e-Conservation Magazine • 11

e_conservationthe online magazine No. 11, October 2009

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Software development for conservation (or the lack of it)

e_conservation

The most frequent objects that the public usually associates with conservation-restoration are

probably a scalpel and a brush. But nowadays our field is far away from previous empirical times,

being supported by a series of scientific disciplines that allow the conservator-restorer to plan the

best possible intervention. These last decades have been dominated by a series of technological

advances in the widest possible areas, including computer technology, turning our days into the

‘Information Age’. In fact, computers are present in most of the fields that complement

conservation-restoration today, such as, for example, analytical chemistry, environmental

sciences, etc. Computer technology, however, is still almost absent from the conservation process.

Of course in almost every workshop there is at least one computer but its function is not directly

related to conservation: it is mostly used for internet browsing and Office-type or image editing

software, isn’t it?

Within this panorama, the need for specific software for conservation-restoration becomes

obvious. I cannot say, honestly, that creating or adapting software for our professional use has not

already been attempted, however its absence from our work does not in the least surprise me.

Besides the fact that our options are very limited, there may be various reasons for this, such as

the poor level of programming, lack of scalability, non-user friendly interface or limited features.

Software industry is a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. Most of it is monopolized either by

giant companies who make software for other giant companies or directly for home-users, or by

small companies for niche markets. Thus, the lack of well-known specific software for conservation

is either because there are no ‘giant’ conservation-restoration companies or because our ‘niche’

was never considered a very fruitious market.

In this perspective, for example, museums and libraries have been much more prolific, as it is

relatively easy to find specific, even open source software for these fields. One of the main

concerns of institutions worldwide is to digitalize records in order to safeguard and organise their

collections. Thus, collection management software is an indispensable tool. Comparable software

for conservation would be one to manage the important and unique documentation of our

projects. All those records that we produce for each individual intervention could profit

enormously from specific management software. So why are we behind so many other fields of

equal importance? There are several reasons that I can think of, among which the lack of data

standards, low economic importance or even disinterest.

On the positive side, a step forward is now being made by a project, funded by the Mellon

Foundation, which intends to develop “ConservationSpace”, documentation management software

which is exclusively designed for conservation-restoration. The project is led by conservators and

other museum professionals, although any private conservator from around the world will be able

to benefit from it, as it will be released as Open Source. This software is, in a certain way, a major

breakthrough, because it will help to establish some standards and it will raise awareness of these

needs among conservators. At the same time, I can only hope that this is an awakening call to

entrepreneurs to start developing software applications to this so needed field.

Rui Bordalo

Editor in Chief

www.prorestauro.com

NEWS 6

ARTICLES

CASE STUDY

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ARP PROCEEDINGS 55

CONFERENCE REVIEW

CAPITAL CULTURA

Development through Culture: the Road to Sustainability

September 21-22, 2009, Sibiu, Romania

Review by Raluca Pop

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Culture (2007-2013) Programme

Florence’s 1st International Art and Restoration Fair

UPCOMING EVENTS

October-November 2009

Conservation on the Cyber Frontier

By Daniel Cull

Let's Paint a Ruin

The Conservation of the Steel Coal Tower in Voelklinger Huette

By Kornelius Götz and Axel Böcker

The Ghalwar Mosque and Girls School.

A Project Recently Re-examined

Danish Contribution in Post-War Conservation of Afghanistan

Heritage in Herat, 1993-94

By Abdul Wasay Najimi

Knowing Hodart and His Work

The Conservation-Restoration of the Last Supper

By Catarina Gersão de Alarcão

The Monastery of Saint Mary of Alcobaça

The Conservation-Restoration of the Sanctuary Reliquaries

By André Varela Remígio

The Use of Wax-Resin in Conservation Treatments

of Gilded Surfaces

By Elsa Filipe de Andrade Murta

EVENTS

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sReview by Raluca Pop

CAPITAL CULTURA was the 7th annual forum or-

ganized by the Consultancy Centre for European

Cultural Programmes (CCECP). A public institution

responsible for providing information, technical

consultancy and support in finding partners for

some European Union funding programmes dedi-

cated to culture, the CCECP annual event offers re-

levant themes for debate and creates networking

opportunities to national and regional cultural

operators.

Culture and sustainable development were in fo-

cus this year, as the forum set out to emphasize

the importance of integrating the dimension of

culture into the theory and practice of sustain-

able development. The discussions looked at the

role culture can play in the sustainable develop-

ment and in return, the way in which community

action or non-action interferes in the life and

work of artistic creators, but also, many times as

well, unfortunately with devastating results, on

built cultural heritage. Nevertheless, the view of

the debates was always set on the future, trying

to identify resources for the support of artistic

creation and the valorization of cultural heritage,

while at the same time considering the European

context and the necessity to protect and promote

European cultural diversity and enhance European

citizenship.

First day discussion started with a contribution

of Ms. Andreea Paul (Vass), personal councilor of

the Romanian Prime-Minister, which spoke about

the contribution of cultural activities to the eco-

Organisers: Organised with the financial

support of the Romanian Ministry of

Culture, Religious Affairs and National

Heritage and of the European Commis-

sion, that co-finance the activity of the

Romanian Cultural Contact Point and of

the Europe for Citizens Point Romania.

These structures are hosted by the Con-

sultancy Centre for European Cultural

Programmes that puts forward individual

action plans of specific activities each

year. The 2009 forum was organized in

partnership by these 2 structures and

reflected their common interest in investi-

gating the relationship between culture,

European citizenship and sustainable

development.

e_conservation

September 21-22, 2009 Sibiu, Romaniahttp://www.cultura2007.ro

CAPITAL CULTURADevelopment through Culture: the Road to Sustainability

CONFERENCE REVIEW

nomy and the need to take into consideration

cultural and creative industries, as one of the key

pillars of economic development for the future

and, from the point of view of culture in general,

an important opportunity to convince the Govern-

ment that culture deserves more financial support.

Next was the presentation of Ms. Sabine Borne-

mann, consultant for the Culture Programme in

Germany. She spoke about the way in which the

European Union supports culture, underlying the

philosophy behind its main financing instrument

for direct support: the Culture Programme, trying

to give a better understanding of the programme’s

'playing rules' - which are intended to protect the

independence of the national cultural sectors -

and the obligatory 'European Added Value'. A

short excursion to EU-programmes of other policy

areas, or different funds, which might be inter-

esting for cultural projects, alongside indication

of webportals in different languages, which help

cultural operators to access these, completed the

presentation. Ms. Marcela Strakova, consultant

for the Europe for Citizens Programme in the Czech

Republic and Ms. Oana Bãluţescu from Romania

presented this funding ooportunity and provided

interesting project examples.

As one of the main objectives of CAPITAL CULTURA

was to shed light on the concrete contribution

the EU has been making to the valorization of

cultural assets and cultural creation as an active

ingredient of programmes targeting sustainable

development, one could not miss to present the

impact of the European Capital of Culture Programme

for the Sibiu region from 2007 onwards, when the

city acted in this role, alongside Luxembourg. Mr.

Constantin Chiriac, director of the Sibiu Interna-

tional Theatre Festival and Mr. Nanu Ilie Dan, mem-

ber of the implementation team from the part of

the public authorities involved in the Programme

offered their opinions to the public. The main

idea channeling through the presentations was

the value of partnerships and cooperation in the

cultural sector in general, as one of the 3 ways

the organizers sought useful to address the theme

of forum. Successful initiatives that involved re-

gional and transnational partnerships, joint use

of resources and development of joint adminis-

trative services (personnel, logistics, infrastruc-

ture) for artistic creation, such as the Programme

developed in Sibiu in 2007 and the Mains d’Oeuvres

(Saint-Ouen, France) experience were as such in-

troduced to the participants. Ms. Angela Conquet

presented the latter. Soon enough, in October 2009,

a handful of artist organizations and individuals

will open a similar cultural space for creation and

exhibition in Cluj-Napoca. Mr. Istvan Szakats, pres-

ident of AltArt Foundation, one of the Members

of the Brush Factory (the soon to be opened cul-

tural space) made clear what is the philosophical

fundament of the initiative and their thought

stance concerning the European Union and the

role of art in the public sphere.

We then moved on to the second part of the forum,

as Mr. Vladimir Simon introduced us to the focus

of the next set presentations: cross-sectoral de-

velopment, ways to support and harness culture,

research, creative industries, education, heritage

and traditional craftsmanship in projects dealing

with territorial cohesion. We were swiftly intro-

duced to the innovative methods of restoration

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

developed by CERTO – Institute of Optoelectronics

by using laser technology in artworks. Ms. Roxana

Radvan, coordinator of the Centre, presented the

way in which laser technology uses the “memory

of light” to bring information and concrete resto-

ration. Participant in more than 4 European re-

search and cultural project, CERTO was dedicated

a special case-study brochure, as part of the works

of the Romanian Cultural Contact Point (hosted by

CCECP), available for free at request.

Moving on towards the end of day, Mr. Ovidiu Danes,

president of the DALA Foundation, presented the

project “60 wooden churches from Northern Ol-

tenia and Southern Transylvania”, impressive work

in two very different ways: on one hand, the en-

thusiasm and dedication of the people involved in

the project, among which more than 200 volun-

teers, and on the other, the terrible condition many

of the wooden churches are found in. The situation

requires, in some cases, urgent intervention for

protection, and an appeal was made, not without

some echo, to the participants at the forum. At

the other end of the cultural spectrum, the sup-

port and approach towards creative industries

were portrayed by Mrs. Corina Rãceanu, which also

indicated the massive contribution this sector

makes to the economy, relative to others that

bring about much more legal and financial sup-

port from the State. The day came to an end with

an inspiring and motivating input by Mr Alexandru

Andrãşanu, coordinator of the Geomedia Centre

from the University of Bucharest, responsible for

the European Geopark of “Ţara Haţegului”, and

that showed us the way in which this form of terri-

torial marking and organization can represent an

important tool for European cooperation, for the

benefit of the community and in line with the prac-

tice of sustainable development.

Second and last day of CAPITAL CULTURA moved

us again into a slightly different direction, that

of territorial cohesion, from where we tried to

make sense of the role and impact that culture

can have in the context of cultural operators’ in-

volvement in pluri-sectorial groups of initiative

based on regional partnerships. Moderated by Mr.

Andrãşanu, this session proved to be an energetic

and thought-provoking ending for the forum. It

started with a presentation of the implementation

of LEADER Programme in Romania and the National

Network for Rural Development, performed by Mr.

Valentin Tudorache, from the regional public au-

thority in charge for the programme and it con-

tinued with a short resume of a material sent by

Ms. Lena Bergils, former coordinator of “Impact

Hälsingland” Leader plus area in Sweden and na-

tional coordinator in the Cult-Rural European Cul-

ture project from the part of the Swedish Local

Heritage Federation.

In the final part of the event, again under the

theme of territorial cohesion and the potential

role and impact of culture, were discussions with

specialists actively involved in research, develop-

ment and accommodating cultural and scientific

information for targeted groups of beneficiaries:

Mr. Dan Palcu (MZC Crossover Communication), Mr.

Ştefan Bâlici (Arhitecturã-Restaurare-Arheologie

Association) and Mr. Mihai Dragomir (Mioritics

Association). They presented us some reflection upon

their work and debated over the idea of rural tour-

ism as solution for the development of different

regions. Intellectually challenging and offering

e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

valuable insight on some of the most discussed

development and cultural projects in Romania in

the last few years: Roşia Montanã, the Haţeg Euro-

pean Geopark and the Cultural Route of the Saxon

Fortified Churches in Transylvania, the debate also

stimulated valuable opinions of Ms. Mioara Lujan-

schi, coordinator of the Romanian Cultural Contact

Point and Mr. Alexandru Andrãşanu, who moderated

the discussions.

Further on during the day, participants interested

in advanced artwork conservation and restoration

techniques also had the opportunity to join in the

LACONA 8 conference organized by the National

Institute of Research and Development for Opto-

electronics.

CAPITAL CULTURA sought to bring together guests

from abroad and from Romania who, along with

the other participants, would together to identify

those aspects of artists’ and cultural operators’

activity that could represent the key to a sustain-

able development and to supporting the conditions

of artistic creation. At the same time, the event

tried to launch an invitation for local authorities,

significant actors in community development,

who can build an extremely relevant relationship:

between culture and active European citizenship.

This initiative emerged from the belief that artistic

activity and cultural heritage resources are an

important community capital for sustainable de-

velopment and that each social actor has a well-

defined role in strengthening and valorizing this

potential.

Review by Raluca Pop,

Consultant for the Romanian Cultural Contact

Point, hosted by the Consultancy Center for

European Cultural Programmes.

Consultancy Center for European Cultural Programmes

57 Barbu Delavrancea str, district 1, postal code

011353, Bucharest, Romania

Tel / Fax: +4021 316 60 60; +4021 316 60 61

www.eurocult.ro; [email protected]

The Consultancy Centre for European Cultural

Programmes hosts the activities of the Romanian

Cultural Contact Point, the Media-Desk and the

Europe for Citizens Point.

9

10 e_conservation

CULTURE (2007-2013) PROGRAMME

NEWS

Background

Culture is a relatively new sphere of action for the

European Union, at least from a legal standpoint:

the legal basis for EU action in this field was only

introduced in 1992 with the Maastricht Treaty. This

action is aimed at encouraging and supporting

co-operation within Europe in order to bring the

European common cultural heritage to the fore.

The European Commission encourages culture in

two ways:

- through policies, chiefly cultural policy, and by

mainstreaming the cultural dimension in other

areas of EU interest such as for instance in com-

petition or industrial policy;

- and through financial support, primarily via

the Culture (2007-2013) Programme, but also

via other actions such as for example within the

framework of regional policy.

Objectives of the Culture Programme

The general objective is to enhance the cultural

area shared by Europeans, which is based on a com-

mon cultural heritage, through the development

of cooperation activities among cultural operators

from eligible countries, with a view to encouraging

the emergence of European citizenship.

The specific objectives of the Programme are:

- promotion of the transnational mobility of people

working in the cultural sector;

- support for the transnational circulation of cul-

tural and artistic works and products;

- promotion of intercultural dialogue.

Timeframe: 1 January 2007 - 31 December 2013.

Budget: 400 million Euros.

Strands of the Programme

Strand 1: Support for Cultural Projects

Cultural organisations are given support for pro-

jects to work together across borders and to create

and implement cultural and artistic activities. The

aim of this strand is to help organisations, such

as theatres, museums, professional associations,

research centres, universities, cultural institutes

and public authorities from different countries

participating in the Programme to co-operate so

that different sectors can work together and extend

their cultural and artistic reach across borders.

This strand is divided into four categories, which

are detailed below.

Strand 1.1: Multi-annual Co-operation Projects

(lasting from three to five years)

The first category seeks to foster multi-annual,

trans-national cultural links by encouraging a

minimum of six cultural operators from at least

six eligible countries to cooperate and work with-

in and across sectors to develop joint cultural activi-

ties over a period of three to five years. Funds of

between a minimum of EUR 200.000 and a maxi-

mum of EUR 500.000 per year are available, but

EU support is limited to a maximum of 50% of

the total eligible cost. The funding is intended

to help set up or extend the geographical reach

of a project and make it sustainable beyond the

funding period.

11e_conservation

NEWS

Strand 1.2.1: Co-operation Projects (lasting up to

twenty four months)

The second category concerns actions shared by

at least three cultural operators, working within

and across sectors, from at least three eligible coun-

tries over a maximum period of two years. Actions

that explore means of long-term co-operation are

especially targeted. Funds of between EUR 50.000

and EUR 200.000 are available, but EU support is

limited to a maximum of 50% of the total eligible

cost.

Strand 1.2.2: Literary Translation Projects (lasting

up to twenty four months)

EU support for Literary Translation projects is

aimed at enhancing knowledge of the literature

and literary heritage of fellow Europeans by way

of promoting the circulation of literary works be-

tween countries. Publishing houses can be awarded

grants for translations and publication of works of

fiction from one European language into another Eu-

ropean language. Funds of between EUR 2.000 and

EUR 60.000 are available, but EU support is limited

to a maximum of 50% of the total eligible cost.

Strand 1.3: Co-operation Projects with Third Coun-

tries (lasting up to twenty four months)

The fourth category seeks to support cultural co-

operation projects aimed at cultural exchanges

between the countries taking part in the Pro-

gramme and third countries, which have con-

cluded association or cooperation agreements

with the EU, provided that the latter contain cul-

tural clauses. The co-operation projects involve

at least three cultural operators, from at least

three eligible countries and cultural cooperation

with at least one organisation from the selected

third country and/or involve cultural activities

carried out in the selected third country. Funds

of between EUR 50.000 and maximum EUR

200.000 are available, but EU support is limited

to maximum 50% of the total eligible cost.

Every year one or more third country(ies) is/are

selected for that particular year. The country(ies)

is/are indicated each year on the website of the

Executive Agency at the latest 4 months before

the deadline for submission indicated in the fixed

Programme Calendar (available in the Programme

Guide).

Strand 2: Support for Organisations Active at European Level in the Field of Culture

Apart from direct support for cooperation projects,

the Programme gives grants to cultural organisa-

tions working, or wanting to work, at European level

in the field of culture for their operating costs.

The grant awarded under this strand is a support

to operating costs incurred for the permanent

activities of beneficiary organisations.

Four categories of organisations are eligible un-

der this strand:

- Ambassadors;

- Advocacy networks;

- Festivals;

- Policy support structures for the Culture Agenda,

further divided into two subcategories: structured

dialogue platforms and policy analysis groupings.

Funds of maximum between EUR 100.000 and EUR

600.000 are available, depending on the category

applied for, but EU support is limited to maximum

80% of the total eligible costs.

Strand 3: Support for Analyses and for the Collection and Dissemination of Information and for Maximising the Impact of Projects in the Field of Cultural Co-operation

12 e_conservation

NEWS

Support is available for analysis and dissemination

activities that help collect and research results in

response to the need for strong quantitative evi-

dence in the cultural sector and evaluate them

in the light of the objectives of the Programme.

The Programme also supports the collection and

dissemination of information and activities aimed

at maximising the impact of projects. It promotes

the exchange of experience and good practice and

the dissemination of information concerning the

Programme as well as trans-European cultural co-

operation in the broad sense.

Participating Countries

- the EU Member States;

- the EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway);

- Countries candidate to EU membership (Croatia,

Turkey and Former Yugoslavia Republic of Mace-

donia) plus Serbia.

The countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bos-

nia-Herzegovina and Montenegro) could become

eligible in the future, subject to the conclusion of

a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the

participation of each of those countries in the

Programme.

Eligible Actions and Applicants

The Programme supports projects, organisations,

promotional activities and research in all branches

of culture, except the audiovisual branch for which

there is a separate programme named MEDIA.

Cultural operators, including cultural enterprises,

can participate in the Programme as long as they

are acting in a non-profit-making cultural capacity.

Eligible applicants must be a public or private or-

ganisation with legal personality, whose principal

activity is in the cultural sphere (cultural and cre-

ative sectors) and must have their registered legal

seat in one of the eligible countries.

Individual persons are not eligible to apply for a

grant under this Programme.

Management of the Programme

The European Commission's Directorate General

for Education and Culture (DGEAC) is responsible

for the Programme and directly manages some of

its activities, while most of them are implemented

by delegation through the Education, Audiovisual

and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which oper-

ates under its control.

Cultural Contact Points

The Cultural Contact Points provide, at national

level, information and guidance to those interested

in applying under this Programme.

More information about the Programme can be

found at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/in-

dex_en.htm, as well as in the Programme Guide:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/guide/docu-

ments/culture_programme_guide_en.pdf.

