
repositories so far. It will also see the launch of Econo-
mists Online, the key output of an EC-funded subject
repository project managed by the Nereus consortium of
top European economics libraries. Nereus members will
showcase this subject repository in both plenary and
parallel sessions, sharing lessons learned and engaging
delegates in discussions of the main issues such as con-
tent recruitment, search and retrieval services, usage
statistics and datasets.
Among the speakers are Chuck Henry, President of the
Council on Library and Information Resources in the US,
Clifford Lynch, Director of the Coalition for Networked
Information, Cathrine Harboe-Ree, University Librarian at
Monash University who led the Arrow project and is involved
in leading the ANDS project, and Christian Zimmermann,
Economics professor at the University of Connecticut.
e-conservation
Tree Rings, Art, ArchaeologyRoyal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels
Gilded Objects Conservation Special Interest Group
Date: August-September 2010 Read more...
Place: Melbourne, Australia
Deadline for expressions of interest: 30 January 2010
GOCSIG is seeking expressions of interest from its members
regarding a professional development workshop in the
area of traditional gilding techniques as related to picture
frames. The workshop may cover traditional gilding techni-
ques incorporating such aspects as surface preparation
using gesso, bole and size; gesso texturing and re-cutting;
water gilding and oil gilding using gold, silver and schlag
metal leaf; matte and gloss surface finishes; clay mixes and
advanced leafing techniques; toning, aging and sealing.
Date: 10-12, February 2010 Read more...
Place: Bruxelles, Belgium
The subject of this international conference is the contri-
bution of dendrochronology to human sciences, with a
broader outlook thandating of the wood (determination
of the origin of the wood, forest ecology, history of
climate...). It will include lectures not only by dendro-
chronologists but also by users of dendrochronological
data, such as archaeologists, historians, art historians
and restorers.
Multidisciplinary Conservation: a Holistic View for Historic Interiors
Date: 26-27 November Read more...
Place: Rome, Italy
Abstract Submission Deadline: 23 March 2010
The call for paper is intended to those working in inter-
esting cases in castles or historic houses and contributed
together with other conservators from different disciplines
on bigger projects of interdisciplinary research.
AICCM Book, Paper and Photographs Symposium 2010
International Paper Historians Congress
Date: 7-10 October 2010 Read more...
Place: Angouleme, France
Abstract Submission Deadline: December 31, 2009
Session 1: Side-industries and crafts connected to
Papermaking
Session 2: Paper Economy and Trade: national and
international Interactions
Session 3: The Uses of Paper: Gestures, Words, Expertise
Date: 17-19 November 2010 Read more...
Place: Melbourne, Australia
Abstracts submission Deadline: January 15, 2010
Possible ideas may be an innovative treatment that has
been recently carried out on works on paper, books or
photographs; any interesting research that has been
conducted into areas such as artists’ materials, conser-
vation materials, display and storage methods; or perhaps
even share some considered insights and discussion of
issues relevant to the profession.
ICCROM - 14th International Course on Wood Conservation Technology - ICWCT 2010
Date: 24 May - 2 July 2010 Read more...
Place: Oslo, Norway
Applications deadline: 29 January 2010
The Wood course aims is to promote cultural understand-
ing and research in the field of wood conservation, and
to be a valuable resource for the work of the individual
participants in their respective countries.
We are interested in receiving applications from mid-
career professionals with a minimum of three years’
work experience in wood conservation.
2010
Cal
l for
Pap
ers
EVENTS
2010
Cal
ls fo
r Pap
ers
24 e-conservation
proj
ects
CONSERVATION IN ACTION: WELCOME TO THE “CSI LAB”
by Virginie Ternisien
The “CSI Lab” (Conservation Science Investigations) was developed to meet the needs of archaeological
conservation and studies. In May 2008, during the development of “The Meads”, Sittingbourne, Kent,
England, a large early Anglo-Saxon cemetery site in Kent was found. The site was excavated by Canterbury
Archaeological Trust and was found to compose of 227 inhumations, plus 2 cremations with hundereds
of artefacts made from various materials. Conservation treatment was essential to reveal potential
information to better understand this important period in history, when the Kentish kingdom was at its
height. However, professional conservation treatment was estimated to far exceed the archaeological
budget, which was minimal due to the find being unexpected. An innovative low-cost approach was
proposed by Dana Goodburn-Brown, an independent archaeological conservator. The “CSI Lab” is located
in the main shopping centre of Sittingbourne (across from the archaeological exhibition) and is overseen
by conservators, interns and volunteers and is open to the public to come in and look around. I had the
opportunity to participate in this activity for one week as an intern. Through this experience I am able
to introduce you to the “CSI Lab” and share with you my reflections and feelings about the conservation
practice and community partnership.
Introduction
In May 2008 archaeologists from Canterbury Ar-chaeological Trust discovered a large Anglo-Saxon
cemetery at “The Meads”, Sittingbourne, Kent.
In total they excavated 229 graves and found
hundreds of archaeological artefacts made from
various materials including a range of metals,
glass and mineral preserved organics.
As an intern with Dana Goodburn-Brown during
July 2009 I followed the preparation of this ex-
citing project. In September I decided to revisit
for one week, just after the opening of the “CSI
Lab” on September 16th 2009, allowing me to re-
port on the impact it has on the different active
participants (conservators, interns, volunteers and
the general public) and how heritage is brought
to light from archaeological objects and their
conservation treatments.
The creation of the “CSI Lab”
Archaeological Needs
In May 2008 the archaeologists from Canterbury Archaeological Trust excavated 229 graves con-
taining a vast amount of burial goods. Very few
skeletal remains were found in the graves with
the burial goods due to the acidic soil. This site
offers archaeologists the chance to uncover more
of the history of the local area. The site dates to
Figure 1. Iron sword block-lifted on excavations, before treatment.
VIRGINIE TERNISIEN
26 e-conservation
the 6th and 7th centuries, when the Kentish king-
dom was at the height of its power and very influ-
ential - with access to trade goods from the Frankish
near continent, the Baltic and the Eastern Medi-
terranean. The study of these archaeological ob-
jects could possibly reveal information about this
society and its cosmopolitan nature that is not
currently known.
The archaeological objects mainly come to the
laboratory covered in soil and corrosion products
(figures 1 and 2) which hold potential information
such as on the manufacturing processes, decora-
tion, wear, and evidence for organic materials
which may have been associated with the find.
These elements can help the archaeologists to in-
terpret the use of an object and the relationship
between the buried person, the object and the
larger society. Consequently, investigative conser-
vation is essential to fully understand this society.
For the work to be carried out by a professional
conservator alone would require a very large budget,
which is not available in such an unstable economic
climate. In addition to this, the large number of
artefacts found was unexpected and so had not
been budgeted for. One option would be to store
the objects until money was available for their
treatment, however, during this time the objects
would continue to deteriorate potentially leading
to the loss of important information. An answer
had to be found which would allow the objects to
be treated with minimal costs.
An answer to the lack of funding
The idea to bring conservation to the general pub-
lic came from Dana Goodburn-Brown, an inde-
pendent archaeological conservator, director of
AMTec Co-op Ltd and a member of the local com-
munity, in response to the large number of unex-
Figure 2 a, b. Buckle (above) and brooche (right) during treatment.
CONSERVATION IN ACTION: WELCOME TO THE “CSI LAB”
27e-conservation
pected finds which were uncovered during “The
Meads” excavation.
The proposed solution was to build a temporary conservation laboratory which would be open to
the public to look around. In order to treat the
objects with minimal costs volunteers from the
local community were brought in to work on the
objects while under supervision. This project would
allow the general public to see the route an object
takes from excavation to display in a museum.
The term “CSI Lab” refers to the well-known tele-
vision show, Crime Scene Investigation, about de-
tectives working in the CSI bureau. This theme is
used as a comparison to highlight the work done
during the investigative stages of conservation
work. In addition to this, the project aims to bring
conservation to the surrounding community through
watching active conservation and through the in-
volvement of the volunteers.
For this project to succeed it was essential to gen-
erate interest from the local community. In order
to do this, two exhibitions were developed, one
which would tell the public about the excavation
site and background to the historic era and the
other where the public could watch the objects
being treated. It was essential that the two exhi-
bitions be in Sittingbourne to make it more rele-
vant to the public and to teach them about their
heritage since the excavation took place there.
In the end two empty shops were donated by Tes-
cos within the main shopping centre in Sitting-
bourne (figures 3-5).
Figure 3. The CSI Lab on the left and the Archaeological Exhibition on the right in the main shopping centre in Sittingbourne.
VIRGINIE TERNISIEN
28 e-conservation
Support networks
This project has three main support networks:
Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT), Sitting-bourne Heritage Museum (SHM) and AMTeC Co-op Ltd.
Canterbury Archaeological Trust is the archaeo-
logical unit who ran the excavation. They gave
their consent for the objects to be displayed and
to allow volunteers, under the supervision of a
professional conservator, to work on the objects.
The Trust acts as overall project manager of CSI:
Sittingbourne.
Sittingbourne Heritage Museum is a local museum
managed by volunteers, that shows and celebrates
the town’s history. The museum organised the
venue and running costs, as well as helped to re-
cruit over 35 local volunteers to help both in the
exhibition space and in the laboratory.
AMTeC (Ancient Materials, Technologies and Con-
servation) is an archaeological conservation co-
operative headed by Dana Goodburn-Brown and
is based in Chatham, near Sittingbourne.
The project also received some funding from Kent
County council and one of the developers, Marston’s
Brewery. Much of the equipment was donated by
the Museum of London, the Institute of Archae-
ology, UCL and various local organisations. The
Barbara Piasecka Johnson Foundation donated
ex-exhibition materials and Rapiscan Systems
Company donated a security X-ray machine to
have on-site.
To be an intern (at the “CSI Lab”) or not to be: volunteers and public
Working Methods
The “CSI Lab” is open to the public Monday to Sat-
urday from 10am to 5:30pm. One grave is worked
on at a time, although as the treatment progresses
there is sometimes an overlap as one grave ends
Figure 4 a,b. Outside and inside the CSI Lab.
Figure 5. Inside the archaeological exhibition: a dedicated educational collection of archaeological objects in the yellow “CAT KITS” boxes can be handled by visitors.
CONSERVATION IN ACTION: WELCOME TO THE “CSI LAB”
29e-conservation
and another is started. The grave plans are hung
around the walls for the visitors to see and for the
volunteers to use to help interpret what they are
seeing on their object.
The volunteers are asked to commit to a regular
time slot and shifts run from 10am to 2pm. The
afternoon session runs from 1:30pm to 5:30pm.
The morning and afternoon sessions overlap to
allow the volunteers to ‘hand over’ their objects
to the next volunteers. During the hand over ses-
sion the volunteers discuss the object they have
been working on, what they have found, where
in the grave it was found and any possible inter-
pretations of the object.
Not all of the volunteers are able to work on ar-
chaeological pieces for a variety of reasons, e.g.
scalpel skills or the persons’ character may not
be suited to the task. If, however, the person is
still motivated there are other essential tasks
which they can undertake including sorting pic-
tures, entering information into the database,
updating the public display and monitoring and
changing the silica gel.
Teaching
The training offered to the volunteers comprises
of two main elements. The first introduces them
to what it is that we are trying to achieve with this
project. Volunteers are shown the grave plans along
with some finds which may or may not have been
treated. They are informed about the various things
which they may encounter during the investigative
cleaning process and how our finds can be inter-
preted within the archaeological record. The pro-
cesses which are involved during the investigative
cleaning process are explained so that the volun-
teers know exactly what is expected of them.
During this first stage of training, objects from
one grave are laid out on a drawing of a body to
give people a visual record of the archaeological
information found within a grave (figure 6). It is
important for the volunteers to look at the objects
as a whole within one grave as their location with-
in the grave and the other objects around it can
help us to know what to look for during the inves-
tigative cleaning process.
Showing volunteers all the finds within one grave
also allows them to see how different the levels
of deterioration can be within this one small area;
volunteers can also see examples of mineral pre-
served organics such as wood, leather, textiles and
the remains of insect activities. However, we insist
that there are no set rules as the preservation de-
pends upon the properties of the soil and the sur-
rounding elements.
During this first session we also introduce volun-
teers to two essential elements required for the
archaeological conservator; the x-radiograph and
Figure 6 and 7. Volunteers during the first stage of training (left) and familiarising themselves with the microscopes and x-rays (right).
VIRGINIE TERNISIEN
30 e-conservation
the binocular microscope which are used at all
times during archaeological investigative clean-
ing. Some of the volunteers do struggle to work
with the microscope; however, with a bit of prac-
tice most are able to master the technique within
a relatively short period of time (figure 7).
In the second part of the training, volunteers are
given practical experience of the conservation
methodology. The object labels are explained with
particular emphasis on the object number - this
being the piece of information used most during
the conservation treatment as it allows us to locate
the object on the grave plan.
After this, volunteers are shown where to find the
x-rays and how to use the table to look up the x-
ray corresponding to their object. They are also
shown how to fill in the conservation record sheet.
It is essential that volunteers fill this in fully and
in detail so the next person to work on the object
will know exactly what has been found on the ob-
ject and where. At this point we also talk about
health and safety within the laboratory space in-
cluding looking at the Control of Substances Haz-
ardous to Health (COSHH) sheets and discussing
the protective equipment that they will need to
use during treatment.
All of the volunteers begin by learning to use the
scalpel under the microscope (figure 8). They are
shown how to hold the scalpel correctly before
giving them a test piece of deaccessioned archae-
ological metal (donated by the Museum of London)
to practice the technique on. At all times the vo-
lunteers are supervised and advice on improving
their technique is offered. They are encouraged
to look for changes in the surface of the objects,
any potential mineral preserved organics or any-
thing else of interest. They are also encouraged
to ask questions on anything which they are un-
sure about. Volunteers are then taken to the air
abrasion machine on an individual basis. Here they
Figure 8. Volunteers practicing the scalpel technique under the microscope.
CONSERVATION IN ACTION: WELCOME TO THE “CSI LAB”
31e-conservation
read the instruction poster and how the machine
works along with the technique for using it is ex-
plained to them (figure 9).
Supervision and advice
All of the volunteers, once trained, start with a
piece requiring scalpel work, this allowing them
to get acquainted with the objects and the differ-
ent surface effects. When they are first given an
object they are closely supervised and encouraged
to ask questions about what they are seeing, al-
lowing conservators to advise them if their tech-
nique has to be adjusted.
This support network is in place at all times, regard-
less of how long the person has been volunteering.
Asking questions and talking to conservators and
other volunteers about their object helps them to
better understand it.
Visitor and volunteer studies
Visitor and volunteer studies of the “CSI Lab” were
carried out by UCL student Natalie Mitchell. This
was done by a series of questionnaires and feed-
back sources. These have allowed for the local com-
munities' attitudes towards conservation to be
understood and their responses to the “CSI Lab”
to be analysed. The visitor studies were completed
by pre-visit and post-visit questionnaires, com-
ment forms and observations. Volunteers have also
played a pivotal role in making the “CSI Lab” a com-
munity project as well as helping to complete the
conservation work. Volunteer studies were com-
pleted by pre-training and post-training surveys,
feedback forms and observations.
