e_conservationthe online magazine No. 8, February 2009

http://e-conservationline.com/

edit

oria

l

Digging out conservation

In this issue we have included two articles concerning conservation of archaeological objects. The first reports a volunteer programme for conservation of archaeological sites in developing countries while the second describes the study of a Neolithic terracotta figurine. These projects are fine examples of good collaboration, understanding and mutual respect between archaeologists and conservators.However, archaeology and conservation cooperation is not always easy. Although both archeologists and conservators are committed to the safeguarding of cultural heritage, they often find themselves in opposing positions. The primary purpose of the archae-ologist is the retrieval of information from the object while the conservator’s is the preservation of the object itself. This slight difference has created an ongoing conflict that often makes the archaeologist see the conservator’s work as of lesser importance. This may be a major potential discussion issue as these two concerns – information retrieval and object preservation – may not be easily reconciled. In extreme cases the study of the object may be harmful for its physical state while in conservation proce-dures information may be lost in order to salvage the object. Although it is not my personal field, I have not seen this to be a prolific area of discussion so I imagine that many of these conflicts are limited to the on-site level and not often brought to an academic level of discussion.

The lack of professional recognition is also an important issue that is implicit in the collaboration between these different professions. Evidence of this is found in the multiple short courses about conservation of objects, commonly of ceramic materials, some of which are specifically designed for archaeologists who often replace conser-vators in archaeological diggings. In fact, the practical experience of a qualified con-servator may not be acquired in a short course nor for that matter is the work limited to post-excavation treatments but is also important during the excavation when the safeguarding of many objects may be at stake. Professional recognition is closely related to the history and maturity of each profession. Archaeology has been a recognized profession since the XIX century but the conservator’s role has only recently been accepted and it is still unfamiliar to the general public. I believe that this subjective but strong reason may also be the originator of many misconceptions.

In my opinion, and I believe that of many other professionals, the best results may only be achieved if conservators are recognized as equal stakeholders and are fully integrated within the teams they are engaged in. Our profession is now reaching maturity; it has evolved and the background of its evolution is very important. We, as conservators, must be aware of our own history, which sometimes gets forgotten or remains unknown to younger professionals or students. In relation to this subject, the present article of Hans-Christoph von Imhoff is a valuable up-to-date of the current situation at present, and helps to better understand where and why we conservators are right now on the historic timeline. This is a subject of reflection that needs to grow in the public awareness.

Rui Bordalo,Executive Editor

e_conservation

www.prorestauro.com

NEWS 6

63

ARTICLES

CASE STUDY

80

83

BOOK REVIEW

36

CONFERENCE REVIEWS

Salt Weathering on Buildings and Stone Sculptures

22-24 October 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark

Review by Anca Nicolaescu

Cultural Heritage:

Applications on Conservation-Restoration

3 December 2008, Lisbon, Portugal

Review by Rui Bordalo

ANNOUNCEMENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS

February - March 2009

Conservators without Borders

A Dynamic Approach to Archaeological Conservation

By Dominica D’Arcangelo, Christie Pohl and Melina Smirniou

CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS

Terracotta Figurine in 'Pietrele'

By Cristina Georgescu

CONSERVATION HISTORY

Aspects and Development of Conservator-Restorer’s

Profession since WWII

By Hans-Christoph von Imhoff

The Conservation of the Exterior Mural Paintings

of Coltea Church

A Minimal Intervention Approach to Aesthetic Presentation

By Simona Patrascu and Teodora Poiata

Decolonizing Conservation

Caring for Maori Meeting Houses outside New Zealand

Review by Daniel Cull

LACONA VII Proceedings

Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks

Review by Rui Bordalo

EVENTS

14

53

e_conservation 5

INDEX

16

20

6

PROJECTS 22

new

sSALT WEATHERING ON BUILDINGS AND STONE SCULPTURES

22-24 October 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark

Organizers: The Technical University of Denmark, the National Museum of Denmark, Building Heritage of Denmark, Palaces and Properties Agency and the Royal Danish Academy – School of Conservation.