Information and assistance can also be provided

by the Cultural Contact Point of Romania for the

Culture 2007-2013 Programme (functions inside

the Consultancy Centre for European Cultural

Programmes)

Tel/fax: +40 213166060; +40 213166061; e-mail:

[email protected]; www.cultura2007.ro

13e_conservation

FLORENCE’S 1ST INTERNATIONAL ART AND RESTORATION FAIR

The fair will take place from 29th to 31st of October

2009, at the Stazione Leopolda Exhibition Centre,

and is organised by the non-profit organisation

ISTUR-CHT (Culture Heritage Tourism) in partner-

ship with prominent Florentine institutions and

organisations, under the patronage of the Italian

National Commission for UNESCO, the Ministry of

Fine Arts and Culture, the Italian Environment Fund,

the Italian Government Tourism Board and the

National Research Council among others.

The event aims to provide a forum for exchange of

information between organisations, schools, com-

panies and professionals involved in the field of

cultural heritage conservation. The presence of

international participants will make possible the

comparison of materials and techniques used by

professionals and of the research and innovation

that emerged in this sector.

The venue, the railway station from the first half

of the 19th century, offers 6,000 sqm space of ex-

hibition to 150 national and international parti-

cipants. The 3-day event will bring together over

30,000 visitors from all over the world.

Along with the showcase, there are over 100 events

such as conferences, panel discussions, seminars,

specialised workshops and technical meetings

scheduled to take place within the exhibition areas

but also hosted by institutions, museums and li-

braries in Florence. A pavilion has been set aside

for training institutions to receive young people

and students who will be given the opportunity

to benefit from the technical expertise, work ex-

perience and demonstrations of well-established

specialists.

The event is worth attending because, as the or-

ganisers promise, “participating in the Fair does

not just mean being part of a large international

showcase of art and restoration, it also means

joining forces to create a new direction for the

future of conservation, restoration and promotion

of artistic, cultural and environmental heritage”.

Further information:http://www.salonerestaurofirenze.org

Contact: [email protected]

NEWS

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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.

Symposium XVII for the Study of Underdrawing and Technology in Painting

Rogier van der Weyden (1400-1464) in context

Date: 22-24 October Read more...

Place: Leuven, Belgium

Four themes concerning the artist will be ex-

plored: Technical studies concerning paintings,

drawings, sculptures, miniature paintings and

other works of art by the artist and his follow-

ers; Studies of underdrawings in his paintings,

his painting practice, materials and technique;

Documentary sources, archival and historio-

graphical research; Research on iconography

and iconology in his paintings.

NZCCM National Conference

Date: 21-23 October 2009 Read more...

Place: Auckland, New Zealand

The intention of the New Zealand Conservators

of Cultural Material conference is to examine

the public face of conservation and how the

profession can remain relevant in a rapidly

changing world. The conference will provide a

forum for discussion about conservation in New

Zealand, its past and its future. The topic will

include: how conservation has changed, new

approaches to conservation and historical per-

spectives; contemporary problems and contem-

porary solutions, conservation treatments,

research or preventive approaches.

Octo

ber 2

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Crossing Borders: The Conservation, Science and Material Culture of East Asian Lacquer

The Art of Conservation - materials, methods and ethics

Date: 26-27 October Read more...

Place: London, UK

The conference comprises a series of lectures and discus-

sions about current techniques and materials used by

conservators of inorganic and organic two and three

dimensional art, and the ethical dilemmas these can

create. A fascinating overview of current conservation

practice will be provided, which will appeal equally to

the interested layman as the experienced art expert.

Date: 30-31 October Read more...

Place: London, UK

Art historical papers will explore aspects of lacquer

history including the trade in lacquer in Asia and Europe.

Scientific papers will include lacquer analysis, the use

of solvents for cleaning lacquer, stress measurement in

lacquer films, and new evidence of the use of South East

Asian materials in seventeenth century Japanese export

lacquer. Conservation papers will discuss risk factors

for lacquer collections, cleaning techniques, and the

photo-degradation of lacquer and potential conservation

treatments.

Planned Conservation of XXth Century Architectural Heritage

Date: 30-31 October Read more...

Place: Como, Italy

The event will focus on the state-of-art of Planned Conser-

vation, highlighting researches, policies and practices of an

effective conservation of XXth century architectural heritage.

Como City Council will present the planned conservation

program of three emblematic case studies: Asilo Sant’Elia,

Monumento ai Caduti and Fontana di Camerlata.

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Reflex or reflection? Actors and decision-making in conservation-restoration

14th International Congress "Cultural Heritage and New Technologies"

Date: 16-18 November Read more...

Place: Vienna, Austria

Archiving is today central to nearly all aspects of Cultural

Heritage Management. Archives are important data repo-

sitories. The data contained in correctly treated and acces-

sible archives makes wide and varied information available.

This workshop will focus on how can archiving in all its

aspects best promote knowledge about and support the

protection and conservation of cultural heritage.

Date: 19-20 November Read more...

Place: Bruxelles, Belgium

The colloquium will try to respond several questions:

Has restoration become a reflex, an automatism for the

conservator/restorer? Or is it the result of a long period

of reflection? Is there a golden mean between on the

one hand doing nothing, leaving time to do its work

and let the work of art die a natural death, or on the

other hand a thorough restoration trying to return to

how it once was? Isn't conservation-restoration always

a happy medium, but where exactly? And why?

Talha e Escultura

Simpósio Conservação e Restauro – Preservar o Passado,

Garantir o Futuro

Date: 26-27 November Read more...

Place: Porto, Portugal

As intervenções de conservação e restauro efectuadas

sobre o património artístico, dados os progressos cien-

tíficos e tecnológicos registados nas últimas décadas,

transformaram-se por completo, conduzindo à instalação

de uma nova atitude.

INFuture2009: Digital Resources and Knowledge Sharing

Preservation in the City Without Limits

Date: 2-6 November Read more...

Place: Los Angeles, USA

The conference will examine the scientific, engineering

and technical ramifications of preserving a modern metro-

polis rich with historic resources. Professionals from around

the world will address what constitutes appropriate tech-

nology at a time when the pace of technology development

is increasing and technological tools – which once took

generations to change – now evolve daily.

Date: 4-6 November Read more...

Place: Zagreb, Croatia

The scope of the Conference includes, but is not limited

to the following topics: Virtual environment in education;

Using open-source solutions in cultural heritage; Know-

ledge management; Using information resources in re-

search, education and presentation; Digitization and

preservation; Language technologies; e-Services, e-

Government and business applications; Special session:

Doctoral colloquium.

Glazing, Coating, Lacquering

Date: 13 November Read more...

Place: Munich, Germany

The central theme of the colloquium will be coloured glazes

(red, green, yellow) on metallic leaves and their use on

polychrome works of art in the Baroque and Rococo periods.

Various aspects of this technique will be discussed especially

the examination and analysis of its multi-layered build-up

and material composition using newly improved analytical

methods. The languages of the colloquium will be German

and English.

Nove

mbe

r 200

9

EVENTS

15

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CONSERVATION ON THE CYBER FRONTIER

The recent history of conservation, as a science and profession, has seen some interesting points of confluence between conservation and the internet. This short article provides an overview of the development of the internet from its inception, to todays Web 2.0, and on to potential futures. Tracing the history of connections between the profession and the technology, the paper suggests the ‘hack’ as a metaphor by which conservation theory and practice could connect. This paper exclusively cites works freely available from the internet, in order to demonstrate the wealth of accessible information.

by Daniel Cull

The Glider: A Universal Hacker Emblem

CONSERVATION ON THE CYBER FRONTIER

19e_conservation

Introduction

"We have just gotten a wake-up call from the Nintendo

Generation". (Cereal Killer in 'Hackers', 1995)1

The internet first blinked into existence on Octo-

ber 29th, 1969 marking the occasion by promptly

crashing after transmitting the letters ‘L’ and ‘O’

[1], lo and behold despite the crash a “consensual

hallucination” [2, pp.51] was born. Today our daily

lives, and our resulting social relationships and

material culture, are made, re/shaped, and me-

diated through this hallucination. From the sky-

scrapers of the North Atlantic region, to jungle

clearings in Chiapas, to any given conservation

lab, on any given day, the internet is changing the

ways in which we interact with the world, and one

another. This paper focuses upon those potential

points of confluence between conservation and

‘cyberspace’; it can also be considered an attempt

at an auto-ethnographic study of my own place

as an ethnographic conservator IRL (in real life -

to use the internet nomenclature) as well as within

cyberspace. The paper is lastly an exploration of

the potential understandings that conservators

could reach with museums, collections, and the

world, in our collective embrace of these new

technologies and digital culture.

Hacking as Metaphor

The hacker community (or sub-culture) has been

significant to the development of the internet

and digital culture, this paper contends that the

conservation profession could use the ideas of

the hacker community as both a metaphor and

a means of coming to an understanding between

conservation and the internet. Halpin [3, p.162]

suggests: “We must all be technologists, finding

what computer jargon calls hacks: elegant and

clever ways of solving our problems employing

the materials at hand”. It is the hope of this au-

thor that conservators will instantly recognize

this position as analogous to their daily work;

looking around the laboratory ask yourself how

many of the instruments, tools, and materials were

designed for conservation, and how many have

been adapted to suit (hacked)? “The beginnings

of the hacker culture as we know it today can be

conveniently dated to 1961, the year MIT acquired

the first PDP-1” [4, ch. 3]. It was at the Massachu-

setts Institute of Technology (MIT) that todays

programming tools, slang, and culture of hacking

developed, and although writings about hackers

widely exist, they vary considerably in their ac-

curacy and merit. Therefore considering writings

by hackers would be more conducive to gaining a

greater understanding of the culture, and although

there are no official canonical texts of hacking cul-

ture, there are writings concerning the definition

of hacking and hacker culture [4, 5], and the his-

tory of hacker culture [6, 7]. However, in the spirit

of a hacker it’s suggested you find out more for

yourself. Collectively, these writings could be sug-

gestive of a ‘heritage-hack’ approach, a techno-

conservation, a code writing conservator, writing

code useful for conserving our cultural heritage.

One aspect of hacker culture that is important to

understand are ethics. “Hacker Ethic is their gift

to us: something with value even to those of us

with no interest at all in computers” (6, Preface).

These ethics are described as:

- Access to computers and anything which might

teach you something about the way the world

works should be unlimited and total. Always yield

to the Hands-On Imperative!

- All information should be free;

1 Cereal Killer in the film: Hackers. 1995. Written: Rafael Moreu. Directed: Iain Softley. Produced: Michael Peyser. Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Quote available online at Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113243/quotes (accessed 29th January 2009).

DANIEL CULL

20 e_conservation

- Mistrust Authority, Promote Decentralization;

- Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not

bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or

position;

- You can create art and beauty on a computer;

- Computers can change your life for the better.

The Evolution of the Web: From 1.0 to 2.0

The Web, has become an ever present part of the

daily lives for many conservators around the world.

The Web (WWW or W3) is “a web of information

nodes rather than a hierarchical tree or an ordered

list” [8] in Chinese it’s called wàn wéi wãng which

fits the ‘www-prefix’ and literally means ‘myriad

dimensional net’ [9]. Despite the significant is-

sues concerning access [10], this paper will con-

sider the internet a truly global phenomena, as

such it is significant that a hacker in Bangalore

is just as likely to write the next significant piece

of code as a researcher in Berkeley. However, despite

this system lacking a core and periphery ideology

that we have come to expect in all aspects of our

lives, it does have edges, a ‘cyber frontier’ at which

possibilities are being explored and weaknesses

exploited, a constantly shifting non-geographic

virtual frontier within the web itself.

Although conservators have rarely been at the

cyber frontiers, it is true to say that “the idea of

conservators sharing information over the Inter-

net is hardly new” [11] and furthermore they have

in fact often been early adopters (especially with-

in the cultural sector) of internet based technolo-

gies. One such example is the ever popular Conser-

vation Distribution List: “the DistList was the first

library, museum, and archive-oriented list on the

Net” [12], having been advertised on a (non-

Eniac, (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) the first general-purpose electronic computer (c. 1947-1955).

21e_conservation

electronic) bulletin board at the 1987 American

Institute for Conservation Annual Meeting.

Conservators have also been amongst the early

adopters of the currently in vogue concept of Web

2.0. However, the meaning, or relevance, of this

term has been somewhat disputed. In an inter-

view the inventor of the internet, Tim Berners-

Lee, stated: “Web 1.0 was all about connecting

people. It was an interactive space, and I think Web

2.0 is of course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows

what it means. If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wi-

kis, then that is people to people. But that was what

the Web was supposed to be all along” [13]. It has

been rightly claimed that what has changed is not

technology, but people, that is to say people are

now thinking differently about the internet [14].

Despite these terminological inaccuracies ‘Web 2.0’

has become a synonym for the interactive nature

of the internet, especially the collaborative nature

of user generated content, it is that which differs

from the previous common practice of read-only

websites.

Exploring Web 2.0

One of the distinguishing features of Web 2.0 has

been the human to human contact mediated by

the internet. In an interview Larry Sanger, one

of the founders of Wikipedia, commenting on its

success said; "It's a community as well as an en-

cyclopedia" [15]. It is this community that not

only creates the information in the articles, but,

crucially for conservators also cares for it (cf. [16]).

The creation of community itself however is not

new, what is new is the networked collaborative

model that has developed out of that community

[17], elsewhere Shirky [18] referred to this model

existing “not an edifice but as an act of love”. The

model is based on exploiting what Anderson [19]

calls the ‘long tail’, and Shirky [20] calls the ‘cog-

nitive surplus’, both terms are based on using the

full range of what is mathematically termed the

‘power law distribution’ [21]. This distribution is

the result of collating the widest possible collab-

oration. It has been suggested that conservators

“are naturally acclimated to the collaborative

model because we often act as the expert and a

contributor at the same time” [11].

Aspects of Web 2.0 have already gained wide pur-

chase within the conservation profession, such as

blogging, Flickr projects and social networking.

It is possible that the rapid growth in the number

of conservation blogs is because “technology has

its most profound effect when it alters the ways

in which people come together and communicate”

[22, pp.4]. This reminds us that “blogs are not a

genre of communication, but a medium through

which communication occurs” [23].That is to say

they are a medium for bi-directional communica-

tion. With the probable exception of wikipedia, it

seems that social networking sites appear to be

the most widely used Web 2.0 application amongst

conservators. “What makes social network sites

unique is not that they allow individuals to meet

strangers, but rather that they enable users to

articulate and make visible their social networks”

[24]. It is this articulation of social network that

leads to their rapid growth and acceptance. It only

later becomes apparent that these now visible net-

works could potentially be used as a new means

of sharing skills and information away from the

traditional, and expensive, meetings and sympo-

sia, whilst also allowing for a new forum for pub-

lic interface. This becomes significant when we

consider that many view a public centered conser-

vation as a major factor in the future of conserva-

tion (cf. [25]).

Where next: Web 3.0 and the Semantic Web?

Assuming that Web 2.0 is adopted as a standard

technique (technology) of conservation, it is worth

looking out to the new frontiers, asking what is

CONSERVATION ON THE CYBER FRONTIER

22 e_conservation

possibly in store in the future. The immediate goal

of those at the cyber frontiers of the internet ap-

pears to be what is termed web 3.0. “The projects

aimed at creating Web 3.0 all take advantage of

increasingly powerful computers that can quickly

and completely scour the Web” [26]. The purpose

of this scouring would be to fully answer compli-

cated questions. It is for this reason that Web 3.0

has been described as a system that is “read-write-

execute” [27] an expansion on the idea that Web

1.0 is ‘read’ and Web 2.0 ‘read-write’. However, in

truth the phrase Web 3.0 is really a catch all term

used to describe anything and everything that

could potentially become the next ‘evolutionary’

step of the internet. One of the key areas of de-

velopment has been in what is known as the ‘Se-

mantic Web’, this aims at the introduction of an

artificial intelligence to the web, allowing soft-

ware to carry out sophisticated tasks or services

for users, the claim has been made that if “properly

designed, the Semantic Web can assist the evolu-

tion of human knowledge as a whole” [28]. For

many “it is not a question of if web sites become

web services, but when and how” [29]. It would

it seem wise, although admittedly incredibly dif-

ficult, if potential heritage-hackers began to con-

sider the implications, and the potentials, of such

a system now, as it is being developed.

The implications of a new internet that was able

to reliably answer complex questions, quickly

searching all available resources on the internet

are phenomenal. Whilst the term web 3.0 is widely

debated as to its usefulness, versus being simply

an advertising gimmick or buzz word, the Semantic

Web is a concrete idea, it is not however without

its critics. The practicalities of a system that is

based on reliable meta-data have been dismissed

by Doctorow [30]: “A world of exhaustive, reliable

metadata would be a utopia. It's also a pipe-dream,

founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris and hysteri-

cally inflated market opportunities”. Furthermore,

one of the foremost proponents of Net Culture,

and particularly Web 2.0 has also been critical of

the idea saying: “This is the promise of the Semantic

Web - it will improve all the areas of your life where

you currently use syllogisms. Which is to say, al-

most nowhere” [31]. Deconstructing, convincingly

and with some level of humor, various examples

of descriptions of Web 3.0, and what he terms it’s

“proof of no concept” Shirky [31] continues to

describe the Semantic Web as having two goals:

“one good but unnecessary, the other audacious

but doomed” [31]. The first is to get people to use

more metadata, the second is to take up the Artifi-

cial Intelligence project in a new context. However,

despite these problems Shirky [31] suggests that

“much of the proposed value of the Semantic Web

is coming, but it is not coming because of the Se-

mantic Web”. He suggests that although there

are disadvantages to a system developed piece-

meal without a meta-narrative, there is one sig-

nificant advantage to this bottom up design; that

it works now.

Although the concept of Web 3.0 as it is currently

applied is flimsy, at best, it will inevitably remain

in common usage. We can be sure that the inter-

net will continue to change and develop, and Web

3.0 will inevitably become a catch all term for these

developments whatever form they take. Whether

this Web 3.0 and Semantic Web ever come about

in the way they are envisioned is not the concern

of either this paper, or the conservation profes-

sion. The important information is that the inter-

net is altering the profession and the institutions

in which we work. “Already, Google, YouTube and

Flickr have established themselves as museums

of the digital world and are actively trying to re-

define the idea of curating content. Who knows

what emerging entities (Web 3.0? Web 10.0?) will

encroach even further on the traditional (and fu-

ture) functions of museums?” [32, pp.15]. As con-

servators we have a duty of care to come to an

DANIEL CULL

23e_conservation

understanding with such technologies, and at-

tempt to work with these changes, as such moni-

toring the development of new technologies be-

comes an ever increasingly significant part of our

profession.

Conclusions

The adoption of the internet as a major compon-

ent of the conservators work is well underway,

particularly of note has been the adoption of a

wide array of Web 2.0 technologies within the

conservation profession. The question remains

to what extent conservators can fully broaden

their collaborative efforts to access their creative

collective imagination and knowledge and where

this may take them within cyberspace. This paper

has shown that the conservation profession is well

suited to comprehending and interacting with the

internet, and in many respects are already apply-

ing the ‘hacker ethic’ that is already so much part

of the standard conservation approach. While it

is clear that developments in the internet will in-

creasingly become a significant part of the con-

servation profession, it is pleasing to see that the

role of digital culture (tangible and intangible) is

increasingly becoming a topic of discussion. The

Center for the Future of Museums [32 pp.15] at-

tempted to envision a museum of the future, and

importantly warned us in the process not to jet-

tison our traditional material culture and ideas:

“Museums play a more critical role than ever as

purveyors of the authentic, addressing a human

desire for the real as the wonders of technology

march us towards the opposite path”. With this

warning in mind we can still embrace the techno-

logy that is available, as well as exploring the po-

tential new frontiers, and as one old frontiersman

said: “Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and

interesting objects have a powerful influence on

our affections” [33]. Conservation could approach

these new cyber-frontiers with the same curious

spirit, discovering new ways of looking at objects

that heritage-hacks might provide. Like all fron-

tiers there is nothing to be gained by sitting back,

one must venture out and explore.