Both the visitor and volunteer studies results showed
that there was an overwhelming appreciation for
the accessibility to the conservation work being
done on local finds. Visitor results show that the
open lab environment has allowed them to under-
stand how investigative conservation can be done
and has given them an insight to a profession they
would not usually encounter. The volunteer results
show that they have taken on their conservation
assistant roles in a very professional manner. How-
ever, they also share enough common ground with
visitors that they are able to communicate the con-
servation work both accurately and in an under-
standable way to visitors. Both visitors and volun-
teers expressed hope that the success of the project
will reflect beneficially back into the community.
The results aid in demonstrating how successful
the project has been for those involved and could
be used to contribute to the cementation of the
CSI Lab’s potential long-term establishment. This
will be useful in pursuing future support for the
project, its networking into other communities and
the establishment of other conservation projects
in the future.
Reflections from a Satisfied Conservation Intern
Exchange with the public: a permanent re-evaluation
When presenting conservation to the visitors only
a short period of time is available to explain what
the profession, in this context, entails. In the
majority of cases visitors are very interested in
Figure 9. Volunteers practising using the air abrasion machine.
VIRGINIE TERNISIEN
32 e-conservation
the work which is performed because they have
never been exposed to it before.
When talking with the public it is important to
adapt our speech to ensure each member of the
public leaves feeling well informed instead of con-
fused. With conservation mainly being a field hid-
den behind closed doors in the back rooms of mu-
seums, a lot of the public is not aware that the
profession even exists! In order to explain our roles
to the public we have to break down our working
processes so they can understand why we do some-
thing in a particular way. This can be applied to
something as simple as how to hold your scalpel
during cleaning. For different conservation prac-
tices the scalpel will be used in different ways re-
quiring to be held differently.
Along with talking to the general public we also
have posters of information about the treatment
process, which were pinned to the walls. The posters
allow the public to follow our progress as we com-
plete the graves. In addition to this we have an
airport x-ray scanner, which generates a lot of in-
terest from the public when in use and allows us
to explain further what it is we are seeing beneath
the soil and corrosion products (figure 10).
To increase the public engagement we also have
a “mystery object”, that is an unidentified find
on which we ask the public’s ideas and opinions.
A profession which feels alive
As mentioned above the general public is not really
aware of what we, as conservators, do. The pro-
fession is often confused with craftsmen, artists,
or even archaeologists. Those who are aware of the
profession tend to think of it as a closed profession.
On a personal note, as a conservator I find it frus-
trating that although the majority of objects dis-
played within heritage settings were treated by
conservators, this is not evident to the general
public, feeling almost like the profession would
not exist!
Therefore, it is essential that conservation is taken
out into the wider community to give the general
public a better idea of the whole process involved
with displaying artefacts. There are between 70
and 130 people (including visitors and volunteers)
coming in the “CSI Lab” everyday – just by talking
to them alone we are helping to demystify our work.
A common heritage place
This project has been a large success, in part, due
to the location of the “CSI Lab” to the excavation
site. People from the surrounding areas come to
visit the exhibition and laboratory to help them
better understand the society that lived in this
same area over a thousand years ago.
Through opening our doors to allow the public in
we share the local people’s heritage with them at
a very raw level. It helps to create a direct link be-
tween conservators and the general public through
our work (figure 11). All of the volunteers who are
involved in this project are hugely privileged to
be able to work on these objects and as such they
Figure 10. Airport scanner and posters about conservation pinned to the wall.
CONSERVATION IN ACTION: WELCOME TO THE “CSI LAB”
33e-conservation
take their enthusiasm out into the community
which, in turn, allows us to share conservation
work with yet more people.
Less (time for conservation work) is more
Allowing the general public to come in to observe
our work and ask some questions does mean that
the work may not progress as quickly as if it was
carried on in a studio away from the public. How-
ever, talking to the public and answering their
questions helps us to continually evaluate the
treatment we are undertaking (why is one method
better than another?, etc.). Being in the public
domain and sharing our thoughts and findings
with the public also allows us to reach what should
be our main goal as conservators, that is to help
understand the past and ensure this knowledge
is passed on to others.
Conclusion and future objectives
The “CSI Lab” is an innovative idea brought to
reality by Dana Goodburn-Brown, CAT and SHM
to fill in a lack of resources to undertake con-
servation treatment on objects found at “The
Meads”, Sittingbourne, Kent. It is thanks to the
partnership between the archaeologists, scien-
tists, conservations and members of the commu-
nity that this project works. With the Archaeo-
logical Exhibition and the “CSI Lab” being located
in a shopping centre, the project has allowed
direct accessibility and exchange to occur between
residents and conservation professionals. Based
on the research of the postgraduate dissertation
it is hoped that this concept can be further re-
fined to continue to generate the public’s interest.
It is hoped that it can be extended to other towns
and cities to further promote the conservation
Figure 11. A common heritage brought to life (Dana Goodburn-Brown, the founder of the “CSI Lab”seated at the right).
VIRGINIE TERNISIEN
34 e-conservation
profession and to facilitate the access of the public
to their local heritage.
Besides, we are currently trying to raise funds for
the second half of the site. It is a 'rescue archae-
ology' situation, with different developers for each
half of the site and only one of the developers has
contributed funds, so we hope to continue beyond
the end of January. Visitors have been steadily con-
tributing to our collection box, and the organising
team is preparing grant applications.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dana Goodburn-Brown, my
English supervisor for giving me the agreement
to write this article about the ”CSI Lab”, and for
her support, advice, sharing of experience and
her professional lifestyle, always in good mood.
I would also like to thank the conservation team:
the interns (Marie Le Saux, Courtney Buxey-Brown
and Katrina Redman), the volunteers, the public;
the archaeological team who works in the opposite
shop and all of the supporters from Kent especially
Andrew Richardson, the CAT finds manager and
others. I also thank Dana, Andrew, Katrina and
Natalie for their translation advice.
References
[1] E. Pye, Caring for the past, issues in conser-
vation for archaeology and museums, James
& James, London, 2007, pp. 232
[2] “CSI lab”, www.anglosaxoncsi.wordpress.com
Address: East Street, Sittingbourne, ME10 3HT
Monday-Saturday 10am-5.30pm
until 30 January 2010
[3] CSI lab project, www.kenttv.com
(go to History and then select Early Kent)
[4] Dana Goodburn-Brown,
independent archaeological conservator
email: danagb@msn.com; tel: 07973856311
[5] Nathalie P. Mitchell, postgraduate student,
email: n.p.mitchell@ucl.ac.uk
[6] CAT: www.canterburytrust.co.uk
[7] SHM: www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk
[8] AMTeC: www.amtec.org.uk
Virginie TernisienContact: Virginie.Ternisien@malix.univ-paris1.fr
I am a postgraduate conservation student involved
in the fourth-year of the program “Master Conser-
vation-restauration des biens-culturels” ( Master
in Conservation of Cultural Properties), at the
Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University. It is a
5-year program which trains students to be con-
servators in different specialties (painting, sculp-
ture, graphic art, ethnographic objects, archaeo-
logical objects, stained glass and art objects). I
am specializing in archaeological objects with a
preference for metal objects both archaeological
and historical.
As a requirement for graduation, the fifth year
(2010-2011) is devoted to internships in spe-
cialized institutions and the dissertation is based
on it. I am accepted at the British Museum, Metal
Conservation Department (England, 3 months)
and then at the Clemson Conservation Center
(Charlestown, United States, 6 months) and
maybe after within the Karnak excavation site
(Egypt, 3 months). I am looking for funding from
a private foundation or a sponsor to succeed
comfortably in following these quite interesting
internships.
CONSERVATION IN ACTION: WELCOME TO THE “CSI LAB”
35e-conservation
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EXAMINATION OF SOME INORGANIC PIGMENTS AND PLASTER LAYERS
FROM EXCAVATIONS AT SAQQARA AREA, EGYPT
Optical Microscopy and SEM-EDS Microanalysis
by Hussein Hassan M.H. Mahmoud
Introduction
Saqqara is an immense necropolis located about
30 km south of Cairo. The excavation campaigns
of Cairo University started in 1984, in the south of
the Unas’s pyramid causeway. There, many tombs
dating back to the 19th dynasty were discovered.
Some samples were collected from the painted
plasters of the tomb of Mihew and tomb of hwi nfr.
The stone blocks used in the construction of these
tombs are not of high quality types of limestone,
for this, they have been covered with stucco and
white wash layers and painted with several scenes
and inscriptions (figures 1 and 2). Pigments differ
with respect to their chemical properties due to
the fact that they are comprised of a wide variety
of chemical compounds. The material’s color charac-
teristics, such as hue and purity, rely not only on
color absorption but also depend on the size, shape,
and texture of the pigment particles. There are
also other characteristics related to the shape and
size of pigment particles such as, for example, that
mineral pigments are often sharp and angular and
traditionally have larger particle size [1].
This work aims to establish an analytical database of some painted plasters dating back to the 19th
dynasty (1314-1304 BC) and recently discovered during the excavations of Cairo University at Saqqara
area in Egypt. Appropriate representative samples were carefully chosen and collected from areas that
had no aesthetic value or that were seriously damaged. In order to identify the stratigraphy, pigment
particle size and texture of the paint layers, polished cross-sections of samples were analyzed by optical
microscopy (OM). Scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis system
(SEM-EDS) showed the elemental microanalysis of the various materials used in construction of these
paintings. The obtained results revealed the characterization of some inorganic pigments and plaster
layers used in this period of the Egyptian history.
Figure 1. Painted inscriptions. Painted pastes with blue, bluish-green and red pigments filling pinkish and white plasters.
EXAMINATION OF INORGANIC PIGMENTS AND PLASTERS FROM SAQQARA, EGYPT
39e-conservation
The main objective of this work was to perform a
preliminary analytical approach of the painting
materials used for the construction of some painted
plasters belonging to the excavations at Saqqara
area in Egypt. The studies performed in the current
work include application of optical microscopy
(OM) and scanning electron microscopy equipped
with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer
(SEM-EDS).
Experimental setup
Methods for investigation and analysis
Sampling
Microscopic samples of blue, green and red-orange
pigments were carefully collected from the wall
paintings. Also, small fragments of coarse and fine
plasters were collected and investigated.
Optical microscopy
Paint analysis usually begins with the visual inves-
tigation of the surface of the object, primarily with
the purpose of locating intact and representative
areas for further analysis. Taking even a tiny sam-
ple for a cross-section means removing and des-
troying a part of the artifact’s original structure.
Thus, samples are best taken from areas with flak-
ing paint, so that still intact paint layer will not
be damaged. The size of the particle should be as
large as necessary but as tiny as possible. Usually,
a particle with a size of 1x2 mm is absolutely suf-
ficient and attention should be given to the sampling
procedure in order to collect all the paint layers
[2]. The morphology of the pigment particle, in-
cluding homogeneity, shape, size, surface charac-
ter, and crystal form, are among the first in the
sequence of observations that should be made in
an investigation and that can help to determine
Figure 2. Painted inscriptions. Figures with red pigments and pink plasters.
HUSSEIN HASSAN M.H. MAHMOUD
40 e-conservation
the source of a pigment, and decipher subtle dif-
ferences between natural and synthetic versions
of a pigment. Optical microscopy can provide in-
formation such as: the sequence of paint layers,
color and texture of those layers and layer thick-
ness [3].
In order to analyze the stratigraphy of the mural
paintings, some samples were embedded in Epoxy
resin (EpoFix), cross-sectioned using variable speed
silicon carbide papers and DP-lubricant blue for
fine and cool polishing, and mounted on glass
slides. The cross-sections were examined with a
Zeiss Stemi DV4 stereomicroscope with a Sony
DSC-S85 camera and under reflected light by a
Leitz orthoplan (binocular polarized) microscope
with a Nikon Cooplix 990 camera.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS)
The scanning electron microscope is used to ob-
serve the pigment morphological features more
accurately, and is most effective in the absence of
organic binding media. When working with patinas
and paint layers the backscattered electrons mode
(BSE) usually provides more information concern-
ing the elements distribution, due to the different
atomic numbers of the elements present in the
sample. This mode allowed us to distinguish the
different layers with different elemental composi-
tion. Analyses in BSE on polished sections were
used for elemental semi-quantitative chemical
study of the painting layers. SEM analysis in the
secondary electron mode (SE) on unpolished sec-
tions was used for microscopic observations of
the layer’s microstructure and texture. The EDS
mapping analysis offers a final piece of informa-
tion needed for pigment identification, i.e., the
elemental distribution within the different layers
[4]. The pigment morphology was analysed using
a JEOL JSM-840A scanning electron microscope
and the microanalysis was carried out using an
energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) Oxford
ISIS 300. Polished cross-sections were analysed
by BSE for the purpose of pigment identification
in each color layer. The elemental composition was
determined using carbon coated cross-sections.
Results
Blue-green pigments
The analysis of green pigment cross-section shows
turquoise and green hues of coarse large particles
embedded in glass-rich matrix. The thickness of
the paint layer is slightly higher than others. Yel-
lowish-brown spots were noticed scattered within
the green particles (figure 3).
Different bluish-green hues and some particles
with brown color were also observed (figure 4).
BSE analysis of the green pigment shows large
crystals, probably of parawollastonite embedded
in silica-rich amorphous phase (figure 5), and the
EDS microanalysis shows the presence of silicon
(31.12%), copper (5.66%) and calcium (9.34%),
which is consistent with the possibility that a copper
glass-rich bearing compound, such as the synthetic
Egyptian green pigment, was used to produce the
color. In the manufacture of Green Frit, a higher
Figure 3. A close-up optical micrograph of green paint layer. Particles of green pigment are surrounded with yellowish-brown grains.
EXAMINATION OF INORGANIC PIGMENTS AND PLASTERS FROM SAQQARA, EGYPT
41e-conservation
lime-to-copper ratio than for Egyptian Blue is re-
quired in order to stabilize the copper-bearing
wollastonite as a liquidus phase. By comparison
with Egyptian Blue, the chromatic phase in the
Green Frit is wollastonite [(CaCu)SiO3] [5].
Egyptian green is a heterogeneous material like
Egyptian blue and has a characteristic turquoise
hue. Egyptian green is characterized by the pres-
ence of parawollastonite (CaSiO3) crystals, with a
particle size less than 10 µm, and residual silica
(quartz and/or tridymite or cristobalite), embedded
in an amorphous, silica-rich glass phase. The copper
ions in the octahedral environment of a silica-rich
glass result in a turquoise color, which is affected
when the temperature and the CuO concentration
increase, but is not related to the flux concentra-
tion [6]. Also the Cu2+ ion is in an octahedral envi-
ronment in the amorphous silica-rich matrix, which
induces the green hue [6]. EDS microanalysis of
yellowish spots mixed with the green crystals shows
that the peak of iron is present which is consistent
with the possibility that the ancient artist used on
purpose a mixture of blue pigment (Egyptian blue)
and yellowish-brown pigment (iron oxides based)
to produce green hues, or that he mixed the Egyp-
tian green with the yellow pigment to get special
hues. Moreover, the mineralogical characterization
to identify the crystalline phases in the samples
is now in progress in order to obtain further infor-
mation about the main components.