The conference was scientifically sponsored by RILEM and financially by Knud Højgaards Fond.

http://www.swbss.dk

The conference 'Salt Weathering on Buildings and

Stone Sculptures' addressed the complex problem

of built heritage and stone sculpture deteriora-

tion due to salts action and consequently the

assessment and development of conservation

procedures. The event was hosted by the National

Museum of Denmark, having as organizers the

Technical University of Denmark, the National

Museum, Building Heritage of Denmark, Palaces

and Properties Agency and the Royal Danish

Academy – School of Conservation and took

place in last October, in Copenhagen.

Besides the optimal meeting venue and other

facilities the National Museum of Denmark com-

prises, a new exhibition concept with interactive

workshops was experienced. Conservators were

moving into the museum’s large exhibition hall,

where functioning workshops were giving visitors

a unique opportunity to "look over conservators’

shoulders". This was a great chance for the large

public to ask questions and thus discover the

hidden side of conservation profession, analytical

methods and materials.

The conference in Copenhagen successfully brought

together a broad range of scientific contributions

and case studies in a multifaceted effort to fill up

the gap between theory and practice; the situa-

tions in practice are much more complex than

usually assumed by the theoretical models.

Salt weathering represents one of the most

important concerns in the field

Reviewed by Anca Nicolaescu

A view of the museum from Frederikholms Kanal; photo National Museum of Denmark.

e_conservation 7

CONFERENCE REVIEW

of building conservation (including mural paintings

or/and sculpture decoration), from both damage

as well as treatment complexity point of view.

Therefore, the conference followed up closely the

ways of enhancement of desalination treatments

efficiency, derived from case studies with the

support of laboratory experiments.

The three days conference was divided in sessions

which covered all the important topics regarding

salts deterioration issues within built heritage

or stone sculpture.

Starting with the mechanism of Decay and Trans-

port of Salts the topics moved to Materials analysis

and diagnosis of damages in the second day and

ended with Hands on Conservation and Methods

of repair.

The conference began with "A review of salt trans-

port in porous media, assessments methods and

salt reduction treatments", a presentation given

by Alison S. Heritage from Cologne University of

Applied Science (Germany). It was a key note

presentation, describing the current scientific

understanding of salt and moisture transport

processes and the extent to which this knowledge

can bring feedback into the practical arena, to aid

the conservator.

In the section Transport of salts the European

project "Desalination" was presented by Anne

Bourges from Laboratoire de Recherche des Monu-

ments Historiques (France). Five case studies

done at Saint Philibert Church in Dijon, which

were illustrated comparing the effectiveness of

desalination systems (poultices), strongly under-

lined the close link between the effectiveness of

desalination treatments and the proprieties of

both stones and poultice materials.

Connected with the first topic of the conference,

another very interesting research regarding the

wind speed factor in salt damage in general and

salt damage at Petra monuments in particular,

was presented by Dr. Fadi Bala’awi, Hashemite

University, Zarqa-Jordan. The research was done

to evaluate the role of wind speed in salt crystal-

lization and distribution. It presented a detailed

monitoring of the microclimate condition and its

role in the salt distribution at selected monuments

in Petra, in order to understand the extent and

mechanism of salt damage. The results have shown

the importance of including the wind speed factor

Image from the temporary exhibition “Yours Forever? - Workshops for the Past” (upper).The Museum main hall (lower).

8 e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

in salt weathering simulation tests, since both

the salt decay rate and the salt distribution were

found to vary significantly at different wind

speed conditions.

The deterioration of porous building materials

due to crystallization of salts within their pore

structure is a wide spread weathering process

and the main cause of decay. The contributions

regarding the decay phenomenon covered many

important issues; some well known but seen in

a new light were better understood and new treat-

ment solutions were experienced.

Barbara Lubelli from Delft University of Technology

(Netherlands) talked about "Sodium chloride

damage to porous building materials: effect of

RH changes", emphasizing the importance of the

study of damage evolution in practice in order to

better understand the damage mechanism. The

case studies presented were performed both in situ

and in laboratory, demonstrating the relevance

of dissolution/crystallization cycles for the de-

velopment of sodium chloride damages. The high

frequency of RH changes causes fast damages in

reality, while in the laboratory tests, where fac-

tors such as capillarity moisture, and drying at

constant temperature and RH are adopted, very

little damage was observed. For a better vision

of the damage mechanism, ESEM analysis were

performed on cross-sections which led to the

hypothesis that the mechanical interaction

between salt and pore wall would be enough to

generate stress and thus damages. For more veri-

fication a crystallization inhibitor was added and

was observed that salts are crystallizing but do

not cause damage because there is no adherence

to the pore wall.

