e Conservation Magazine n° 13, February 2010

8/9/2019 e Conservation Magazine n 13, February 2010

1/96

e-conservationthe online magazine No. 13, February 2010


2/96
http://e-conservationline.com/


3/96

editoria

Paradox of Choice

e-conservation

Conservation is, above all, about making decisions. In conservation, ideas, knowledge and

decision-making are essential for good practice. After all, it is those decisions that have a deep

implication in the future survival of a work of art. However, to make decisions requires not only

experience but also information and time: time to imagine, time for reflection, time to find themost appropriate solution. The problem is that at the present current pace we no longer seem to

have available that required time.

Nowadays, information and time are deeply linked. Not long ago I was discussing with a friend

about the difference between the newer and older generations of conservators. When we think

more precisely about these differences, we find that before there was more time for reflection but

limited access to information whilst today we virtually have access to any possible information

source but quite limited time for its perusal.

Bibliographic resources were once scarcer, as was also the access to scientific research. Today thereare hundreds of books published in our field every year in both conservation and conservation-

science areas. However, are we better conservators for this? Are we now able to make better decisions

that will ensure the survival of works of art for future generations?

The last decade and a half has been characterised by the boom of information technologies and the

World Wide Web. In fact, today we have access to a potentially unfathomable amount of

information like never before in the entire History of Man. Nevertheless, I believe we stay as

ignorant as ever.

Diderot once said that there would come a time when it will be almost as difficult to learnanything from books as from the direct study of the whole universe. Those times cant be very far

away anymore. Right now the problem is no longer if there is information about a certain issue, but

how to find it. Information access is a real problem, for example, the search for a technical sheet of

a product is probably as difficult as it was 20 years ago. Furthermore, I would argue about the

validity of the information sources we use nowadays but that would digress to a whole new topic.

Returning to the present, today we can hardly let a day pass without checking our email or doing

some search on the internet. However, no actual useful information is necessarily being found in

these ways. In the end we spend our time dealing with a lot of worthless information and we can

often end up making decisions based on incomplete data which may be useless out of context. EvenI usually thrive on more information, such as when I find a new website or book, however these

tend to be equally and easily forgotten as soon as I discover yet another website or book. This ends

up being like the paradox of choice: the more we have, the more confused we get. And we must

confess that indeed the access to more information does not necessarily make us better

professionals.

This is the situation of today. But I wonder, what does the future reserve for us? Will we perhaps be

more organised? Or will we just get more confused? So wait and see.

Rui Bordalo

Editor in Chief


4/96

You need to have an online presence?

You want a brand identity for your new business?

You feel its time to update to digital conservation?

You have a website that looks like built in the last century?

GRAPHIC AND WEB DESIGN SERVICES FOR CONSERVATION

www.Yconservation.com

If you want to build your online presence visit our website for more information!

Yconservation is a collaborative project designed especially for individuals

and small businesses in the cultural heritage field. We create online solutions

that provide you with what you need, combining design, functionality and

ease of use, and we offer HIGH QUALITY and LOW COST SOLUTIONS for

your business or project.
http://www.yconservation.com/http://www.yconservation.com/


5/96

NEWS & VIEWS 6

ARTICLES

78

ARP PROCEEDINGS

53

The Application of Myth in Contemporary Ethnographic Conservation

By Daniel Cull

REVIEWS

MATCONS 2009. Matter and Materials in/for Heritage Conservation

September 15-19, 2009, Craiova, Romania

Review by Irina Crina Anca Sandu

COST Training School:

Indoor Air Quality in Museums, Galleries and Archives

May 5-9, 2009, Vienna, Austria

Review by Oana Chachula

The 15th International Heritage Show

November 5-8, 2009, Paris, France

Review by Anca Nicolaescu

ANNOUNCEMENTS

UPCOMING EVENTSMarch 2009

The restoration of the Turin Shroud:

A Conservation and Scientific Disaster

by William Meacham

The Critical RH for the Appearance of Bronze Disease

in Chloride Contaminated Copper and Copper Alloy Artefacts

by Alexios Papapelekanos

Aspects of the Scientific Research of the Historical Monument

from Heresti, Romania

by Dragos Ene and Roxana Radvan

The Altar Frontal of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Piedade

De Santarm

by Eva Armindo

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Thoms Luis

by Filipa Raposo Cordeiro

EVENTS

8

65

INDEX

25

18

8

28

43

13

e-conservation 5

21


6/96

news&v

iew

THE APPLICATION OF MYTH IN CONTEMPORARYETHNOGRAPHIC CONSERVATION

Returning from the Canadian Conserva-

tion Institutes Symposium 2007 I wrote

a review in which, quoting from the pro-

gram, I noted:

The symposium was organized using the

traditional circle, described by Gilbert W.

Whiteduck (Algonquin from the Kitigan

Zibi Anishinabeq First Nation) as allow-

ing for 'reflection, open dialogue, and

consensus'.[1]

However, it wasnt until recently that I

began to consider as significant the con-nection between the idea of consensus,

noted in my review, and contemporary

ethnographic conservation praxis; which

is built on such theories as intangible

cultural heritage and stewardship, and

the practice of consultation. The conser-

vation literature despite widely discuss-

ing consultation affords scant details to

the process itself. However, it is clear thatconsultations do not follow established

hierarchicaldecision making processes[2],

and it is my contention that a modified

form of consensus best fits the logic of

such meetings. Consensus is a remarkably

common system found amongst indige-

nous groups, the Quakers (Religious So-

ciety of Friends), alter-global activists

and the feminist movement. Although

the formalities vary, the concept of con-

sensus could be summarized thus:

by Daniel Cull

We must give each other the benefit of the doubt

for honesty and good intentions. Consensus is not

the same as majority rule; its not a competition.

We are all working together to figure out the right

thing to do. [3]

Returning to the organizational consultations for

the Symposium, we can observe the same logic re-

peated, participants noted that the process created

"a respectful environment [...] as well a common

focus on the task at hand" [4], and that it was suc-

cessful "despite the diverse backgrounds, pro-

From 'Anarchism in Action: Methods, Tactics, Skills, and Ideas'.Second Edition. Complied and Edited by Shawn Ewald.

http://aia.mahost.org/

e-conservation
http://aia.mahost.org/


7/96

fessions, and experiences of those in attendance"

[5]. In other words, creating an environment in

which participants assumed good faith, and worked

toward deciding what was the right thing to do,

the meeting was more successful than it would

have been had everyone come to push their own

pre-set agendas.

Consultations then are more than handing over

conservation decision making to others, the real

story is far more complex and nuanced, and al-

though consultations do not exhibit any of the

formal systems of consensus (blocks, stand asides,hand signals, etc), their underlying logic appear

to align. Intriguingly they also both rely on myth

creation for their success. Within activist forms of

consensus the conditions for moral transparency

can only be maintained by a kind of make-believe

[6] such as the necessity of never casting doubt on

others intentions, where as, in the consultation

process make belief additionally plays out in the

concept of stewardship; a mutually sustained mythin which legal positions of ownership are ignored

in order to produce an environment of equality;

mythical as consultations ultimately have to mesh

with hierarchicalsuperstructures of museum boards,

tribal councils, etc.

Conservation realizing that cultural objects are

the result of social relationships, has undergone

a readjustment towards an emphasis less on cul-tural artefacts and more on concern for living cul-

tures; an act the situationists defined as a search

for lost unity [7], in an interesting parallel con-

sensus has been suggested as a way of seeking

commonality [8]. Contextually then in imagining

consultation as a consensus process we can begin

to (re)define conservation as facilitating the in-

tense and ongoing (re)negotiation of social rela-

tionships surrounding material culture.