References

[1] L. Kleinrock, The Day the Infant Internet

Uttered its First Words, n.d. URL (accessed

15th February 2009)

[2] W. Gibson, Neuromancer, Ace, New York, 1984.

Online at the Cyberpunk Project: URL

(accessed 29th January 2009)

[3] H. Halpin, “Reinventing Technology: Artificial

Intelligence from the Top of a Sycamore Tree”,

in S. Shukaitis, D. Graeber, E. Biddle (Eds.),

Constituent Imagination: Militant Investiga-

tion, Collective Theorization, AK Press (Oakland

and Edinburgh), 2007. Reprinted online (pdf):

URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[4] E. S. Raymond, A Brief History of Hackerdom,

2000. URL (accessed 28th January 2009)

[5] The Mentor (Real name: Loyd Blankenship),

Hacker Manifesto (aka: The Conscience of a

Hacker), Phrack magazine, issue 07, file 03

in January 8th, 1986. URL (accessed 29th

January 2009)

[6] S. Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer

Revolution, Delta/Dell, New York, 1984.

(1994 Reprint Online). URL (accessed 29th

January 2009)

[7] E. S. Raymond, How to Become a Hacker, 2001.

URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[8] T. Berners-Lee and R. Cailliau, WorldWideWeb:

CONSERVATION ON THE CYBER FRONTIER

Proposal for a HyperText Project, 12 November

1990. URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[9] Wikipedia contributors, “World Wide Web”,

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2009. Date

of last revision: 27th January 2009 05:19 UTC.

Permanent URL, Date retrieved: 27th January

2009 22:22 UTC

[10] Association for Progressive Communications,

Global Information Society Watch 2008.

URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[11] R. McCoy, “Collaborating with the Publics

Interest”, CeROArt, 3 | 2009, [En ligne], mis

en ligne le 21 avril 2009. URL, Consulté le 27

avril 2009

[12] W. Henry, “Conservation OnLine -Nuts, Bolts,

Hooks, Lines, and Sinkers: About CoOL”, 2009.

URL, Timestamp: Tuesday, 20 Jan-2009

11:25:56 PST Retrieved: Wednesday,

18-Feb-2009 20:39:07 GMT

[13] S. Laningham, “developerWorks Interviews:

Tim Berners-Lee”, Recorded 7-28-2006.

(transcript of podcast), 2006. URL (accessed

29th January 2009)

[14] D. Hinchcliffe, All We Got Was Web 1.0, When

Tim Berners-Lee Actually Gave Us Web 2.0,

2006. URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[15] J. Sidener, "Wiki technology allows anyone

to write, edit reference articles", in The San

Diego Union Tribunal, 2004. URL (accessed

29th January 2009)

[16] C. Shirky, “Old Revolutions, Good; New Revo-

lutions, Bad”, on Britannica - Web 2.0 Forum,

June 14th 2007, URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[17] C. Shirky, Lecture: Institutions vs. Collaboration,

Oxford/England, 2005. URL (Accessed 29th

January 2009)

[18] C. Shirky, Love Internet Style. Opening

‘Provocation’ at Supernova 2007. URL (accessed

23rd February 2009)

[19] C. Anderson,"The Long Tail", Wired Magazine,

October 2004. URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[20] C. Shirky, Gin, Television, and Social Surplus,

on the Blog: Here Comes Everyone. April 26th

2008, URL. A Slightly Edited transcript of a

speech “Here Comes Everybody” given at the

Web 2.0 Conference. San Francisco. April 23rd

2008. URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[21] Wikipedia contributors, “Power law”, Wiki-

pedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last

revision: 26th January 2009 03:46 UTC.

Permanent URL, Date retrieved: 28th January

2009 19:47 UTC

[22] P. Kollock and M. A. Smith, “Communities in

Cyberspace”, in M. Smith and P. Kollock (eds.),

Communities in Cyberspace, pp. 3-25. Rout-

ledge, London, 1999. (available online in

January 2009)

[23] D. Boyd, “A Blogger’s Blog: Exploring the

Definition of a Medium”, Reconstruction 6(4),

2006. URL (part of a special issue on Theories/

Practices of Blogging, eds. Michael Benton and

Lauren Elkin) (accessed 29th January 2009)

[24] D. M. Boyd, and N. B. Ellison, “Social network

sites: Definition, history, and scholarship”,

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,

13 (1), article 11, 2007. URL (accessed 29th

January 2009)

DANIEL CULL

24 e_conservation

[25] J. Holden and S. Jones, It’s A Material World:

Caring for the public realm, Demos, London,

2008. (pdf) URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[26] J. Markoff, “Entrepreneurs See a Web Guided

by Common Sense”, New York Times, 12th

November 2006. URL (accessed January 2009)

[27] W. L. Hosch, Web 3.0: The Dreamer of the

Vine, 2007. URL (accessed February 27th 2009)

[28] T. Berners-Lee, J. Hendler and O. Lassila,

“The Semantic Web: A new form of Web

content that is meaningful to computers will

unleash a revolution of new possibilities”,

Scientific American Magazine, May 17th 2001.

URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[29] A. Iskold, “Web 3.0: When Sites Become

Services”, on Read Write Web, March 19th

2007. URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[30] C. Doctorow, “Metacrap: putting the torch

to seven straw-men of the meta-utopia”,

Version 1.3: 26 August 2001. URL (accessed

2nd March 2009)

[31] C. Shirky, “The Semantic Web, Syllogism,

and Worldview”. First published November 7th

2003 on the mailing list Networks, Economies,

and Culture. Reprinted online URL (accessed

27th February 2009)

[32] Center for the Future of Museums, Museums

and Society 2034: Trends and Potential Futures.

Version 1.0. Center for the Future of Museums/

American Association of Museums, December

2008. (pdf) URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

[33] D. Boone, Daniel Boone: Attributed Quote, n.d.

Brainy Quotes. URL (accessed 29th January 2009)

DANIEL CULLConservatorThe Musical Instrument Museum

Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com

Contact: [email protected]

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 conser-

vator at the Musical Instrument Museum, in

Arizona.

CONSERVATION ON THE CYBER FRONTIER

25e_conservation

LET'S PAINT A RUIN

by Kornelius Götz and Axel Böcker

The Conservation of the Steel Coal Tower in Voelklinger Huette

27e_conservation

Framework for Monument Preservation

In the context of regular monitoring of protected

historical monuments of the World Cultural Her-

itage Site Voelklinger Huette, the old Raw-Coal

Tower of the Coking Works (built in 1897) was,

as of calendar year 2007, classified as urgently

in need of renovation. Because of its steel con-

struction, it is also called the Steel Coal Tower

(SCT). The structure had been decommissioned

in 1942, but was preserved basically unchanged.

Its function was taken over by a bigger concrete

silo dubbed the Concrete Coal Tower (CCT). The

old steel tower was simply left standing. Filling

of the CCT was accomplished through inclined

conveyor belts, the Coke Belts. After the SCT had

been retired, a station to divert the conveyor belt

was erected on its roof. Thus the SCT acquired a

new role, without which it most likely would not

have been kept around. Maintenance of its sheet

metal exterior was discontinued for obvious rea-

sons, only its supports had to be kept intact since

they were needed to bear the load of the conveyor

belt redirection hardware.

The cylinder-shaped container, constructed from

riveted sheet metal and tapering towards the bot-

tom, is one of the oldest unchanged components

not only of the Coking Works, but of the entire iron

production works in Voelklingen in general, which

have been designated a World Cultural Heritage

Site. The SCT has a very high value as a monument

because it is one of the oldest parts of the coking

plant. Most prominent are construction style and

its former role in the production process as a silo

for the storage of fine-grained coal for the coking

ovens (figure 1).

LET'S PAINT A RUIN

The coal tower, also called steel coal tower due to its steel construction, is an elevated steel structure

19m tall and approximately 10m in diameter. With a holding capacity of 1,187m3 it rests on interconnected

steel supports, is held together by horizontal steel bands, and was used to store fine-grained coal. By

1942 it had been retired and subsequently served only as structural support for redirecting a conveyor

belt. The tower, built in 1897, has a high-value as a monument because it is one of the oldest components

of the coking plant. Its most prominent features are its style of construction and its former role in the

production process.

The coal tower has been in poor general repair. In 2008, securing the structure became urgently necessary.

The goals of the renovation included the preservation of its corroded appearance through corrosion pro-

tection pursuant to DIN EN ISO 12944 and the conservation of the ruins through restorative retouching.

A so-called "Window into History" serves as primary documentation. The stability of the structure was

assured through scaffolding on the inside.

Figure 1. Old picture of the Steel Coal Tower from “Richard Nutzinger, Hans Boehmer, Otto Johannsen: 50 Jahre Röchling. Saarbrücken 1931”.

28 e_conservation

As the primary structure and the diversion appa-

ratus of the conveyer bridge had been restored

between 2002 and 2003, in 2008 the latest reno-

vation started with the gradual removal of the

coal dust. It had remained inside the tower since

its decommissioning and was carried off by make-

work crews. During this process, the full extent

of the damage a restoration plan for the sheet

metal construction would have to address became

visible. Rust had destroyed crucial parts of the

contact surfaces between sheet metal and the

horizontal steel bands affixed to the outside of

the container for rigidity, so that no residual static

load-bearing capacity remained.

The following additional adverse factors had to

be considered in planning the restoration:

1. Development of a permanent workable solu-

tion that does not require additional expendi-

tures for a period of approximately 20 years.

2. Conservation of original components to the

greatest extent possible while simultaneously

preserving the historical appearance (espe-

cially the rusty container surface).

From the standpoint of the building engineers

involved in the process, the preservation of the

sheet metal hull seemed to make little financial

sense, particularly in light of the specifications

for monument preservation. Instead, dismantling

and extensive reconstruction of the entire struc-

ture was considered as a workable alternative. The

SCT seemed to get lost between the conflicting

requirements of conservation of existing building

materials, of passing on to posterity the original

('ruinous') appearance, and of making the recon-

struction last (i.e., protecting against corrosion).

In addition, the cost estimates that had been per-

formed assumed that replacement of the build-

ing would be the most cost-effective alternative.

The solution to these complex problems required

the services of a planning expert because basic

principles of the field of object restoration had

to be applied to a large-scale structure.

Conservation Goal

The "preservation of the state of decommission-

ing in 1986" was the designated goal of the res-

toration. Therefore, the corroded appearance of

the SCT had to be preserved and restored. To

understand this unusual conservation goal, it is

important to consider the time slice that applies

to all components of the World Cultural Heritage

Site Voelklinger Huette. By time slice we mean the

point in history that is intended to be preserved

through conservation measures. For Voelklinger

Huette this is the time when the plant was closed.

The time slice applies to all components of the

site. As a consequence, all structures that were in

ruinous condition at the time of closing are con-

served as ruins and are not brought up to par with

structures that were maintained better.

Steps in the Decision Process

1. The starting point was abandoning the concept

of dismantling the entire structure. The requisite

static stability of the object was to be achieved

through the addition of scaffolding on the inside

of the building. Thus, load was taken off the his-

toric building fabric so that a substantial rebuild-

ing of the existing structure was unnecessary.

2. Next, a detailed map of the points of damage

was compiled. All existing pieces of sheet metal

were to be preserved as originals with the parts

to be replaced kept to a minimum.

3. The question of appearance left several options

of how to deal with the object. Originally, all

building components had been covered with an

anthracite-black coat of paint. This was partly

preserved in the funnel area and the lower parts

KORNELIUS GÖTZ and AXEL BÖCKER

29e_conservation

LET'S PAINT A RUIN

of the cylinder. A complete renewal of the corro-

sion protection in this hue, however, would have

completely altered the appearance, and the char-

acter of the SCT, and with it the prominent position

within the coking plant as a 'rusty ruin', would

have been lost. Therefore, planners, restorers, and

client decided to colour the new and newly corro-

sion-protected surfaces of the SCT such that the

impression of a 'rusty ruin' remained. In this way

it was also possible to ensure the specified period

of 20 years that the renovation was expected to

last.

4. Parts on the side of the building protected from

the weather were to be preserved unchanged in

appearance to form a 'Window Into History'.

This way, for the trained eye a comparison be-

tween real and painted ruin is possible as primary

documentation.

Condition

The SCT is an elevated steel structure 19m tall and

approximately 10m in diameter resting on inter-

connected steel supports, with horizontal steel

bands around the silo added for rigidity (figure 2).

It has a holding capacity of 1,187m3. The sheet

metal casing had rusted through in several places

along stretches several meters in length, especially

on the windward side. The entire hull structure was

therefore in serious danger of collapse. Apparently,

this was not a new problem either: rusted-through

metal sheets had previously been patched up in

a makeshift manner with coarsely welded-on hull

plating (figures 3 and 4).

The condition of the exterior of the SCT fully ex-

posed to the weather can be divided into three

categories (figure 5):

Figure 2. The Steel Coal Tower and its integration into the surrounding components of the coking plant: Steel Coal Tower (1), Concrete Coal Tower (2), Redirection Station (3), Coke Conveyor Belt (4). The picture was taken in 2005, before the work started.

30 e_conservation

1. Hull plating and horizontal steel bands:

corroded; load-bearing capacity partially re-

duced; original black coating remains only in

small remnants.

2. Repair panels on top of old hull plates:

corroded; able to bear loads; no coating.

3. Funnel surface: Condition better than that of

hull plating; remnants of original black coat-

ing present.

Figure 3. Rusted-through metal sheets patched up in a makeshift manner.

Figure 4. The sheet metal casing had rusted through in several places along stretches several meters in length.

Figure 5. Excerpt of the damage map for the steel hull (drawing by WPM Ingenieure GmbH, Neunkirchen).

KORNELIUS GÖTZ and AXEL BÖCKER

31e_conservation

Stability

Statically securing the sheet metal hull panels

was a prerequisite for the preservation of the

SCT as a ruin. It was achieved through a new in-

tegrated steel structure inside the container

which served as scaffolding and to which the dis-

integrating sheet metal plating was attached. The

support structure was connected to the existing

steel structure of the redirection station and

thereby secured horizontally in two directions

(figure 2): through the sloping coke conveyor

belt (4) of the redirection station (3) and through

the CCT (2) with which the redirection station

(and thus the SCT) was connected, again through

the coke conveyor belt.

At the bottom, the structure is supported horizon-

tally and vertically by the existing steel beams of

the SCT. There, stability is assured because the

supports were originally designed for a fully loaded

tower and hence for a much heavier load.

The sheet metal hull of the tower, damaged heavily

in parts, and the horizontal bands were attached

to the new support structure with special screws

['Fuchsschrauben'] protecting them from falling

(figures 6-8).

Corrosion Protection and Retouching

Because of the scaffolding on the inside, neither

the rust-damaged horizontal steel bands nor the

metal sheets of the hull needed replacement or

repair. Because they were weathering openly, they

were protected against corrosion on the outside,

including the edges, according to DIN EN ISO 12944

Korrosionsschutz von Stahlbauten. The corrosion

Figure 6. Anchoring the support structure of the Steel Coal Tower at the top through the coke conveyor belt (4) and the Concrete Coal Tower (c.f. red markings; drawing by WPM Ingenieure).

LET'S PAINT A RUIN

Figure 7 (above right). Inside support scaffolding built from raw steel.

Figure 8 (right). Detail of bottom connection of the scaffolding to the existing steel supports.

32 e_conservation

protection was applied by sandblasting with granu-

larity SA2 for surface preparation and by applying

three coatings with a combined thickness of at

least 240 micrometers. Areas split apart by corro-

sion were carefully cleaned, sealed, and also painted

three times.

The constructional corrosion protection of the

horizontal steel bands was improved by drilling

holes into the horizontal joint profiles. This allows

rain water to drain away more easily (figure 9).

Finally, restorative retouching was applied to the

top layer through a varnish. This retouching

simulates the corroded appearance of the SCT

by employing different shades of rust colouring

and - most importantly - varying the texture upon

application through the use of different brushes.

Only in this manner was it possible to create the

impression of a corroded steel surface when

looked at from within normal viewing distance

(figures 10 and 11).

The steel surface on the inside of the SCT remained

untreated. This was done so that in the long run,

the former usage context would remain visible on

the object itself through preservation of the very

tough and highly adhesive coal dust deposits

(figure 7).

Window Into History (WIH)

On the leeward side, the well-preserved sheet

metal plates were preserved without corrosion

protection or retouching over a continuous area

Figure 9. Corrosion Protection: Corrosion Protection through holes drilled into the steel bands (1), sealing of gaps (2), surface coating (3) on top of two primer coats.

Figure 11 (left). For the final decision on retouching, test surfaces were created on a sample. Visible below the paint line is the original state (1), above is the sample surface for retouching (2).

Figure 10 (above left). After application the retouching must be textured with different brushes.

KORNELIUS GÖTZ and AXEL BÖCKER

33e_conservation

LET'S PAINT A RUIN

Figure 12. The Window into History.

case

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34 e_conservation

Conclusion

In light of the originally proposed rebuilding of

the entire tower, a convincing alternative was ar-

rived at with the restoration goal of "preserving

the state at time of closing in 1986". It meets all

requirements concerning structural stability and

durability. The cost for the renovation was just

80% of that estimated for a complete rebuilding,

which anyway would have been inconceivable for

a World Cultural Heritage Site. By employing res-

torative retouching, the time slice applying to the

entire plant could be maintained consistently.

With the WIH, a primary documentation on a grand

scale was produced. In case doubts remain about

the painted ruin, it should be pointed out that in

the long run all surface treatments are imperma-

nent: later generations, finding the SCT substan-

tially preserved, may later resurface it according

to then prevalent standards. We painted a ruin!

of 30m2 together with the entire exterior of the

funnel as a "WIH". Only temporary protection in

the form of an anti-corrosion wax was applied.

Preparing the surface demanded purity grade P St 2

in accordance with DIN EN ISO 12944. The "WIH"

is intended to show the existing ruinous state

directly at the object as primary documentation

(figure 12).

Documentation

To record the corroded hull surface, a precise photo

documentation was created before sandblasting

commenced. In addition, an unrolled projection

of the hull surface was created as a CAD drawing, in

which the damage to the SCT was cartographically

recorded. All methods, materials used, and pro-

cedural explanations were delivered to the client

for documentation (figure 13).

Figure 13. The Steel Coal Tower after completion of work; picture taken in June 2009.

KORNELIUS GÖTZ and AXEL BÖCKER

35e_conservation

Acknowledgments

The comments concerning structural stability

and the damage map are based on documenta-

tion by WPM Ingenieure GmbH, Neunkirchen.