Experiments done on crystal growth under a

constraint in strictly controlled condition were

presented by Julie Desarnaud from CINaM, CICRP

Marseill (France). The results show that the loaded

faces of a crystal immersed in a supersaturated

solution are dissolved and therefore the crystal

C.M. Grossi from the School of Environmental Sciences (UK) presenting "Future climate and salt damage to European buildings" (left ).

Ioannis Ioannou from University of Cyprus, presenting "Studies of salt crystallisation in natural building stones" (above).

9e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

is both unable to grow against the applied con-

straint and to develop any 'crystallization pressure'.

Ioannis Ioannou from University of Cyprus study-

ing salt crystallization in natural building stones

reached the conclusion that due to the fact that

the cryptoflorescence is considerably more da-

maging than efflorescence, the treatments with

water repellents can actually have a harmful effect

on the treated materials. Usually the water repel-

lents are used to protect the surface of stones

from contaminants, but the paper demonstrates

the opposite. Actually those treatments can pro-

mote the masonry decay by suppressing the ca-

pillary transport of water and salt solution to its

surface, thus forcing the formation of crypto-

florescence. Thus, the use of surface treatments

may cause significant crystallization damage to

the masonry in the long term, as inevitably some

water will gain access to the masonry structure

and will be lost by evaporation from the surface,

leaving salts behind. This finding is particularly

important and should be taken under consideration

in practical situations where the prevention of

efflorescence, which sometimes is also very im-

portant – in case of decorative masonry - must

be very well adapted to the necessities, being

aware of this risk.

The first conference day was ended in a pleasant

atmosphere during the reception offered at Thor-

valdsen Museum, Denmark’s oldest museum,

surrounded by Bertel Thorvaldsen sculptures and

good wine. It was a chance for the participants to

get to know each other and prolong the discussions

started during the day.

On the way to the reception venue I had the oppor-

tunity to take part in a short ad hoc 'tour' of

Copenhagen’s monuments, their history and salt

weathering problems, guided by Tim Padfield, an

internationally well known specialist of micro-

climate in museums and historic buildings, who

was part of the scientific committee of the con-

ference.

The second day brought the participants together

again for discussing the topic of Material analysis

and diagnosis of damage. I will only mention here

some of the papers that have been presented,

trying to highlight the main ideas passed on by

the conference, being difficult to condense all

the information into a simple review. Furthermore,

the organizers published a book of proceedings

where all the papers presented at the conference

are available.

Non-destructive methods were lately implemented

for different heritage preservation analysis or

monitoring necessities. M Gomez-Heras from

Queen University of Belfast (UK) presented his

research through high definition (HD) laser scan-

ning for the evaluation of laboratory simulations

Reception at Thorvaldsen Museum.

10

of building limestone salt decay. Tests comprised

measurements of the surface morphological

changes during alternating cycles of simulated

salt weathering of lime stone, demonstrating the

potential value of this non-invasive technique

in adding new spatial information to patterns of

surface weathering and erosion. One example

given by the author was the possibility of moni-

toring the subtle changes like pores filling and

surface swelling during early-stage weathering

that are not detected by traditional parameters

such as weight loss.

Isabelle Brajer from the National Museum of Den-

mark emphasized how ‘imperative climate control

is in salt reduction treatments which are not long-

lasting without subsequent monitoring’. Her study

comprised a re-evaluation of the desalination

treatments done in Tristed Church (Denmark)

nine years ago which revealed the reversion of

the problems as they were prior to the treatment.

This is one of the major problems of massive

monuments still in function which being salt

CONFERENCE REVIEW

contaminated need a careful assessment of the

salt weathering degradation in concordance with

climatic control. Unfortunately, sometimes conser-

vator’s recommendations are hard to implement

in monuments which are still in use and are not

understood by the community in charge of their

maintenance.