Notes:

[1] D. Cull, "Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical

and Traditional Approaches: A Review", ICON News,Issue 13, November 2007, pp. 39

[2]'Robert's Rules of Order', www.rulesonline.com

[3] Mark, during a spokescouncil meeting in Burling-ton, April 17th 2001. Quoted in: David Graeber,Direct Action: An Ethnography, AK Press, Edinburghand Oakland, 2009, pp. 123

[4] Gilbert Whiteduck, in Preserving AboriginalHeritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches,Proceedings of Symposium 2007, Ottawa, 24-28September, 2007, Carole Dignard et al. (Eds.),Canadian Conservation Institute, 2008, pp. xv

[5] J. Inch, in: Dignard et al., 2008, pp. vii

[6] Graeber, 2009, pp. 331

[7] G. Debord,Society of the Spectacle, Black and Red,

Detroit, 1980, pp. 180

[8] Chris at a DAN facilitation training, Spring 2000.Quoted in: Graeber, 2009, pp. 304

DANIEL CULLAssistant ConservatorThe Musical Instrument Museum

Website: http://dancull.wordpress.comContact: [email protected]

Daniel Cull is an ethnographic objects conservator,

collaborator with e-conservation magazine, and

a conservation blogger. He holds a BSc in Archae-

ology, an MA and MSc in Conservation, was an

Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the National Museum

of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution,

and currently works at the Musical Instrument

Museum, Arizona.

VIEWS

e-conservation 7
http://www.rulesonline.com/http://dancull.wordpress.com/


8/96

Review by Irina Crina Anca Sandu

MATCONS 2009 was an important conference or-

ganised in Romania in the fall of 2009, that brought

together experts from different areas of the conser-

vation of cultural heritage and conservation sci-

ence, both from Romanian and foreign institutions.

The arrival, registration and accommodation of the

participants were done on Monday, 14th of Septem-

ber and a welcome dinner was offered by the or-ganisers at the Park Hotel Restaurant in Craiova.

The conference was structured in morning and

afternoon sessions, complemented by parallel

events. Key lectures1 were given by renowned ex-

perts and specialists invited from abroad, such as

Jan Wouters and Annemnie Adriaens from Belgium,

Luigi Campanella, Maria Perla Colombini, Piero

Baglioni, Lorena Botti and Matteo Placido from

Italy, Ren Larsen from Denmark, Marianne Odlyha

from England, Manfred Schreiner from Austria,

Andras Morgos from Japan, Jana Subic Prislan

from Slovenia, Leonor Loureiro, Patricia Monteiro,

Milene Gil and Irina Sandu from Portugal, etc.

The parallel sessions were held at the Oltenia Mu-

seum Lecture Hall on 15, 16 and 17 of September.

After the opening session, an interesting National

Exhibition of Movable Cultural Heritage Restora-

tion was inaugurated in the newly restructuredbuilding of the Museum.

The conference registered 125 participants, from

Romania and other countries, such as Belgium,

Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Portugal,

Ukraine, Slovenia and Japan.

The Romanian participants came from all the re-

gions of the country, being professionals from the

national network of the Ministry of Culture and

Cults, together with researchers and teachers per-

forming activities related to the conservation of

September 15-19, 2009, Craiova, Romaniahttp://www.forummuzeulolteniei.ro

Organisers and financial support: Dolj county Council, Museum of Oltenia and ICOM Romania, with theConservation Institute from Copenhagen, Turin University, Craiova University and ICPI Bucharest

MATCONS 2009

REVIEWS

Matter and Materials in/for Heritage Conservation

8 e-conservation

1 Foreign specialists brought interesting contributions tothe conference, such as Dr. Jan Wouters ("Philosophies, in-struments and networks aiming at a better understandingand conservation of cultural heritage"), Prof. Ren Larsen("The IDAP Assessment Programme: Recent developmentand examples of its use in practice"), Dr. Annemie Adriaens

("The use of carboxylate coatings on lead as environmentallysafe corrosion inhibition"), Prof. Piero Baglioni ("Conservationof cultural heritage: there is plenty of room for colloid sci-

ence"), Prof. Maria Perla Colombini ("Saving wall paintings:organic materials characterization and restoration processes"),Prof. Marianne Odyhla ("Understanding microclimates inmuseums and their impact on heritage materials"), Prof.Manfred Schreiner ("Non-destructive analysis for artifactsof parchment and paper"), Dr. Laura Botti et al. ("Photogra-

phic printing processes: studies and analysis"), Dr. PatriciaMonteiro ("Portuguese treatises and their relevance to muralpaintings"), etc.
http://www.forummuzeulolteniei.ro/


9/96

Romanian cultural heritage. Besides the personnel

from the Museum of Oltenia in Craiova, that brought

a fundamental contribution to the organization

of the conference, many specialists participated

from museums all around the country.

Romanian research institutions and universities

were also represented, such as the National Re-

search Institute for Conservation and Restoration

(INCCR), the National Research and Development

Institute (ICPE-CA), the National Research and

Development Institute of Leather and Textile - ICPI

Division in Bucharest and the Art and Design Uni-

versity in Cluj Napoca.

The first session of lectures was introduced by Dr.

Virgil Nitulescu, President of ICOM-Romania. His

intervention focused on the actual situation of cul-

tural heritage in Romania and on the educational

system established for training conservators-re-

storers and conservation scientists. In this respect,

the f irst invited speaker, Dr. Jan Wouters, re-cre-

ated a panoramic view on the research in Europein the field of heritage science and on the utility

of conservation science for a better understanding

and conservation of the cultural heritage.

Prof. Marianne Odlyha from Birkbeck College pre-

sented the results reported from several European

Commission projects: Improved Damage Assess-

ment of Parchment (IDAP), Monitoring of Dam-

age of Historic Tapestries (MODHT), ImprovedProtection of Paintings during Exhibition, Storage

and Transit (PROPAINT) and Sensor System to

Detect Harmful Environments for Pipe Organs

(SENSORGAN).

Prof. Ren Larsen illustrated some projects on the

damage assessment of parchment in which a metho-

dology for assessing the phenomena of physical

deterioration and chemical degradation of parch-

ment and leather fibers at microscopic level was

applied.

Dr. Elena Badea and Prof. Giuseppe della Gatta form

the University of Turin (Italy) gave an interesting

lecture on the physical chemistry for preservation

and conservation of historical parchments, speak-

ing of the use of differential scanning calorimetry

(DSC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), IR, UV-

Vis spectroscopies, environmental scanning elec-

tron microscopy (ESEM) and atomic force micro-

copy (AFM) for the investigation of damages in

archival parchments from the State archives of

Turin, State Archives of Genova, State Archives

of Florence, Historical Archives of Turin and Na-

tional Archives of Stirling.

Prof. Manfred Schreiner presented a transportable

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer developed and

assembled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna

in order to allow in situ examination of works of

art in museums, libraries and in archaeological

excavation sites. Few case studies in which this

instrument was applied were also reported.

Prof. Alessandro Vitale-Brovarone made a very in-

teresting intervention about the history of the

Turins university library and the attempt to re-

store parchments that were fire-damaged in 1904

during a project started at the end of the 90s and

ended in 2004.

Prof. Piero Baglioni underlined the importance and

the role of Colloid Science in the conservation ofcultural heritage, exemplifying with few case studies

this kind of applications: nano-magnetic sponges

and oil-in-water nano-containers for cleaning of

works of art, nano-particles for wood and mural

paintings conservation, nano-technologies for

paper and canvas deacidification, etc.

Prof. Maria Perla Colombini gave a very interesting

lecture about the use of chromatographic mass

spectrometric techniques (HPLC/MS, GC/MS, Py-

GC/MS, DEMS) for organic materials characteriza-

REVIEWS

e-conservation 9


10/96

tion in wall paintings and for a better choice of the

intervention system. The conservation project of

the wall paintings in Camposanto monumentale

of Pisa (Italy) was presented on this occasion.

Patricia Monteiro from the Faculty of Arts and Lit-

erature, University of Lisbon, spoke about the Por-

tuguese treatises and their relevance to mural

painting materials and techniques, consideringalso the difficulty in interpreting the information

they contain.

Among the Romanian lecturers a special mention

should be done for Dr. Nicoleta Zagura, UNESCO

expert, who spoke about the efforts done in Roma-

nia through the cultural association she founded

- Art and Heritage UNESCO Club - to increase the

interest and education about the local and inter-nationally recognized heritage, and for Dr. Ioan

Opris, eminent art historian, who has drawn the

attention to the emergency strategy to be adopted

for the preservation of the cultural heritage of

Modern Romania.

An interesting workshop on Conservation and

restoration of historical parchment and leather

was organized in the evenings of 15th and 16th,

the participation being open to a certain number

of conference participants and to the Romanian

specialists in conservation of archives and library

materials. The organizers of this workshop were

the University of Turin (Prof. Giuseppe della Gatta),

the School of Conservation of the Royal Academy

of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (Dr. Ren Larsen) and

the National Research and Development Institute

for Textile and Leather in Bucharest (Dr. Luminita

Albu). The workshop had the objective to provide

and update the picture of the chemical and physicalnature of parchment as well as its ageing and de-

terioration processes caused by the environment.