Egyptian blue pigment appeared in Egypt during
the 4th dynasty in the 3rd millennium BC. The use
of the pigment spread from Egypt and the Near
East to Minoan Crete and the Greek world, and
then to the Roman world [7]. This pigment con-
sists of cuprorivaite, calcium copper tetra silicate
(CaCuSi4O10), blue tabular crystal about 15 µm to
30 µm in length, residual silica (quartz and/or tri-
dymite) and an amorphous silica-rich phase. It was
manufactured by mixing calcium salt (carbonate,
sulphate or hydroxide), a copper compound (copper
oxide or malachite), silica and alkali flux (sources
of alkali could have been either natron from areas
such as Wadi Natroun and El-Kab, or soda-rich plant
ashes) [8]. This mixture was heated to a tempera-
ture between 850 and 1000° C to produce a colored
glass or frit and later ground to powder for use.
Red-orange pigment
Ochres form a very wide class of natural inorganic
pigments thanks to their extensive color range
that can vary from deep red or brownish to orange
and finally to bright yellow. Red ochre was used
in Egypt from the 5th dynasty till the Roman times.
There are three main factors that influence the
Figure 4. Optical micrograph shows cross-section in bluish-green pigment and some particles with brown color are also noticed.
Figure 5. BSE micrograph of plaster layer and green pigment.
HUSSEIN HASSAN M.H. MAHMOUD
42 e-conservation
color of ochres. Firstly, is the nature of the iron
oxide chromophore. It is likely that the darker red
ochre contains predominantly hematite, Fe2O3,
while the paler yellow ochre is richer in the hydrated
iron oxide, goethite, Fe2O3•H2O or FeOOH. Secondly,
is the presence of other minerals, e.g. clay minerals
or other metal oxides. Thirdly, is the particle size
distribution within the material [9]. Hematite par-
ticles of about 1 µm have a distinct violet tint dif-
fering from the bright red colour of hematite with
sub-micrometer particles, e.g. pedogenic [10].
The optical investigation of the painting layer with
red-orange pigment shows that the pigment was
applied over an unprepared underlying plaster layer
rich in voids and gypsum and quartz particles as
we can see that the painting layer shows irregular
line with different thicknesses (figure 6). BSE in-
vestigation of red pigment shows massive granu-
lar aggregate particles (figure 7) while EDS micro-
analysis shows that the peak of iron (19.05%) is
present, indicating the existence of hematite (Fe2O3)
as the possible material producing the red color.
Other elements of sulfur and calcium refer to the
presence of calcium sulphates, as well as aluminum
and silicon indicate possible existence of alumino-
silicate material. The observation at high magnifi-
cations showed a difference in size between parti-
cles with gypsum (CaSO4•2H2O) and calcite (CaCO3)
as the particles with gypsum are larger while the
calcite ones are much smaller. The presence of ti-
tanium in the studied samples could be a result of
the presence of ilmenite (FeTiO3) which is found
in the Egyptian sand or possibly forming inter-
growths with hematite [11].
Plaster layers
From the optical analysis (figure 8) we can distin-
guish two main layers of the plaster used to over-
come faults in the poor stones and to produce flat
and smoothed surface for painting. The bottom
coarse layer is known as arriccio and consists mainly
of quartz grains, calcite and calcium sulphates,
while the fine coat known as intonaco is mainly
based on gypsum with variable amount of calcite
(limestone powder). BSE analysis shows clearly the
two layers of plaster (figure 9): the thick layer of
coarse plaster and the irregular fine white wash.
EDS microanalysis of the coarse plaster revealed
high quantity of silicon associated with quartz, and
calcium and sulfur associated with calcium sulph-
ates (gypsum/anhydrite). The EDS microanalysis
of white wash identified sulfur, calcium and mag-
nesium as the major ions present, most probably
due to the existence of calcium sulphates, calcite
and some dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). Remains of pink-
colored plaster were noticed as paste filling the
Figure 6. Optical micrograph shows cross-section of red paint layer. Figure 7. BSE micrograph of plaster layer and red ochre pigment.
EXAMINATION OF INORGANIC PIGMENTS AND PLASTERS FROM SAQQARA, EGYPT
43e-conservation
HUSSEIN HASSAN M.H. MAHMOUD
44 e-conservation
sunken areas in the walls, probably used to over-
come imperfections in the wall. The EDS micro-
analysis of the pink plaster revealed that iron is
present, thereby indicating the presence of iron
oxides. A high quantity of calcium, most probably
from calcium carbonates, was also detected. In
addition, EDS microanalysis showed the presence
of large amounts of aluminium, silicon and potassi-
um suggesting the presence of clay minerals.
Table 1 illustrates the major ions present in the
samples analysed by EDS microanalysis and the
expected coloring material.
Conclusions
The preliminary examination of pigments was
performed indicating extensive usage of pigments
commonly used in ancient Egyptian wall paintings.
The pigments identified by optical observations,
element analyses and morphological study had
shown that:
1. The EDS detection of iron in yellowish-brown
spots in green pigment samples indicates that the
green-turquoise pigment was probably produced
using Egyptian green and yellowish-brown pigment
based on iron oxides, or the color was probably
Sample EDS microanalysis Stratigraphy Coloring material
Blue-green pigments
Si, Ca, Cu, Fe, Ti 50-90 µm Egyptian green + yellowish-brown pigment of iron oxides (to produce special hues?) or Egyptian blue + yellowish-brown of iron oxides (to produce green color?)
Red pigment Ca, Fe, Si, Ti, Al 30-60 µm Red ochre (hematite)
Coarse plaster Si, S, Ca 30-60 mm Quartz, calcite and calcium sulphates (gypsum/anhydrite)
Fine plaster
S, Ca, Mg 300 µm-10 mm Calcite/dolomite and calcium sulphates (gypsum/anhydrite)
Pink plaster Ca, Fe, S, Al, Si 20-40 mm Iron oxide+ calcium carbonates and sulphates + clay minerals
Table 1. EDS results, stratigraphy and the possible coloring material of the studied samples.
Figure 8. Optical micrograph shows cross-section of plaster layers. The thin white wash layer lies on a thick coarse plaster.
Figure 9. BSE micrograph of plaster layers.
EXAMINATION OF INORGANIC PIGMENTS AND PLASTERS FROM SAQQARA, EGYPT
45e-conservation
obtained by mixing Egyptian blue with yellowish-
brown pigment based on iron oxides.
2. The results concerning the red pigment are in
accordance with previous findings by Mahmoud
et al. [12] in their studies of samples from painted
limestone blocks from the same excavations, the
pigment being mainly obtained from iron oxides
(hematite, Fe2O3). The presence of aluminium and
silicon detected by EDS analysis suggests the exist-
ence of aluminosilicate materials (clay minerals,
etc.) normally found in ochre pigments.
3. Two layers of plaster were noticed: the coarse
one with higher thickness, consisting mainly of
quartz, calcite and gypsum; and the fine white wash
thin irregular layer consisting mainly of gypsum
and limestone powder. A pink paste was also ob-
served covering some areas in the walls; iron oxides,
calcite and gypsum in addition to clay minerals were
used to produce this kind of plaster. Further inves-
tigation of additional samples is now in progress
using different analytical methods (µ-XRF, XRD and
µ-Raman spectroscopy) in order to provide a more
detailed image of the chromatic palette and the
composition of these murals. The results will be
used in the conservation-restoration intervention
of these paintings.
Acknowledgments
The chief of Cairo University excavations at Saqqara
area is kindly acknowledged for the permission to
collect the studied samples.
References
[1] R. J. Gettens and G. L. Stout, Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopedia, Dover Publications, New York, 1966, pp. 131-143
[2] W. Ullrich, "Cross-section Analysis of Paint layers - Materials, Methodology and Examples", Journal of Cultural Property Conservation 4, 2008, pp. 49–56
[3] C. L. Silva, A Technical Study of the Mural Paintings on the Interior Dome of the Capilla De La Virgen Del Rosario, Iglesia San José, San Juan, Puerto Rico, MSc. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, USA, 2006
[4] A. S. Škapin, P. Ropret and P. Bukovec, "Determina- tion of pigments in colour layers on walls of some selected historical buildings using optical and scanning electron microscopy", Materials Charac- terization 58, 2007, pp. 1138–1147
[5] A. El Goresy, "Polychromatic Wall Painting Deco- rations in Monuments of Pharaonic Egypt: Compo- sitions, Chronology and Painting Technique", in The Wall Paintings of Thera: Proceedings of the First International Symposium, Volume I, S. Sherratt (Ed.), Thera (Hellas, Greece), 30 August - 4 Sep- tember, 1997, pp. 49-70
[6] S. Pagés-Camagna and S. Colinart, "The Egyptian Green pigment: Its Manufacturing process and links to Egyptian blue", Archaeometry 45:4, 2003, pp. 637–658
[7] L. Mirtit, A. Appolonia, R. Casoli, P. Ferrari, E. A. Lurenti, C. Amisano and G. Chiari, "Spectrochemical and Structural Studies on a Roman Sample of Egyptian blue", Spectrochimica Acta 51A: 3, 1995, pp. 437-446 [8] G. H. Hatton, A. J. Shortland and M. S. Tite, "The production technology of Egyptian blue and green frits from second millennium BC Egypt and Mesopotamia", Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 6, 2008, pp. 1591–1604
[9] J. L. Mortimore, L-J. R. Marshall, M.J. Almond, P. Hollins, W. Matthews, "Analysis of red and yellow ochre samples from Clearwell Caves and Çatalhöyük by vibrational spectroscopy and other techniques", Spectrochimica Acta Part A 60, 2004, pp. 1179–1188
[10] D. Hradil, T. Grygar, J. Hradilova, P. Bezdička, "Clay and iron oxide pigments in the history of painting", Applied Clay Science 22, 2003, pp. 223–236
[11] M. Berry, "A study of pigments from a Roman Egyptian shrine", AICCM Bulletin, December 1999, pp. 1-9
HUSSEIN HASSAN M.H. MAHMOUDConservatorContact: marai79@hotmail.com
Hussein Hassan Mahmoud is a conservator of mural
paintings. He is currently Assistant lecturer at the
Conservation Department of the Faculty of Archaeo-
logy at the Cairo University, Egypt.
Mr. Mahmoud has a Bachelor’s degree in Conser-
vation and Restoration of Monuments and Works
of Art from the Cairo University and a Master’s
degree in Conservation of Mural Paintings from
the same university. At the moment he is working
on his PhD thesis focusing on the degradation of
ancient Egyptian pigments in mural paintings.
In 2001 he participated in the conservation-
restoration project of the decorated wooden
ceilings of El-Ghuri mosque, Old Cairo. In 2002-
2004 he also participated in the conservation-
restoration project of the ancient mural paintings
of two Pharaonic tombs (TT277, 278), Western
Thebes, Upper Egypt, in collaboration with the
Higher Supreme of Antiquities in Egypt.
His main interests are the application of nano-
technology in conservation and the application
of modern analytical techniques, namely micro-
Raman and micro-FTIR spectroscopy, micro-XRF
and SEM-EDS microanalysis, in the characterisation
and diagnosis of mural paintings and objects of
cultural heritage.
[12] H. H. M. Mahmoud, M.F. Ali, N. Kantiranis, A. N.
Anthemidis, J. A. Stratis, "Identification of some
ancient Egyptian pigments in painted limestone
block from Cairo University excavations at Saqqara
area", The first conference of faculty of Archaeology,
Cairo University (Giza through ages), Cairo, Egypt,
March 3-6, 2008
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46 e-conservation
HUSSEIN HASSAN M.H. MAHMOUD
LES DILEMMES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA CONSERVATION-RESTAURATION
by Pierre Leveau
RÉSUMÉ
L’auteur formule un des dilemmes actuels
de la conservation-restauration, qui oblige
la discipline à choisir entre l’unification
de ses théories et l’extension de son
territoire. Il montre comment l’hypothèse
constructionnaliste résout cette difficulté.
Le passage des valeurs, aux règles, puis
aux normes, place la discipline au seuil
de son histoire et met en question son
intégrité.
ABSTRACT
The author formulates one aspect of the
current dilemmas of conservation-resto-
ration which requires the discipline to
choose between the unification of its theo-
ries or the extension of its territory. He then
shows how the constructionnist hypothesis
solve this problem. The shift from values
to rules and from rules to standards
establish the discipline on the threshold
of its history and questions its integrity.
Un nouveau dilemme pour la conservation-restauration
La conservation-restauration a été confrontée à
de nombreux dilemmes au cours de son histoire.
Qu’en est-il aujourd’hui? Sur le plan internatio-
nal, la XVe Conférence triennale de l’ICOM-CC (In-
ternational Council of Museums - Committee for
Conservation) est parvenue à unifier sa termino-
logie en adoptant une définition unique de la dis-
cipline en septembre 2008 [1]. Au niveau européen,
l’E.C.C.O. (Confédération Européenne des Organi-
sations de Conservateurs-Restaurateurs) veut
opérer un prolongement sectoriel de la convention-
cadre sur la valeur sociale du patrimoine culturel
signé à Faro en octobre 2005 [2]. La discipline
tente ainsi d’unifier sa théorie tout en l’étendant
à d’autres objets.
Il faut s’en féliciter. Mais on peut aussi se demander
si ce double mouvement d’unification et d’exten-
sion ne la place pas devant un nouveau dilemme,
que l’on peut formuler ainsi: ou bien la conserva-
tion-restauration unifie globalement son champ,
mais perd sa cohérence locale; ou bien elle con-
serve cette dernière, mais en renonçant à son unité
globale. Aucune hypothèse n’est évidemment
satisfaisante: si la théorie perd sa cohérence, elle
n’est plus fiable et ne garantit plus l’intégrité de
ses objets; si elle renonce à s’étendre, elle ne
couvrira pas tous les secteurs du patrimoine, et
ne les conservera donc pas mieux. L’alternative est
donc bien un dilemme, au sens où les deux hypo-
thèses mènent à la même conclusion. Il place la
conservation-restauration dans une impasse, en
lui demandant de choisir entre l’intégrité des ob-
jets et l’unification du territoire. Si elle ne peut
conserver les éléments qu’en renonçant au tout,
elle ne peut, à l’inverse, constituer ce dernier qu’au
détriment de premiers, ce qui n’a pas de sens.
On attribue au sophiste Protagoras l’invention de
ce type d’argument capiteux, n’offrant de choix
qu’en apparence [3]. Au disciple qui le menaçait
d’un procès s’il ne lui remboursait pas son salaire
d’enseignant, car l’art de plaider qu’il lui avait
appris ne le faisait jamais gagner, le savant répondit
qu’une victoire au tribunal lui donnerait tort en
lui donnant raison, et qu’il ne lui devait donc rien.
Il s’agit de savoir si le dilemme que l’on vient de
formuler est aussi un sophisme. Si ce n’est pas le
cas, il faut se demander comment échapper à sa
conclusion fatale, puisque la conservation-res-
tauration devra sans doute s’engager dans la voie
ouverte par l’ICOM-CC et l’E.C.C.O. pour continuer
à se développer.
Qu’est-ce à dire? Comment la conservation-res-
tauration peut-elle simultanément étendre et
unifier son champ pour préserver l’intégralité
et l’authenticité de ses objets?
Le pluralisme
Le monde de la conservation-restauration est
pluraliste, par son axiologie, son ontologique, son
organisation scientifique et administrative.
C’est ce qui le rend si propice aux antinomies
et aux dilemmes de toutes sortes.