Two studies highlighted the importance of the

attentive analysis of the environmental charac-

teristics of the salts nature and transport which

can give sometimes the best solutions for salt

management approaches.

Andrew Thorn, in his paper ‘Salt management

within rock art shelters’, gave two examples of

interesting ways of approaching the salt related

damages in painted rock art sites from Australia,

where they cannot be isolated but only handled.

In the first case study the diagnosis itself became

the treatment; only the assessment of the extent

and movement of the salt contamination areas

in relation with the painted surface in danger at

repeated intervals showed the evolution in time

and in this case, the risk diminishment.

In the second case study the diagnosis of the salt

Isabelle Brajer from the National Museum Denmark, presenting “The salt reduction treatment on the wall paintings in Tirsten Church” (left).

Andrew Thorn from Artcare, Melbourne, Australia, presenting “Salt management within rock art shelters” (below).

e_conservation

11

CONFERENCE REVIEW

mechanism revealed that it was thermally de-

termined and that a simple shading of the site

(planting trees) would stop the mechanism.

A study regarding the 'Weathering of the Cathe-

dral at Kirkjubøur, the Faroe Islands', presented

by Poul Klenz Larsen from the National Museum

of Denmark, Department of Conservation, showed

also the importance of understanding the material

degradation in connection with the climatic

environment. In this example, the ruins of the

church were temporary covered with a special

shelter which would protect the structure against

driving rain, but studies of salt mechanism in

connection with the local environmental climate

bear out the possibility of aggravating the salt

decay. Therefore the conclusion was that the walls

would best be kept wet and just a traditional main-

tenance of the mortar joints would ensure the

mechanical stability of the structure.

Regarding the last section of the conference,

Methods of repair, I would like to refer to at

least two of the contributions with interesting

new projects regarding salt treatments.

A very interesting research was presented by Eric

May (School of Biology Science, Hampshire, UK)

regarding 'Bioremediation: potential and chal-

lenges for stone treatment'. The use of micro-

organisms to help preserve, protect and restore

building stone is a new technology that offers a

different approach supplementing the existing

conservation technologies. Although biomine-

ralisation has been observed for many years, the

potential for its use in stone consolidation has

only been explored relatively recently.

Biocalcifying bacteria have been used to success-

fully promote carbonatogenesis on the surface of

lime stone buildings or statuary and this type of

newly formed carbonate is shown to be resistant

to mechanical stress.

Recently, microorganisms have also been used

to remove sulphate from black gypsum crusts.

The EU project BIOBRUSH (Bioremediation for

Building Restoration and the Urban Stone Heritage)

linked the mineralization process that removes

stone crusts to consolidation by biomineralisation.

Poul Klenz Larsen from the National Museum Denmark presenting “Weathering of the Cathedral at Kirkjubøur, The Faroe Islands (below).

Jørn Bredal-Jørgensen from the School of Conservation, Denmark presenting “Lead salts on a pedestal of marble - a case study” (right).

e_conservation

12 e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

A new mortar system incorporating nitrate-reducing

bacteria capable of removing nitrates was also

developed and described during the conference.

Lisbeth M. Ottosen and Inge Rörig-Dalgaars from

Technical University of Denmark, Department of

Civil Engineering, presented two of their researches

regarding the "Electrochemical removal of salts

from masonry" and "Desalination of a wall section

with murals by electromigration".

For the first project mentioned above, new elec-

trode units were developed for desalination of

brick masonry and were tested afterward, in a

pilot scale experiment on a salt contaminated

building. The chosen building was tainted with

sulfate in a high concentration; chloride and

nitrate were less present but in dangerous con-

centrations at some points. The obtained results

were very good; the new electrode units buffered

the acid produced at the anode and the contami-

nating ions were accumulated within the units

during treatment and removed afterward from

the site together with them. In the applied electric

field, chlorides and nitrates were efficiently

removed. Sulfates did not decrease radically

during the 4-month treatment (possibly due to

their low dissolution rate) but it was expected to

continuously decrease over longer duration.

Regarding the second experimental work, the

application of the electrokinetic method was

investigated for the removal of sodium chloride

from a wall section with murals. A current of

2.9mA/cm was used for a two weeks treatment.