On 16 of September a final round table on the

topic Programs of research and training in the

field of conservation and restoration of cultural

heritage was organized at the University House

in Craiova, and coordinated by Prof. Radu Constan-

tinescu from Romania and Prof. Giuseppe dellaGatta from Italy. The participants discussed the

topics of interest for a potential network to be

established at European level and about funding

opportunities in Romania and abroad.

Poster session were also organized between the

main sessions, giving place to debates, exchange

of opinions and contact among the participants.

The next three days were dedicated to visiting

places with cultural and historical significance

10 e-conservation

Monuments visited during the conference trip: Curtea de Arges, Monastery, early 16th century (left) and Prejmer medieval

fortified church, 13th - 14thcentury (right).

REVIEWS
http://www.artandheritage.org/


11/96

from Romania, in a trip meant to illustrate the

richness of the Romanian natural and cultural

heritage in Transylvania region.

After the closing of the conference, a short visit

at the Monastery Curtea de Arges, famous historic

monument part of the Romanian built heritage

took place, and a traditional lunch in a Pilgrims

guest house near the monastery was offered in

the afternoon of 17 of September. Afterwards, a

short visit was paid to the Ethnographic Museum in

Campulung Muscel and in the evening the parti-

cipants were housed at the Panicel guest housenear Rasnov city, in the green heart of the Transyl-

vanian Mountains.

The day of 18 of September was dedicated to other

visits to important monuments, such as the forti-

fied church of Prejmer, Rasnov Fortress, Bran Castle

and other museums and churches in Brasov county.

The last day, the morning of 19 of September, was

dedicated to the visit to Peles and Pelisor Palacesin Sinaia, former residences of the Royal family of

Romania.

e-conservation 11

Last but not least we should mention the precious

contribution given by the local organizing com-

mittee, formed by personnel from the Museum

of Oltenia in Craiova (Tutu Barbulescu, Simona-

Violeta Gheorghe, Rodica Florentina Opritescu,

Alina Maria Garau, Anisoara Vatuiu, Leonard Io-

nescu, Cristina Stamate) whose dedication and

hard work assured a fluent development of all the

activities during the conference and the success

of the wonderful trip to the important monuments

in the Transylvanian Mountains, an emblematic

region for the culture and history of Romania.

IRINA CRINA ANCA SANDUContact: [email protected]

Irina Sandu (PhD) is an Assistant Researcher at the

Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT) of the New

University (UNL) in Lisbon, where she develops

research for the Conservation and Restoration of

Cultural Heritage. She is the author / co-author of

12 monographs on conservation and more than 45published papers, and was involved in 20 interna-

tional research projects and scientific collaborations.

REVIEWS

Participants to the conference hiking the hill to Rasnov fortress (13th - 14th century). Photo by Nicoleta Zagura.


12/96

www.prorestauro.com
http://www.prorestauro.com/http://www.prorestauro.com/


13/96

13e-conservation

REVIEWS

Between 5 and 9 May 2009 a new COST-sponsored

training course took place in Vienna, within the

frame of the COST Action D42 "EnviArt: Chemical

Interactions between Cultural Artefacts and In-

door Environment". The workshop was organized

by Dr. Erwin Rosenberg from the Vienna University

of Technology, Institute of Chemical Technologies

and Analytics, in collaboration with the Kunst-historisches Museum, the Technisches Museum

and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

The scope of this Training School was to address

significant aspects of indoor air quality in relation

to art objects exhibited or stored in museums, gal-

leries and archives. The workshop gathered par-

ticipants from diverse backgrounds and training,

from both the academic and the conservation field,such as conservator-restorers, scientists, curators,

chemists, physicists or biologists working in muse-

ums, collections or archives. The workshop brought

together a total of 42 speakers and participants

who came mostly from European countries but

also from the USA.

The training course was planned in such a way as

to include both theoretical lectures and practical

laboratory work, combined with site visits to some

Viennese museums in order to demonstrate actual

problems, practices and possible solutions. A two-

way approach to understanding these issues was

adopted: on a theoretical level, analytical methods

and preventive conservation strategies were dis-

cussed, and on a practical level, measurements of

indoor air quality of museums or archives were

undertaken.

The programme was even more diverse, including

visits to national and private museums and to la-

boratories and companies that provide services of

conservation, exhibit or transport of art objects.

The lectures proved to be extremely informative,

speakers coming from various fields related to

conservation of cultural heritage.

Rene van Grieken, from Belgium, in his lectureAshes to ashes, dust to dust: the fate of all things?

On indoor air pollution through particlesspoke

about climate, humidity, temperature, light, air

pollutants and gases from archives with a particu-

lar emphasis on how important preventive conser-

vation is, namely by improving the environmental

conditions (microclimate and chemical pollution)

around the work of art. On the same line, discus-

sions were continued by Dr. Dario Camuffo from

Italy, who focused on the general interaction be-

tween environmental factors and works of art,

COST TRAINING SCHOOL: INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN MUSEUMS,GALLERIES AND ARCHIVES

Analytical Methods and Preventive Conservation Strategies

Review by Oana Chachula

May 5-9, 2009, Vienna, AustriaOrganiser: COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)

http://www.cost.esf.org/
http://www.cost.esf.org/


14/96

14 e-conservation

REVIEWS

especially moisture, and the interaction of water

molecules with the environment.

Prof. Dr. Manfred Schreiner spoke about corrosion

of glass and enamel artefacts and the influence

that air quality has on this process. He focused on

conservation problems and preventive conserva-

tion strategies of medieval stained glass, present-

ing six glass weathering theories.

It appears that many museums around the world

have similar problems related with indoor emis-

sions, building materials, particle filtration orventilation. For example, at the Metropolitan Mu-

seum of Art particles of Sodium Nitrate (NaNO3)

have been detected in galleries, showcases and

storerooms. Among the many actual problems re-

lated with air quality in museums and galleries,

particles interaction is the least studied. However,

even when the answer to such problems is not al-

ways easy to find, one possible solution would be

a better air filtering.

Helene Tello, from the Ethnological Museum, Na-

tional Museums Berlin, brought another issue in-

to discussion, namely which are the best strategies

and analytical methods to adopt for the use of bio-

cides in ethnographic collections: the organic or

the inorganic ones. She discussed their impact on

collections and the arguments pro and against the

non-destructive analytical methods and available

technology. It was also underlined that attention

must be directed to the impact biocides have on

collection objects, but mostly on the human health.

From Norway, Terje Grntoft presented "Simple

devices for monitoring and assessment of indoor air

quality for museums, archives, and historic build-

ings" and did a demonstration of use of EWO do-

simeters and monitoring concepts, dividing them

into Continuous Monitoring (C), Online Monitoring

(O), Active Measurements (A) and Passive Meas-

urements (P). Next, the theoretical concepts were

put into practice, participants being given the

opportunity to test the equipment and learn howto interpret the results.

Group photo of TS par ticipants at Artex company, Vienna. Photo by Valentina Ljubic from the Technisches Museum Wien.


15/96

15e-conservation

REVIEWS

A similar aspect was also addressed by Marianne

Odlyha and C.Theodorakopoulos from Birkbeck

College in London, UK, with a focus on the impact

of indoor environments corrosivity on complex

organic materials.

Several practical examples were offered from the

condition survey projects in museums from Nor-

way, from the National Archives of Finland (Istvn

Kecskemeti, PhD), the State Archives of Genoa and

Turin (Marianne Odlyha, PhD), the Technisches Mu-

seum Wien (Ing. Anita Preisler), or from churches

(the Sistine Chapel in Rome and Santa Corona inVicenza).

On the protection of metal objects in storage, Mar-

tina Griesser-Stermscheg from the University of

Applied Arts Vienna presented the conclusions of

an experiment where several objects were kept in

oxygen free packages and in packages with oxy-

gen, and were compared with unpacked objects.