LET'S PAINT A RUIN

KORNELIUS GÖTZ

Industrial Heritage |

Senior Consultant Conservator

Bureau for Conservation Advice

Contact: [email protected]

Kornelius Götz, M.A., is a conservator-restorer

specialised in the conservation of industrial

monuments. He worked as a conservator of

industrial objects at the Landesmuseum für

Technik und Arbeit (Technical State Museum for

Technology and Labor) in Mannheim from 1984

to 1996. Since 1996 he works as freelancer

conservator. He also lectures at the Fachhoch-

schule für Technik und Wirtschaft Studiengang

Restaurierung in Berlin and the Haute École

d'Arts Appliqués du Canton de Neuchâtel, La

Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

AXEL BÖCKER

Dipl.-Ing., Landesdenkmalamt Saarland,

Ministerium für Umwelt

Keplerstr. 18, 66117 Saarbrücken

Contact: [email protected]

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case

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dy THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

by Abdul Wasay Najimi

A Project Recently Re-examined Danish Contribution in Post-War Conservation of Afghanistan Heritage in Herat, 1993-94

Figure 1. The courtyard view of the mosque after restoration.

Introduction

Ghalwar is a village located four kilometers west

of the Old City of Herat on the ancient route that

starts at the Iraqi Gate of the Old City and heads

westwards towards Kohsan and Nishapur. The cen-

ter of the village, also known as Hauz-i-Karbas

(weaver’s cistern), is 112 meters on the north

side of the present road towards Zindajan and is

located on the crossroads of an ancient route

linking it to villages like Azadan, where the 14th

century complex of Abul-Walid exists. The geo-

graphic coordinates for the Hauz-i-Karbas are:

34º21’N 62º09’E.

In this village one can find the historic mosque

(figure 1), reportedly built in the 9th century, and

renovated with tile decoration in mid 15th cen-

tury, the contemporary restoration of which is

documented in this article. The housing cluster

comprising a village constituent to this mosque

was surrounded by fertile agricultural land and

gardens filled with grapevines, irrigated by the

Enjil canal. A covered water cistern, sponsored

by the charity of a weaver (Karbas) after whom

the centre of the village is named also existed

here. The 9th century mosque was restored by the

Timurids in 845 Hijri [1441-42 AD] at the époque

of Shahrukh Mirza, and the mihrab was decorated

with a panel of fine tile work unique in Herat and

a tiled tablet was installed (figure 2).

Badly destroyed during the war in the 1980s, Ghal-

war mosque and its site (figure 3) became the

focus of the first heritage conservation project in

Herat after relative calm returned to the area in

1992. The mosque was restored structurally and

the fallen and damaged pieces of the Timurid tile

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

37

38 e_conservation

Figure 2. (above) The restored inscription tile tablet (photo 2005); (below) Farsi and Arabic text. Persian Poetry from Gulistan Sa’di, worked on the tile tablet; date of construction is 845 Hijri.

work of the Mihrab were recovered and assembled

by a team of local masons and craftsmen with funds

from Denmark throughout 1993-94. Following this

work the Mosque resumed its function as a centre

for the community and, with the introduction

of a small complex of new buildings adjacent to

the mosque serving as a girls education centre,

it also became a place for learning. The new build-

ings, which followed the conservation of the

mosque, were built using traditional materials

and techniques.

Historical Background

Thirty years ago, Ghalwar was one of many idyllic

villages surrounding Herat and many people like

Abdul Wahid Nafez, the provincial head of culture

in the city until 1978, owned land there and would

escape the hectic pace of Herat on the weekends

in preference for his tranquil gardens. This changed

with the onset of war and Ghalwar and other vil-

lages were systematically depopulated and the

buildings destroyed during the 12-years war of

resistance sparked by the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Famous resistance leaders from the village like

Abdullah of Hauz-i-Karbas and the Khalifa, leader

of the local Sufi order, were imprisoned and killed

in 1979.

One account of the devastation caused by the

war is told by Nick Danziger [1], who wrote the

following in 1988: “I stayed in a village where they

claimed there had been 5,000 inhabitants. There

remained one building intact in the whole village.

I did not see more than ten inhabitants there. To

destroy this place the bombers came from Russia.

And there were craters everywhere, even where there

were no buildings, so there was no pretense about,

«we are trying to hit the mujahideen». It was a

complete blitz. All the way from there on into Herat

there was no one living there, absolutely no one. The

town that I stayed in, Hauz Karbas, looks like Hiro-

shima. And there had been tremendous amounts

of vineyards there, and they were just reduced to

Figure 3. Site plan of the reconstructed mosque and the new school.

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

e_conservation 39

Figure 4.View of the mosque being reconstructed (photo by Claus Christensen, 1994).

gray dust. It really sums up everything that exists

in Afghanistan today”.

The Swedish writer Stefan Lindgren also visited

Herat and described the tragic destruction of

the villages to the west of the city in 1986 [2].

Following the withdrawal of the Soviet army in

1989 and the collapse of the Soviet installed re-

gime in 1992, the responsibility of the provincial

administration of Herat was given to a war veteran,

Ismail Khan, who became governor of Herat. People

began to return to their villages and claim their

lands and in the process of picking up the pieces

of their lives the reconstruction of the city and

the surrounding villages began. The author went

to Herat in 1993, as an architect and member of

a team from the Danish NGO DACAAR, to set up an

office and to begin a post-war rehabilitation pro-

gram focusing on the reconstruction of schools, com-

munity buildings, roads and irrigation structures,

similar to what this organization had been doing

in the eastern parts of Afghanistan.

One of the projects was the restoration of the

Ghalwar mosque and its tile work (figures 4-11).

A picture taken in midst of the war and published

by Sikorsky in 1989 [3] of the destroyed mosque

showed the tile panel still standing (figure 7). It

was hoped that one may still find it in the same

Figure 5. The summer prayer hall (2005).

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

Figure 6. Plan and section of the mosque in 1977.

40 e_conservation

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

condition. To everyone’s disappointment, upon

reaching the village in 1993, it was discovered that

all that remained on the site was a mound of debris

covering the shattered pieces of the elaborate tile

work that once decorated the mihrab (figure 8).

The villagers narrated that government forces, sus-

pecting that the mosque was used as a hiding place

by the opposition, bombed it in mid 1980s.

By this time several families had returned after

being displaced or were refugees in Iran and re-

accommodated amidst the collapsed buildings,

the remaining of which projected the architectural

character of the village.

Partnering with the newly re-established local

branch of the department of historic monuments

and involving members of the community, a brief

consultation process was initiated, which led to

the restoration of the mosque, providing a cata-

lyst towards the regeneration of the village.

The author’s own knowledge about the Ghalwar

mosque was from 1973, when as a student of archi-

tecture in Kabul University he visited Herat. The

mosque, built of thick mud walls and covered with

arches and domes, typified the materials and forms

used in buildings in the region. The main prayer

hall, which also used to be the winter prayer hall,

was accessed through a vaulted corridor with little

natural light. Adjacent to the prayer hall, the sum-

mer prayer hall opened to the courtyard. The main

hall of the mosque was originally composed of

three vaulted bays, the central bay framing the

mihrab with glazed tiles. The tiled panel framing

the mihrab was made up of blue, turquoise, ter-

racotta, green and white glaze cut pieces forming

a Quranic inscription [Ayatul Kursi], verse 255 of

First Sura—Albaqara. This panel was carefully

framed by floral designs and geometric shapes,

all set as muaraq completing the final ring of an

arched recess. Similarly, a rectangular tiled panel

with inscriptions in Persian and Arabic recording

Figure 7. The main prayer hall after the roof destruction in 1985 (photo by Sikorsky; translated by Ahrary 1989).

e_conservation 41

Figure 8. View of the Mihrab found in 1993-94 (photo by Claus Christensen).

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

42 e_conservation

the dedication and date of the construction was

found on the wall inside the main hall. The inter-

nal soffit of the arched recess was decorated with

abstract geometric patterns known as gereh made

of plaster. This technique was known at that time

as also seen on the buildings of Ghaznavids and

Ghurids period. Openings in the upper part of

the first vaulted bay to the south, made up of

screens of plaster and tessellation of geometric

shapes, allowed natural light into the main hall.

At a later date another domed chamber formed

part of an extension of the main space to the north.

The summer prayer hall, laid out parallel to the

eastern wall of the main hall, formed an open colon-

nade looking out into courtyard where a 1.5 meters

deep pool of water for ablution was situated. The

pool was fed by a small channel which also provided

water for the village cistern [hauz-i-karbas], lo-

cated across the street. A low mound adjacent to

the cistern formed a graveyard, where the graves

of important persons were marked by carved marble

gravestones. The remaining buildings in the vil-

lage were one story high courtyard houses of vari-

ous sizes. Several large mulberry trees planted on

the edge of the water channel running along the

street provided deep shade.

Subsequently, the Ghalwar mosque was surveyed

and documented four years later, in the summer of

1977, when a team of architecture students from

Kabul University were engaged by UNESCO’s reha-

bilitation project in Herat in surveying and record-

ing monuments within the Old City. A Soviet scholar

G.A. Pougatchenkova had also visited and published

her study of this building in 1976 [4].

Restoration of the Building and Mihrab Tiles

The damage that occurred during the war did not

completely destroy the delicate glazed tiles sur-

rounding the Mihrab of the Ghalwar mosque.

What the war did not destroy, nature ravaged over

time. Following the destruction of the roof of the

mosque by bombs, as depicted in the picture by

Sikorski, the decorated mihrab survived for some

time longer. But without its protective covering,

rainwater began to seep into the cracks between

the exposed tiles deteriorating the gypsum bed-

ding. As the temperatures dropped in the winter

this water froze and expanded causing the tile

work to break and fall apart.

The work began by clearing and simultaneously

documenting what was found. Sorting through

the debris the team painstakingly collected and

stored all the pieces of the fallen and broken

glazed tiles. Once the clearance was completed

the original foundations and shape of the build-

ing became evident. While clearing the debris,

materials such as brick and decorative fragments

were collected and sorted in order to re-use them

in the rehabilitation. Additional bricks needed

in the conservation, of the same quality and size

as the ones found in the debris, were supplied by

the same producer who provided bricks for the

much larger conservation project of Qala-e Ikht-

yaruddine (Herat Citadel 1977-79). Finding ma-

sons who knew how to build in the same tradition

as those who originally constructed the mosque

was another important task. One of the elders in

the village, who was a famous mason and plasterer

in his youth in 1960s, would visit the mosque and

perform his prayers amidst the ruins. Throughout

the conservation he continued to come to the site for

his prayers and began taking interest in the work

although he himself was too weak to participate.

A section of the tile work that was still attached

to the wall was discovered, which was protected

by a shelter to prevent further damage. This sec-

tion of unmoved tile became very important in

the restoration as it provided the exact setting-

out point for refixing the remaining tiles.

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

e_conservation

The provincial department of historic monuments

through its supervisor Haji Abdul Ahad engaged

an elderly mason, Khalifa Ahmad, who was experi-

enced in working with brick buildings and domes.

Two other men from Ghalwar offered to work in

the rehabilitation and an elderly Baba Khair Mo-

hammed, who was also from the village, became

the foreman.

Following the clearance we discovered that the

floor of the winter mosque, accessed through a

vaulted corridor, was on a lower level. The sum-

mer prayer space resembled a colonnade with the

brick pillars facing the courtyard. After further

excavations in the courtyard the rectangular

water pond surrounded by old mulberry trees

appeared.

Initially the parts of a mud wall, made of stabi-

lized earth called pakhsa, and that of sun dried

bricks were stabilized. For exposed areas burnt

bricks were now used. The bricks used for rebuild-

ing the arches, vaults and domes, were specially

ordered in size 20cm x 20cm x 4.5cm and were set

in lime mortar.

Lack of time is the reason why many buildings are

conserved improperly. It was important that this

exercise would build local capacity and the under-

standing within the community of the value of their

heritage and historic monuments. As the project

progressed the conservation team discovered layers

upon layers of earlier interventions upon the build-

ing. For example, once the damaged plaster from

one wall was removed it was discovered that an

earlier opening had been blocked over time. In ad-

dition to returning the building to what we felt was

closer to its original design, we took the oppor-

tunity to introduce some enhancement to the way

it could be used by women worshipers. As mosques,

particularly in the villages, are commonly used only

by men, it was decided to allow for another room

and entrance to be added to the northernmost

chamber of the main prayer hall. This was intended

as space to be used by women to participate in the

congregational Friday prayer and the tarawih in

the month of Ramadan. The final external finish

of the building became exposed brick work, while

the interior of the winter hall was restored to its

original plaster finish of gypsum, incorporating

small areas where the original plaster remained.

The project took in total 9 months to complete in-

volving two masons and a number of unskilled la-

borers supervised by one foreman and two trainee

architects. The site became attraction for visitors

including a friend of Herat, Claus Christensen who

was on visit in 1994.

To plan the restoration of the rest of the destroyed

tile panel surrounding the mihrab one needed to

return to previous documents and photographs.

In order to find appropriate images of the full tile

panel before it was damaged the Danish architect

Flemming Aalund provided his photo of the mihrab

taken in 1977 (figure 9). The full-page color photo

Figure 9. The tile decorated mihrab (photo by Aalund, 1977).

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

43

Figure 10. The Mihrab tiles reinstalled in 1994 (photo 2005).

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

44

e_conservation

Figure 11. Detail of the Muaraq tile work of the mihrab.

he provided helped us to regroup the recovered

tiles of the panel and to restore it (figures 10-11).

As for the plaster decoration on the soffits of the

arches in the main hall of the winter mosque, a

young mason, Ein-ul-din, assembled the fragments

of decorative gypsum that were recovered from

the rubble. The geometric base for the completed

decoration is formed by a pentagon that is rotated

around its central point and is repeated along the

length of the arch (figure 12). The plaster screens

allowing light into the main hall were cast of gyp-

sum in situ, and the perforated geometry was made

by hand as it had been originally constructed

(figures 14-15).

After the removal of waste from the interior of the

mosque, the internal floors were paved using square

burnt bricks. Although the original floors were

also made of burnt brick, over time they had been

plastered with a composite of mud, gypsum and

Figure 12. Details of arches plaster decoration.

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

45

46 e_conservation

Figure 13. Plan and sections of the mosque after restoration.

lime plaster. For the external finish of the roof,

the traditional technique of waterproofing with a

layer of lime-mud plaster before covering it with

a layer of mud-straw plaster was applied.

While attempts were made to restore the building

to its original form, in certain areas the team in-

troduced enhancements which were thought to

better suit the future use of the spaces. On the

southern elevation additional bay was added to

the composition of the facade, in order to provide

both symmetry to the blank arcade flanking the

entrance and to enclose the courtyard. In doing

this a screen was built within the extended arch

allowing a visible connection between the court-

yard and the street.

As a result of the lessons learned and capacity

built during the conservation of the Ghalwar

mosque the team moved on to restore a further

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

e_conservation 47

nine important historic structures in other historic

neighborhoods of Herat, such as Mahal-i-Araban,

Abulwalid, Mahal-i-wardaka, Baraman, Mahal-i-

Babaji, that belonged to Enjil district (north of

the river Harirud), and Ziaratja at southern part

of Herat valley. Also the team continued restora-

tion at Shahzada Abdullah and the Gowharshad

in Kohsan (west of Heart).

One of the concerns, upon completing the restor-

ation, was how the site would be looked after and

maintained in the years to come. Traditionally

village elders would collectively take the respon-

sibility of maintaining communal buildings which

they considered common property. But at the time

of completing the restoration, not many of the

former inhabitants of the village had returned

and it was not clear whether the previous social

structure and sense of responsibility was intact.

Working for Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Herat

in 2004-06, I went to re-examine Ghalwar project.

Figure 14. Screen of brick work implemented in the mosque and school buildings.

Figure 15. Ceiling details of the restored prayer hall (photo by Claus Christensen, 1994).

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

48 e_conservation

Figure 16. Interior of the winter praying hall of the mosque and children taking primary education (2005).

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

e_conservation 49

To my pleasant surprise, on many of the visits that

I have made to the village after the restoration,

the mosque and related buildings were found well

maintained and kept clean. It became very inter-

esting for me as an architect to observe how people

used the spaces restored through this exercise.

The mosque was used both as a space to pray and

to teach increasing numbers of pre-school chil-

dren (figures 16-18). The grandson of Baba Khair

Mohammed, who was foreman during the restor-

ation, was one of those learning from the Imam

in the mosque. Contrary to what it was intended

for the women prayer area to become, I discovered

that the Imam of the mosque had occupied the

room for himself. Another addition to the build-

ing by the community was the introduction of

wiring for lighting within the building. At the time

of the restoration, Ghalwar did not have electri-

city but since 2001 electricity has been brought to

the village. In hindsight it would have been better

to provide for electrical wiring in the building in

anticipation of the electricity.

Community participation for upkeep was seen, but

the Afghan Department of monuments of Herat

province should still guard this unique heritage.

Figure 17. Roadside view of the mosque building.

Figure 18. Western Facade of the school building (2005).

Building the New Girls School

In the second stage of the project in Ghalwar, ap-

plying lessons learned in the conservation of the

mosque, a new school was built to the north of

the mosque using traditional materials and tech-

niques. Funds for the school came from DANIDA

and the “Friends of Herat”, a French organization

created by Christina L’Homme the widow of a French-

man Stefane Thiollier that had died in France shortly

after his visit to Herat in 1991.

Since the building was to be located a few meters

from the mosque it seemed important from the

beginning that the new school must be built in

harmony with the existing building. The team

designed a structure of brick arches and vaults.

The building was composed of six classrooms, a

teachers’ room and a store-room. While the base

plan of the building was derived from an L-shape

access corridor, the space at the intersection

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

e_conservation

Figure 20. The protected patio of the girls school (2005).

50

Figure 19. Plan and Elevation of the school building.

provided a secured open space (figure 19). The

team of craftsmen and laborers responsible for

the restoration of the mosque were transferred

onto this project.

In the design of the school, built in the context

of children protection, it was important that the

building provided both a place for learning and

better security for the children. The building is

accessible from two entrance doors, which could

be locked while the children are in classes, and

incorporated an external courtyard space for them

to rest during class breaks.

The screened arcade of the courtyard was built

of normal bricks, at kids’ eye-level outwards,

allowing them to see outside. While designing

the screens, which were derived from the new

screens added to the entrance wall of the mosque

complex, one would have thought that they would

not last very long. But since the screen made sense

as local and traditional solution, it was pursued

and have lasted so far (figures 20 and 21).

The original plan allowed for the landscaping of

the site, and designs were made for a children's

playground. As a result of water shortage in the

community the planned greening of the site did

not happen. But at a later stage the community

constructed a boundary wall around the site in

order to protect the property and allow only one

access from the street.

Visiting this building 10 years later I was relieved

to see that the structure was still there and stable.

A lack of regular maintenance and cleaning had

resulted in problems with the gutters. In post 2001

Herat, with funds from USAID, a private company

painted the interior of the building and laid a water-

proofing layer over the roof. The irony is that after

completing this work the contractors replaced

the original marble tablet with a new plaque out-

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

e_conservation 51

Figure 21. South-eastern view of the school building (2005).

side the boys school building, in which they indi-

cated that the whole construction was built by

them and with USAID funding. This shows both

the lengths to which unscrupulous contractors

go to make a profit and how a donor confined be-

hind heavy security walls, but wanting immediate

visibility could be deceived.

More of the village is reconstructed by now and

the city has expanded until here. The road from

Herat city and westwards to Rawashan passes some

112 meters south of the Ghalwar mosque, and has

been recently widened implementing the 1962

city master plan. If asphalted for two way traffic

as intended it would increase the urbanization

process in Ghalwar, and much of its land could be

transformed into buildings in a short time. When

land is being transformed to construction, the

pattern of agrarian employment is lost and the

peasants would look for other jobs. Therefore,

more shops and road-linked-services might emerge

with consequences of a change in the character

of Ghalwar, calling for safeguarding its heritage.