Son axiologie est essentiellement plurielle. Elle
doit multiplier les valeurs pour s’ouvrir à toutes
les cultures: le projet de l’E.C.C.O. précédemment
cité en évoque six [4], différentes de celles qui
figuraient déjà dans ses règles professionnelles
en 1993 [5], elles-mêmes issues des travaux menés
à l’ICOM-CC et l’ICCROM (International Centre for
the Study of the Conservation and Restoration
of Cultural Property) vingt ans auparavant [6],
et de la Charte fondatrice adoptée par l’ICOMOS
(International Council on Monuments and Sites)
en 1965 [7]. L’UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization) a permis
l’émancipation culturelle des pays émergents et
aucune organisation ne peut aujourd’hui prétendre
PIERRE LEVEAU
48 e-conservation
être la gardienne des valeurs de «la civilisation»
[8], comme la Société des Nations le fit en 1932,
avant la décolonisation [9]. Les chartes actuelles
parlent moins de valeur que de signification. Elles
évitent ainsi l’écueil du relativisme en passant de
l’axiologie à la sémiologique.
Le monde qu’elles régulent est aussi pluraliste
par son ontologie. Le principe de la diversité cul-
turelle ne suffit pas à expliquer la multiplication
des valeurs patrimoniales. Elle est ontologiquement
fondée. Les problèmes de conservation-restaura-
tion ne sont pas les mêmes dans tous les secteurs.
Il existe des différences de natures irréductibles
entre les objets patrimonialisés: ce ne sont pas
tous des artéfacts, puisqu’il existe un patrimoine
naturel; ils n’existent pas tous sur le même mode,
car certains biens sont reproductibles et d’autres
non; ils fonctionnent différemment, la contem-
plation suffisant dans certains cas, mais pas dans
tous. La prolifération des sens et des valeurs est
une conséquence de cette diversité.
Le monde qu’ils forment est enfin pluraliste pas
son organisation sociale et technique. Son pluralisme
ontologique légitime une multiplicité d’approches
scientifiques et des directions administratives. La
conservation-restauration du patrimoine mobilise
autant de savoir sur un objet qu’il a d’éléments
constitutifs et de valeurs véhiculées. On ne con-
serve pas de la même façon les monuments et les
archives, les tableaux et les livres, le matériel archéo-
logique et le patrimoine industriel. Ces différences
justifient existence de spécialités et de services
autonomes, tenant compte de la nature particulière
des objets dans chaque secteur.
Ce pluralisme axiologique, ontologique, scienti-
fique et administratif n’exclut cependant pas le
monisme. Les moyens mis en œuvre sont différents,
mais la fin reste la même. La diversité des techniques,
des services, des êtres et des valeurs n’empêche
pas l’unification de la discipline. Elle accepte une
même déontologie dans tous les secteurs et tâche
aujourd’hui de normaliser ses procédures. Si le
pluralisme des moyens ne s’oppose donc pas au
monisme des fins, la question de la nature de cette
unité n’en est pas moins problématique.
Est-elle nominale ou réelle? Existe-t-il différents
mondes de la conservation-restauration, ou n’en
font-ils qu’un?
Le différend des valeurs
La thèse défendue par Aloïs Riegl dans son ouvrage
de 1903 est un plaidoyer en faveur du pluralisme.
Il explique pourquoi des choix opposés sur les monu-
ments peuvent être également légitimes, sans que
l’on puisse trancher leurs différends [10].
Il existe selon lui six valeurs, ou critère de juge-
ment, permettant de se prononcer sur l’avenir
d’un édifice. Il les répartit en deux groupes. Les
premières sont liées au passé et au témoignage
que livre l’objet: ce sont l’ancienneté, l’histoire
et l’intention, qui forment le groupe des valeurs
de remémoration. Les secondes dépendent du pré-
sent et de son intégrité: ce sont l’usage, la nou-
veauté et l’art, qui forment le groupe des valeurs
de contemporanéité. Le problème est que ces va-
leurs légitiment des choix incompatibles sur l’avenir
des monuments. L’impératif de conservation liée
à l’historicité de l’objet s’oppose, par exemple, à
celui de restauration, qui se réfère à l’intention de
l’auteur, aussi bien qu’à la nouveauté ou à l’an-
cienneté, mutuellement inconciliable.
Aucun groupe de valeur ne forme un système co-
hérent, si bien que l’axiologie du patrimoine res-
semble plus à un champ de bataille qu’à un univers
harmonieux. À chaque raison s’en oppose une
autre de force égale, dans une logique du conflit
généralisé, où le triomphe l’une valeur sur d’autres
LES DILEMMES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA CONSERVATION-RESTAURATION
49e-conservation
dépend de sa capacité à tisser des alliances pour
faire pencher la balance de son côté. L’axiologie
de Riegl fournit ainsi aux spécialistes du patrimoine
la matrice qui leur a servi à formuler la plupart des
dilemmes de la discipline, devenus depuis des
lieux communs. La stricte conservation semble
exclure l’exposition, aussi bien que la restaura-
tion, qui paraît s’opposer à la recherche, etc. Si
l’on ne peut tout conserver, il faut accepter de sacri-
fier pour préserver, et l’on ne peut trancher les
dilemmes qui se présenteront sans avoir aupara-
vant réglé la question du choix des valeurs patri-
moniales.
Sont-elles toutes légitimes, comme l’affirme Riegl?
Comment faire des sacrifices sans susciter de con-
flits, lorsqu’il n’existe pas de règles communes,
mais seulement de coalitions précaires?
Le propre du dilemme est, selon Jean-François
Lyotard, de faire des victimes et de créer des dif-
férends [11]. C’est toujours un problème, c’est-
à-dire une disjonction de deux propositions con-
traires, ou contradictoires, impliquant un choix
entre des possibles après délibération. Mais à la
différence d’une simple alternative, où l’on peut
justifier sa décision à l’aide d’une règle admise
par tous, le dilemme laisse le sujet seul face à lui-
même, en le privant de référant extérieur. C’est
ce qui arriva au disciple de Protagoras, après que
celui-ci lui ait montré qu’il aurait tort de se rendre
au tribunal pour y plaider sa cause. Ce fut aussi
le lot de Rodrigue, forcé de venger son père pour
mériter l’amour de celle qu’il perdait ainsi [12].
C’est encore celui des restaurateurs, des conser-
vateurs, des scientifiques et du public inquiet de
l’avenir du patrimoine.
Les uns s’estiment souvent lésés par le choix des
autres et tous s’accusent mutuellement, sans pou-
voir saisir un juge, ni porter plainte au tribunal.
C’est pourquoi leurs dilemmes ne font pas d’eux
des plaignants, mais des victimes. Ils ont en effet
subi un dommage. Mais une victime ne devient un
« plaignant », poursuit J.-F. Lyotard, que s’il existe
un idiome permettant de demander réparation et
un tribunal autorisé à en juger. Si ces deux con-
ditions ne sont pas réunies, elle reste ce qu’elle
est: une simple «victime», incapable de porter
plainte. C’est pourquoi les dilemmes en la matière
de conservation-restauration créent plus de dif-
férends que de litiges: il y a bien des conflits dans
ce monde; Riegl en a montré les ressorts. Mais ce
sont des «différends», c’est-à-dire des conflits
que l’on ne peut régler, faute d’idiomes pour les
formuler et de tribunal pour les juger, tant qu’il
n’existe pas de juge autorisé à les trancher à l’aide
d’une règle admise par tous.
Comment régler ces différends et rétablir la paix?
Comment les spécialistes justifieront-ils leurs choix
et plaideront-ils leur cause, s’ils sont juges et
partis?
La nature des règles
On a pu croire au début du XXe siècle que les sci-
ences expérimentales allaient résoudre les dilemmes
de la restauration et mettre fin aux conflits [13].
Mais l’idée dut être abandonnée après avoir sus-
cité de nouveaux différends.
En 1927, l’historien d’art français Andrée Blum
publia dans la revue de l’Office International des
Musées un article sur l’application des méthodes
scientifiques à l’étude des œuvres d’art [14]. Il y
notait que les résultats des analyses des laboratoires
devaient êtres interprétés par les spécialistes de
la conservation et de la restauration pour êtres
utilisés. Ces données ne pouvaient donc pas tran-
cher leurs conflits, puisqu’elles en devenaient
parties prenantes au lieu de fournir une règle ob-
jective et impartiale. La persistance des différends
conduisit l’OIM (Office International des Musées)
PIERRE LEVEAU
50 e-conservation
LES DILEMMES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA CONSERVATION-RESTAURATION
à organiser une première conférence internatio-
nale sur le sujet à Rome en 1930, immédiatement
suivi d’une seconde à Athènes [15], qui conduit
la Société des Nations à recommander en 1932
l’adoption du principe de coopération intellec-
tuelle dans ce domaine [16].
Les théories modernes de la conservation-restau-
ration et l’idée d’interdisciplinarité sont nées à
cette époque. La communauté internationale com-
mença à se donner des règles, à l’initiative de
Harold J. Plenderleith qui coordonna à partir de
1934 l’édition du premier manuel de conservation
et de restauration des peintures [17]. Au lendemain
de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, après que l’ONU
(United Nations Organization) ait succédé à la SDN
(Société des Nations) et l’UNESCO à la CICI (Com-
mission Internationale de Coopération Intellec-
tuelle), deux voies permirent à la communauté
internationale de poursuivre le travail entamé et
de constituer enfin le tribunal, dont la «querelle
des vernis» avait montré la nécessité en 1946 [18].
Les noms de Cesare Brandi et Paul Coremans res-
tent attachés aux instituts et aux courants de pensée
qui sont parvenus à régler les différends dans le
secteur des musées.
Comment les belligérants ont-ils forgé les règles
qui ont permis de trancher leurs dilemmes? Quelle
voie ont-ils suivie? Sont-elles encore les nôtres?
Leur accord de principe ne cache-t-il pas un dif-
férend philosophique?
Le directeur de l’ICR (Istituto Centrale per il Res-
tauro) et celui de l’IRPA (Institut royal du Patri-
moine artistique) ont travaillé ensemble et sont
finalement arrivés à des conclusions semblables
par des voies différentes. Le premier a déduit les
principes de la discipline de l’étude phénoméno-
logique de son objet, tandis que le second les a
abstraits du fonctionnement des commissions
spécialisées. En procédant ainsi, l’un a soumis la
pratique à des principes transcendants, tandis que
l’autre en a induit les règles immanentes. Alors que
Brandi a mis en évidence une axiomatique par une
analyse eidétique des œuvres, Coremans l’a con-
struite en accordant les esprits par le dialogue. L’un
s’est engagé sur la voie de la subjectivité, l’autre
sur celle de l’intersubjectivité.
Alors que le premier a voulu fonder sa théorie sur
la nature même des choses, en faisant résider la
vérité dans l’accord de la pensée avec l’objet, le
second l’a fait reposer sur des conventions hu-
maines, et a fait de l’accord des sujets le critère
du vrai. Ils sont ainsi parvenus à donner à la resta-
uration le fondement rationnel qui lui manquait
pour devenir une véritable discipline. Mais leur
accord final ne doit pas faire oublier leur désac-
cord méthodologique, qui place les spécialistes
devant un dilemme philosophique. Les principes
de la discipline peuvent être objectivement fondés,
ou n’être que des conventions humaines. Ils don-
nent dans les deux cas des règles communes aux
spécialistes, leur permettant de trancher leurs
différends.
Sur quel point ont-ils donc scellé leur accord? Que
ne met-on plus en question dans ce monde, en
dépit de la multiplicité de ses approches et de la
diversité de ses objets?
Le réalisme
Le monde de la conservation-restauration est es-
sentiellement réaliste. Il s’oppose par principe au
réductionnisme, à l’idéalisme, au matérialisme et
à l’esprit de système. Brandi défend cette position
philosophique dans le premier axiome de sa théorie
[19].
Le réalisme affirme en effet que seuls les particu-
liers existent : le réel est fait d’individus concrets,
composés d’une forme et d’une matière. Il s’oppose
51e-conservation
en ce sens à l’idéalisme, qui admet l’existence de
formes séparées: les idées subsisteraient en elles-
mêmes, indépendamment de nous et sans support.
Le dilemme du réalisme et de l’idéalisme est aussi
vieux que la philosophie. Mais la majorité des théo-
riciens de la conservation-restauration a aujourd’hui
rejoint le premier de ces courants. Ils considèrent
que la matière des œuvres est le principal objet
à la discipline, et non l’idée, identifiée à l’inten-
tion de l’auteur ou aux interprétations qu’on en
donne. Cela ne signifie pas que sa signification
lui soit étrangère, ce qui la réduirait à un simple
travail manuel.
Au contraire: toute mesure de conservation-res-
tauration suppose que l’on ait d’abord saisi le con-
tenu intelligible de l’œuvre. Le réalisme affirme
simplement que celui-ci est inséparable de la matière
de l’objet: il y «subsiste», selon le mot de Brandi,
sans s’y réduire comme le veut le matérialisme, ni
en différer réellement, comme le pense d’idéalisme.
Le réalisme refuse de séparer le sensible de l’intel-
ligible, et affirme l’immanence de la forme à la
matière, tandis que le matérialisme et l’idéalisme
tiennent chacun de ces éléments pour une substance
et l’autre pour un accident. Pour un réaliste, l’œuvre
n’est donc pas l’objet matériel ; mais elle n’existe
pas non plus indépendamment de lui. Il faut l’y
saisir et l’on ne doit conserver ce dernier que parce
qu’elle y subsiste. Le réalisme déjoue ainsi l’oppo-
sition du matérialisme et de l’idéalisme. Loin de
dévaloriser la conservation-restauration en lui
donnant la matière pour objet, il lui donne pour
mission de garantir l’intégrité et l’authenticité
des œuvres, contre le réductionnisme et l’esprit
de système.
Les spécialistes des formations [20] et, plus récem-
ment, Jean-Michel Leniaud [21] et Roger Pouivet
[22], ont rappelé que ces abus théoriques mena-
cent de dévoyer la pratique. La question est main-
tenant de savoir si le réalisme et le pluralisme per-
mettent simultanément d’unifier et d’étendre la
théorie, ou sont incompatibles.
Comment les règles seraient-elles les mêmes dans
toutes les régions du monde, si l’on en admet la
pluralité, en y condamnant l’abstraction? Son unité
serait-elle nominale?
Le problème de l’intégration
L’un des dilemmes théoriques de la conservation-
restauration porte aujourd’hui sur les modalités
de son unification. Toutes les disciplines y sont
confrontées au cours de leur histoire, qui ne com-
mence vraiment qu’après qu’elles l’aient résolu.
C’est ainsi que Descartes a développé l’idée d’une
«mathématique universelle» opposée à la division
du savoir, en illustrant son propos par une image
simple: la science ne varie pas plus en fonction
des objets, que la lumière du soleil ne change avec
ce qu’elle éclaire; elle reste partout la même. La
recommandation européenne sur la conservation-
restauration demande de la même façon que les
exigences de la discipline soient intégrées à la
planification des projets sur le patrimoine culturel.