After 5 years, the research showed that the oxy-gen-free packing is not recommended for metal

objects, while packing with oxygen offers a good

protection against oxidation and corrosion for

objects of silver, gilded silver, copper, lead and

steel. This application was put into practice at the

research laboratories of University of Applied Arts

Vienna in cooperation with the Scientific Labora-

tory of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

A very interesting intervention was done by Klaus

Pokorny, who spoke about the lighting concept in

museums and modern techniques used for light-

ing objects in the exhibition. He presented differ-

ent approaches to lighting in three exhibition case

studies from the National Portrait Gallery London,

Museum Liaunig Carinthia and Technisches Museum

Wien. The presentation was followed by a site visit

to the Technisches Museum Wien where the inte-

grated light, temperature and RH concept of the

exhibition rooms were discussed.

Another interesting visit was made to the private

company Artex Art Services from Vienna, where

their current practice and modern technology to

ensure optimal indoor air conditions for storage

and transport of art objects was demonstrated.

Other visits with practical applications were or-

ganized at the Michaelergruft, the Technisches

Museum Wien and the Naturhistorisches Museum

Wien (NHM, Natural History Museum). This last,

founded in 1858 at the behest of Emperor Franz

Joseph I, possesses very valuable showcases that

represent by themselves a quality of the museum.The necessity of preserving these original show-

cases dating from the 19th century was discussed,

but also the methods of conserving the objects

and organic materials therein. These issues were

Historic showcases at Naturhistorisches Museum Wien

(Natural History Museum).


16/96

16 e-conservation

REVIEWS

presented by Silvia Kalabis and Hans Reschreiter

in the paper "The adaptation of the historical show-

cases in the prehistoric collection of the NHM".

The visit to the Michaelergruft focused on the tombs

located in the basement, and aimed to discuss the

conservation methods of the coff ins in their environ-

ment by reducing the humidity and temperature to

order to prevent the development of molds and the

degradation of the wood, the constituent material

of the coffin. Dr. Alexandra Rainer, scientific ad-

visor of the Michaelgruft, spoke about the historic,

restorative and technological aspects of this case.

Peter Brimblecombe from the Univerity of East

Anglia showed in his presentation "Air chemistry

and exchange with rooms and cases in a changing

climate" that in general, visitors are one of the

reasons for the presence of dust in galleries and

of the increased level of temperature and humidity.

In order to minimize the impact on the collections,

the visitors should keep away from objects thatare not protected by showcases, limiting the ex-

posure to pollutants. At the same time, he spoke

about a new challenge in terms of climate change,

and about what damages can occur if global tem-

peratures increase and if summers become signi-

ficantly drier. He showed that degradation is strictly

connected to physical, chemical and biological

processes.

The Training Course was ended by a visit to the

first villa of Austrian Art Noveau architect Otto

Wagner that was restored in early 1970s by the

renowned painter Ernst Fuchs. The artist saved it

from being demolished and inaugurated in 1988

the Ernst Fuchs private museum that gathers a

large collection of his works.

After this 5-day workshop, we can conclude that

it is for us all to assume responsibility for the pro-tection of both the environment and the cultural

heritage. Although there are many conservation-

scientists, few turn their attention to pollutants,

a process that acts both from the outside and the

inside. Situations may differ from one geographic

region to another, but collaboration among spe-

cialists in various fields can help to better under-

stand the degradation causes, mechanisms and

effects that objects in collections are subjected to.Last but not least, as Dr. Erwin Rosenberg noted,

our methods, devices and materials need to be

developed or further improved. Therefore, we need

to employ the best preservation strategies and

conservation management methods that will help

us find adequate solutions for each individual case.

Outer view of Otto Wagner's villa, now housing the Ernst Fuchs Museum (left) and one of the rooms in the museum, with paintings

by the artist and the original Art Noveau stained glass windows. Photos by Erwin Rosenberg from the Vienna University of Technology.


17/96

Useful links:http://www.costd42.org

http://www.technischesmuseum.at

http://www.akbild.ac.at/.../restaurierung

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at

http://www.khm.at

http://www.iaq.dk

17e-conservation

REVIEWS

Group photo by Miriam Bazn Castaneda.

OANA CHACHULA

Conservation ScientistContact: [email protected]

National Museum of Romanian History / Centre

of Research and Scientific Investigation

Calea Victoriei, nr.12, S 3, 030026,

Bucharest, Romania

Oana Chachula, conservation scientist expert in

biological investigations, graduated from the

Faculty of Biology Al. I. Cuza, in Iasi (Romania) in

2002. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Animal

Taxonomy field at Biology Faculty, University of

Bucharest. She has been working at INCCR as a

biologist for 3 years, her current work responsi-

bilities including the biological investigation of

movable objects and historical buildings.

TS participants having an interesting discussion with Dr.

Alexandra Rainer in the courtyard of the Michaelerchurch.

Photo by Valentina Ljubic of the Technisches Museum Wien.
http://www.iaq.dk/http://www.akbild.ac.at/Portal/studium/institute/konservierung-restaurierunghttp://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/http://www.khm.at/http://www.technischesmuseum.at/http://www.costd42.org/


18/96

The 15th International Heritage Show took placeat the beginning of November 2009 in the presti-

gious setting of the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.

The event brought together 250 international ex-

hibitors (from France, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,

Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherland,

Portugal, Russia and Spain) and around 20 000

visitors.

This year, the International Show was for the firsttime organized by Ateliers dArt de France1, which

acquired the event in the spring of 2009.

Each year, the show is focused on a new theme in-

volving thus new exhibitors and visitors, new media

and promotional input. This years topic was The

Heritage of Religions.

Embracing the topic, the exhibitors displayed theirachievements in this area and offered their know-

how demonstrations to the visitors. Beside con-

servator-restorers, artists or craftsmen, the salon

also hosted: suppliers of materials and products for

movable or immovable assets or museum materials

and equipment; decision-makers and project man-

agers (architects, entrepreneurs, trade organisa-

tions), training and education centres, universities

or institutes; players in the New Technologies and

suppliers of advanced materials (scientists, re-search centres, laboratories); publishers; local au-

thorities, institutions and associations.

The participants were gathered under the same

goals in order to promote quality craftsmanship

and expertise, to set up and develop meetings

between conservators, craftsmen or artists and

potential clients, and to present the various stra-

tegies regarding the spiritual and cultural heritagepreservation and management.

To have a real perception of the complexity of the

salon, only the fields covered by exhibitors display-

ing a conservation-restoration activity, were vary-

ing from stained-glass windows, iron joinery, or-

gans, old clock and bell mechanisms to ceramic

and glass objects, furniture, textiles, leather, sculp-

ture, frames, wall paintings and decorations and

easel paintings. Almost anything one can connect

with Religious Heritage in general!

THE 15th INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE SHOW

Review by Anca Nicolaescu

November 5-8, 2009Paris, France

Organiser: Ateliers dArt de Francehttp://www.patrimoineculturel.com

1 Atelier dArt de France is a French trade organization forCrafts. Founded in 1868, it unites today 2,800 craft

workers whether they are craftsmen, artists or craftworkshops to lend them support and assistance towardstheir promotion and development.

18 e-conservation

REVIEWS
http://www.patrimoineculturel.com/


19/96

For the orientation of the public throughout thesalon spaces, depending on interest and also to

ease the contacts exchange, the organizers pro-

vided a useful catalog with the participants pro-

file and contact details.

Walking into the fair, the visitors were first received

by informational stands of institutions, associations

or local authorities showing their past or current

projects throughout images, movies or short pre-sentations on this years theme. That was the per-

fect place for visitors or participants to make con-

tacts for future partnerships in all kind of cultural

related areas, or to get updated with the new stra-

tegies of cultural interest.

Further on, the visitors were arriving in the sec-

tion dedicated to publishers on art and culture,

from printed magazines and online publicationsto specialized bookshops.

Nearby, Art Schools, Institutes or Universities were

presenting their offers and giving all the demanded

details to students interested in courses and de-

grees in art and heritage conservation.

Deeper in the Carrousel du Louvre was the melting-

pot of the art and craft, conservation-restora-

tion materials and equipment suppliers, where

the exhibitors were giving demonstrations or

presenting samples of their work in stands resem-bling corners of studios. It was a very interesting set

up of workshops and objects animated by artists

or restorers ready to introduce you to their work

or to answer your questions.