The chloride was reduced from the wall section

and accumulated in the removable poultice placed

between the wall surface and the electrodes.

During the electrokinetic treatment, the desali-

nation effect was assessed by measuring the

chloride content in the removed poultice and in

drilling samples from masonry. The drilled samples

were made prior to and after the experiment to

investigate the changes for chloride and also the

Eric May, School of Biological Science (UK), presenting “Bioremediation: potential and challenges for stone treatment”.

Lisbeth M.Ottosen’ from the Technical University of Denmark, presenting “Electrochemical removal of salts from masonry – Experiences from pilot scale”.

13e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

pH in the wall section. No pigment changes were

visually observed after the treatment. The pigments

from the murals are hardly soluble at neutral pH,

which during this experiment was very closely

measured and no changes were observed.

This method has big potential for murals future

treatments, the only mentioned necessary improve-

ment being the evenly distribution of the chloride

reductions on large scale which could be achieved,

apparently, by managing better the wetting process.

Besides the oral presentations, the conference

had also a poster section covering again the com-

plex conference’s topic with interesting aspects

regarding salts weathering phenomena, analysis

and treatments.

An interesting side of the conference, besides the

high level of researches and results, was the fact

that almost all the studies presented had also a

practical side and most of them were already

tested not only in specialized laboratories but

also in situ or if not yet, this was the next step.

This successful event was possible due to the pro-

fessionalism of the organizers which knew very

well how to merge science and art in relation to

heritage preservation, gastronomic breaks and

practical site seeing. The participants were privi-

leged to visit the Kronborg Castle (known as

Hamlet Castle) which is undergoing restoration

and rehabilitation works, Fanefjord Church where

the mural ensemble dating from about 1550

suffered severely from salt decay and is presently

the subject of a high standard conservation project

and some other heritage monuments damaged

by salt from Copenhagen.

The high number of participants from 21 countries

made the conference even more interesting from

the point of view of its diversity.

Interdisciplinary topics were enhanced by the

variety of nationalities and specialisms, showing

sometimes different approaches or similarities

where you don’t expect, but all leading to an im-

provement of the future treatments and preventive

measures efficacy.

The importance of this topic and the success of

the conference were ascertained by the agreement

for a following conference that will take place in

Cyprus, organized by the University of Cyprus.

A view from the poster session (left) and visiting the conservation project of the mural ensemble from Fanefjord Church (right).

14 e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

CULTURAL HERITAGE: APPLICATIONS ON CONSERVATION-RESTORATION

3 December 2008,Lisboa, Portugal

Organising committee: Luisa Carvalho, Ana Isabel Seruya and Maria Guerrahttp://www.authentico.org

Reviewed by Rui Bordalo

The Centre of Atomic Physics of the University of

Lisbon was the host of the 1-day workshop "Cultural

Heritage: Applications on Conservation-Restora-

tion" which took place last December 3rd. The con-

ference was organised by Prof. Dr. Luisa Carvalho

and Prof. Dr. Ana Isabel Seruya in the framework

of the AUTHENTICO project, an European funded

research project. The conference coincided with

an assessment meeting of the project and attend-

ance was free.

One of the key topics of this meeting was the bridge

between Science and Art, and in all presentations

this subject was clearly evidenced.

The morning session was started by Maria Luisa

Vitobello, from the European Jewellery Technology

Network (Belgium), with the presentation of the

"AUTHENTICO Project and the lost arts of the

ancient goldsmiths". AUTHENTICO is a 3-years

cooperative research project that gathers ten

institutions, including research centres, museums

and the police among others, from eight European

countries and is focused on the study of metal

artefacts in order to assure their authenticity.

By studying the material composition and the

manufacturing techniques, the project aims to

improve the control of counterfeit art and fraud.

In retrospective, we can clearly divide the work-

shop presentations into two categories. The first

group includes all those presentations closely re-

lated to the project's thematic, that were as well

the most important presentations of the day and

which I may say were quite impressive.

Filomena Guerra, from the Centre de Recherche

et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF),

presented "Tracking gold forgeries with X-rays".