Le concept de «conservation intégrée» sur lequel
il s’appuie implique une extension de la théorie à
tous les secteurs du patrimoine. Le dilemme qu’il
crée consiste à savoir si cette intégration, qui va
dans le sens de la protection des objets, ne met pas
en péril son unité. Si Rodrigue n’a pu conquérir
Chimène qu’en la perdant, le paradoxe serait d’ac-
cepter la désintégration de la discipline, en espé-
rant que l’administration puisse ainsi l’intégrer à
ses propres projets. Marie Berducou a déjà montré
que la théorie de Brandi ne pouvait pas s’étendre
à tous les biens culturels. Conçue pour les œuvres
d’art, dont l’essence est singulière et le fonction-
nement esthétique, elle ne s’applique pas au sec-
teur du patrimoine industriel [23]. L’idée d’étendre
la théorie d’une région particulière à la totalité
PIERRE LEVEAU
52 e-conservation
aussi. Cette performance caractérise les textes
officiels et le tournant linguistique qu’imposent
leurs déclarations d’intention constitue ici un début
de solution.
Salvador Muñoz-Viñas a récemment montré que les
théories de la conservation-restauration pouvaient
s’engager sur cette voie [25]. Supposons avec lui
qu’un avion Mustang de l’armée américaine ait été
patrimonialisé. Avant, on le réparait. Maintenant,
on le «restaure». Mais on peut se demander s’il est
premièrement utile de donner des noms différents
à des opérations semblables faites sur des objets
identiques, et s’il est deuxièmement juste de les
confier à des professionnels n’ayant pas la même
formation. Le passage de la réparation à la res-
tauration est le signe d’une appropriation, qui a
pour effet de fermer le marché. Ce n’est donc pas
un simple jeu de mots, mais aussi une prise de
pouvoir. L’intérêt de la réponse de Muñoz-Viñas
est de les légitimer, en montrant que la patrimo-
nialisation ne change pas la forme ou la matière
des biens culturels, mais leur fonction.
Le Mustang est maintenant un symbole. Il repré-
sente à lui seul l’ensemble de sa catégorie et, à
travers elle, un épisode de l’histoire américaine.
Il n’a plus une fonction motrice, mais symbolique.
Il acquiert avec cette nouvelle identité l’indivi-
dualité qui lui manquait comme produit technique.
Muñoz-Viñas fait de la métonymie la nouvelle règle
de fonctionnement de l’objet: comme la partie dé-
signe le tout dans cette figure du discours, l’avion
renvoie à l’héroïsme du peuple américain dans le
musée. Sa reconnaissance par une conscience le
fait fonctionner : elle lui donne une identité séman-
tique et une essence individuelle comparable à
celle des œuvres d’art ou des monuments. Si le
Mustang patrimonialisé est donc un trope, on a à
la fois tort et raison de voir dans le langage de la
conservation-restauration une simple manipula-
tion rhétorique. Le patrimoine institue, autant
du champ de la conservation-restauration semble
vouée à l’échec.
Faut-il donc choisir entre unité et extension?
Comment intégrer les principes de la discipline aux
projets patrimoniaux sans en réviser les fonde-
ments? Le pluralisme et le réalisme auxquels elle
est attachée condamnent-ils d’avance cette idée?
L’analyse que Nelson Goodman fait de la notion
d’authenticité ne plaide pas non plus en faveur de
l’unité réelle de la théorie. L’étude des procédures
d’authentification le conduit à diviser les arts en
deux catégories [24]. Lorsque la reproduction d’une
œuvre ne fait pas de la copie un faux, comme c’est
le cas en musique ou en littérature, l’art est dit
«allographe» et le critère d’identification est no-
tationnel; l’œuvre est authentique si elle est ex-
écutée conformément aux indications de l’auteur.
À l’inverse, lorsque sa copie n’est pas tenue pour
authentique, comme en peinture ou en sculpture,
l’art est dit «autographe» et son critère d’identi-
fication ne peut être qu’historique ; on est sûr
de son authenticité si l’on peut établir que c’est
bien elle que l’auteur a produite. Cette distinction
qui repose sur deux procédures d’authentification
sépare les biens culturels en deux groupes. Si la
théorie classique de la conservation-restauration
ne s’applique qu’aux arts autographiques et ne
couvre pas tout le champ des biens culturels, on
ne voit donc pas comment elle pourrait constituer
le «cadre paneuropéen» permettant d’intégrer la
discipline à la planification de tous les projets
patrimoniaux.
La recommandation européenne n’aurait-elle pas
encore les moyens de ses ambitions? Quelle solu-
tion proposer au dilemme qu’elle contient?
Le problème de l’intégrité
Les philosophes du langage nous ont appris que
celui-ci ne décrit pas seulement la réalité. Il la fait
LES DILEMMES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA CONSERVATION-RESTAURATION
53e-conservation
54 e-conservation
que le discours, un ordre symbolique.
Mais qu’est-ce qui légitime finalement son insti-
tution? La patrimonialisation garantit l’authenti-
cité des objets, si elle change leur fonction? Ne
change-t-elle pas aussi leur identité?
David Hume a donné une réponse originale à cette
question dans son analyse de l’identité personnelle
[26]. Un bateau réparé, dont toutes les pièces se-
raient changées, conserve selon lui son identité.
Un navire est un moyen en vue d’une fin donnée
et celle-ci explique non seulement le choix des
matériaux, mais aussi la forme de l’objet. C’est
elle qui lui donne son identité spécifique et son
unité. C’est pourquoi un bateau rénové reste nu-
mériquement identique, conclut Hume, tant qu’il
ne change pas de fonction. Mais le philosophe va
plus loin en examinant le cas d’une église sauvée de
la ruine par ses fidèles. Même s’ils en changeaient
le plan et les matériaux, elle resterait la même
pour eux, nous dit-il, tant qu’ils continueraient
d’y pratiquer leur culte.
La croyance en l’identité ne s’explique pas seule-
ment par la finalité, poursuit-il: elle s’explique
aussi par la coutume et la fréquence. C’est parce
que les fidèles n’ont pas changé d’habitude qu’ils
pensent que l’église est la même, bien qu’elle ait
entièrement changé. L’accoutumance est donc le
principe subjectif de notre croyance en l’identité
des êtres, conclu Hume, ceci valant aussi pour chac-
un de nous. Nous ne restons pas identiques à nous-
mêmes au cours du temps: nous nous construisons
sans cesse, comme les fidèles rebaptisent l’église,
et nos perceptions actuelles recomposent régulière-
ment notre être en s’ajoutant aux anciennes. Si
nous croyons être les mêmes, c’est parce que la
transition coutumière que nous faisons entre nos
idées nous donne le sentiment de la continuité de
notre vie psychique. Mais pour l’individu comme
pour l’Église, c’est une foi fondée sur l’habitude.
C’est une croyance subjective sans fondement ob-
jectif, conclu Hume. C’est une construction sociale.
Comment garantir l’intégrité et l’authenticité d’ob-
jets, s’ils n’ont pas réellement d’identité, ni de
fonction prédéterminée? Comment rester réaliste
dans ces conditions?
Le nominalisme
Le nominalisme peut apporter un début de solu-
tion à ce dilemme philosophique. Il affirme que
les universaux n’existent ni dans le réel, ni dans
la pensée, mais dans le langage. Celui-ci décrirait
moins la réalité qu’il ne l’achève, en donnant au
monde son unité.
Voyons donc si la conservation-restauration peut
s’y convertir, pour étendre et unifier son champ
sans renoncer au pluralisme et au réalisme qui la
caractérise. L’exemple du Mustang donné par
Muñoz-Viñas montre que la patrimonialisation
s’accommode parfaitement d’un changement de
fonction de l’objet, et l’implique même: on dit que
l’avion est authentique, bien que son fonction-
nement n’est plus mécanique, mais symbolique.
L’exemple de l’église donnée par Hume ajoute à
cela que la reconnaissance patrimoniale peut s’ac-
compagner d’une transformation complète de l’ob-
jet, c’est-à-dire d’une perte d’intégrité: le bâtiment
conserve son identité pour les fidèles, qui l’ont
entièrement reconstruit en continuant d’y célébrer
l’office. Ces deux formes de patrimonialisations
peuvent évidemment entrer en conflit. Mais ce n’est
pas le sujet. La question est de savoir si ces objets
appartiennent réellement à un même genre, ap-
pelé patrimoine, et ce qui en fait l’unité.
Reprenons donc. Le patrimoine est selon Hume
une construction sociale, reposant sur le consente-
ment populaire. Sa reconnaissance est pour Muñoz-
Viñas une opération symbolique, renvoyant méto-
nymiquement à l’histoire d’un peuple. Chaque
analyse apporte un élément de réponse. On peut
PIERRE LEVEAU
55e-conservation
en effet tenir le patrimoine culturel pour une con-
struction sociale fondée sur une reconnaissance
symbolique. Cette hypothèse est constructionna-
liste et nominaliste. L’unité du genre qu’elle pro-
pose est simultanément nominale et réelle. Elle
est nominale, car les objets qu’il contient présente
des différences essentielles: le patrimoine artis-
tique n’est évidemment pas industriel, ni le maté-
riel, immatériel, ou le naturel, culturel. Mais elle
est aussi réelle, car les objets qu’il réunit forment
un monde particulier, en recevant des règles de
fonctionnement spécifiques: la reconnaissance
symbolique qu’on y opère dans tous les secteurs
crée finalement un genre unique. Il se peut donc
que, entre le mot et la chose, le patrimoine soit une
forme symbolique, un emblème en même temps
qu’un jeu de langage, une construction logique et
sociale. L’idée n’est pas nouvelle. Mais on oublie
parfois que c’est une découverte philosophique,
dont il serait intéressant de se souvenir pour saisir
l’enjeu du dilemme qui nous occupe.
En quel sens le patrimoine est-il une construction
sociale? Au sens banal du terme, qui en fait le
produit de nos choix? Ou philosophique, qui le
tient pour une forme symbolique?
L’institution des normes
La conservation-restauration tâche aujourd’hui
de normaliser sa terminologie, ses méthodes et
ses matériaux [27]. Les normes qu’elle se donne
instituent un monde où les dilemmes ne devraient
théoriquement plus susciter de différends.
Pierre Livet a récemment rappelé que la fonction
d’une norme est de trancher les conflits opposant
les valeurs et les règles [28]. Elles les supposent,
mais ne se situent pas au même niveau que les
termes dont elles arbitrent les différends. Une
valeur n’est pas une norme: les premières sont
des critères d’appréciation, d’évaluation, alors
que les seconds des impératifs d’action, des pre-
scriptions. Tandis que les valeurs impliquent des
obligations morales, contraignant le sujet à agir
conformément à ses choix, les normes créent des
obligations sociales qui le contraignent à se con-
former à ceux de la collectivité. Les valeurs justi-
fient les normes, qui les instituent en retour. Mais
c’est le conflit des règles qui les rend nécessaires.
Celles-ci définissent en effet des usages, qui ne
sont pas tous compatibles, ce qui est à l’origine de
multiples conflits. Le différend des usages impose
des choix entre des possibilités, que l’invocation
d’une valeur ne suffit pas à départager. C’est pour-
quoi une norme n’est pas une simple règle, rappelle
Pierre Livet. Sa fonction est de trancher les conflits
sur l’usage des secondes. Elle règle le différend
des règles.
La normalisation de la conservation-restauration
suffira-t-elle à résoudre tous les dilemmes? Ou les
empêche-t-elle seulement de se formuler, en don-
nant au langage un nouveau lexique et d’autres
règles de fonctionnement?
Elle permet déjà de résoudre celui de l’intégration
précédemment formulé. En engageant la conser-
vation-restauration sur la voie de la normalisation,
le Conseil de l’Europe donne en effet à la discipline
le moyen de réaliser les objectifs de la Convention
de Faro. Elle l’oblige à s’unifier, en adoptant une
terminologie commune, et à couvrir tous les sec-
teurs du patrimoine de façon homogène. Elle ne
lui demande pas de réviser ses fondements théo-
riques, et ne lui demande aucune réflexion philoso-
phique. Mais elle l’engage à son insu sur la voie
du constructionnalisme. En uniformisant les juge-
ments des spécialistes, les choix des praticiens,
et les formations qui leurs sont proposées, elles
font du patrimoine une construction sociale. Les
normes les conduiront à trancher partout de la même
façon les dilemmes auxquels ils seront confrontés
et choisir les mêmes matériaux. Mais la fin des
LES DILEMMES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA CONSERVATION-RESTAURATION
conflits garantira moins alors l’identité des objets,
c’est-à-dire l’authenticité, que celle des traite-
ments, c’est-à-dire l’uniformité. De là à imaginer
un nouveau dilemme, il n’y a qu’un pas, que l’on
ne franchira pas. Disons simplement que la nor-
malisation n’est pas un choix, mais une fatalité.
Elle fait de la conservation-restauration une con-
struction sociale et la dispense d’une réflexion
philosophique approfondie. Faut-il le regretter?
C’est le dernier dilemme «philosophique» de la
discipline. Elle peut faire l’économie de la philo-
sophie, en choisissant de se dissoudre dans les
sciences sociales, ou y revenir pour accorder sa
théorie à son orientation sociale et retrouver sa
cohérence passée.
Conclusion
Le temps résout tous les dilemmes, promet Cor-
neille à la fin du Cid. Mais les spécialistes de la
conservation-restauration savent qu’il en pose
aussi et l’avenir dira comment ils ont résolu les
leurs. En ce début de XXIe siècle, la discipline in-
stitue des normes pour constituer son paradigme.
Après avoir définie ses valeurs au cours du XIXe
et s’être donné des règles XXe, elle est sur seuil de
son histoire, elle en cours d’institutionnalisation.
On a vu les dilemmes philosophiques qu’elle a dû
résoudre pour y arriver: celui du pluralisme et du
monisme, de l’accord et du différend, de la nature
et de la convention, du matérialisme et de l’idéal-
isme, du réalisme et du nominalisme, de la méta-
physique et du constructionnalisme, qui s’avère
être social ou philosophique. Ce dernier dilemme est
aussi celui de son unification et de son extension.
La normalisation de la discipline commence à ré-
soudre et lui réserve une issue fatale. Elle fait émer-
ger un nouveau monde en le tranchant, où il faut
espérer que les théories puissent s’unifier sans
uniformiser leurs objets.
Bibliographie
[1] I.C.O.M.-C.C., ”Terminologie de la conservation- restauration du patrimoine culturel matériel”, Résolution soumise à l’approbation des membres de l’ICOM-CC à l’occasion de la XVe Conférence Triennale, New Delhi, 22-26 Septembre 2008
[2] Conseil de l’Europe, ”Convention-cadre du Conseil de l’Europe sur la valeur du patrimoine culturel pour la société”, Faro, 27 Octobre 2005, - Série des Traités du Conseil de l’Europe no.199
[3] D. Laërce, Vie et opinion des philosophes illustres, IX, 56, Garnier-Flammarion, Paris, 1965, T.II, p. 187
[4] E.C.C.O., Rapport introductif au projet de Re- commandation européenne pour la conserva- tion-restauration des biens culturels, §3, p.7
[5] E.C.C.O., ”Règles professionnelles d’E.C.C.O., I: La profession”, dans Etude des responsabi- lités légales et professionnelles des conser- vateurs au regard des autres acteurs de la sauvegarde et de la conservation du patri- moine culturel, annexe, p. 316
[6] I.C.O.M.-C.C., Le conservateur-restaurateur: une définition de la profession, Réunion tri- ennale de l’ICOM-CC, Copenhague, septembre 1984, Avant-propos et §2-3
[7] I.C.O.M.O.S., Charte Internationale sur la Conservation et la Restauration des Monuments et des Sites, IIe Congrès international des ar- chitectes et des techniciens des monuments historiques, Venise 1964, Art. 1, 3, 5-7, 9 et 11
[8] U.N.E.S.C.O., Conférence de Nara sur l’Authen- ticité, Edité par Knut Einar Larsen, Nara, 1994 [9] C.I.C.I., ”Résolution adoptée par la Commission
PIERRE LEVEAU
56 e-conservation
PIERRE LEVEAUPhilosopheContact: leveau.p@wanadoo.fr
Pierre Leveau poursuit actuellement un doctorat
à l’École Pratique des Hautes Etudes, sous la direc-
tion de Jean-Michel Leniaud («La conservation-
restauration en France: histoire de l’émergence
d’une discipline», EPHE-HTD). Il est par ailleurs
professeur de philosophie et enseigne dans le
secondaire.