Visitors were able to see component fragments

of organ-pipes or even big brass bells, beautiful

trompe loeil of marble and wood patterns, mosaic

and frescoes fragments, religious furniture, jewels

and so on, done with extraordinary craftsmanship.

The religious heritage preservation is, actually, the

best example where knowledge of old traditional

techniques is very important for best conservation

and restoration achievements. Therefore, this mix-

ture of arts, old crafts and restoration presented at

the fair was a good opportunity for meeting mas-

ters who keep the tradition alive and are willing to

share details of their work with those interested.

19e-conservation

REVIEWS


20/96

Another interesting aspect of the event was the

organization of discussion panels and seminars

with the participation of international experts and

specialists who informed the fair-going public

about topical subjects related to the theme of the

year, and debated heritage problems.The issues

brought into discussion covered a wide thematic

range such as: causes and consequences of the

religious heritage destruction and degradation in

history; the future of Europes religious heritage;

religious patrimony and contemporary art or sub-

jects regarding the advanced technologies in her-

itage conservation, to mention only few of them.

It is difficult to encompass in a short review the

complexity of this event with an immense area of

interest and exhibitors. For five days I constantly

went to Louvres Carrousel, willing to see and dis-

cuss with as many exhibitors as possible, but at

the end I still had the feeling that I might have

overlooked some stands. It was a huge concentra-

tion of interesting aspects of everything connected

with the fairs subject the Religious Heritage.

The next edition, the 16th International Heritage

Show, is already announced for 4-7 November

2010, focusing this time on The Mediterranean

Heritage. I'm certain that it is definitely worth

visiting it.

ANCA NICOLAESCUConservator-Restorer

Contact: [email protected]

Anca Nicolaescu (BA, MA) is a conservator of wall

paintings, having coordinated various on-site

conservation projects from Romania. Her work

experience also includes international participa-

tion at conservation projects and seminars in UK,

Turkey, Uzbekistan, Japan and India. She is one

of the co-founders of Restauro Art Grup conser-

vation company and of e-conservation magazine,

where she presently works as an editor.

REVIEWS

20 e-conservation

Photo by Serban Bonciocat

Photo by Mihaela Dumitru

Photo by Serban Bonciocat


21/96

RESEARCH IN BOOK AND PAPERCONSERVATION IN EUROPE

- a State of the Art-

Editor: Patricia EngelPublisher: Verlag BergerPublication date: November 2009Pages: 328 (Paperback)ISBN: 978-3850284905Language: English

This recently published book makes a timely

review of the research in the field of book and

paper conservation in Europe. An overview of

the state-of-the-art will assist paper conservator-

restorers in their practical work, providing up-

to-date information and results of conservation-

restoration in books, prints, drawings and other

artistic works on paper. The book aims to help in

the decision making process not only the conser-vator-restorer, but also other key players in the

field, such as authorities, politicians and collec-

tors. Three main aspects of research are covered:

basic research, applied research and experimental

development in preservation and conservation-

restoration of books and works on paper.

The book is written in English because it aims

to reach a pan-European audience, the problems

and needs in conservation-restoration being

basically the same, regardless of the geographic

location.

NEWS

21e-conservation

SUPPORT THEISTITUTO CENTRALE PERIL RESTAURO!

TheIstituto Centrale per il Restauro (ICR, Central

Institute for Restoration) was founded in 1939

in Rome and is one of the oldest institutions

dedicated to the conservation and restoration

of cultural heritage. ICR was recently renamed

Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Re-

stauro (ISCR, the Higher Institute for the Conser-

vation and Restoration) and in the end of the

month (February 2010) will be forced to leavethe historical premises of San Pietro in Vincoli

in Rome which it occupied since is foundation.

According to Professor Mario Micheli, the precipi-

tous transferral of the Institute could compromise

the forthcoming and opportune reopening of the

Restoration School, and weaken the efficiency

of the Institute's technical-scientific structures,

leading to its inevitable closure. In order to avoid

this, an Open Letter to the President of the Italian

Republic Giorgio Napolitano was made available

online in Italian and English at:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/33441.html.

e-conservation supports this appeal and asks its

readers to consider signing this worthy action

before the end of the month.
http://www.verlag-berger.at/en/detail/isbn-978-3-85028-490-5-1.html


22/96

Ecr estudos de conservao e restauro (studies

in conservation and restoration) is a new Portu-guese journal published annually in open access

by CITAR (Research Center for Science and Techno-

logy in Art) from the Portuguese Catholic Univer-

sity. The journal publishes peer reviewed articles,

news and reviews in Portuguese, Spanish and En-

glish. The journal is distributed under a Creative

Commons license.

Ecr defines itself as a publication wishing to become

a reference not only on the Portuguese academicscene but on international level as well through

the dissemination of scientific research done in

the field of conservation of cultural heritage. Ac-

cording to its director, Ana Calvo, the publication

was born following the establishment in 2002 of

a course in conservation-restoration at the School

of Arts from the Catholic University and aims to

serve as an evaluation platform for the research

developed therein. The journal will publish studies

on material and technologic aspects of conserva-

tion-restoration treatments, including complemen-

tary topics such as historic and artistic studies or

production technologies and materials.

The first issue of the journal has been published

online in December 2009 and can be consulted

at http://citar.artes.ucp.pt/ecr/.

Ge-Conservacin, Revista digital hispano-lusa de

conservacin y restauracin ("Hispano-Portuguese

DigitalMagazine of Conservation-Restoration"),

is the new publication of GEIIC (Grupo Espaol de

Conservacin/Spanish Conservation Group of the

International Institute for Conservation of Historic

and Artistic Works), published in association with

the Duques de Soria Foundation.The journal, also published once a year, is addressed

mainly to Spanish and Portuguese-speaking

countries. Its aim is to contribute to the scientific

development, dissemination and exchange of know-

ledge in the field of cultural heritage conservation

and restoration. The publishing areas include origi-

nal academic research, significant case studies and

opinion articles.

The 2009 issue of this journal was published in

pdf format and is available to download from

http://ge-iic.com/revista/index.php?lang=en.

NEW OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATIONS: A NEW DIRECTION IN CONSERVATION?

Two new open access journals dedicated to conser-

vation of cultural heritage were launched at the

end of 2009: ecr estudos de conservao erestauro and Ge-Conservacin.Not very long time ago there was a big void in our

field concerning online publications. In 2007, when

e-conservation magazine came online, we made

a survey that showed that very few professionals

heard of open access concept. Since then, we count

at least 3 new publications, namely from Belgium,Spain and Portugal.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome their

advent on the internet, and witness perhaps the

emergence of a new direction in the publication

of conservation resources: in electronic format

and with free distribution.

NEWS

22 e-conservation
http://ge-iic.com/revista/index.php?lang=enhttp://citar.artes.ucp.pt/ecr/


23/96

HAITI EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE

The recent earthquake that stroke Haiti on January12, as immediately echoed all around the world,

was truly devastating by any standards. Haitis

cultural heritage was also deeply affected and

requires urgent attention, but even now it is still

diff icult to assess the damages due to the collapse

ofthe communication structure in Haiti.

Continuous efforts are being made by ICOM through

its Disaster Relief for Museums Task Force (DRFM),

its Secretariat and its national committees to gathermore data and to decide on the most appropriate

actions to be taken. ICOMs latest damage asses-

sment report was made available on February 9.

According to the limited information made public

so far, several monuments and historic buildings

have suffered severe damages and libraries and

schools have collapsed or are in precarious condi-

tion. Fortunately, museum collections seem to have

been less affected by the earthquake.

Many institutions and organizations reacted im-

mediately, helping the victims or contributing in

any way possible to the relief activities. Any help

is precious in the present condition, and the loss

also depends on our efforts to salvage as soon as

possible what is left from Haitis cultural heritage.

The Association of National Committees of the Blue

Shield (ANCBS) has launched on online call for

conservator-restorers and other experts in the

cultural heritage field to register as volunteers.

Haitian women amidst rubble in Port-au-Prince, January 20, 2010.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

The News section is publishing diverse

information on cultural heritage topics, such

as on-site conservation projects reports,

conferences, lectures, talks or workshops

reviews, but also course reviews and any other

kind of appropriate announcements. If you are

involved in interesting projects and you want

to share your experience with everybody else,

please send us your news or announcements.