Conclusions

The Ghalwar project is a good example of sustain-

able conservation and construction of new village

buildings. It was a real laboratory for learning as

well as teaching young architects and masons in

traditional modes of construction and the use of

local building materials. It is also an indicator for

a better maintenance and usage once the commu-

nity participation, local ownership and capacity

building were all pursued. Ghalwar was the first

of nine community complexes restored as post-

war reconstruction after 1992. It was important

to safeguard the artwork of glazed tiles of this

unique mihrab in Herat. Lessons learned from this

exercise paved the way for the fast implementation

of similar projects in other historic neighborhoods.

These projects were good examples of cost effi-

ciency. The direct costs of restoration of the mosque

were around US$ 9000 and of the school building

around US$ 12000.

The screen walls provided in the mosque and the

school gives protection to the space where chil-

dren could stay, a space outside their homes to

play, learn and grow not too far from their elders

and families. When a significant part of the village

population was displaced they received education

in camps and therefore they are now more desirous

to go to school in their home village.

A functioning coordination between the govern-

ment departments and the people needs to be at

place to ensure protection of heritage, mainte-

nance and appropriate use for the benefit of the

living community.

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

52 e_conservation

Donors need to understand the real needs of the

people and communities and should allocate funds

according to local perceptions in order to serve

the purpose most effectively, instead of trying to

achieve quick visibility. One can do larger conser-

vation works, but it is the smaller-scale projects

– like public bath-houses, popular shrines and

smaller mosques - that have had the most impact

on people.

Danish contribution in safeguarding Afghanistan's

heritage had been considerable in earlier times

through UNESCO. Jen Hertz worked in consolidation

of the main iwan of Gazargah complex and Erik

Hansen restored the Ghurid portal to the Grand

mosque of Herat in late 1960s. He also worked in

documentation and re-installation decorative

panels belonging to Lashkergah’s royal mosque

in the national museum of Kabul. Flemming Aalund

worked in the restoration of Herat Citadel in 1977-

-78. Conservation works in Herat in early 1990s

had positive impact on revival of villages and re-

settlement of the returning refugees. But today

Denmark has only army in Afghanistan. The majority

of the 734 soldiers, among whom 34 women, stay

mostly in Helmand which is another rich heritage

site of Afghanistan. But Danish architects are not

around.

Based on the embassy’s website, Denmark's over-

all engagement amounts to 200 million USD per

year. Development assistance alone is 80 million

USD per year, some for support to education. But

not much funds are given to Heritage nor educa-

tion in architecture and planning, which is one of

the immediate needs for the fast transforming

sites and cities.

In January 1993 when we left Peshawar together

with my colleague Bernt Glatzer to set-up the new

DACAAR branch-office in Herat, Erik Christensen

(from Ribe, Denmark) the then director of that

NGO, saw us off at the airport asking me to promise

that that I will do something good for the war da-

maged monuments of community importance in

Herat. The year before, he had seen the damages

to the Herat monuments. I kept my promise, but

Erik could not see the results as he sadly passed

away in mid 1993 in Nepal.

I dedicate this article to him.

The Conservation Team:

Conservation Architect: Abdul Wassay Najimi

Assistant architect: Najib Ameri

Government supervisor: Haji Abdul Ahad

Masons: Khalifa Ahmad, Gul Mohammad

Plaster works: Ein-ul-Din, Mentor: Ustad Qamar

Community Representative: Baba Khair Mohamed

Resource: Flemming Aalund, Architect & Claus

Christensen, Denmark

Funded by: Danida, EU & Friends of Herat

Year completed: Mosque 1994, School 1995

Figure 22. The protected patio linking the two corridors building (photo 2005).

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

e_conservation 53

Abdul Wasay Najimi is a conservation archi-

tect with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC)

in Kabul, Afghanistan, and has been involved

in restoration and conservation projects in

Bamiyan and Herat since 1991. From 2002 to

2005, Dr. Najimi carried out a major restoration

project at the King Timurshah Mausoleum in

Kabul and has assisted other conservation

activities by AKTC in Kabul and Herat, Afghani-

stan. Prior to joining the AKTC, Dr. Najimi worked

with various international aid and research

organizations involved in development work in

Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He has taught at Kabul University and conducted

extensive research on the monuments of Herat.

Dr. Najimi was educated in Afghanistan and

Denmark, and has published articles on archi-

tecture in Afghanistan, and a book, "Herat,

the Islamic City" (1988).

References

[1] N. Danziger, Danziger's travels: beyond forbidden frontiers, Paladin, London, 1988

[2] S. Lindgren, I vargens gap. Resa till Heart, Ordfront, Stockholm 1986, 1986

[3] R. Sikorski, Dust of the Saints - a Journey to Herat in Time of War, Dari translation by Ahrari, Paragon House, 1989

[4] G.A. Pougatchenkova, “Les Monuments peu connus de L’architecture medievale de L’Afghanistan”, Afghanistan Quarterly XXI, Kabul, 1976, pp.17-52

[5] G.A. Pougatchenkova, “A l'étude des monuments timourides d'Afghanistan”, Afghanistan 23/3, 1970, pp. 33-37

[6] M. Herawi, Geography of Hafiz Abru Tehran, 1970 pp. 18-80

[7] Human Rights Watch, "Tears, Blood, and Cries: Human Rights in Afghanistan Since the Invasion, 1979 to 1984", A Helsinki Watch and Asia Watch Report, New York, 1984

[8] M. Hassan Kakar, Afghanistan: the Soviet invasion and the Afghan response, 1979-1982, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1995 [9] Kh. Khallili, Asar Herat(dari), Tehran 1382, 2001, pp. 314-424

[10] A. W. Najimi, “The Ghaznavid Architecture”, Afghanistan Quarterly 3, vol. 34 Kabul, 1981

[11] A. W. Najimi, Herat, the Islamic city: a study in urban conservation, Curzon Press, London, 1988

[12] M. R. Samizay, Islamic Architecture in Herat. A Study Towards Conservation, Kabul, 1981, pp. 60-61

[13] S. Fekri, Herat Shrines (Dari), 2001

[14] W. Ball, Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Éditions Recherche sur les civilisations, Paris, 1982, vol. I, p.104; vol 2, p. 438

ABDUL WASAY NAJIMI

Architect Ph.D. MAAAga Khan Trust for Culture, KabulContact: [email protected]

[15] Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, www.ArchNet.org, last consulted in August 22, 2009

[16] B. Wannell, Echoes in A Landscape - Western Afghanistan in 1989, in Ball, Warwick and Leonard Harrow, (Ed.), Cairo to Kabul: Afghan and Islamic Studies. Presented to Ralph Pinder-Wilson, London, Melsende, 2002, pp. 245-246.

THE GHALWAR MOSQUE AND GIRLS SCHOOL

SECOND ARP SEMINARThe Practice of Theory – Treatments of Conservation-Restoration

arp

proc

eedi

ngs

This issue inaugurates a new 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 Sculpture.

Professional Association of Conservator-Restorers of Portugal http://www.arp.org.pt/

KNOWING HODART AND HIS WORK

The Conservation-Restoration of the Last Supper

by Catarina Gersão de Alarcão

42 e_conservation

The Work

The Last Supper by Hodart, made in 1530-34, is

composed by 13 figures: “twelve apostles together

with the Christ, all in clay, all life-sized figures”.

They were grouped around a table with the lamb

and all the necessary things for the supper, every-

thing made of clay, very natural and faultless”.

The work was received by Friar Brás of Braga, who

was in charge of the reformation and the works

of the Santa Cruz Monastery of Coimbra, on Janu-

ary 8, 1534 [1, pp. 64].

The Santa Cruz refectory, made by Diogo de Casti-

lho, was composed of a rectangular room, in the

middle of which an arch would receive the ensemble:

“a beautiful stone arch, where the Chapel called

Supper of the Lord is, where the holy Master can

be seen seated at the table with the twelve apos-

tles, all figures in relief made with great spirit,

and that represent that last supper so well” [1,

pp. 78].

The Material

The name terracotta derives from the Latin “terra

cocta” which means “baked earth”. It designates,

in a general way, the clay mixed, worked and fired

in kilns, one time only, at a temperature between

900º and 1000º C. A more detailed definition may

be the one of a relatively heterogeneous paste, of

coarse structure due to the presence of pores and

impurities, which constitutes a coloured, porous,

A program for the rehabilitation of the Last Supper of the French sculptor Philippe Hodart was started in

2002. The clay images of the Christ and the Apostles, dated 1534, were broken and scattered. The first

museum director, António Augusto Gonçalves, recovered most of the set and in 1960 gave the ensemble

the deserved highlight despite its deplorable conservation state. The intervention, carried out for more

than three years, allowed us to understand several factors related to the creation of the work and to

show to the public aspects never revealed before.

Figure 1. The sculptural ensemble "Last Supper" exibited at MNMC.

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃO

opaque and uncoated ceramic body, cold manu-

factured and consolidated by heat [2, pp 81-82].

The results obtained by X-ray fluorescence and

diffraction analysis performed to the sculptures

revealed relatively high contents of SiO2, Al2O3

and K2O, as well as the presence of quartz, feld-

spars, illite/muscovite and traces of mullite. The

clay composition is, thus, illite-kaolinite with cal-

cite dispersed in the plastic component and quartz

and feldspar in the non-plastic component. With

these characteristics, along with the texture of

the ceramic material and the geologic setting -

the city of Coimbra – it is likely that the clay used

came from local sources.

The Technique

The Making of the Figures

The sculptures could not have been modelled at

once as they are life-sized figures. Several breaks

would have been necessary to allow the clay to

dry, acquiring the necessary resistance, in order

to progress with the modelling without deforma-

tions. The areas in work were probably covered

between sessions with humid cloths to keep the

clay malleable [3, pp. 23].

Diogo de Macedo [4, pp. 18] states that Hodart had

the collaboration of a locksmith, Gabriel Belém,

which would have executed the anchor structure

for the artist studies. It is common practice to make

the internal structure in iron or wood on which the

clay is applied according to the figure’s volumes.

A wood mallet is used to improve the shape of

the structure according to a draft previously made.

The apostles’ heads and hands were modelled

apart, as proved by the terracotta spike conserved

on only one figure’s head, the fact that they are

hollow, the conic shape of the fists and the ex-

istence of openings in the neck and forearms.

The draperies were the last to be modelled, by

overlapping thin clay layers, as well as the hair,

nails and costume ornaments, using different in-

struments depending on the intended texture.

The carnation was subject to a more careful work;

engobe was applied to smooth the face imperfec-

tions and to homogenise the surface, giving it an

even and less porous aspect.

Hollowing and sectioning

The figures were hollowed to reduce the thick-

ness of the walls in order to minimize the risk of

facture. The marks of the instruments used for

that purpose are still visible. In general, the thick-

ness is constant to ensure that the contraction

experienced during drying and firing is uniform

[5, pp. 28].

On the posterior side, some pieces have small

sections – ‘lids’ - probably used for the hollowing

process, facilitating the drying of the figures and

the access to their interior after firing [5, pp. 28].

In order to avoid cracks Hodart left ventilation

openings – ‘vents’ - of different shapes, often

localised on the back of the head. These allowed

the water vapours and gases from the combustion

of organic matter to escape during drying and

firing, avoiding the pieces to come apart [6, pp.

31; 5, pp. 28].

We believe that the sectioning of the figures was

made after the hollowing when the clay was firm

but still humid. Hodart would have sectioned the

pieces on their harder areas according to vertical,

horizontal and oblique planes, dividing them in

two or three sections. Although some of them pre-

sent small differences in size, which may be due

to different firing or temperature variation inside

the kiln [7, pp. 71], most figures fit perfectly be-

tween them.

Drying

After the figures were hollowed and sectioned, the

individual sections were left to dry out prior to

KNOWING HODART AND HIS WORK

57e_conservation

firing, a process that was slow in order to avoid

deformation, fissuration or even fracture [7, pp.

44] and to allow constant moisture evaporation.

For this, the sculptor would have to cover the

figures with a cloth for one or two weeks and then

uncover them gradually. As the drying period de-

pends on the clay thickness [6, pp. 33], it is con-

sidered that each apostle figure took between one

and two months to dry. However, the figures dry-

ing at room temperature would not have loosened

completely their moisture. This would only happen

in the kiln at a temperature of 100º C, when atmos-

pheric water evaporates.

The firing

The sculptor probably used a wood kiln equipped

with an oven chamber and a chimney for hot ex-

haust gases, allowing the flames to move upwards

and the hot gases to circulate between the sec-

tions that were not subjected to direct action of

the flames. The sections’ dimensions allow us to

state that the oven chamber had approximately

1 meter height and at least 80 centimetres width

and depth.

Considering the 39 months period that took Hodart

to complete the work, it is likely that he used one

single kiln. As the sculptor would finish a figure,

that is modelling, hollowing and sectioning it, he

would fire it, each section at a time.

The mineralogic composition revealed several

crystalline phases, namely illite/muscovite in-

herited from the raw materials and mullite formed

during the firing, indicating that it was a slow

process at a maximum temperature of 950º C.

The polychromy

Some sculptures present traces of polychromy and

white preparation on the most protected areas of

the figures, namely within or between the folds

and under the arms or collars. Optical microscopy

revealed that in general there is a yellow/brown

layer applied immediately over the support and

a white layer, probably preparatory, applied over

the previous one, followed by two or three more

overlayers.

X-ray micro diffraction and microchemical analysis

identified the pigments used: Prussian blue, lead

white, charcoal, yellow ochre and vermilion on

the most recent polychromy, and azurite, lead

white and vermilion on the most likely original

polichromy. Micro-fourier Transform Infrared

Spectroscopy identified linseed oil, skin glue,

proteins and starch as binders.

Conservation State

By decree of July 6, 1865 the Ministry of Public

Works granted the Santa Cruz refectory to host

the Coimbra Artists Association. When the Apostles’

Chapel was transformed into the association’s

Figure 2. Apostles’ ancient wooden bases.

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃO

58 e_conservation

59e_conservation

reading and meeting room, the figures’ arms were

broken into pieces and used as waste material [1,

pp. 86]. According to Aarão Lacerda, “the com-

position was hammered down to build a platform

over which, in a shabby pedestal, the figure of D.

Fernando was placed” [8, pp. 90]. Fernando de

Pamplona [8, pp. 90] refers that the figures were

taken out of the monks’ intimacy and tossed away

carelessly to deposit rooms where they got broken

and parts of them were even buried. In 1866, Pos-

sidónio Narciso da Silva, president of Lisbon’s Ar-

chitects and Archaeologists Association, visited

the place where the Supper was located and

ordered to saw off the heads and the arms which

he took back to the association, together with

other objects.

In 1890, António Augusto Gonçalves saved the

Apostles from total destruction. Unaware of their

origin, he recovered some heads, paying a guard

from the Artists Association to reveal him where

they were kept [9, pp. 230]. As part of Coimbra’s

town council, he recovered from rubble what was

left of the ensemble and restore it as he could.

Table 1 shows the figures’ main conservation

problems.

Problems Causes Effects

Firing fracture and fissures (of different depth and extension)

Incorrect drying; too fast water evaporation during firing

Decreased clay cohesion; poor physical stability

Diferences of mechanic resistance

Uneven distribution of heat during firing; moisture accumulation over the years

Areas with cohesion differences; easy detachment of fragments under minimum mechanical stress

Salts From the material itself and by capillary rise in the previously exposed areas

Terracotta pulverulence; crystallization of soluble salts in the areas of evaporation

Oxidation of metallic elements

Section union; structural reinforcement; restoration interventions

Terracotta fissuration; spots

Joints with gypsum and sisal Union and / or reinforcement of fractured parts; increase of mechanical resistance; restoration interventions

Introduction of foreign and harmful materials

Joints poorly made and misplaced elements

Filling of empty spaces; increase of mechanical strength; restoration interventions

Alteration of the anatomically correct reading; lack of physical stability

Fillings and reinforcement with cement

Filling of empty spaces; increase of mechanical strength; restoration interventions

Introduction of foreign and harmful materials with different expansion coefficients

Reconstitutions with gypsum, glue / beeswax, polyester resin

Loss of formal values and modelled shapes Alteration of the anatomically correct reading

Fixation of the figures in wooden bases

Provide physical stability; ease the transport Introduction of foreign and harmful materials; lack of physical stability

Foreign materials Structural reinforcement of the figures Alteration of the anatomically correct reading; introduction of foreign and harmful materials

Fixation of the heads with wood spikes

Provide physical stability Introduction of foreign and harmful materials; alteration of the anatomically correct reading

Thick deposits of dust Incorrect exhibiting and depositing conditions

Alteration of the reading of decorative details

Thick deposits of cement Restoration interventions Alteration of the reading of decorative details; different resistances

Fungi colonization Excess of moisture in the exhibit and deposit Chromatic alterations of the surface

Table 1: Main conservation problems of the sculptures.

KNOWING HODART AND HIS WORK

60 e_conservation

History and Methodology of Restoration

The restoration intervention had two main objec-

tives: on the one hand, to restore the structural

elements, with the main objective to provide both

physical and chemical integrity and stability to the

set; and on the other hand, to restore the formal

and figurative values, where the reconstitution of

the formal values of some figures was necessary

for a good reading of the work.

Restoration of the Structural Aspects

Salt extraction

Although this treatment was not a priority for all

the figures, it was chosen to be performed first

as it is easier to desalinate the whole piece than

several fragments. The removal was made by os-

mosis applying patches of paper pulp with weekly

conductivity measurements (figure 3).

Figure 3. During treatment; extraction of salts.

Figure 4. Apostle upper body already separated from its legs.

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃO

61e_conservation

Disassembly

The next stage was the disassembling of the fig-

ures and the removal of the wooden bases as they

were unaesthetic, attacked by xylophagous insects

and rotten, and unable to perform their function

(figure 4). The materials that attached the figures

onto their bases - gypsum, sisal and cement - were

removed mechanically and the figures were disas-

sembled in individual sections, previously identified.

Incorrectly glued fragments were also separated,

allowing a formal reading of the shapes.

Verification of the metallic elements

Iron elements were used, probably to unite sec-

tions or to reinforce fragile areas. Their removal

was not difficult as they were oxidised and unsta-

ble, unable to fulfil a bonding function and jeop-

ardising the stability of the terracotta. However,

it was sometimes required to drill holes around

them in order to use pliers for their extraction

(figure 5).

Removal of the old filling materials

All gypsum and cement fillings were mechanically

removed as they were contaminating the support

with salts and were disturbing the formal reading,

overlapping the original surface (figure 6).

Occasionally, when the removal would extremely

weaken the support or when the adhesion of the

cement was too strong, it was decided to remove

as much as possible of the material but without

reaching the terracotta surface.

Polychrome consolidation and fixation

It was found necessary to consolidate some areas

and terracotta fragments due to their lack of co-

hesion and to fixate the traces of polychromy and

preparation layer. Both procedures were performed

by brushing, with an acrylic resin dispersion at

10% and 15% in organic solvent (figure 7).

Figure 5 (left). Extraction of the metallic elements.Figure 6 (below). Separation process of the head from the apostle's body.

KNOWING HODART AND HIS WORK

62 e_conservation

Cleaning

All the sections and fragments were mechanically

cleaned with soft hair brushes and a controlled

suction vacuum to remove the surface dirt with

low adhesion. The materials with stronger adhe-

sion -glues, plaster and mortars - were removed

on a later phase with scalpels and chisels.

Chemical cleaning was performed selectively, reach-

ing an average cleaning level and preserving all

the white preparation and polychromy traces.