Internationale de Coopération Intellectuelle le 23 juillet 1932”, La Conférence d’Athènes, Ed. L’imprimeur, texte établi par F. Choay, 2002, p.115
[10] A. Riegl, Le culte moderne des monuments, Paris, Ed. Seuil,1984
[11] J.-F Lyotard, Le différend, Paris, Ed. Minuit, 1983, p.18-25
[12] P. Corneille, Le Cid, Acte I, Scène VI, 291-350 et Acte III, Scène IV, 869-904
[13] J.-P. Mohen, Les sciences du patrimoine, Paris, Ed. Odile Jacob, 1999, p. 97-124
[14] A. Blum, ”Quelques méthodes d’examen sci- entifique des tableaux et objets d’art”, Mou- seion,1927, n°7, p.14-26
[15] S. D. N., ”Recommandation de l’assemblée de la Société des Nations adoptées le 10 octobre 1932”, La Conférence d’Athènes, Ed. de L’im primeur, texte établi par F. Choay, 2002, p.117
[16] P. Leveau, ”Problèmes historiographiques de la C.R.B.C.”, Conservation-Restauration des Biens Culturels, 2008, n°26, p.3-18
[17] H.-J. Plenderleith, ”A history of conservation”, Studies in Conservation 43, n°3, 1998, p. 129-143
[18] U.N.E.S.C.O., Le traitement des peintures, Paris, Ed. UNESCO, 1951
[19] C. Brandi, Théorie de la restauration, Paris, Ed. du patrimoine, 2000, p. 31
[20] E.C.C.O., ”Règles professionnelles d’E.C.C.O., III:
La formation” dans Etude des responsabilités lé-
gales et professionnelles des conservateurs au
regard des autres acteurs de la sauvegarde et de la conservation du patrimoine culturel, p.321-322
[21] J-M. Leniaud, Viollet-le-Duc ou les délires du système, Paris, Ed. Mengès, 1994
[22] R. Pouivet, Qu’est-ce qu’une œuvre d’art?, Paris, Ed. Vrin, 2007
[23] M. Berducou, «Brandi, l’œuvre d’art, et…” tout le reste”», Cesare Brandi, sa pensée et l’évolution des pratiques de la restauration, Actes du colloque tenu Bruxelles (25 octobre 2007) sous la direction de Nicole Gesché- Koning et Catheline Périer-D’Ieteren, ULB, 2008, Cahier d’étude X
[24] N. Goodman, Langages de l’art, Nîmes, Ed. J. Chambon, 1990
[25] S. Muñoz-Viñas, Contemporary Theory of Con- servation, Amsterdam, Ed. Elsevier, 2005, p. 27-29
[26] D. HUME, Traité de la nature humaine, I, IV, VII, Paris, Ed. Aubier, p. 350
[27] D. Aguilella-Cueco, ”CEN TC. 346 – Normali- sation de la conservation-restauration des biens culturels: premier bilan”, Journal de la FFC-R, novembre 2008, n°16, p.15-19.
[28] P. Livet, Les normes, Paris, Ed. Armand Colin, 2006
LES DILEMMES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA CONSERVATION-RESTAURATION
57e-conservation
SECOND ARP SEMINARThe Practice of Theory – Treatments of Conservation-Restoration
arp
proc
eedi
ngs
This issue contains the second part of a temporary section dedicated to the publication
of the proceedings of the Second ARP Seminar, organised by the Professional Association
of Conservator-Restorers of Portugal.
The Second ARP Seminar, The Practice of Theory – Treatments of Conservation-Restoration
was held in the auditorium of the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA) in Lisbon on May
29-30, 2009. The proceedings will be published in Portuguese by the association and
the English version of the articles presented at the meeting will be published in the next
issues of e-conservation magazine.
The series of articles in this issue is dedicated to the Conservation of Paintings.
Professional Association of Conservator-Restorers of Portugal http://www.arp.org.pt/
DETACHED MURAL PAINTINGS IN PORTUGAL
The fact that mural painting is inevitably linked to the architecture is changing in the moment paintings
are detached and placed in a museum. The objective of the present intervention was the stabilisation and
uniformizing of the detached paintings, taking into account the aesthetic feature as an important factor.
The work was performed at the Alberto Sampaio Museum in Guimarães, in the same room where the paintings
were exhibited, aiming to give visitors the opportunity to follow the several stages accomplished by the
conservators during the conservation treatment.
The Conservation-Restoration of the Fragments from the Alberto Sampaio
Museum in Guimarães
by Maria Alice de Sousa Cotovio
Introduction
This paper is focused on the conservation-resto-
ration intervention performed on six mural paint-
ings from several churches from northern Portugal.
The paintings are part of a set detached by the
General Direction of National Buildings and Monu-
ments (Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos
Nacionais, DGEMN) in the 1930’s and 1940’s. These
detachments were the result of a particular philo-
sophy of that time, with different concepts than
those that are theorized and put in practice nowa-
days.
The main reasons for the DGEMN intervention were
the discovery of the existence of underlying paint-
ings, the poor conservation state and the intention
to “recover the original aspect of the building”.
“From 1914 to 1918 the mural paintings from S. Mar-
tinho de Mouros, Barcos and Outeiro Seco were ac-
knowledged and studied by Dr. Vergílio Correia [...]
although they were all in regrettable conservation
state, ruined and covered by lime or repainted”1.
“The General Direction of National Buildings and
Monuments has proceeded in the matter of frescos,
guided by the same criteria as for other works. If,
in advantage to the monument and paintings, the
mural decoration can be conserved in-loco […], the
better; but if their maintenance involves any risk of
damage to the work or special conditions require
the intervention of the specialist, do not hesitate
to remove them (...)”2.
At the same time the mural paintings in Spain,
and especially in Catalonia, also suffered major
alterations, being removed from their original
location, transferred to new supports and placed
again in churches or museums. This task was en-
trusted to Cecconi Principe, an Italian artist with
renowned experience.
It was in Spain that DGEMN contacted this artist
to work in Portugal. According to reports of the
Painting Division of the Institute José de Figuei-
redo (IJF), he performed the detachment of the
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian and the Sacred Family,
both from the Church of St. Salvador in Bravães.
The other detachments were performed by José
Ferreira da Costa and António Ferreira da Costa
by the same method of Cecconi Principe (trans-
fer to canvas).
Some of the paintings were treated by Abel Moura
who transferred them to a support of Masonite3
and later by Teresa S. Cabral who transferred them
a support of glass fibber, honeycomb cardboard
and Araldite.
Finally in 2004 a room was inaugurated at the Mu-
seum Alberto Sampaio in Guimarães to accommo-
date 8 of the detached mural paintings. This was
the first time in Portugal that a space for mural
paintings was especially created in a museum.
This event helped to resolve several problems:
- The nomadism that these paintings have
1 In Frescos, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monu-mentos Nacionais, nº 10, Dezembro, 1937, pp. 14 -15. Original text: “De 1914 a 1918 foram reconhecidas e estudadas pelo Dr. Vergílio Correia, as pinturas murais de S. Martinho de Mouros, Barcos e Outeiro Seco [...] mas todas em lamentável estado de conservação, arruinadas e cobertas de cal ou re-pintadas”.
2 Op. Cit., pp. 23. Original text: “[...] a Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais tem procedido, no assunto dos frescos, com critério idêntico àquele que a norteia nos restantes trabalhos. Se se pode, com vantagem para o monu-mento e para as próprias pinturas, conservar in-loco a deco-ração parietal, ainda que esta seja posterior, tanto melhor; mas se a manutenção envolve risco de dano para a obra, ou circunstâncias especiais indicam a intervenção do especialista, não se hesita em remove-las [...]”.
3 This material was presented in the ICOM International Restoration Meeting that took place in Lisbon in 1951.
MARIA ALICE DE SOUSA COTOVIO
60 e-conservation
suffered for several years;
- The material instability of the fragments;
- The placement of the works near their original
geographic location.
However, the concept of mural painting is natur-
ally associated with its architectural support which
is radically altered in the moment that the paint-
ings are detached and placed in a museum space.
Thus, the main objectives of the intervention on
these fragments were their stabilisation and aes-
thetic uniformizing. In our opinion, these conser-
vation-restoration criteria are the most appro-
priate to follow for this particular type of inter-
vention, being necessarily different from those
applied to the intervention on the paintings in
their original context.
Table I presents the general course of the frag-
ments from their detachment to our interven-
tion in 2008.
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian
Church of St. Saviour in Bravães, Ponte da Barca
The Holy Family
Church of St. Saviour in Bravães, Ponte da Barca
Christ the Savior
Church of St. Saviour in Bravães, Ponte da Barca
St. Bernard, St. Benedict
Church of the Monas-tery of Fonte Arcada, Póvoa de Lanhoso
Beheading of St. John the Baptist
Convent of St. Francis, Guimarães
Eternal Father
Church of Our Lady of Azinheira, Outeiro Seco, Chaves
1936 - Ceconni Principe - Transfer to a canvas support
1936 - Ceconni Principe - Transfer to a canvas support
1937 - José Ferreira da Costa - hammering of the 2nd layer; transfer of the 1st layer to a support in canvas and asbestos- cement sheets
1942-43 - António Ferreira da Costa - Transfer to a canvas support
1940 - António Ferreira da Costa - Transfer to a canvas support
Intervention
1952 - Abel Moura - Masonite support
c. 1959 - Abel Moura - Masonite support
1954/59 - Abel Moura - Masonite support, fixation
Intervention
1972-73 - Teresa Cabral - Honeycomb support, Araldite and glass fibber
1972-75 - Teresa Cabral - Honeycomb support, Araldite and glass fibber
1977 - Teresa Cabral - Honeycomb support, Araldite and glass fibber
1975 - Teresa Cabral - Honeycomb support, Araldite and glass fibber
1971-74 - Teresa Cabral - Honeycomb support, Araldite and glass fibber
At IJF, without intervention
2008 - Mural da História - Conservation
2008 - Mural da História - Conservation
2008 - Mural da História - Conservation
2008 - Mural da História - Conservation
2008 - Mural da História - Conservation
2008 - Mural da História - Punctual conservation
DETACHED MURAL PAINTINGS IN PORTUGAL
61e-conservation
Intervention
The intervention performed in the 1970’s by IJF
proved to be effective given the present good con-
servation state of the paintings. However, as ex-
pected, they suffered minor natural alterations,
specific to the techniques used. The treatment that
was usually performed some years ago, that of
application of a very rough plaster layer left below
the surface level, was substituted nowadays by the
application of a less rough plaster, at the level of
the colour layer. Among other reasons, we believe
that decreasing the material roughness and le-
velling the layers will enhance the homogeneity
and protection of the ensemble.
62 e-conservation
Figures 1-4. Martyrdom of St. Sebastian. From left to right: Before the detachment; After the detachment; Transfered to the new support; Last intervention.
MARIA ALICE DE SOUSA COTOVIO
63e-conservation
The technical intervention was similar for the 6
paintings: photographic documentation, graphic
documentation, removal of inadequate mortars,
cleaning, removal of repaintings (when the tech-
nique, the aesthetics or the colours were dissonant),
new graphic documentation, fixation, consolida-
tion, application of new mortars and chromatic
reintegration.
The entire intervention was carried on at the mu-
seum, in the same room where the fragments are
exposed. This was made with the aim to give the
visitors the opportunity to follow the intervention.
The intervention took 3 months to complete.
During this time we offered support by talking
to the public and providing orientation to the
visitors, especially schools, by explaining the
modus operandi of the intervention according
to visitor’s age.
Figures 5-8. The Holy Family.Upper right - Before the detachment;Right - After the detachment;Below left - After transfer to a new support;Below right - Last intervention.
DETACHED MURAL PAINTINGS IN PORTUGAL
Figures 9-11. Christ the Saviour. From left to right: After the detachment; Transfered to a new support; Last intervention.
Figures 12-15. St. Bernard and St. Benedict.From left to right: Before the detachment; The reverse of the mural painting; After the transfer on a new support and reattachment of the color layer; Image of the painting in 1961.
MARIA ALICE DE SOUSA COTOVIO
64 e-conservation
Figures 16 and 17. St. Bernard and St. Benedict. Before (left) and after (right) the last intervention.
Figures 18-21. Eternal Father. From left to right: Before and after detachment; Before and after the last intervention.
DETACHED MURAL PAINTINGS IN PORTUGAL
65e-conservation
The beheading of St. John the Baptist is an emble-
matic work which widely studied during the inter-
vention, raised some pertinent issues. The decision
of removing the repaintings was directly determined
by the aesthetics and symbolism of the work. Al-
though it was necessary to remove some altered and
fissured plaster as well, most of it was preserved as re-
moving it would significantly alter its appearance.
It was previously mentioned that the mural paint-
ing concept is inevitably associated with the archi-
tectural support for which they it was conceived.
Thus, the separation of the paintings from the
building causes irreversible transformations in
both the support and the work, this last becoming,
thus, a “museum picture”.
Once a fait accompli, we tried to minimise the prob-
lems that could arise from that decision. For this,
before the intervention we had to be fully aware
of the processes the fragments went through.
Although the paintings were already seriously da-
maged, we tried to minimise the problems due
to the extensive lacunas. Special consideration
was given to the aesthetics without neglecting
the ethics of the intervention. If, on the one hand,
to perform total chromatic reintegration is out
of the question due to the ethical concerns, on
the other hand, lacunas alters the reading of the
image. This duality obliges to search a middle
solution that would respect the authenticity of
the original painting and at the same time
would allow to reintegrate the image just
enough to provide continuity of the reading of
the ensemble.
The plaster should be compatible in particle size
and colour shade with the surrounding painting.
It should be not forgotten that being in a museum,
the connection between the painting and the wall
no longer exists. In order to alleviate this problem,
Figure 22. Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Aspect of the painting before the intervention.
MARIA ALICE DE SOUSA COTOVIO
66 e-conservation
Figure 23 and 24. Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Aspect of the painting during and after the intervention.
DETACHED MURAL PAINTINGS IN PORTUGAL
67e-conservation
MARIA ALICE DE SOUSA COTOVIO
it would be ideal to create an environment close
to that of the original location.
The lightening is a crucial matter. The existence of
windows to provide natural light in churches was
an important factor for the mural paintings, the
light being used to enhance a scene or a specific
image.
When the painting was transferred and moved to
another space, a museum in this case, a similar
illumination to the one from the original location
should be provided.
Among others concerns, a major problem of the
mural paintings from the Alberto Sampaio Museum
is that the paintings were detached from different
locations. Thus, given the available space, it was
not possible to provide the lighting of the common
space to each of the paintings according to their
original context. Also, the exhibit space was de-
signed in such a manner as to give coherence to
the group of paintings in order to avoid the impres-
sion of isolated “objects”, and rather offer examples
of northern mural paintings from Portugal.