For more details, such as deadlines and

publication guidelines, please visitwww.e-conservationline.com

NEWS

23e-conservation
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haitian_women_amidst_rubble_in_Port-au-Prince_2010-01-20.JPGhttp://haiti2010.blueshield-international.org/http://icom.museum/risk_management.htmlhttp://www.e-conservationline.com/


24/96

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

e-conservationline

For advertisingand other information on publicity,

please contact

[email protected]

and request a copy of our mediakit.
http://www.e-conservationline.com/


25/96

ev

ents

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.

Tcnicas orientales aplicadas ala restauracin del papel

Date: 2-5 March Read more...

Place: Valencia, Spain

Las tcnicas orientales de manipulacin y

tratamiento del papel ofrecen al restauradoroccidental una gama de alternativas tcnicas

extraordinariamente enriquecedoras, porque

ofrecen respuestas diferentes a problemas co-

munes. En este curso, la restauradora Katarzyna

Zych Zmuda, experta en este tipo de tcnicas

internacionalmente reconocida, ensear a

un grupo reducido de alumnos las tcnicas ms

interesantes para el restaurador mediante de-

mostraciones y prcticas guiadas desarrolladasen un laboratorio de restauracin.

International Symposium onthe future of Museum Climate

In the context of Global Climate Change and

Energy Priority

Date: 1 March Read more...

Place: Copenhagen, Denmark

How can we create exhibitions and expose our

common cultural heritage in a sustainable way

which is also acceptable for future generations?

How can museums be run in a more CO2 neutral

way while simultaneously guaranteeing an ade-

quate indoor climate? These, and other crucial

questions and issues, will be discussed and scru-

tinized during this one day symposium.

M

arch2010

The Fifth DOCAM Summit

IRUG9: 9th Biennial Conference of theInfrared and Raman Users Group


Place: Buenos Aires, Argentina

The IRUG biennial conferences offer an excellent oppor-

tunity for the exchange of scientific results and new

developments in the application of infrared and Raman

spectroscopy to the conservation and study of the cul-

tural heritage. Attendees to these conferences are sci-

entists, conservators, restorers, as well as curators within

the art conservation and historic preservation f ields

interested in the application of IR and Raman spectros-

copy to the study of materials used in art and archaeology.


Place: Montreal, Canada

The DOCAM (Documentation and Conservation of the Media

Arts Heritage) Research Alliance invites submissions of

abstracts for the presentation of papers at the 2010 DOCAM

Summit, which will mark the end of f ive years of research.

DOCAM is an international research alliance initiated by

the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Tech-

nology. Its main objective is to develop new methodo-

logies and tools to address the issues of preserving and

documenting digital, technological, and electronic artworks.

e-conservation

'Picasso, Materials, and Antibes' - IconPaintings Group Talk


Place: London, UK

The ICON Paintings Group invite you to a talk given by Dr.

Marilyn McCully, American art historian and exhibition

organiser. She has a particular interest in Picasso's use

of non-traditional materials, and in the ways in which

art historians, conservators and scientists might mostfruitfully collaborate on research.
http://conservationevents.com/component/option,com_events/task,view_detail/agid,640http://www.irug9.org/http://www.incca.org/call-for-papers-docam-2010http://www.cfp.upv.es/cfp-posei2-web/cursos/idiomaes-cid21746_tecnicas-orientales-aplicadas-a-la-restauracion-del-papel.htmlhttp://www.dkmuseer.dk/arrangementer/891/


26/96

Conservation in Focus 2010

Multidisciplinary Conservation:a Holistic View for Historic Interiors

Interim Meeting of Five ICOM-CC Working Groups


Place: Rome, Italy

The meeting will consist in three days of presentations.

Sessions will be dedicated to the main theme of the event

that highlights specific projects focussing on interdiscipli-

nary approaches, historical and methodological aspects,

environmental issues, conservation techniques, and guide-lines for preventive conservation and maintenance. Each

working group will also have the opportunity to present and

discuss contributions and on-going research programmes

related to its specific area of interest.

Date: 24-26 March Read more...Place: Cardiff, Wales, UK

The conference aims to advance and share knowledge

about conservation issues in and beyond Icon's members

and to have an enjoyable conference where people have

time to talk and network. The first day will focus on the

two themes 'evidence based decision making in conser-

vation' and 'a sustainable future for UK conservation'.

The second day will provide the opportunity for the Icon

groups to host specialist half day seminars.

Course: Working with Plastics


Place: Porto, Portugal

Instructors: Thea van Oosten and Anna Lagan

The main subject of this course is to acquaint you with

the current state of knowledge regarding identification,

degradation and conservation of plastics as used in

cultural heritage.

28th Annual Visual ResourcesAssociation Conference

Preserving the Memory of the World


Place: Vancouver, Canada

Inspired by UNESCO's Memory of the World Program, the

Association of Canadian Archivists UBC Student Chapter

(ACA@UBC) is organizing a seminar and conference aimed

to opening an interdisciplinary dialogue among the custo-

dians of the world documentary heritage - librarians,

archivists, documentalists and museum curators - and

the users of such heritage.


Place: Atlanta, USA

General areas of this conference interest include, but are

not limited to: digital photography; digital imaging and

presentation technologies; strategic planning; cataloging

and metadata (including non-western, non-art, and spe-

cial topics cataloging); trend forecasting for the visual

resources profession; copyright and fair use; user instruc-

tion; and professional status issues.

Glass and Glazing in the 21stcentury

Design & Preservation of Contemporary & Historic

Architecture


Place: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

The 2 days intensive conference will focus on developments

in architectural glasses for structural, energy saving, and

decorative uses in new building facades/building envelopes

and monuments, as well as their application in the resto-

ration and upgrading of existing structures.

March2010

EVENTS

March2010

26 e-conservation
http://committees.architects.org/hrc/hrc_news.htmhttp://www.slais.ubc.ca/people/students/student-groups/aca/symposium2010/index.htmlhttp://www.vraweb.org/conferences/2010atlanta/index.htmlhttp://www.icon.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1068&Itemid=119http://iscr.beniculturali.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=234&Itemid=104http://www.2021.pt/


27/96

art

icleAREAS OF PUBLISHING

Conservation Treatment

Mural Painting

PaintingStone

Sculpture

Textiles

Paper / Documents

Photography

Metals

Tile / Ceramic / Glass

Furniture

Music instruments

Ethnographic assets

Archeological objects

Conservation Science

Scientific research

Material studies and characterisation

Analytical techniques

Technology development

Biodeterioration

State-of-the-art

Reviews

Preventive Conservation

Theoretic principles

Case studies

Documentation in Conservation

Standardisation

Documentation methods

Data management

Conservation Theory

Ethics

Conservation History

Art History, Iconography,

Iconology, Chemistry, Physics,

Biology, Photography, Cultural

Management, Museology,

Computer Science, Legislation

and Juridical Processes,

Conservation Policies

and any other field applied to

Conservation and Restoration

of works of art.

Find out more: www.e-conservationline.com

e-conservation
http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/category/8/18/34/


28/96

THE RESTORATION OF THE TURIN SHROUD:A CONSERVATION AND SCIENTIFIC DISASTER

by William Meacham


29/96

Introduction

Whether ancient or medieval, the Shroud of Turinposes one of the truly abiding mysteries of all ar-

chaeological and art historical artefacts. It is the

worlds most famous textile, and probably also the

most intensively studied object in existence, but

how the image was formed on the cloth remains

unclear. Crucial evidence however may have been

destroyed in a restoration conducted in the sum-

mer of 2002. Unlike the restoration of the Sistine

Chapel, over which there were sharply opposingviews on the composition of the original work, the

Shroud as an historical textile was well def ined

and the parameters of its on-going study quite

clear. This unfortunate event dramatically illus-

trates the need for close collaboration between

scientists, conservators/restorers and curators/

owners before initiating aggressive interventions

on important archaeological objects. It may also

become a classic illustration of things that shouldnot be done.