The cleaning allowed the comparison between the

fragments, leading to the conclusion that there

were elements with different visual quality, and

returned the pieces their decorative richness once

many of the motifs were hidden under the dirt.

Parts Identification

The hundreds of fragments were grouped by ty-

pology, colour and material in order to identify

and return them to their original location. The

large number of fragments, the diversity of tones

and the variety of shades in a single piece made

this phase the most difficult one. A great percen-

tage of fragments were identified (table 2) allow-

ing thus the reconstruction the formal reading.

Reassembly

The original height of the figures was unknown as

they were connected to the wooden bases with ce-

ment and plaster and most of them were wrongly

mounted with parts from other figures. This factor

made us choose as new support a steel structure

with three adaptable positions, allowing the ad-

justment of the sections during the reassembly.

The figures were mounted on a wood base with

the shape of the sections, attached to the steel

structure (figure 8).

Reference Identified Fragments

Percentage

E111 18 7%

E112 27 10%E113 6 2%

E114 23 8%

E115 23 8%

E116 36 13%

E117 19 7%

E118 44 16%

E119 5 2%

E120 _ _

E121 16 6%

E122 19 7%

E123 37 14%

Assorted 574 78%

Total 847

Figure 7. Traces of blue polychromy.

Table 2. Number of fragments assembled and associated percentages.

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃO

63e_conservation

Originally, the ensemble would have been arranged

according to a scheme that was impossible to trace.

The decision to reconnect the sections relates to

the need to ensure a good stability of the ensemble,

to keep each individual section on a unique struc-

ture and a stable support, and to facilitate the

transport (figure 8).

A structure in aluminium composed by one or two

parallel profiles and a third perpendicular one was

designed for each of the figures. The first structure

was used to attach the heads to the body (figure

9) and the second to attach two sections between

them (figure 10). In this case, one of the two par-

allel profiles was placed on the respective section

and the union was made with screws, facilitating

the assembly and disassembly of the parts. The

profiles are fixed on the interior of the figures

with a 30% solution of acrylic resin in acetone

and 25 microns stone powder.

Although the principles adopted for the structures

are identical in all figures, each of them presents

a particular shape that adjusts to their volume

and ensures the stability of the ensemble.

Aluminium was chosen due to its good perform-

ance to oxidation, its lightweight and resistance

and also its availability on the market in a great

variety of profiles, allowing for a wide variety of

solutions.

For specific cases special solutions were adopted

(figures 9-14):

a) When jointing of sections was not possible

due to the lack of access to the interior of the

part (figure 11);

b) For the almost total reconstitution of the ele-

ments and for the fixation of the lids (figure 12);

c) To allow the assembly and exhibit of the parts

with incomplete sections (figures 13 and 14).

Jointing

Whenever possible, the fragments were joint with

acrylic resin (30%) in a first phase and later with

Figure 8. The new metallic base structure with three adjustable positions.

Figure 9. Structure designed to attach the head to the body.

Drawing by João PocinhoDrawing by João Pocinho

KNOWING HODART AND HIS WORK

64 e_conservation

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃO

epoxy resin. Two types of resin were used due to

the fact that in the initial phase the fragments

required a temporary gluing, as other fragments

could be later found to complete the surface. A

preliminary jointing ensured the possibility of easy

removal whenever required.

When it was considered impossible to adjoin an-

other fragment and the acrylic resin was not suf-

ficient to ensure the stability of the fragments,

this was removed and a new jointing was performed

with epoxy resin.

The jointing of structural fragments, or of the parts

where contact points were few, required the ap-

plication of brass spikes. The process was assisted

with diverse systems such as cases, sand pads, duct

tape, plastic or fabric tape, clips, etc., adapted to

the shape of the fragments and to their resistance.

Filling

The filling of the superficial cracks and fissures

was performed with a vinyl-based paste (DAS),

Figure 10 (above). Structure designed to attach two different sections of the body.Figure 11 (above right). Structure designed to attach the sections when lacking access to the interior.

Figure 12 (below). Structure designed to the almost complete reconstitution of the elements and lids fixation.

Drawing by João Pocinho

Drawing by João Pocinho Drawing by João Pocinho

65e_conservation

KNOWING HODART AND HIS WORK

which is non-hygroscopic, resistant and very duc-

tile, to which demineralised water was added to

facilitate the modelling. In deeper, structural areas

or where a mechanical resistance was sought, the

filling was performed with acrylic resin at 30% in

organic solvent (acetone), using as filler lime-

stone powder of 25 microns.

Conservation of the Formal Aspects

Once the physical and chemical stability of the

ensemble was ensured, the next objective was to

return its formal reading by restoring the conti-

nuity of the surface and its aesthetic values. In

order to allow a correct formal reading of the en-

semble it was necessary to restore some figurative

parts as several lacunas were disruption points

in the composition.

The adapted criterion was to differentiate the in-

terventions performed, not deceiving the observer

but warning him/her of our aesthetic concern,

that of enabling the public to enjoy the ensemble.

Reconstitutions

The reconstitutions were made with a mixture of

stone powder of 25 microns bonded with acrylic

resin (30%) dissolved in organic solvent (acetone)

at a level lower than the original.

In situations where the areas to fill were large, it

was necessary to use as filling Leca®, a very light

and resistant spherical inert material.

In places where it was not possible to apply the

filling material, it was necessary to insert a poly-

ethylene net attached to the terracotta with epoxy

resin. The areas that would come in contact with

the filling material were isolated with acrylic resin

(3%) in organic solvent (xylene).

The final layer was applied with vinyl paste DAS

modelled in the same way as the original.

Figures 13 and 14. Structure designed to facilitate the assembly and exhibition of sculpture with incomplete sections.

Drawing by João Pocinho Drawing by João Pocinho

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃO

Chromatic reintegration

According to the principle of authenticity, as set

out in the Nara Document (UNESCO, 1994), a dif-

ference between the original materials and those

used in the present intervention was made. Indeed,

the combination of both is easily perceptible by

their different tones. The main objective was to pro-

vide a good reading of the figures and decorative

motifs, while ensuring that the reintegration was

discrete and in harmony with the ensemble.

Acknowledgments

The present work was carried out by the team of

the National Museum Machado de Castro with the

collaboration of contracted professionals.

We express our sincere thanks to Ana Alcoforado,

António Ferro, Ausinda Félix, Carlos Santos, Cecília

Beirão, Cláudia Felix, Conceição Reis, Dulce Gon-

çalves, João Nora, João Pocinho, Narcisa Ferreira

and Nazaré Neves.

Bibliography

[1] J.M. Teixeira de Carvalho, A Cerâmica Coimbrã

no século XVI, Imprensa da Universidade de

Coimbra, 1921

[2] F. Bruno, Il restauro della ceramica, Nardini

Editore, Firenze, 1993, pp. 81-82.

[3] I. da Piedade e Vasconcellos, Padre, Artefactos,

Symmetriacos e Geometricos, Lisbon, Joseph

Antonio da Silva, 1733, pp. 48-51

[4] D. de Macedo, Phelippe Hodart, Academia

Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisboa, 1956

[5] P. Clérin, La sculpture, toutes les techniques,

Dessain & Tolra, Paris, 1988

[6] J. C. Rich, The materials and methods of

sculpture, Dover Publications, New York, 1988

[7] M.-T. Baudry, Sculpture - Méthode et vocabu-

laire, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1990

[8] J. M. Teixeira de Carvalho, "Museus provinciais"

Arte e Arqueologia, Imprensa da Universidade

de Coimbra, Coimbra, 1925, pp. 89-91

[9] F. de Pamplona, Dicionário de pintores e

escultores portugueses, volume IV, Livraria

Civilização Editora, 4ª Edição, 2000

CATARINA GERSÃO DE ALARCÃOConservator-restorer of sculpture

National Museum Machado de Castro, Coimbra

Contact: [email protected]

[email protected]

Catarina Alarcão graduated in Conservation-Resto-

ration from the New University of Lisbon. She than

received a grant from the Ministry of Culture in 1997

and undertook the Corso di Perfezionamento sui

restauro dei materialli lapidei in the Istituto Cen-

trale per il Restauro in Rome for 11 months.

Since 1998 she works at the National Museum

Machado de Castro being the responsible of the

workshop of sculpture conservation-restoration.

She coordinates internships and training programs,

and she designed and coordinated the exhibitions

“Esculturas em diálogo” and “Conhecer é conser-

var” that took place in the same museum.

She published “Introdução ao estudo material e

à conservação da escultura em pedra e em madeira”

[Introduction to material study and to the con-

servation of sculpture in stone and wood] (Decem-

ber 2002) and has presented several communica-

tions of projects developed in the museum and

from her private practice.

66 e_conservation

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

The Conservation-Restoration of the Sanctuary Reliquaries

by André Varela Remígio

The present intervention on the reliquaries from the Sanctuary of the Monastery of Saint Mary of Alcobaça

is the second phase of a conservation-restoration treatment previously executed by the Institute José de

Figueiredo. Essentially, the intervention followed the same methodology, focusing on the treatment of

degradations that appeared in the meantime, redoing some operations and detailing others. However,

the remounting of all reliquaries in the altarpiece was a more complex operation. Furthermore, the study

of the Monastery’s terracotta sculptures proposes their correct attribution and dating, the addition of other

sculptures to the ensemble, and the existence of several terracotta workshops in the monastery.

Introduction

This article describes the second phase of the con-

servation-restoration treatment of the reliquaries

from the Sanctuary of the Monastery of Saint Mary

of Alcobaça that took place in 2006. Given that

much has already been said about this artwork

by previous researches, this paper will focus on

the interpretation of data collected during the

present intervention and the remounting of the

reliquaries.

It is not appropriate to address what is not well

understood and, as indeed the terracotta sculp-

ture of Alcobaça is an enormous unexploited sub-

ject, it was a temptation hard to resist for those

who dealt with it daily since 2006. Thus, the new

data concerning its study is briefly presented here-

in, which hopefully will influence a new approach

to the subject in the future, as well as some ter-

minology and dating corrections of some of the

sculptures.

The Alcobaça Terracotta Sculpture

In 1153, ten years after the Treaty of Zamora1, King

Afonso Henriques donated conquered lands to the

moors to St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, where

the Cistercian monastery was founded (figure 1).

The monastery became one of the most important,

powerful and wealthy from Portugal due to the

consecutive royal concessions, inherently having

works of art of great quality.

According to the Chapter XXVI of the 12th century

Exordium Cistercii [1, pp. 61], sculptures were not

allowed in Cistercian monasteries, except for painted

wooden crosses, not to distract the monks from

their prayers with mundane things. However, the

rule was updated and in the 17th century the Cis-

tercian monks from Alcobaça, as well as the others,

surrender to the Baroque opulence. In this period,

the polychromed terracotta sculpture became

one of the main artistic fields of interest in the

monastery.1 The Treaty of Zamora (1143) recognised the independence of kingdom of Portugal from the Kingdom of León and Castile.

Figure 1. Monastery of St. Mary of Alcobaça in the beginning of the 20th century.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

68 e_conservation

After the execution of the sculpture ensemble of

the St. Peter altarpiece (figure 2), probably dating

from the first half of the 17th century, the monas-

tery began an intense production of terracotta

sculpture, which possibly started with the sculp-

ture of Our Lady of the Rosary [2] followed by: the

sculptures of the Sanctuary (c. 1670) [3, pp. 36];

the altarpiece of the main chapel (1676-1678) [3,

pp. 25; 4, pp. 9]; the first phase of the altarpiece

of Transit of St. Bernard (commissioned between

1676 and 1678) [5]; the first phase of the series

of the Kings of Portugal (commissioned between

1675 and 1778) [5]; the Nativity scene (commis-

sioned between 1684 and 1690) [5]; the second

phase of the altarpiece Transit of St. Bernard (pos-

sibly commissioned between 1687 and 1690) [5];

the altarpiece of the Miracle of the Loaves (c. 1702)

[3, pp. 48]; the second phase of the series of the

Kings of Portugal (executed before 1710) [3, pp.

41]; the altarpiece of St. Bernard Giving Alms [3,

pp. 39]; and the third phase of the series of the

Kings of Portugal (c. 1765) [6].

It is possible that the ensemble of the altarpiece

Transit of St. Bernard was executed in two differ-

ent phases and by two different workshops. The

execution of the series Kings of Portugal would

also have been performed in three phases. The

altarpiece Miracle of the Loaves is also included in

this sequence as it is referred in the chronicles

together with the previous ones. Similarly, the

altarpiece of the Calvary [7] may also have been

executed in the same phase as there are references

of its existence. Beyond these ensembles, religious

and pagan sculptures existed in the monastery,

although of smaller dimensions [2].

Along with the correction of the ensemble dating

based on the Cistercian chronicles, we also propose

the correction of some designations, according to

the documentation until the 19th century. The most

evident cases are the ones of the Sanctuary [3,

pp. 36] and the altarpiece Transit of St. Bernard

[3, pp. 29] that are called by a variety of names.

Although this altarpiece is commonly called the

Figure 2. Denomination, dating and location of the terracotta sculpture ensembles from the monastery.

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 69

Death of St. Bernard, it represents more than the

eminent death of the Mellifluous Priest. It also

represents the transit of his soul to heaven where

it is received by the Virgin to whom he was espe-

cially devoted.

Considering the ensembles that are dated, it is

known that there were several major commissions

during the first priorship of Friar Sebastião de

Sottomayor. These commissions, however, would

hardly be answered by one single workshop that,

according to some authors [8], would be led by a

Friar Pedro. Following this argument, we proceeded

to the formal and material comparison (at macro-

scopic level), of the different sculpture ensembles

in order to group them according to their possible

provenance workshops (table 1).

Some evident similarities were then detected be-

tween some of the busts and the sculptures of the

first phase of the altarpiece Transit of St. Bernard.

Comparing the archaic sculpture of Our Lady of the

Rosary with some busts, we may find some formal

similarities, especially with the bust of St. Euphe-

mia (?), concerning the hairstyle and headdress.

We propose the hypothesis that this sculpture

was executed by the same workshop although it

was one of their early works followed by more com-

plex projects as the reliquaries of the Sanctuary

and of the altarpiece Transit of St. Bernard [2].

The most comprehensive studies of the Sculpture

of Alcobaça did not find any references about Friar

Pedro [9, 10]. Thus, and following the above ar-

gumentation, it is likely that there were several

clay workshops working simultaneously and not

only one single. We also believe that these work-

shops were not necessarily made up of monks, as

it is usually and undisputedly referred, but pos-

sibly by seculars, as other teams of major projects

from the monastery.

The idea of seculars working in workshops is also

corroborated by the existence of sculptures and

ensembles in other monasteries and convents that

are very similar to those from Alcobaça.

The Sanctuary

As the medieval sacristy became too small for a

monastery with the importance and splendour of

Alcobaça, King Manuel I ordered the construction

of a bigger sacristy behind the ambulatory. The

Altarpiece of St. Peter 17th (?) century

Orange paste Thin walls Naturalist model

Our Lady of the Rosary,Sanctuary Reliquaries,Altarpiece Transit of St. Bernard, 1st phase

c.1670-c.1678

Clear pink paste with several black areas. Serious cohesion problems

Very thick walls

Round face, prominent eyes, thick lips

Altarpiece of the main chapel, Altarpiece Transit of St. Bernard, 2nd phaseNativity

1676-c.1690

red paste with several black areas

Thick walls Effeminated angels, triangular face, slit eyes, thin lips, flying draperies

D. Afonso I to D. João IV (?) c.1675-1678

Clear pink paste with several black areas. Serious cohesion problems

Very thick walls

n.a.

D. Pedro II and D. Afonso VI <1710 n.a. n.a. n.a.

D. João V, D. José I and the coronation ensemble

c.1765 red paste n.a. n.a.

Table 1. Grouping of several ensembles of sculpture by workshops and some of their individual characteristics.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

70 e_conservation

medieval one became the Treasure Room to keep

the important and renowned collection of the

monastery relics.

In time, however, this space also became unworthy

of the relics collection, requiring the construction

of a new space for that purpose that would repre-

sent the cultural and institutional importance of

the relics collection.

Thus, in 1670 the Abbot General Dr. Friar Constan-

tino de Sampaio (1619-1691) [5] commissioned

the construction of the Sanctuary (figure 3) with

its own chapel at the top of the Sacristy. The Sanc-

tuary has an octagonal plan and a dome in carved

stone and shed dormer. The walls are entirely covered

with a gilded and polychromed altarpiece with

several niches that house the reliquaries.

The reliquaries, of monumental scale and mostly

in polychrome terracotta, were initially composed

of seven full-body sculptures, 82 busts and 14 arms.

Currently, only seven full-body sculptures, 68 busts

and 10 arms remained in the altarpiece. One ad-

ditional bust, the heads of two busts and an arm

in terracotta are kept in storage due to their poor

conservation state.

Each reliquary represents a saint (figure 3) and

has embedded in the front a container with glass

with the respective relic and a rag paper [11] with

the saint identification. The relics that still exist

are mostly bones, teeth, flesh and tissue fragments.

Seven of the busts are in polychrome wood, formally

very similar to the others. Although the reason why

they were made in wood is unknown, it is likely

that they are part of the initial project once they

are mentioned in the oldest descriptions and they

are still located in the same place [12]. Given that

they constituted perfectly symmetrical pairs (fig-

ure 4), both geometrically and iconographically,

we believe that they would have been part of an

earlier core ensemble.

Figure 3 (left). Sanctuary of the Monastery of St. Mary of Alcobaça before 1930.Figure 4 (below). Reliquary of St. Nicholas.

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 71

One bust is highlighted among the others due to

its exuberance: it is the one from St. Zacharias (?),

represented as the priest of the Temple in Jerusa-

lem. The back of the bust has marked a signal that

would increase its exoticism in case it has a mean-

ing (figure 6). This signal consists in an inverted

cross painted in red, hypothetically the signal of

the Antichrist. This bust seems to exchange looks

with one other from a monk from the Reliquia Sanc-

torum which is located one level up and that has on

its back a catholic cross painted in red, like repre-

senting the Good watching the Evil from above [2].

Execution Techniques

Since there is already literature on the technical

execution of the reliquaries, this chapter will ad-

dress this thematic very briefly. The clay was ex-

tracted in the clay pits from the region, the reli-

quaries were executed hollow, and bars, intersected

or not, were placed in their interior to support the

sculpture walls. Vents were opened in the top of

each one.

The already modelled full-body sculptures were

sectioned transversally in horizontal blocks, pre-

sumably with a cutter of untempered wired [13,

pp. 98]. This operation was intended to facilitate

their transport and to promote the drying and

firing process. In order to avoid the switch of parts

from the different sculptures during the entire

execution, some of them were manually marked

with the name of the saint, as in the case of the

mitre of St. Edmund (figure 7).

Figure 5. Busts of polychrome wood.

Figure 6. Locations of Reliquia Sanctorum (right) and the busts of St. Zacharias (?) (left), with the red marks painted on the back.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

72 e_conservation

Starting from the support, the stratigraphy con-

sists of several layers: animal glue, thick white

preparation of gypsum and animal glue, and colour

layers. Over the preparation of the areas to be painted,

a layer of an ochre-based bolus in animal glue was

applied, then the gold leaf, which was polished,

and then the colour layer [11]. The pigments were

applied in egg tempera and were identified as lead

white, chalk, yellow ochre, vermilion, ochre, azur-

ite, malachite, and charcoal (figure 8) [14]. Chalk

was used in white layers over the metallic leaf due

to its weak opacity, while lead white was mixed with

other pigments in the colour layers or as under-

layer [14, pp. 68].