Photographic credits
No. 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 18 and 19 - Boletim da Direcção-
Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais No. 10,
December 1937; No. 12 to 15 - Boletim da Direcção-
Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais No. 106,
December 1961; All others from Mural da História.
Bibliography
[1] Frescos, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, No. 10, Dezembro 1937
[2] Igreja de Bravães Ponte da Barca, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, No. 49, Setembro 1947
[3] Conservação de Frescos,Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, Nº 106, Dezembro 1961
[4] Igreja de Nª Sr.ª da Azinheira do Outeiro Seco, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, Nº 112, Junho 1963
[5] D. Rodrigues, A pintura mural na região Norte. Exemplares dos séculos XV e XVI, in A Colecção de pintura do Museu de Alberto Sampaio - Séculos XVI- XVIII, Instituto Português de Museus, Lisboa, 1996
[6] J. I. Caetano, “A pintura a fresco e as suas técnicas. O caso dos exemplares dos séculos XV e XVI no Norte de Portugal e a sua conservação”, X Encontro de História Local, Museu de Alberto Sampaio, Guimarães, 2002
[7] Catarina V. Gonçalves and J. I. Caetano, “Um olhar sobre a pintura mural na região de Guimarães no século XVI”, X Encontro de História Local, Museu de Alberto Sampaio, Guimarães, 2002
[8] C. Brandi, Teoria do restauro, Edições Orion, 2006
[9] P. Mora, L. Mora and P. Philippot, La conservazione delle pitture murali, Editrice Compositori, Bologna, 1999
Alice Cotovio is a conservator-restorer of mural
paintings. She started working in 1983 in the In-
stitute José de Figueiredo after which she attended
the Higher Course of Conservation and Restoration
and its specialisation of mural painting. In 1991,
she co-founded Mural da História, a company
specialised in conservation-restoration of mural
paintings where she is the co-responsable of the
technical and research work. She is also a founding
member of the Professional Association of Conser-
vator-Restorers of Portugal (ARP).
Mural Paintings Conservator
Contact: mail@muraldahistoria.com.pt
www.muraldahistoria.com.pt
MARIA ALICE DE SOUSA COTOVIO
68 e-conservation
MUDEJAR CEILINGS Study, Conservation and Restoration
by Carlos José Abreu da Silva Costa
The conservation-restoration intervention on the Mudéjar ceilings from the National Museum Machado de Castro, as a part of the rehabilitation and expansion project of the museum, focused not only on the treatment of the ceilings, but also on the reassembling and relocation of the wood panels. Originally provenient from the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, the ceilings were altered in structure, geometric decorative composition and colour layer. Besides the conservation-restoration treatment, the present intervention sought to remove the undesirable previous interventions that could give a wrong perception of the design and original location of the ceilings. This adaptation was recognised and the panels were contextualised not as simple architectural elements but as museum pieces.
Introduction
The conservation-restoration intervention on the
wooden ceilings of the National Museum Machado
de Castro (MNMC), as planned in the rehabilitation
project of the museum, included the treatment of
11 ceilings with internal and external bin structures
and of the flat polychrome ceilings. This article
describes the intervention performed to the two
ceilings belonging to this ensemble.
The intervention was performed by Atelier Sam-
thiago as subcontractor of Edifer Reabilitação,
from June 2007 to December 2008. The work on
the Mudéjar structures comprised, beside the con-
servation-restoration treatment, the complete
disassembly and relocation of the final assembly.
The Mudéjar Art
Origins and formal characteristics
The presence of the Islam in the Iberian Peninsula
produced a society very different from the Christian
Figure 1. Mudéjar ceiling at the National Museum Machado de Castro, now designated type 1.
70 e-conservation
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
one but permanently in contact with it. The im-
portance of the cultural expression of the Islamic
society, often linked to religiosity, was a striking
presence for the Hispanic culture even after it
ceased to exist, having created one of the most
original components of this culture: the Mudéjar.
This new art, influenced by images of Islamic faith,
would impose itself by the end of the 8th century
having as main objective to serve the needs of
religion and aspects of the socio-economic life.
By that time, new buildings for religious purposes
started to appear. The architecture played a central
role in Islamic art as well as all the other arts de-
pended from it.
It is important to note that the figurative art was
completely excluded from the liturgical sphere of
Islam. Sculpture and relief were practically non-
existent in the decoration of monuments, its ab-
sence being greatly compensated by the ornamental
richness of the plaster carved coatings, the mosaics
of glazed ceramic and, in particular, the wooden
carved panels. The decorative elements inspired
by nature - leaves, flowers, branches, etc. - were
stylized to the maximum, forming their own com-
positions, reticulated, intertwined and geometric
surfaces known as arabesques. Another innovation
in the decorative programs was the introduction
of epigraphic elements. In every type of surfaces
- architectural decoration, furniture, etc. – Arabic
calligraphy was used as a proclamation of the
Koran faith and its beauty as formal element.
It was between the 13th and 15th centuries that
the entire Iberian Peninsula, Spain in particular,
and Morocco were definitively converted to the
artistic and cultural model of Mudéjar art, which
gained great popularity and in the case of Morocco
is still in use today.
But what had marked the Islamic culture in the
Iberian Peninsula of such singular and unique cha-
racter that was not observed in any other territory
dominated by the Islam? This singularity is owned
Figure 2. Mudéjar ceiling at the National Museum Machado de Castro, now designated type 2.
e-conservation 71
MUDEJAR CEILINGS
to a series of special historic circumstances that
made possible such particular artistic manifestation
to occur in this territory. For eight centuries (8th-
15th), the medieval Iberian peninsula, especially
Spain, was divided between two political cultures
and religious rivals: Christianity and Islam. How-
ever, political and religious separations did not
prevent mutual teaching and cultural contacts and
it was precisely from these contacts that Mudéjar
art arose, at the border between Islamic and Chris-
tian art. The Mudéjar art was a long-term phenom-
enon, much more durable in time than other Eu-
ropean artistic styles of that time - Romanesque,
Gothic and Renaissance.
The Christian reconquest of southern Spain in the
11th and 12th centuries brought on a delicate situ-
ation concerning the occupation of the territory,
in particular of the larger cities, for which there
was not enough manpower to repopulate. When
the Muslim population was allowed to stay in the
conquered territories under Christian domination,
being allowed to maintain their religious practices,
language and legal organization, a new figure was
created on the then social context: the Mudéjars,
i.e., Muslims with authorisation to remain in the
Christian Spain in exchange for a tribute. The ex-
istence of a cheaper, quick and effective workforce
and the construction of a system considered more
economic, together with a crisis and an economic
recession in the peninsula, may partly explain the
success of the Muslims work, especially in the ar-
tistic field, where they were structured by crafts
and had their own terminology.
The Muslim culture would eventually be assimilated
by Christianity, and Christians would eventually
surrender to the allure of Islamic monuments,
transforming them into royal palaces or consec-
rating them to churches and cathedrals. It was
this confluence of different artistic traditions that
would eventually result in a new stylistic expres-
sion, so singular and unique, and different from
each of the parties that composed it.
The alfarge1 work and its expression in Por-tuguese territory
From the formal point of view, the Mudéjar art is
characterized by the combination of Christian and
Muslim artistic elements. It is also commonly, al-
though wrongly stated, that it takes advantage
of the structures of Christianity and the ornaments
of Islam. Returning to the basic principles of the
Islam artistic representation, which formalize the
vegetal elements to the extreme – with the incor-
poration of new motifs coming from Christian art,
such as naturalist gothic flora - and register artis-
tically the Arabic epigraphic elements, the almost
abusive use of repetitive rhythms that completely
cover the surfaces using patterns without spatial
limit can be noted.
From the structural point of view, there are several
basic examples of the Islamic character applied
in the Mudéjar architecture, the most important
in the current context being the woodwork.
The carpentry work was in fact one of the important
legacies of Mudéjar art. There were many carpen-
ters working in the Iberian Peninsula which were
known for their peculiar way of working wood ceilings
and beams with exquisite technique. The structures,
particularly the roofs, were light and allowed an
even load distribution on the walls.
The Mudéjar art, undervalued in terms of art his-
tory, is one of the most genuine and particular art
forms developed in the Iberian Peninsula. In what
concerns Portugal – where this art had influence
all over the country, even in places without any
kind of Islamic tradition, and where the prestige
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
72 e-conservation
1 Alfarge is an Arab term meaning carved wood ceiling.
of Mudéjar masters reached its peak during the
15th century - the Mudéjar art was little studied
and even less published.
The alfarge work is not abundant in Portugal; with-
out the significance it has in Spain, it would have
been susceptible to get lost. Due to its material
vulnerability to fire and the fact that it has a shorter
lifespan, it was greatly altered and/or removed in
successive restoration campaigns.
In general, the alfarge work preserved until nowa-
days is characterized by an extreme heterogeneity
and can be divided in 2 main groups, as Dias [6]
notes: those located at the border - in Alto Minho
and Beira Interior – which are the result of Spanish
regional schools influence, and those located in
the Portuguese territory, which comprise some
workshops and/or teachers mostly from Coimbra
and Évora.Figure 3. Geographic distribution of the Mudéjar woodwork in
Portugal.
MUDEJAR CEILINGS
e-conservation 73
Location Date
Almeida – Church of St. Vicent in Castelo Mendo
Almeida - Leomil 16th century – First quarter
Almeida - Castelo Bom
Almeida – Church of Vilar Formoso 16th century – First quarter
Bragança - Church of St. Benedict
Church of Caminha 1565
Coimbra (Episcopal Palace) – M.N.M.C. 15th century
Coimbra (Old Cathedral) – M.N.M.C. 1413-1477
Figueira Castelo Rodrigo - Church of Escarigo 16th century – First half
Sabugal - Vila do Touro
Sabugal - Sortelha
Sertã - Marmeleiro
Torres Vedras - Church of St. Peter 16th century – First third
Pombal – Chapel of Vila de Redinha 1508
Soure - Church of St. James 1490
Coimbra - Tower of the Archpriest Amaral
Guimarães - Collegiate Church of Our Lady of Oliveira 1387-1411
Sintra – Palace of Vila de Sintra 1508
Oliveira do Hospital – Church of Seixo da Beira
Table 1. Mudéjar woodwork in Portugal; referenced locations.
The Mudéjar ceilings from the National Mu-seum Machado de Castro
Historic and Artistic context
Information such as the interpretation and analysis
of the formal composition, aesthetics, iconography
and history of the object are of the outmost im-
portance for those who undertake a conservation
intervention. Normally, this kind of information
helps to contextualise the intervention and to
establish actions and methodologies to use in the
treatment. However, there is almost no information
concerning Mudéjar art, especially on timbering
and alfarge. It is therefore imperative to fully ex-
plore the theoretical, historical and technical con-
siderations, bearing in mind that during interven-
tion is the best time to clarify uncertainties, acquire
data and enhance theoretical knowledge.
The Mudéjar ceilings were made during the bishopric
of João Galvão in Coimbra, between 1460 and 1481,
to decorate the background of the high choir sup-
port of the Old Cathedral of Coimbra. The ceilings
are an example where the use of an ornamental
Islamic system corresponds perfectly to the reli-
gious needs of the Christian population. They date
from 1469, the likely construction date of the Old
Cathedral’s high choir. It is believed that they were
painted and gilded in 1477, as outlined on a wood
beam. “It was in 1469 that the choir was inaugurated.
It occupied all the space of a big nave from the main
door till the second pillars. Two arches [...] served
as support to the choir. Those from the first section
of the nave who would lift their eyes would see some
beautiful Mudéjar ceilings that dressed the choir
from underneath – these ceilings were precious and
very rare examples in Portugal.” [10].
It is from an albumin print dated 1880, of unknown
author and that belongs to the collection of Alex-
andre Ramires, and a sketch dated 1894, made
during the demolition by Prof. A. Gonçalves, that
we can seen with clarity the presence of the panels
covering completely the high choir support. The
campaigns in 1894 promoted by A. Gonçalves led
to the disappearance of much of the works, the
high choir being completely dismantled and the
pieces transferred to the then Bishop's Palace.
Later these were incorporated into the Museum
Collection – "The Mudéjars ceilings that were moved
from the Old Cathedral to the low lands of the new
cathedral were beautifully recovered here" [8].
Formal description and interventions after the execution
The ceilings, now measuring 406 x 595 cm (type
1) and 406 x 590 cm (type 2), have structures and
supports in chestnut wood, as the majority of the
lace ceilings known in Portugal. They are decorated
by alfarge work with geometric elements combined
74 e-conservation
Geographic Reference Name Function Date
Évora Azmede (Castilian Moorish) Carpenter 1466
Sintra João Cordeiro Carpenter 1508
Coimbra João Martins Painter 1413
Guimarães Garcia de Toledo Carpenter 1387-1411
Guimarães Gonçalo Domingues Painter 1387-1411
Guimarães João Garcia Painter 1387-1411
Caminha Fernam Munhoz (Tui, Galiza) Carpenter 1565
Table 2. Mudéjar woodwork in Portugal; referenced artists (painters and carpenters).
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
in the foreground in order to create similar inter-
laced patterns. The background is flat and poly-
chromed with red, blue, ochre, black and gold leaf.
The type 1 ceiling presents alfarge lace work in eight
and sixteen points. The ceiling is polychromed and
painted in shades of red, blue and gold in tempera
on a thin preparation layer with epigraphic motifs
in the centre of the azafate. The profiles, made in
woodwork and artistically intertwined, are painted
in white, red and gold. The geometric composition,
made of broken and tangled laces, forms 8 and
16-pointed stars in the middle of which are beau-
tiful golden rosettes.
The type 2 ceiling presents alfarge work with geo-
metric lace motifs, forming stars and interlaces,
although it shows a higher rigidity and styling.
The profiles are white, red and golden but they
preserve few traces of polychromy. We believe the
colour layer was removed due to the fact that the
new geometric composition of the profiles did not
match the then existing painted decoration.
An interesting aspect of the construction is that
there are profiles in both ceilings that are assumed
as part of the structural composition integrating
the secondary timbering of the panels and have
a decorative function at the same time.
Figures 4 and 5. Left: Plan of the first floor of the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, with original location of the ceiling (source: IHRU); Right: Albumin (owned by Alexandre Ramires) where the type 1 ceiling above the high choir can be observed. In our opinion, the ceilings would not form a completely horizontal plane, but 2 slopes broken by a soft horizontal, each composed of 9 sets of panels.
e-conservation 75
Figures 6 and 7. Type 1 and 2 ceilings, repetitive stylising used in the profile decoration.
MUDEJAR CEILINGS
What we see today is, in fact, only a diffuse image
of what was the original alfarge work and decora-
tion. As Dias refers in his attempt to organize the
Portuguese Mudéjar Architecture [5], what we can
see today at the National Museum Machado de
Castro are “parts of the ceilings which decorated
the entrance of the Old Cathedral”. The panels went
through several interventions, both on the struc-
ture and on the polychromy, which altered their
disposition and profile geometry. Interventions
included overpainting and application of finishing
and protection coatings such as waxes, varnishes,
etc. (table 3).