How It Happened

For the millions who believed the Shroud of Turin

might really be the burial cloth of Christ, October

13, 1988 was the turning point. The results of car-

bon dating a tiny sample from the edge of the linen

sheet were released, and they seemed definitive:

the date fell between 1260 and 1390 AD. For the

academic world and the public at large, the relic

In 2002 the Shroud of Turin was subjected to a radical intervention aimed at ridding the relic of carbon

dust and charred material said to pose a serious threat to the image. Patches that were applied in 1534

to cover holes from fire damage were removed. Vacuuming was done of portions of both sides, and

other remedial measures were taken to optimise the appearance of the relic. This aggressive operation

was in stark contrast with modern precepts of conservation, and resulted in important scientific data

and heritage features being lost, along with great opportunities for sophisticated testing and

sampling. The long-term negative impact of the intervention is feared to be substantial; the underlying

premise, that the image was threatened, has been shown to be false.

Figure 1. The Shroud image. The frontal image on the Shroud

as first photographed in 1898. All rights reserved.

THE RESTORATION OF THE TURIN SHROUD

29e-conservation


30/96

was deemed to be a fake from the Middle Ages, al-

beit a very strange one. Despite thousands of hours

of scientific study, its image remained unexplained

and was the subject of continuing controversy.

In Italy, the general reaction was quite different;

most people questioned the carbon dating method

rather than the relic. Doubts were widely expressed

about its reliability for this particular object. Many

felt that its constant handling and exposure in

churches would invalidate a carbon measurement;

others felt the resurrection might have altered

the Shroud's chemistry. Some even proposed abizarre conspiracy theory, that a British Museum

off icial had switched samples in order to discredit

the Shroud [1]. The then archbishop of Turin,

Cardinal Anastasio Ballestrero, and his science

adviser were crucified in the media for officially

accepting the date, while maintaining at a press

conference announcing the test results that the

Shroud was still a mystery and a precious icon that

should inspire reverence. Their uncritical accept-ance of the date made it appear that the Church

now believed that its Holy Shroud was a medieval

forgery.

The furor in Italy led Ballestrero to take early re-

tirement the next year. His successor, Cardinal

Giovanni Saldarini, declared that conservation

would be the priority. He asked researchers to

be patient, a term readily understood to meanthat no new scientific studies would be approved

for the foreseeable future. Indeed, none have been

authorized up to the present. Saldarini brought

together a group of five textile experts to advise

on conservation, and this group was later formal-

ized as the Conservation Commission. It began

to address issues related to the optimum preser-

vation of the cloth, one of the most important

being how to protect it from Turin's air pollution.

A few positive changes were made to the storage

conditions, notably that the cloth would be kept

flat instead of rolled on a spool, and it would be

kept at constant temperature and humidity in an

atmosphere of inert gas, with less than 1% oxygen.

A long flat case was specially constructed for this

purpose.

However, the Commission was quietly evolving into

something very different, and was heading towardscalamity. By 2000 only one of the five textile ex-

perts remained, and its membership now included

several Turinese dignitaries and was chaired by a

senior priest in the archdiocese, Mons. Ghiberti.

An admixture of good intentions, opportunism and

machiavellian scheming would soon lead the Com-

mission down a very different path from that of

passive preservation favoured by most modern

conservators for very important objects. In a high

and deeply regrettable irony, this Conservation

Commission would wreak havoc on the Shroud.

Figure 2. Shroud Face. Negative of the facial image.

All rights reserved.

WILLIAM MEACHAM

30 e-conservation


31/96

A new archbishop of Turin was appointed in 1999.

Cardinal Severino Poletto is an outgoing and af-

fable man, with mediocre educational background.

I first met him at a conference of world experts

sponsored by the Turin archdiocese in March,

2000, at a villa outside the city. I came away with

the strong feeling that Poletto was dynamic and

we would soon see further testing of the cloth,

particularly a second round of carbon dating.

Never in a million years could I or anyone else

involved with the Shroud have imagined what

was to come.

The truly memorable moment during this confer-

ence was a visit to the Turin Cathedral. Poletto met

us in the nave and ushered us into a sideroom. It

was a heart-stopping moment. There, mounted

on a long board at eye level was the famous relic,

free of its usual glass display case, and naturally

lit from windows high up in the room. A red velvet

cordon about three feet away was all that separated

us from the relic. My attention shifted back andforth between the bloodstains and the fainter body

image, as archaeological and historical curiosity

about this intriguing object intermingled with

feelings of awe.

This contemplation was interrupted after a while

when Poletto and a gaggle of people around him

moved up to the cordon. Suddenly, a flash bulb

went off and I turned around to see a fellow in abaggy suit holding an old-fashioned press camera

with large flash attachment. Horrified, I went over

to Prof. Alan Adler, the only American member of

the Conservation Commission, and asked him how

in the world they could be using flash photography.

He shrugged his shoulders, saying it was the of-

ficial archdiocese photographer. I asked him to

try to stop it, but he replied there was no way he

was going to interfere, as this viewing was very

special. It was surprising that this s imple issue

had not been considered beforehand and did not

seem to bother anyone else. A tripod-mounted

camera and fast film would have given perfectly

good photographs without the use of a flash, and

would have spared the cloth that extra unneces-

sary exposure to light.

Worse was to come. A delegate was energetically

pointing out some feature on the Shroud to Poletto,

and they both stepped over the cordon to get a

closer view. The delegate suddenly pulled out his

ballpoint pen and pointed at the feature. The tip

of the pen was less than an inch away from the

surface of the cloth. Aghast, I started to intervene,when he lowered the pen. Several other people

were watching the proceedings, and no one seemed

bothered by the fact that a possible ink stain had

been a slight tremble away. When it is recalled that

many archives do not even allow ink pens of any

kind to be brought inside, one can only shudder

at how poor the state of conservation awareness

was in Turin.

Yet another conservation issue was raised by Amer-

ican scientist John Jackson after the visit. He had

a particular interest in the old creases and fold-

mark patterns (as he calls them) preserved on

the Shroud, and he was very upset over how the

cloth was stretched on the board. It was so taut

that hardly any of the creases could be seen. He

raised the issue at the final plenary session of

the congress, saying: I can state that storingthe Shroud in this condition for a long period of

time will destroy forever the precious fold mark

pattern, if it has not already done so. The response

from Commission members was that the mounting

on the board was only a temporary arrangement.

This apparently was not true. In an article published

later by the same individuals it was stated that,

unlike in the past the Shroud was [now] stretched

and fixed in a practically definitive position [2].

In retrospect, these conservation issues were very

bad omens.

31e-conservation



32/96

The Shroud has been restored

Indeed, a major catastrophe was about to befall

the Shroud. Totally unbeknownst to anyone out-

side a small circle in Turin, an aggressive, invasive

operation officially termed a restoration was

being planned. The work was finally carried out

in secret during June and July of 2002. But word

leaked out, and in August a Rome newspaper ran

a story by its Vatican reporter that the Shroud had

undergone a radical intervention [3]. As details

emerged from the Turin archdiocese, it was con-

firmed that patches covering the 1532 fire damageand a backing cloth added at that time had been

removed, and dusts and residues had been cleared

away. People were shocked, unable to believe that

such an invasive procedure could have been allowed

to take place, since there had been so much em-

phasis in recent decades on the need for non-in-

trusive, non-destructive testing.

While very little of this news was carried by inter-national agencies, the press in Italy was buzzing

with stories, speculation and debate about what

had been done to the Shroud. A very senior politi-

cal and academic figure, Francesco Sisinni, wrote

an important piece asking: Did this important

object, on whose material and historical authen-

ticity scholars from every part of the world have

worked tirelessly, and, above all, in front of which

millions of faithful from all over the world havekneeled, really need to have undergone such a

massive intervention?[4]. Turin was clearly on

the defensive, and announced that all would be

explained at a press conference in mid-September,

at which time photographs of the restored Shroud

would be available.

Jackson circulated an email with very powerful

criticisms, pointing out thatit is essential that

scientific information resident on the Shroud be

preserved. The only people qualified to knowwhat

that information is are people who have spent

years, if not their lifetimes, thinking about the

Shroud in a scientific sense. It was increasingly

clear that there had been no outside consultation

or peer review of this intervention. An American

textile chemist and original member of the Conser-

vation Commission, Jan Cardamone, was surprised

and shocked at the news. Textile conservator Sheila

Landi of England, also an originalmember of the

Commission, had the same reaction. Even two tex-

tile specialists resident in Turin and well acquainted

with the Shroud were not consulted.

It transpired that the one textile expert left on the

Commission was the person who had carried out

the work. Rumor had it that she and Ghiberti had

become the dominant force within the Commission.