Dr. Guerra made a short history of the forgeries

starting in the Middle Ages with the fabrication

of relics by request until the 19th century when

forgery extended to all kind of products, from copies

to imaginary artefacts. She also introduced the

public to the less certain origin of some well known

museum collections where not all artefacts are

proven to be authentic. In fact, every now and then

museum artefacts that never raised much doubts

are discovered to be fakes or simply copies, or at

least their authenticity may not be proven. In

order to investigate this issue Filomena Guerra

used several analytical techniques to study in

detail jewellery from the Louvre museum. The

study included not only elemental analysis to

characterise the metal but also techniques that

allowed the characterisation of the fabrication

techniques. Fortunately, copies from the 19th

Authentication methodologies for metal artefacts based

on material composition and manufacturing techniques

15e_conservation

CONFERENCE REVIEW

century, like the ones in study, were not fabri-

cated according ancient metal work techniques.

One other example that I wish to mention due to

its historic value is the study of 3 morabitinos,

the first Portuguese gold coins, which are the

only exemplars known so far. Through a series

of elemental analysis combined with historic

research it was possible to conclude, after the

positive identification of Islamic and South-

American gold, that one of the coins is in fact

an old fake. I believe this presentation resumed

very well the AUTHENTICO Project purposes.

Inspector Teresa Esteves, from the Stolen Art

Squad of the Judiciary Police (Portugal), made

quite an impressive and rather sad presentation

on the state of the art in our contemporary world

and particularly in Portugal. The Squad was

formed in 1979 and it is closely linked to Europol

and Interpol. It was highlighted that most of the

art is stolen under the expressed order of art

collectors and dealers and few by opportunity

thefts. It was also astonishing to know that like

art movements, art theft has also its tendencies.

From the 1980s to 2002 most thefts were done

for 18th century furniture stolen from manors so

clients could recreate old environments in their

new farms. Up to 2006 there was a major incidence

of theft of tiles robbed from anywhere, from

churches to train stations. More astounding was

to find out that one third of the stolen tiles are

broken or lost. These incidents are not isolated,

as anyone visiting Portuguese cities like Lisbon

can see tiles missing from buildings in any random

street.

Since 2007 there are increasing reports of marble

sculpture being taken from gardens all over Europe.

What is surprising is that these sculptures weight

from 200 to 500 kg but there are no witnesses.

These are thousands of smaller and bigger thefts

that transform art traffic in one of the top most

lucrative criminal activities in the world. One

story shocked me the most: four polychromed

wooden sculptures were thrown into the Tagus

River by the thieves during their escape. Thus, we

should not think that art is well kept by collectors

especially if acquired in criminal ways. Given

such accounts, society should be educated and

urged to take preventive steps against thefts.

Salvador Siano, from the Istituto di Fisica Appli-

cata N. Carrara (Italy), presented the “Study and

conservation of bronze artworks: the physical

approach”. He spoke about the several cleaning

strategies that were applied to Porta del Para-

diso, made by Ghiberti in 1452, since the 1966

flood. These cleaning strategies included, for

example, chemical and laser cleaning. However,

this presentation focused on the study of the

original execution techniques that were used.

Two hypotheses were advanced and in order to

prove or disprove them, a set of pieces were

manufactured by the hot wax technique and the

results were compared to the originals. It was

indeed a good example of experimental

archaeology.

The surprise of the day came from Guy Demortier,

from the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de

la Paix (Belgium), who presented “Revisiting the

construction of the Kheops pyramid”. It is the

general belief of actual archeologists that pyramids

were constructed by assembling stone blocks but

in his surprising lecture Guy Demortier defended

the idea that the pyramids were in fact constructed

by casting into molds. Based on mathematical

calculations, he advanced the theory that it was

not possible to construct the pyramids by block

assembly because it is simply impossible to have

a block of one square meter ready every 20 seconds

with the man power said to have participated.

Also, helped by analysis performed to the original

stone he concluded that its composition was very

CONFERENCE REVIEW

16 e_conservation

similar to a geo-polymer discovered by Josephs

Davidovits in the 1970s. The theory here defended

was that the Egyptians built the stone blocks in

the left bank of the Nile with a compound based

on limestone and binder containing water and

natron. Demortier confessed that despite his

certainties and scientific evidence it has proven

difficult to spread his theory among archaeologists.