Laboratorial exams were performed to gather in-
formation for a better understanding of the charac-
teristics and execution technique of the ensemble
and of the sequence of previous interventions. It
was also sought to quantify and characterise the
stratigraphy, with the number and thickness of
layers, for a possible removal of the lower quality
interventions.
Analysis to the pigments present in the overpaint-
ings and polychromy were performed at the Center
Figures 10 and 11. Polychromy adjacent to the existing 'alfarge' work (evidence of intervention 1) and inadequate connection between different panels (evidence of intervention 4).
76 e-conservation
Figures 8 and 9. Construction system with double function elements: structural and decorative; type 1 panel, with combined 16-pointed lace. 1 - Bell; 2 - 'Azafate'; 3 - 'Ponta de Azafate'; 4 - 'Almendrilla'; 5 - 'Candilejo'; 6 - 'Aspilla'; 7 - 'Costadillo'.
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
of Conservation and Restoration of the School of
Arts of the Portuguese Catholic University in Porto.
The pigments were identified by Energy Dispersive
X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF).
There are few colours present. The areas analysed
by EDXRF identified iron, mercury and lead, from
earth pigments, vermilion and lead white, respec-
tively. These pigments are present both in the
original strata and in the overpaintings. An or-
ganic black was also identified.
The overlayers of pictorial strata were studied
through examinations of cross-section by optical
microscopy with reflected and polarized light at
different resolutions. The analysis of the fillers
present in the preparation layer was done by micro-
chemical tests which detected the presence of car-
bonate (chalk) and/or sulfate (gypsum) anions.
e-conservation 77
Original construction Type1 / Type 2 1477
Intervention 1 Type 2 Formal readjustment of the alfarge decorative elements Contemporary?
Intervention 2 Type 1 / Type 2 General surface overpaint with new finishing
Intervention 3 Type 2 Cleaning (scraping) with the removal of the colour layer (original and overpaint)
Intervention 4 Type 1 / Type 2 Formal readjustment of the structural elements for adaptation to a new location
Intervention 5 Type 1 / Type 2 General conservation work with application of new elements and wax-based protection layer
Contemporary? 1911?
3 to 5 important interventions after the original execution are accounted for
Table 3. Interventions after the execution; quantification, characterization and dating.
Sample location Elements identified Pigments present
Ca Fe Cu Ni Hg Pb Sr
Polychromy . Vermilion (HgS); lead-base pigment, possibly lead white (2PbCO3
.Pb(OH)2), earth pigments (FeOOH), calcium filler (gypsum)
Preparation layers
. calcium filler (gypsum), lead white (Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2), earth pigments (FeOOH), vermilion (HgS)
... ..
. . ..
Table 4. Chemical elements identified by EDXRF analysis and interpretation of the pigments present in the samples.
Figures 12 and 13. Microphotograph of cross-section obtained by optical microscopy.
MUDEJAR CEILINGS
In general, the panels present two main sequences
of strata: the first is the original one (strata 1 to 5)
and the second (strata 6 to 8) corresponds to the
overpaint. The preparation layer is essentially made
of calcium filler (gypsum). The particle size of the
filler is large and uniform and it was applied in two
different layers. It is likely to contain also lead
white, as identified in the EDXRF spectra. Areas
without filler were also observed due to lack of
cohesion between the particles and the binder.
Conservation state – identified degradations
Four types of degradations were identified in the
analysis of the conservation state of the ceilings:
the poor conservation condition of the support,
including a strong biological attack of the timber
support; the detachment of the colour layer of the
type 1 ceiling; the presence of numerous non-origi-
nal materials; the strong dirt accumulation, espe-
cially at the masonry level, where the weight of the
existing rubble combined with the low resistance
of the timbering could have induced a possible
collapse of the structure.
At structural level, a difference was noticed be-
tween the conservation state of timbering types:
the structural timbering of the building, mainly
the one of the type 1 ceiling was strongly degraded
by biological attack and led to its total replace-
ment (in case of type 2 ceiling, the conservation
state allowed its partial preservation after treat-
ment), and the structural timbering of the panels,
which presented similar degradations that are
described below.
The main degradation of the panels’ wood support
is related to the large number of fissures and cracks:
the natural movement of the wood, expansion and
contraction driven by continuous humidity changes,
combined with the strong oxidation of the nails
and its consequent volume increase resulted in the
appearance of major cracks. In the areas where
many nails were present, the iron corrosion products
contributed largely to the deterioration of the
wood support. Furthermore, the migration of the
corrosion products promoted by moisture altered
the colour layer as well. The structural timbering
of the panels presented similar degradations, having
been substituted due to the lack of resistance. The
possibility of its maintenance was considering but
this would imply the reinforcement with new wood
beams which would create weight problems and
Table 4. Description of the layers.
78 e-conservation
Layer description Thickness (µm)
1. White layer with presence of brown and translucent particles of different morphologies associated with the preparation layer
_
2. Translucent layer with possible isolating function 10
3. Orange layer applied in irregular shape, not visible in all the areas of the sample 15
4. Red layer consisting of birefringent vermilion particles 25-70
5. Gray layer consisting of white, brown and black particles of variable morphology 35
6. Irregular white layer of translucent particles 25-85
7. Red layer (vermilion) 10
8. Black layer with presence of birefringent particles 90
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
structural stability and, thus, the option was aban-
doned. It should also be mentioned that some
problems were observed due to the presence of
fungi and dry rot.
The conservation state of the polychromy also
presented considerable disparities, mainly due
to the massive loss of polychromy in the type 2
ceiling. The remaining polychromy was protected
by the relocation of the profiles and was in good
conservation state. Although type 1 ceiling pre-
serves more of the polychromy, it was poor conser-
vation condition, with numerous gaps of variable
size and depth and severe detachments and lack
of adhesion and cohesion between pictorial layers.
A pronounced darkening of all the surfaces should
also be noted, directly related to the existence of
a highly altered varnish and a thick superficial wax-
based layer, facilitating adhesion and accumulation
of dirt.
The ceilings were approached as a unique set in
the conservation treatment despite the fact that
it presented different pathologies and specific
problems. The panels of type 2 ceiling were in a
worse condition due to the location in the Old Ca-
thedral and in the museum. At the Old Cathedral,
the panels were always subject to varying levels
of moisture and temperature, and even exposed
to moisture from rain water or capillary ascension,
while at the museum they were subject to sun ex-
posure from north and south windows. However,
type 1 ceiling had more inventions, according to
the fact that a worst conservation state had re-
quired a higher number of interventions.
Therefore, and despite the problematic and parti-
cularities of each ceiling concerning the different
degradations and causes, our intervention on en-
semble aimed to achieve as final result an homo-
geneous quality in presentation, reading and aes-
thetic consistency.
Conservation-Restoration Intervention
The condition of the work itself defined the inter-
vention on the architectural wood structures,
making clear the materials to be used and the
operation mode. Obviously, such methodology
could not have been defined so precisely without
a clear assessment of the conservation state and
without performing diagnostic exams, interpre-
tation of data and compatibility tests.
The materials used in the intervention were chosen
taking into account not only their compatibility
with the original but also their reversibility and
stability in time, thereby safeguarding the integrity
of the object.
The operations and the technical specifications
followed the following outlines:
e-conservation 79
Intervention stages
Preliminary identification
Historic, artistic and technical identification;Specific photographic and graphic surveys;Definition of the degradations (mapping)
Digital photographyTechnical drawing (FreeHand)
Cleaning and local stabilisation
Protection and provisory fixation of the polychrome surface;General cleaning and removal of debris
Japanese paper and rabbit glue; manual and mechanical cleaning by controlled suction
MUDEJAR CEILINGS
The complete disassembly of the panels was un-
avoidable due to various reasons, such as the
treatment in the atelier and the relocation, and
to facilitate the proper treatment of support and
structures. Nevertheless, efforts were made, when-
ever possible, to avoid fragmentation and to safe-
guard various original elements such as connectors
and assembling parts, often neglected.
The intervention could have been limited to stop
the degradation process, hoping that the museum
environment, providing the best storage and ex-
hibition conditions, would act on the deterioration
agents. There were, however, numerous previous
interventions that needed to be corrected in order
not to induce perception errors of the whole com-
position: the ceilings were not designed for the
same place; the original number and arrangement
of the panels was not the actual one; the lace
geometric decoration in the case of type 1 ceiling
did not correspond to the original, and the poly-
Table 5. Stages in the conservation treatment and respective technical specifications.
80 e-conservation
Total disassembly, element conditioning and transport to the studio
Manual process, cell-air film and transport
Treatment of the colour layer
In depth cleaning;
General fixation;Application of final protective film
General cleaning: commercial anionic agent (C2000) in distilled water (60/40);Overpaint removal: mechanical (scalpel) and chemical -punctually (DMF+Xylene);
Rabbit glue; Acrylic resin Paraloid B72, in xylene
Levelling of gaps;Inpainting of lacunas;Application of finishing layer
Commercial filler (Modostuc)Acrylics W&N and pigments in Paraloid B72Acrylic mate varnish W&N (polychromy) and wax (reverse)
Wood treatment and others
Disinfestation Commercial product (Xylofene) by impregnation and injection
Consolidation;Restoration
Acrylic resin Paraloid B72 (3,5% – 21%);Wood from the same essence as the original, balsa and commercial cetone-based pastes
Execution of decorative elements;Treatment of metallic elements (bolts and others)
Wood from the same essence as the original; tannic acid (stabilisation) and Paraloid B72 (protection)
Treatment of the structural elements
Planning
Implementation of structural elements or restoration of the original, if the preservation state allowed for its reuse
Chestnut wood
Assembly; Threaded rods
Revision of the treatment performed on the golden polychromy
Intervention technical report
Preparation of technical documentation
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
chromy was altered by the overpaints, extensively
in case of type 2 ceiling.
The decision to remove the overpaintings was taken
after the assessment and study of the conservation
state of the underlying polychromy and it was con-
ditioned by two factors: the existence of original
paint in a relatively good condition and the thick-
ness and resistance of the overpaint layer which
could not exceed those of the original layer, in
order not to jeopardize its integrity during the
removal.
The inpainting sought to give a uniform reading
of the ensemble in order to recover its full artistic
potential. Often, with the absolute respect for the
authenticity and integrity of works of art, one of
the most important factors of a work may be dis-
regarded: its aesthetic value. How many times what
captures our attention in a recently conserved
work is precisely the lacunas that, under the excuse
of pseudo-deontology, are religiously maintained
highlighted? Indeed, this aspect plays an impor-
tant role in the concept of an artistic work and even
in the most controversial cases, its conservation
should prevail.
Thus, without resorting to technical or material
mimetism, the inpainting sought to restore the
general reading of the panels. Retouching was
made on the gold layer of the profiles in order to
regain the continuity of the geometric work of the
alfarge, on the central motifs with rosettes, on
those elements of the new support which prevented
a continuous reading of the background panels (in
some cases just by applying a patina) and punctual
areas such as lacunas that disturbed the overall
aspect either by their size or importance.
The contextualisation of the ceilings in a museum
may be seen as a loss of the value of use, i.e., the
inherent value to the purpose for which the panels
had been designed and their function. However, Figure 14. Constructive scheme for a dynamic system of the panel assembly.
e-conservation 81
the panels disposition and location still succeed
to convey their function as ceilings and architec-
tural elements, and yet, they no longer have that
function that is now performed by a plaster false
ceiling. The panels were exhibited by a horizontal
layout that by far best corresponds to the physical
need of the building and even to the aesthetic
reading of the geometric work of the alfarge, with-
out distorting or altering it.
The relocation of the Mudéjar ceilings was included
from the beginning in the architectural project.
Originally, it was planned to locate the two ceil-
ings in separate rooms but the project was revised
so that the relocation could be made in a single
room.
The architectural project also comprised the as-
sembly of the panels based on a practical two-way
system: on the one hand, convenient for conser-
vation, as the system allows the treatment of
individual panels because they were mounted
individually; and on the other hand, advantageous
for exhibition, by changing in a simple way their
distance from the floor. The mounting system in-
cludes the use of numerous threaded rods that
allow the vertical movement of the panels, changing
the exhibiting distance with 15 to 100 cm from
the ceiling and makes possible the partial or total
disassembly for future maintenance operations.
MUDEJAR CEILINGS
References:
[1] P. Dias, Geografia Mudéjar: Portugal, El
Mudéjar Iberoamericano, del Islam al Nuevo
Mundo, Barcelona, 1996
[2] A. Vasconcelos, Sé-Velha de Coimbra, Imprensa
da Universidade, Coimbra, 1930
[3] A. Gonçalves, Enumeração das obras prepa-
rativas para a instalação do Museu Machado
de Castro, Coimbra, 1929
[4] P. Dias, Arquitectura Mudéjar Portuguesa:
tentativa de sistematização, mare Liberum,
no. 8, Lisboa 1994
Other bibliography
A Arte Islâmica – A estética islâmica na Arte Cristã,
Civilização, Lisboa, 2000
A. Amaral, Digital Ortho-photos & Photogram-
metric Restitution - Ceiling of Mother-Church of
Caminha, Porto, 2006
Catálogo Guia. Museu Machado de Castro.
Secções de Arte e Arqueologia, Coimbra, 1941
V. Correia and A. N. Gonçalves, Inventário
Artístico de Portugal. Cidade de Coimbra,
Lisboa, 1947
P. Dias, Arquitectura de Coimbra na transição
do gótico para a Renascença, 1490-1540,
Coimbra, 1982
P. Dias, Techos Mudéjares, El Manuelino -
El Arte Portuguesa en la época de los
Descubrimientos, Electa, Lisboa, 2002
Notas, Museu Machado de Castro, Coimbra,
1916
82 e-conservation
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTAConservator-Restorer
Contact: ccosta@samthiago.comWebsite: http://www.samthiago.comPhone: 00351 96 410 88 12 (PT)
Conclusion
It was an intense challenge to assimilate such
complex project of rehabilitation; it was also a
great responsibility to carry on an intervention on
the heritage of a museum that is without doubt
one of the most important, well equipped and
planned in terms of design on a national level.
The communication between a the members of a
large working team - architects, engineers, cura-
tors, archaeologists, historians – with the collabo-
ration of various professions - construction, car-
pentry, electricity, archaeology and conservation
- actually represented a big challenge, which gave
everyone a broad work experience that no theo-
retical knowledge can replace.
Carlos Costa (b. 1980) is a conservator-restorer
graduated from the New University of Lisbon in
2003. From 2001 to 2004 he worked in part-time
as a freelance for several conservation enterprises
from Portugal. In 2005 he co-founded the con-
servation-restoration company Atelier Samthiago,
where he is a managing partner.
CARLOS JOSÉ ABREU DA SILVA COSTA
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e-conservationline
No. 12, December 2009
ISSN: 1646-9283
Registration Number125248
Entidade Reguladorapara a Comunicação Social
Propertye-conservationline, Teodora Poiata
PeriodicityBimonthly
CoverPhoto by Hussein Hassan M.H. Mahmoud,
Detail of a painted inscription from a tomb in Saqqara necropolis, Egypt
Executive EditorRui Bordalo
EditorsTeodora Poiata, Anca Nicolaescu
CollaboratorsAnca Dinã
Daniel Cull
Graphic Design and PhotographyAnca Poiata, Radu Matase
ExecutionTeodora Poiata
Address Rua de Santa Catarina, nº 467, 4D4480-779 Vila do Conde, Portugal
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