According to Landi, who attended several meet-

ings in the 1990s, the atmosphere was character-

ized increasingly by manipulation: All they wanted

was people who said what they wanted to hear

[5]. This led to Landi's decision to withdraw in1997. Jan Cardamone remained available but was

not invited to attend further meetings. It is not

clear what happened to the two Italian textile

conservators, but by 1999 the Swiss Mechthild

Flury-Lemberg was the only textile expert left in

the group. This may have been as in the Chinese

saying, one mountain can only have one tiger.

Other individuals with close links to the inner cir-

cle around Poletto were recruited onto the Com-mission, from fields totally unrelated to textiles

or conservation.

Flury-Lemberg is a soft spoken woman, and an old-

style restorer with a Teutonic inclination for neat-

ness. It is unclear to what degree she persuaded

others of the need for restoration, but one ob-

server remarked that it was a good thing that there

was no articulate dry cleaner on the Commission.

She believed in her methods, of course, and a large

portion of responsibility lies with the other mem-

32 e-conservation

WILLIAM MEACHAM


33/96


34/96

34 e-conservation

visitors, photographers, teams of technicians and

TV crews trooped through; the cloth was illumi-

nated by lamps without filters, shining for long

periods directly on the cloth at close range; the

relic was subjected to considerable stresses in the

removal of patches and backing cloth, and addition

of a new backing cloth. Furthermore, the operation

was not a true restoration back to original either,

but a series of radical, invasive alterations and

cleaning operations for cosmetic and misinformed

conservation purposes.

Even if the cloth were a proven medieval relic, withno image at all, the 1534 repairs should have been

retained. Flury-Lemberg commented on this issue

in very strange terms: The conservation [work] of

the poor Clare sisters from 1534 is certainly of his-

torical interest and therefore needs to be analysed

and noted for future research, but it does not present

a value in its own right. The same is true for the con-

servation measures of 2002. [7]

It is very surprising to have repairs nearly five hun-

dred years old equated with those done a few years

ago. The patches and backing cloth were visible

elements of a rich heritage that had intrinsic value

as part of the history and commonly recognized

identity of the relic. It was recorded that the nuns

carried out the mending of the precious relic after

the fire of 1532 with great reverence and care,

praying as they worked. Old additions to or repairsof an object become part of the object to be pre-

served unless 1) they pose a definite threat to it,

or 2) they seriously detract from the appreciation

of the original. There would be little disagreement

among conservators on this point. It would be a

very foolish conservator who would erase medieval

graffiti from a Roman temple in the name of return

to the original. Even on cosmetic criteria, reten-

tion of the patches would have been sensible; Flury-

Lemberg herself wrote that the patches covered

big ugly holes left by the fire. [7]

The argument has been made before that even with

a backing cloth on the Shroud it was hazardous to

mount the relic in a vertical position for display.

As the Shroud is now stored laid out flat in a glass

case, this would also be the best manner to ex-

hibit it according to Cardamone, i.e. with observers

moving around it in small groups, or on a walkway

above it. To remove the existing backing cloth only

to replace it with another seems to be the height

of folly, and no real advance on the repair work

of 1534. Further, the whiteness of this new lining

detracts from the image. The eye is struck by the

stark contrast of white spots (lining visible throughthe holes) on straw coloured ground (the Shroud)

that makes the sepia body image seem even more

faint. To compare the Shroud before and after, see

www.shroud.com/examine.htm.

In the months following the unveiling, a consensus

of critique took shape. The main points were:

1) that the patches had been piously sewn on 450

years ago (according to legend the nuns who sewedthem used golden needles and maintained constant

prayer during the work) and thus constituted part

of the Shroud's heritage;

2) that scientific data had been lost due to poor

planning and/or ignorance;

3) that opportunities for sophisticated scientific

research were squandered; and

4) that great stresses were put on the cloth during

the month-long handling, unstitching and re-stitching, and exposure to lights.

In 2003, comments from prominent Shroud re-

searchers began to be posted on www.shroud.com/

restored.htm, and most were scathing. Ray Rogers,

a nationally prominent chemist formerly with Los

Alamos National Laboratory, declared as a result

of the restoration... a large amount of potentially

critical information has been lost forever. Paul

Maloney, archaeologist, stated his virtual certainty

that the restoration was unnecessary. Dr. Frederick

WILLIAM MEACHAM
http://www.shroud.com/restored.htmhttp://www.shroud.com/restored.htmhttp://www.shroud.com/examine.htm


35/96

35e-conservation

Zugibe, former Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland

County NY, expressed chagrin that the restorers did

not wear gloves and dust-free clothing. In an email

Rogers stated he believed that the action would

go down in history as Polettos desecration.

Flury-Lemberg [7] published a coffee table book

about the work in which a spirited defence was

mounted, claiming that the Shroud was threatened

by a process of progressive weakening and loss

around the charred areas, and by oxidation due to

the carbon dust particles spreading through the

cloth. The problem for these claims was that thechemical processes she feared were unknown to

science [8]. And the extensive photographic record

since 1898 did not reveal one iota of evidence for

any loss of fabric around the char. Such claims

would not have survived the standard procedure of

evaluation by peer review, but this was not done

since the plan to conduct radical surgery on the relic

had been kept a jealously guarded secret.

Data Lost

Ever since the first scientific examination of the

Shroud in 1933, there has been a great and entirely

proper emphasis on non-invasive techniques. Mod-

ern conservation shares this emphasis, as noted

above, and for important archaeological objects

there would be extreme reluctance to employ in-

vasive methods, e.g. for cleaning, that would put

information at risk. Ideally, there should be close

collaboration between the archaeologist or mu-

seum curator and the conservator. In the case of

the Shroud, this should have meant direct con-sultation with the experts from various fields who

have studied the cloth and know the types of data

it contains, and most importantly, how this data

needs to be collected, extracted or preserved.

Savarino stated at the unveiling in Turin that noth-

ing was lost or thrown away, everything was kept.

I tried in the space of about two minutes to ex-

Figure 4. Vacuuming. Vacuuming of dirt and carbon dust. (photo courtesy of Telesubalpina TV, all rights reserved).



36/96

plain to him why it is not simply retaining every

particle of debris and dust that is important, but

it is above all the structure of the evidence that

must not be lost, and that the manner in which

samples are collected is vital. It would be useless

for example to present an archaeologist with all the

objects from a site in a giant bag, with all stratigra-

phic and contextual information lost. During this

restoration of the Shroud we are told that the

debris and dust was collected and saved in more

than 30 glass containers. This makes it clear that

a tremendous amount of information has been lost,

since all 25 burn holes under the patches plus thefour sets of poker holes were scraped and vacu-

umed, front and back. There should have been se-

veral hundred divisions of this material for rigor-

ous study.

To cite an example, pollen from the Middle East

has been identified from the Shroud, apparently

in small clusters, but previous collection techniques

have been faulty. Other particulate material plantand insect debris, traces of natron, aloes, etc.

has also been identified as important for study.

And yet, the vacuuming was done all around the

edges of the burn holes, with no microscopic search

of the areas carried out beforehand. Micro-remains

that could have been identified and extracted by

micromanipulator with precise provenance were

instead aspirated into the container along with

all the other debris from that general area.

Worse still is the destruction of the charred edges

of the burn holes. Here the structure of evidence

is crucial, and it was deliberately reduced to fluff.

The Commission was said to have decided that no

cutting would take place, and this would have

moderated somewhat the loss of data if that de-

cision had been strictly adhered to, and only loose

particles were aspirated away. It was thus shock-ing to discover that intact segments between small

holes or around the edges of larger holes had gone.

Ghiberti wrote: Cutting away the charred parts to

get back to the undamaged cloth would have pro-

duced an unnatural and devastating effect. It was

decided to use tweezers to remove material which

tended to give way when pulled and to reach the

brownish borders ... [9]

This is a new method for preserving ancient textiles

material which tends to give way when pulled

is removed! A photograph in Flury-Lembergs book

shows a scraping tool lying beside a pile of tiny bits

of charred f ibre in front of the brownish border

36 e-conservation

Figure 5 a, b and c. Before and After. On the lef t are X-rays taken in 1978, showing the burnholes under three of the patches.

On the right are the shapes of the holes after 'restoration' (X-rays courtesy of William Mottern, all rights reserved).

WILLIAM MEACHAM