The polychromy (figure 9) is made of vegetal and

geometric motifs, executed in sgraffito or with a

brush directly over the polished metallic leaf, re-

producing tow, silk, damasks and embroidery in

gold thread. On the interior of the relic vessels,

a madder oil-based glaze [11] was applied over

the metallic leaf.

Figure 7. Inscription marked in the mitre of the reliquary of St. Edmund.

Figure 8. Stratigraphy of one of the Innocent Saints bust.

Figure 9. Example of polychromy of the treated reliquaries.

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 73

Subsequent Interventions

The Sanctuary went through several interventions

that are difficult to date (table 2), although they

did not alter the essence of the original project.

After the research of several photographic collec-

tions, namely in the Vieira Natividade House Mu-

seum (partially unpublished), Collection Alvão and

the Estate of Barata Feyo (partially unpublished),

it was found that one of the sculptures [15] from

the altarpiece appears to be the upper part of a

mid-sized sculpture, possibly representing an angel

holding a thurible (figure 10 A). This sculpture,

placed over the altar in the beginning of the 20th

century and now disappeared, may have belonged

C

A B

Figure 10. Lost sculptures. A - angel holding a thurible;B and C - feminine busts.

Before the 18th century

Reliquaries Reposition of arms in full-body sculpture corbels and their substitution by others in silver.

Before 1885 Altarpiece Addition of a corbel for a polychrome terracotta sculpture representing the decapitated head of Saint John the Baptist

Reliquaries Placement of four wood busts (?).

Reliquaries Varnish application

Beginning of 20th century

Altarpiece Placement of the several sculptures from the monasteries in niches in the altar and on/over the altar

1931 Sanctuary Roof repair

1952 Sanctuary Placement of the sculptures of the altarpiece of Saint Peter, meanwhile dismantled.

1952 Altarpiece Execution of another altar in stone, formal integration and partial gilding

1952 Reliquaries Intervention by the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGEMN): gluing; formal integrations (very rough); application of overpaint on flesh colour, hair and pur-purine; application of a mid-size head to one of the decapitated busts; and dislocation of some busts from the two first levels

1979-1986 Sanctuary, Altarpiece and Reliquaries

Intervention of conservation-restoration by the Institute José de Figueiredo: dome – cleaning; altarpiece – joinery work, carving and gilding, fragment fixation, cleaning, reattachment and partial removal of overpaintings and purpurine; reliquaries - fragment fixation, punctual formal integration, cleaning, coatings fixation, partial removal of overpaintins and purpurine, execution of missing glasses and chromatic integration of lacunas according to several criteria (from simple colouring to integral and extremely detailed integration).

2002 Altarpiece Disinfestation

2002 Reliquaries The reliquaries were taken down while the full-body sculptures were kept in the sacristy and the busts and the arms were placed in storage.

2003 Reliquaries First phase of the conservation-restoration intervention of the reliquaries (7 sculptures of full body and 24 busts) performed by other team.

2006 Altarpiece Intervention of conservation-restoration.

Table 2. Chronology of some of the posterior interventions performed in the Sanctuary.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

74 e_conservation

to one of the lost ensembles, most likely to the

enigmatic Nativity [2] from which so little is known.

A total of thirteen busts and three arms are miss-

ing from the reliquaries ensemble. After research

in the previously mentioned photographic collec-

tions, two feminine busts were identified as lost

(figure 10 B and C). The busts disappeared after

1929 [15] and one was similar to two other busts,

one in wood and another in terracotta, possibly

of St. Valeria. Noting that the wooden bust is per-

fectly symmetrical to the existing one, the previous

hypothesis that these busts may have belong to a

core preceding the Sanctuary is supported.

Conservation State

The terracotta support of the reliquaries presented

lacunas, fractures and fissures, and the wooden

busts were affected by biological attack caused

by wood boring insects and Serpula lacrymans

(dry rot) fungus.

The coatings presented lack of cohesion (extremely

punctual), lacunas (in numerous reliquaries and

in large areas), altered varnish, colour overpaint-

ing and extremely oxidised purpurine overpaint

and chromatic integrations performed by Insti-

tute José de Figueiredo (IJF).

Intervention of Conservation-Restoration

The second phase of the intervention of conser-

vation-restoration of the reliquaries of the Sanc-

tuary, in 2006, focused on the reliquaries that had

not yet been treated, namely 48 busts, 10 arms and

the decapitated head of the Precursor. Although

the intervention aimed to the maintenance and

continuity of the treatment started by IJF, it also

addressed the damages that appeared meanwhile,

redoing some operations and detailing others.

After the individual diagnostic of each reliquary,

the surface was cleaned. The intervention then

continued with the treatment of the support,

namely fragments reattachment (figures 11 and 12)

Figures 11 and 12. Before and after the reattachment of the fragments of Saint John the Evangelist bust.

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 75

and fissures reinforcement. The gaps between the

fragments were filled with a kaolin-based coloured

paste with a similar texture of the surrounding

areas.

After the preventive disinfestation of the wooden

busts it was proceeded to the reattachment of the

fragments, the filling of cracks with lower density

wood and consolidation of the areas with dry rot.

The shape of the missing support was not remade,

which would have been beyond the conservation-

restoration ethics, although the very rough inte-

grations performed by DGEMN were improved (fig-

ures 13 and 14) as in many cases they were difficult

to remove and they distorted the formal reading

and interpretation of the sculptures.

The few detached areas of the polychromy were

fixated. The layers of overpaintings, purpurine

and varnish still existent in some reliquaries (fig-

ure 15), as well as similar numerous traces in other

reliquaries, were completely removed as they covered

the original polychromy, disrupting the unity of

the composition.

The chromatic reintegration executed by IJF was

already altered, having lost its effectiveness, and

therefore was replaced by other. The chromatic re-

integration of the lacunas respected the previous

project and sought to offer a certain colour homo-

geneity, to return the unity to the composition and

to provide a better reading of the ensemble.

Figures 13 and 14. Improvement of the reintegration performed by DGEMN on one of the arms.

Figure 15. Removal of the purpurine and varnish layers from the bust of Saint Umbelina.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

76 e_conservation

On the first two levels, part of the existing fillings

made by DGEMN were improved in order to obtain

an homogeneous and effective chromatic integra-

tion (figures 16 and 17), given the reliquaries dimen-

sions, the observer proximity to these areas, their

irregular surface and the polishing of the flesh

colour polychromy.

The bust of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal was treated

in the same manner, presenting some of the con-

ditions mentioned above. The bust also occupies

a central place in the composition and in the sym-

bology of the Sanctuary, although it is at a reason-

able distance from the observer (figures 18 and

19). Superficial detachments of the flesh tones

from other reliquaries were reintegrated without

the use of filling.

Figures 16 and 17. Bust of St. John the Baptist. Filling, levelling and chromatic reintegration of the lacunas of the flesh tones.

Figures 18 and 19. Chromatic reintegration of the bust of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal.

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 77

The chosen chromatic was similar to the surround-

ing area, carefully respecting the lacuna limits, re-

versibly and perfectly discernible. The reintegration

of lacunas should always be easily discernible at

short distance but invisible when observed from

a distance [16], to ensure the authenticity of cul-

tural property and not to interfere with the reading

of the transmitted message. Therefore, we chose

the reintegration by overlapping of large and pa-

rallel traces or points depending on each situation

(figure 20).

The superficial lacunas of the polychrome and

golden areas were toned with shades of Armenian

bolus. In a very few exceptions when this option

did not work, the areas were toned with the colour

of the surrounding background, but never remade.

A protection layer was later applied to all the reli-

quaries.

The remounting

When the second phase of the conservation-resto-

ration intervention was completed, the reliquaries

were placed back in the altarpiece. The busts and

arms were first protected and then placed back in

their respective niches, from the upper levels to

the lower ones, with the help of an electric fork-

lift. The previous order was followed instead of

the original one due to the fact that some busts

could not be identified.

Figure 20. Chromatic reintegration through overlapping of traces and points.

Figures 21 and 22. Stages in the remounting of the full body sculptures on the altarpiece corbels.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

78 e_conservation

Figures 23-26. Stages in the remounting of the full body sculptures on the altarpiece corbels.

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 79

The remounting of the full-body sculptures was

the most complex operation as they were about

two meters tall, one ton of weight and were made

of less fired terracotta sections.

Before the sculptures could be placed it was ne-

cessary to remove the corbel’s wood linings which

would support the weight. For that end, the sculp-

tures were slowly pushed over silicone cylinders to

another pallet at the same height. To avoid the

displacement of the sections, the sculptures were

fully wrapped in polyethylene film and a board was

attached to their back. Placed over the pallets, the

sculptures were elevated until their corbels and

placed in positions, once again using the silicone

cylinders to slide them (figures 21-26).

The sculpture of the head of St. John the Baptist

(figure 27) was not remounted in the altar and its

corbel was removed because originally the sculp-

ture did not belong within the Sanctuary and in

its correct position, it was not even visible.

Conclusions

Apart from knowing the production techniques of

the works of art, conservator-restorers are given

privileged information, being in the proximity to

the pieces. The study of the sculpture of Alcobaça

has revealed that its execution would have been

the work of several terracotta workshops, possibly

seculars, and not of a single workshop of monks,

as it is always referred.

Through a formal and technical analysis, we have

grouped the ensembles of sculpture by their prove-

nance from different possible workshops. The pre-

sent study is in its early stages but the steps are

already outlined: the study of the altarpiece Transit

of St. Bernard, the one of the main altar, as well as

the sculptures executed by the same workshops

for other convents is soon to be expected.

The conservation-restoration treatment presented

herein maintained the continuity of the previous

treatment performed by IJF. The remounting of the

reliquaries was the most complex operation due

to the fact that the full-body sculptures were origi-

nally mounted and painted directly in their corbels

and since then they had never left their places.

Acknowledgments

The author expresses his sincere appreciation to

Cecília Gil, Director of the Monastery of St. Mary

of Alcobaça, to Maria Augusta Trindade Ferreira

and Rui Rasquilho, former directors of the Monas-

tery, to Isabel Raposo de Magalhães, subdirector

of the Institute of Museums and Conservation, and

to Carlos Moura, Assistant Professor at the Faculty

of Social and Human Sciences of the New University

of Lisbon, for their cooperation during the inter-

vention and the research.

Figure 27. Head of St. John the Baptist.

References

[1] A. A. Nascimento, Cister: Os Documentos Primitivos, Edições Colibri, Lisboa, 1998

[2] A. V. Remígio, “Tratamento de Conservação e Re- stauro de relicários do Santuário do Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça”, Revista Estudos Patri- mónio 11, IGESPAR, 2009 (in press)

[3] M. dos Santos, Frei, Descrição do Real Mosteiro de

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIO

80 e_conservation

Alcobaça, A. A. Nascimento (introd. and notes), Associação para a Defesa e Valorização do Patrimó- nio Cultural da Regiäo de Alcobaça, Alcobaça, 1979

[4] V. Correia, O Retábulo da capela-mor de Alcobaça, Imprensa da Universidade, Coimbra, 1931

[5] B. São Bernardo, Frei, Extractos das Contas das Obras do Mosteiro de Alcobaça de 1618 a 1696, National Library of Portugal, Reserved, Cod. ALC.301, fl.280-283

[6] V. Correia, Inscrições do Claustro do Silêncio, Imprensa da Universidade, Coimbra, 1929

[7] R. Ortigão, As Farpas-O País e a Sociedade Portu- guesa, Tomo I, Livraria Clássica Editora, Lisboa, 1998

[8] G. Matos Sequeira, Inventário Artístico de Portugal: Distrito de Leiria, 5º Vol., Academia Nacional de Belas-Artes, 1955

[9] M. Calado and P. Canavarro, “Investigação Histó- rica”, in Problemas de alteração e conservação do conjunto em terracta da Morte de S. Bernardo no Mosteiro de Alcobaça, Vol. 1, col. «Alcobaciana», Associação para a defesa e valorização do Patrimó- nio Cultural da Região de Alcobaça, Alcobaça, 1974

[10] C. Moura, A Escultura de Alcobaça e a Imaginária Monástico-Conventual (1590-1700), 2º vol., PhD Thesis, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, 2006

[11] “A Capela-Relicário do Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça – Processo de Brigada, 1984-1989”, Reports of Conservation-Restoration of Sculpture of the Institute José de Figueiredo (unpublished)

[12] M. da Rocha, Frei, Descrição do Santuário das Relíquias do Mosteiro de Alcobaça, National Library of Portugal, Reserved, Cod. ALC. 307, fl. 60vº-fl. 66, transcript in C. Moura, A Escultura de Alcobaça e a Imaginária Monástico-Conventual (1590-1700), Vol. 2, PhD Thesis, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, New University of Lisbon, 2006, pp. 18-23

[13] I. Piedade Vasconcellos, Artefactos Symmetriacos e Geometricos, advertidos, e descobertos pela indu- striosa perfeição das artes, esculturaria, architectonica, e da pintura, Impressa da Academia Real, Lisboa, 1733

[14] C. Moura, A. Barreiro and I. Ribeiro, “Os Bustos- relicário – Alguns casos notáveis da escultura seis- centista de barro em Alcobaça”, in POLICROMIA - A

Escultura Policromada Religiosa dos séculos XVII e XVIII - Estudo comparativo das técnicas, alterações e conser- vação em Portugal, Espanha e Bélgica, IPCR, Lisboa, 2004

[15] D. E. S. ALVÃO (1872-1946), Documentação foto- gráfica, Biblioteca Municipal de Alcobaça, BMA 406 and 407

[16] C. Brandi, Teoria do Restauro, Edições Orion, Lisboa, 2006

Photographic sources

S. C. S. d'E. Barata Feio, Photographic documentation, Author’s collection (partially unpublished)

Casa-Museu Vieira Natividade, Photographic documen-tation, Monastery of Saint Mary of Alcobaça (partially unpublished)

THE MONASTERY OF SAINT MARY OF ALCOBAÇA

e_conservation 81

André Varela Remígio is a conservator-restorer of

sculpture. He has a Bachelor degree in conservation-

restoration by Escola Superior de Conservação e

Restauro of Lisbon and a Master in conservation-

restoration by Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He

currently works as freelancer and has participated

in conservation treatments of sculptures belong-

ing to monuments classified as National Monu-

ments and listed UNESCO World Heritage. He is

also member of the Direction Board of ARP, the

Associação Profissional de Conservadores-Restau-

radores de Portugal, since 2001.

ANDRÉ VARELA REMÍGIOConservator-Restorer

Contact: [email protected]: http://avremigio.com/

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

THE USE OF WAX-RESIN IN CONSERVATION TREATMENTS

OF GILDED SURFACES

by Elsa Filipe de Andrade Murta

Beeswax, either mixed or not mixed with natural resins, has been used since antiquity in both in the composition of colour, as a binding medium, and in other artistic purposes. Due to its hydrophobic properties, it is often employed in conservation treatments to reattach and consolidate paint layers in high humidity environments. Beeswax has also been a common polishing or coating material on wooden objects without polychrome layers. This article brings two matters into discussion: first, the material characterisation of baroque gilded wooden works of art that have been treated by this method at the Conservation-Restoration Department of the Institute for the Museums and Conservation (DCR-IMC), and second, the pros and cons of this procedure that seems to have been forgotten and out of use.

Introduction

The theme of this article has long been a motive

for reflection for the conservator-restorers that

have shared work, problematics and results in the

area of wood and gilded woodcarving from the

Department of Conservation and Restoration of

the Institute of Museums and Conservation (DCR-

IMC). This subject needs to be discussed in order

to justify a methodology apparently fallen into

disuse, but with high chances of success.

The use of wax-resin mixtures was first implemented

at the former Institute José de Figueiredo (IJF)1,

brought from the Royal Institute for Cultural He-

ritage (KIK-IRPA) by Portuguese trainees.

In the author’s experience, previous wax-resin

treatments are, in a certain way, often ignored in

the diagnostics and treatment proposals of the

conservation state of altarpieces. This paper is

not intended to make an apology of a method over

others but to justify the validity of a methodology

that is still very effective as proved by analytical

characterisation and by 30-years experience in

the area of sculpture and gilded woodcarving at

the Portuguese Institute.

Part I: Materials

The Wax

Wax may have mineral, vegetal or animal origin. It

is the latter that we will focus on. Wax is naturally

secreted by the intra-abdominal glands of bees

(Apis mellifica). In literature, the composition of

beeswax is usually referred as a “complex mixture

of hydrocarbons, esters and free fatty acids“ [1].

Chemically, it includes more than 300 compo-

nents, among which: monoesters (35%), hydro-

carbons (14%), free acids (12%), diesters (14%),

hydroxyl polyesters (8%), hydroxyl monoesters

(4%), triesters (3%), acid polyesters (2%), acid

monoesters (1%) and unidentified products (7%).

Physically wax [2] is a solid, slightly translucent,

plastic material that melts when subject to heat,

having a low melting point of about 63º C. Wax has

an excellent resistance to hydrolysis, which makes

it practically insoluble in water, and a great resist-

ance to oxidation, remaining stable for long periods

of time. It is soluble in a few solvents, particularly

in aromatic ones, and its solubility increases with

temperature. It can be found in natural colour or

bleached and although it yellows in time, it remains

stable for very long periods. Wax has been the pre-

ferred finish for polishing or finishing the surface of

furniture or woodwork in general. Since antiquity,

it has been used as modelling material in cero-

plasty2 for statues, medals, funerary masks, busts,

etc. and in painting for encaustic, still seen nowa-

days in mummy portraits from ancient tombs of

Egypt, which confirms that the degradation of fatty

acids by oxidation did not occur. In the technique

of brocade relief applied on European medieval

polychromed sculpture, wax was used mixed with

natural resins and, probably, honey and oil as

well [3].

Agnès Le Gac studied this thematic, describing and

justifying the importance that the baroque époque

gave to the use of “[…] wax materials […], in both

the art of ceroplasty and wax modelling, as well

as in the unusual expression of polychromies with

wax decoration from the end of the 17th century”

[4, pp. 64]. It was also used as the “adhesive by

excellence in the famous Portuguese nativities

1 IJF would later become the Portuguese Institute of Conser-vation-Restoration (IPCR) which is today the Department of Conservation-Restoration of the Institute of Museums and Conservation (DCR-IMC).

2 "Term that defines the technique of modelling in white or polychrome wax for making models or final sculptures" in Luís Manuel Teixeira, Dicionário Ilustrado de Belas Artes, Editorial Presença, Lisbon, 1985, pp. 60.

ELSA FILIPE DE ANDRADE MURTA

84 e_conservation

from the 18th and 19th century where we find it

recurrently” [4, pp. 58].

The Resin

Dammar resin is extracted from the Dipterocarpa-

ceae trees in Asian countries [5] and is produced

by tapping trees [6]. Like most triterpenoid resins,

dammar produces good quality varnishes due to

its good solubility in organic solvents, its insolubi-

lity in water and low yellowing coefficient compared

to other natural resins. It is commercialised on

solid state in the form of small, translucent dusty

stones with strong and aromatic odour. Its melting

point is between 100º and 150º C, roughly twice

as that of beeswax. It has a great adhesive power

and it is often mixed with wax to improve its adhe-

sive strength. Another advantage is its low acidity.

Part II: The Mixture

The use of wax and resin mixed in different propor-

tions for conservation treatments such as relining

of paintings or for the reattachment of gilding has

been mentioned in literature since a long time3.

The exact proportion of the components depends

on factors such as the objective or the climate.

Although wax has a certain adhesive strength by

itself, the addition of resin will increase its adhe-

sion to the support.

Figure 1 shows a worksheet prepared by Gracelina

Barros4 that describes the preparation procedure

of wax-resin at a ratio of 7 parts of beeswax to 2

parts of dammar resin, which is considered the

ideal proportion in terms of wax consistency and

resin elasticity.

The preparation procedure was documented in the

context of a curricular internship5. Figures 2 to

5 show the typical steps required in the prepara-

tion of the mixture. 700 g of beewax are placed

in a pot over a hot plate in water bath in order to

control the wax melting, while 200 g of dammar

resin are put in a separate container (figure 2).

When the wax is almost melted, the dammar resin

is placed in another hot plate. When both are melted,

the resin is poured into the wax, letting the mix-

3 Among other references, we especially refer to the Bulletin de l'Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, as well as to the IIC publications such as Studies in Conservation, Reviews in Con-servation, News in Conservation and their Congress Preprints.

4 Gracelina Barros is a conservator-restorer who worked in the division of sculpture and gilded woodcarving at IJF until 1999.

5 Documentation as digital photographs made in 2007 during the curricular internship of students Catarina Antunes and Joana Madureira from the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar.

Figure 1. Manual worksheet for the preparation of wax-resin (7:2) prepared by Gracelina Barros.

Figure 2. The wax and the resin are to be melted separately.

THE USE OF WAX-RESIN IN CONSERVATION OF GILDED SURFACES

e_conservation 85

ture to homogenise (figure 3). In order to prepare

the mixture for future applications, it is standard

practice to set up a wood grid covered with a non-

adherent film, in this case melinex©, where the

mixture is poured over after being filtered for any

residues that wax can have. Finally, it is left to

cool. When the mixture is almost solid, parallel

and perpendicular incisions are made (figure 4)

to obtain ready to use individual doses (figure 5).

Part III: Material Analysis

The consulted bibliography focuses on the diffi-

culty in identifying the different qualities of wax

and resin by methods of analysis. Some of these

are able to determine the classes of binders but

not the specific variations within the same class.

Richard Newman performed a valuable characteri-

sation of the most common binders found in sculp-

ture polychromy and published infrared spectra

from samples of wax and resin, among many other

materials [7]. Although in his study Newman did

not use pure materials but samples taken from works

of art, the analytical characterisation is very useful

in the determination of the characteristic peaks

of both beeswax and dammar resin.

Some questions concerning the interventions made

with wax-resin are raised: is the adhesive used as

a binder visible in cross-section? Would it stain the

preparation layer? Is the general aspect of the

sample the expected one, in terms of uniformity

and layer colour? In order to answer these and other

questions, data concerning the material charac-

terisation of gilded objects that had been subjected

to interventions with wax-resin was gathered.

We present five cross-sections (figure 6) taken

from different locations and observed under the

Figure 3 (above). After melting, the resin is poured over the wax and homogenised. Figure 4 (upper right). Parallel and perpendicular incisions are made in the surface when the mixture is semi-solid. Figure 5 (right). Ready to use individual pieces of wax-resin.

ELSA FILIPE DE ANDRADE MURTA

86 e_conservation

microscope. The material characterization was

performed by µ-FTIR6.

Figure 6a shows a cross-section from the left side

of the altarpiece of the Chapel of the Lord of Speech

(Capela do Senhor da Fala), the oldest in the Church

of St. Albert (Igreja de Stº Alberto), located at the

National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA) in Lisbon.

Several layers were identified in the sample, start-

ing from the support identified as Quercus sp. (oak):

a preparation layer composed of a thin strata con-

taining gypsum and amide (most probably anim-

al glue); a yellow preparation layer for the appli-

cation of gold, consisting of kaolin and gypsum

admixed in oil7 and amides (from animal glue);

gold leaf; and a non-continuous layer of beeswax

and dammar resin mixture.

Figure 6b shows a cross-section from an angel-

shaped corbel from the altarpiece of the same

church. The support, not visible in the sample,

was identified as Pinus sylvestris L. (pine).The

6 The analytical characterisation was performed by the LCR-JF from IMC; the biologic study was performed by biologist Lília Esteves; micro-FTIR was performed by Eng. Isabel Ribeiro; the samplings and XRF analysis were performed by physicist Ana Mesquita e Carmo.

7 The identification of oil in the preparation layers of the gilding with water technique may be unprecedented. The micro-FTIR spectra of the white preparation layer show sharp peaks characteristic of water and gypsum while the second layer of the yellow preparation (bolus) shows characteristic peaks of water, gypsum and some oil. Thus, we concluded that the gilding was executed in a water-based technique.

Figure 6. Cross-sections corresponding to the following locations: column, Chapel of the Lord of the Speech, Church of St. Albert (MNAA); angel, altarpiece of the Church of St. Albert (MNAA); column, altarpiece of the Church of St. Albert (MNAA); column, altarpiece of the Church of Mercy of Proença-a-Velha; golden cartouche of an angel, Church of Our Lady of Carmo, Beja.

THE USE OF WAX-RESIN IN CONSERVATION OF GILDED SURFACES

e_conservation 87

strata structure and the identified materials are

similar with those from figure 6a8.

Figure 6c shows the cross-section of a sample taken

from a column from the left side of the altarpiece

of the same church. The structure of the strata and

the identified materials are similar with those from

figure 6a and 6b9.

Figure 6d shows the cross-section of a sample taken

from a column from the right side of the main altar-

piece from the Church of Mercy (Igreja da Miseri-

córdia) of Proença-a-Velha. In shape of an aedicule

classified as from the 16th century [8], this altar-

piece is probably the oldest here mentioned.

The Laboratory of Conservation-Restoration - José

de Figueiredo (LCR-JF) identified gypsum admixed

in oil in the preparation layer, which is likely due

to a later contamination. The infrared spectra of

the same area revealed characteristic peaks of water

that are probably related to the aqueous solvent

of the binder. The orange layer, which is the gold

bolus, is constituted by kaolin and ochre admixed

in oil and gold leaf.

Figure 6e shows a cross-section from a golden car-

touche of an angel, probably executed in the second

third of the 18th century10, from the Church of Our

Lady of Carmo (Igreja de Nª Sª do Carmo), Beja. Over

the support, identified as being Quercus sp. (oak),

a white preparation layer of gypsum with proteic

binder, a 20 µm brown layer that is ochre bolus and

vegetable carbon admixed in animal glue were found.

The direct observation of the cross-sections shows

that samples in figures 6a, 6b and 6c, provenient

from the same location but from different ages,

8 The infrared spectra (µ-FTIR) show the characteristic peaks of kaolin and amides, probably from skin glue, usually asso-ciated with the bolus. The presence of oil can be due to con-tamination.

9 In this cross-section the characteristic peaks of gypsum and oil were identified, although other materials necessary for the layer consistency were not identified.

10 This sculpture has a pair with the same material charac-teristics. Due to their original provenance and stylistic aspect, they are referenced by José Antonio Falcão, from the Depart-ment of Historic and Artistic Heritage of the Diocese of Beja, as being the work of the brothers Abreu do Ó, active with a workshop in Évora in the second third of the 18th century.

11 Unfortunately, a more precise identification of the binders from the white and yellow preparation layers was not possible.

are physically very similar. The preparation layers

appear to be cohesive, dense, spotless and without

infiltrations from the gold layer. The thin layer of

wax-resin that can be observed over the gold leaf

is consistent with the conservation-restoration

treatment of the gilded surface, made with wax-

resin (7:2) in 1981 and 1994.

Figure 6d shows similar characteristics with the

previous figures, but with a darker and denser co-

lour of the bolus, without stains or infiltrations in

the white preparation layer. The presence of oil11

in the composition of the preparation layers is

likely due to the ancient practice of applying oil

over the polychromy to protect it and highlight its

colour. This altarpiece was subject to conservation-

restoration intervention by IJF’s Division of Sculp-

ture in 1984 using wax-resin (7:2) and the strati-

graphy has apparently not changed since then.

Figure 6e corresponds to an area of golden decora-

tion that later received a thick layer of varnish,

which infiltrated the preparation layer through the

gold fissures, stained it and prevented the conso-

lidation. After the removal of that intervention

and the stabilisation of the gold and preparation

layers, a fixative and protective layer of wax-resin

(7:2), diluted in hot aromatic solvent was applied

with the aid of hot air source.

Part IV: Some procedures

As fixative, wax-resin (7:2) may be used in its solid

state, with the aid of a hot spatula, or diluted in

an organic solvent.

ELSA FILIPE DE ANDRADE MURTA

88 e_conservation

Detachment of the gold layer was diagnosed in a

sculpture representing Mary Magdalene from the

National Museum Machado de Castro (MNMC) in

Coimbra. The decohesion and detachment of the

preparation layers was caused by a long-term im-

proper exhibition condition, such as permanent

high-humidity environment. The treatment of the

sculpture was made with wax-resin (7:2) applied

directly onto the area with the aid of hot spatulas

(figure 7). The areas were previously humidified

with an organic solvent to enhance the wax-resin

absorption. To fix the gold detachments, several

drops of wax-resin were softened through a melinex©

sheet with a hot spatula, at a maximum of 120º C

to prevent wax degradation. Once the mixture was

absorbed, the excess was removed with a cotton

swab with organic solvent.

Wax-resin (7:2) may also be used cold when dis-

solved in an appropriate organic solvent such as

white spirit©, in a high percentage in order to ob-

tain a soft consistency (figure 8), ideal to apply

as polishing or final protection layer. This meth-

odology gives good results on surfaces with succes-

sive interventions on gilding when it is necessary

to homogenise the surface and to return its bright-

ness.

Part V: Some Case Studies

Conservation treatments were performed using

the methodology previously described to gilded

altarpieces in several Portuguese locations during

the first course of conservation and restoration

of sculpture at IJF from 1981 until 1986.

The altarpiece of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snow

(Capela de Nossa Senhora das Neves) in Arentim,

Braga, was subject to conservation treatment in

1982. After a preliminary cleaning and dust removal,

the surface was humidified with white spirit and

a layer of wax-resin (7:2) diluted in white spirit at

50% was applied. After impregnation, excess of

mixture remained on the surface due to the rapid

loss of heat. The same problem occurred in the treat-

ment of the gilded surface of the carved wooden

decoration on the Santa Clara’s retable from MNMC

(figure 9). This excess was removed with a natural

bristle brush to uniformize the surface, assisted

by a hot air source. The runoff was absorbed with

paper towels. It should also be noted that in some

cases the problems that appeared during treatments

were due to improper work conditions and environ-

ment, such as the assembling and the quality of

the scaffolding, lack of power and water sources

and not necessarily due to the methodology (fig-

ure 10).

In 1986 the Division of Sculpture of IJF, supported

by the Municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo,

organised activities for a Programme for Free Time

Figure 7. Application of wax-resin (7:2) for the reattachment of detached gilding with the aid of a hot spatula.

Figure 8. Wax-resin (7:2) diluted in a high percentage in white spirit.

THE USE OF WAX-RESIN IN CONSERVATION OF GILDED SURFACES

e_conservation 89

ELSA FILIPE DE ANDRADE MURTA

90 e_conservation

Occupation of Youth, among which the conserva-

tion treatment of the gilded surface of the altar-

piece of the Church of Holy Mary of Aguiar (Igreja

de Santa Maria de Aguiar) while in storage in a

warehouse from that municipality. The same meth-

odology using wax-resin (7:2) was once again ap-

plied to the gilded surface (figure 11). At the end

of the intervention, the lacunas where the wood

was visible were cleaned in detail with a neutral

detergent in emulsion in an aromatic solvent in

order to remove the traces of consolidant and to

degrease the wood that had a darkened surface

(figure 12).

One year later the same group carried out the con-

servation treatment of the altarpiece of the Church

of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo. The surface was

cleaned and the very dry wood and gilded surfaces

with large lacunas (figure 13) were revived by the

impregnation with a wax-resin layer (7:2) that

nourished and re-established the cohesion and

adhesion of the preparation layers and gold to the

support.

The church known as “Abertas” is integrated in the

National Museum of Ancient Art, built from what

was the Convent of Saint Albert (Convento de Santo

Alberto), the first headquarters of the Discalced

Carmelites Order (Ordem das Carmelitas Descalços)

Figure 10. During the conservation treatments of the gilding at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snow, Arentim.

Figure 9. Application of wax-resin (7:2), diluted hot, before the removal of the excess on the gilded framing on the Altarpiece of St. Claire, MNMC, Coimbra.

Figure 11 (below). Application of the hot mixture. Figure 12 (below right). Cleaning procedure of the visible wood gaps.

THE USE OF WAX-RESIN IN CONSERVATION OF GILDED SURFACES

e_conservation 91

followers of St. Teresa of Ávila reform. The church

altarpiece was twice treated using the wax-resin

(7:2) method, in 1984 and 1994, by the IJF’s Di-

vision of Sculpture.

During the 1984 intervention, an extensive dust

layer adhering to the gold surface, with particular

emphasis on the horizontal planes was observed.

The golden preparation layers however did not

present any significant problems such as lack of

cohesion or adhesion to the support. The wooden

ceiling and the left wall of the nave in direct con-

tact with the exterior, presented rainwater infilt-

ration and environmental problems that affected

the churches conservation conditions. The diagnos-

tic concluded that the most suitable conservation

treatment would be the fixation with wax-resin

(7:2) diluted in white spirit. The treatment restored

the condition of the wood and made possible the

fixation of the gilded layer.

Figure 13 (upper right). Application of wax-resin (7:2). Figure 14 and 15. Wall of the main altarpiece and back wall of the Church of St. Albert during the intervention of 1981.

Some years later, after improvement works in the

museum’s exhibition route, the gilded decoration

of the Church was one more time cleaned and the

fixation treatment rectified, as this methodology

is easily reactivated by heat.

In time all materials are subject to some level of

deterioration hence nowadays it is necessary to

review the roof, the plaster walls and the attach-

ment of the altarpiece to the wall support. In a near

future, the church should be once again subjected

to a conservation treatment. The problems now ob-

served are more related with the structural aspect

and the lack of stability of the wall plaster than

with the wooden support or the gilded surface.

However, a new surface cleaning and a rectification

of the gilding fixation are required. The environ-

mental condition recordings, taken in the month

of March 2009 as reference, present occasional

peaks of humidity varying from 51% to 78% and

regular temperature between 13 º and 19 º C, fully

compatible with the surface treatment where the

application of heat is required.

Graphic documentation and environmental con-

dition recordings were made in 2008 and 2009 as

part of a typological, formal and material study

for the preparation of a dissertation in Decorative

Arts at the Portuguese Catholic University in order

to gather information for future treatments of

conservation-restoration of altarpieces from the

church of Saint Albert (Igreja de Santo Alberto),

in particular, the chancel and the chapel of the Lord

of Speech (Capela do Senhor da Fala). In this con-

text, several samples from the gilded surface were

taken for the survey (figures 6a, 6b and 6c) where

the preparation layers are cohesive and traces of

wax-resin can be observed over the gold layer.

Part VI: Conclusions

The methodology that has been explained has the

advantage to be implemented in situ to altars with-

out requiring disassembly. It may be reactivated

by the application of heat or by the use of organ-

ic solvents at any time. Whenever possible, the

same methodology should be followed rather than

be modified. The surfaces are greatly favoured by

this treatment, the preparation and gilded layers

being nourished, consolidated and integrated, as

the white preparation absorbs the yellow tonality

of the wax-resin. The final aspect becomes denser

and with colour depth. Furthermore, it is a very

effective and rapid way to clean the gold surface.

It is very important to highlight that this methodo-

logy can only be used in areas with simple golden

polychromy, without fragile decoration or blue

colour, which are sensitive to heat or aromatic

solvents. Past experience has shown that some

decorative elements of altarpieces polychromed

with oil-based techniques did not suffer any al-

terations in contact with wax-resin. However, blue

coloured areas did react, in part due to the hue

difference between blue and the yellow of the

Figure 16. Intervention phases: a) dry cleaning b) wet cleaning c) removal of wax-resin excess d) removal of excess with the aid of absorbent paper.

ELSA FILIPE DE ANDRADE MURTA

92 e_conservation

ELSA FILIPE DE ANDRADE MURTAConservator-Restorer

Contact: [email protected]

Elsa Murta is a conservator-restorer at the

Conservation Department of the Institute of

Museums and Conservation (DC-IMC).

She has a bachelor degree in Conservation and

Restoration of Sculpture and she is currently

preparing her Master in Decorative Arts at the

Portuguese Catholic University. Since 1989 she

has performed several conservation-restoration

projects in sculpture and gilded woodcarving at

the Institute José de Figueiredo, later Portuguese

Institute of Conservation and Restoration and

now DC-IMC. Simultaneously, she supervises

internships of national and international stu-

dents, teaches courses and lectures within her

specialisation.

mixture but mostly due to the fact that blues are

normally applied with water-based solvents which

are incompatible with the wax.

Before taking any decision concerning the methods

and materials to be used, all possibilities should

be considered. Among the biggest enemies of works

of art are not only the physical damage such as

vandalism or negligence, excess of incident light,

rainwater infiltration or environmental conditions

but also, and mostly, poorly executed or irreversible

restoration interventions. Professionalism should

be the leading principle for establishing the best

methodology for the treatment of works of art with

large areas with golden decoration.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my colleagues Alexandrina

Barreiro, Belmira Maduro, Miguel Mateus for their

help and collaboration and to Mário Rui Zagalo for

his motivation and support. I am also thankful to

Michèle Portela for her friendship.

References

[1] C. V. Horie, “Beeswax”, in Materials for Conserva- tion: organic consolidants, adhesives and coatings, Butterworths, London, 1987, pp. 150

[2] Richard Newman, “Waxes”, in Valerie Dorge and F. Carey Howlett (eds.), Painted Wood: History and Conservation, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1998, pp. 51

[3] M. Serck-Dewaide, “Relief decoration on sculptures and paintings from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century: technology and treatment”, in John S. Mills and P. Smith (eds.), Cleaning, retouching and coatings: Technology and Practice for Easel Paintings and Polychrome Sculpture,Preprints of the Contri- butions to the Brussels Congress, 3-7 September 1990, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, London, 1990,pp.36-40

[4] Agnès Le Gac, “A utilização de compostos à base de cera na escultura policromada dos séculos XVII e XVIII em Portugal”, in Imagem Brasileira 3, Actas do III Congresso do Centro de Estudos da Imaginária Brasileira, São João del Rei (Minas Gerais, Brasil), 29-31 Agosto, 2003, CEIB, Belo Horizonte, 2006, pp. 41-68

[5] Rutherford J. Gettens and George L. Stout, “Dammar”, in Painting materials: a short encyclopaedia, Dover Publications, New York, 1966, pp. 16

[6] RCM (Restauració, Conservació, Materials), “Re- sinas”, in Sustancias naturales y materias plásticas, Col. RCM (Guía de productos), Barcelona, 1990

[7] Richard Newman, “Tempera and other Nondrying- Oil Media”, in V. Dorge and F. Carey Howlett (eds.), Painted Wood: History and Conservation, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1998

[8] Robert C. Smith, A Talha em Portugal, Livros do Horizonte, Lisbon, 1963, pp. 34.

THE USE OF WAX-RESIN IN CONSERVATION OF GILDED SURFACES

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e-conservationline

No. 11, October 2009

ISSN: 1646-9283

Registration Number125248

Entidade Reguladorapara a Comunicação Social

Propertye-conservationline, Rui Bordalo

PeriodicityBimonthly

CoverPhoto by Dr. Abdul Wasay Najimi,

Detail of the restored Mihrab of the Ghalwar Mosque in Herat, Afghanistan.

Executive EditorRui Bordalo

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