Truly, even if he would be wrong, his theory

should be taken in account and at least tested

until disproved. Such is the role of science and

scientists. In the end, such a surprising and

remarkable theory reminded me that research

is not only about the discovery of new things

but also about a new look into our past and

knowledge.

The second group of presentations gathered

some representative research in conservation

and restoration currently being developed by

Portuguese universities and institutes. These

included analytical characterisation of lacquers,

a study of the pigments of medieval Portuguese

manuscript illumination, and spectroscopic and

analytical studies of paintings, paper and ce-

ramic, among others. From a total of 20 presen-

tations many others are worthy to be mentioned

although this is beyond the purpose of the

present review.

I would like to congratulate the organisers for

their initiative and to invite them to consider

continuing similar efforts in the near future.

It is not only important these kind of events to

take place regularly but also to be disseminated

and advertised in advance in order to bring

together and convey information to as many

professionals as possible.

INTERNET-BASED TRAINING MODULES FOR CONSERVATORSby Barbara Hentschel and Angela Weyer

The education system has changed, particularly

regarding lifelong learning. Many universities

have reacted to this challenge. The Hornemann

Institute, Faculty Preservation of Cultural Herit-

age of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen produces

e-learning courses for further education in

German and English.

With this multimedia course, the Hornemann

Institute offers specialists in the field of conser-

vation of cultural heritage customized study at

their own rate of speed and free selection of

time and place. Dividing the courses into modules

permits free selection of contents according to

specific needs and background. Only requirement

for the courses is an internet-access. The par-

ticipants of the courses can communicate with

the authors or the tutor via telephone or email.

The Hornemann Institute is developing online

continuing education courses for persons who

are dedicated to cultural heritage preservation.

As this target group faces rapid changes in their

profession, there is a great demand for career

accompanying further training. The institute

has concentrated primarily on courses drawn up

by the teaching staff of the university. Initially

these courses are intended for full-time students

of the Faculty Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

The courses are implemented in the full-time

study program at the authors’ discretion: some

instructors offer the courses to supplement

current lectures, others as follow-up study.

H O R N E M A N N I N S T I T U T E

NEWS

17e_conservation

And others make use of the courses as preliminary

preparation to ensure that all the full-time stu-

dents possess the same basic knowledge when

beginning full-time study. This then allows more

time for the practical part of the study.

In addition, some courses are open to anyone

concerned with the conservation of cultural

heritage. The Hornemann Institute is responsible

for the organization and the administration.

Distant students will be granted a Hornemann

Institute certificate upon successful completion

of the program and passing a final on-line

examination.

Tutors

The courses are intended as a self-study courses.

"Checkpoints" permit monitoring learning pro-

gress and are therefore highly motivating. The

types of tests are: matching, filling in gaps and

multiple choice. Correction follows immediately

and automatically. More extensive essay tests

are sent to the institute via e-mail. The authors

set the length and allowed time for these tests.

All questions to the contact addresses are directed

to the Hornemann Institute, where the ones

concerning technical issues are answered directly

by the staff. Questions concerning the content

are directed to either the tutor or the author/s.

Evaluation

Full-time students and distant students were asked

to evaluate the courses. The response of both

target groups was quite favorable. This might not

be surprising in the case of the distant students

as they chose the internet as their medium. The

very positive response from the full-time students

came a bit unexpectedly. Indeed, meanwhile an

increasing number of teaching staff of the Uni-

versity of Applied Sciences and Arts have come

to see the possibilities of using on-line courses

for teaching the principles of a course in order to

be able to spend more time for hands-on learning

in workshops.

In contrast to other study material, on-line

course contents can constantly be updated by

the authors and the learners never risk working

with obsolete outdated material as may happen

with printed media. The didactic versatility and

interactivity of the continued education courses

and the ability to adapt the study material to

own individual needs is very motivating for both

full-time students and working distant students.

Learning is flexible and adaptable: the courses

permit individualized learning at the learner’s

own speed and to the depth the learner desires.

Moreover, motivating is the fact that the learner

can check his/her progress him/herself.

Users are able to access the course contents when-

ever and wherever they want. There are no travel

costs and no time lost on the job.

Graphs and dynamic animation make it difficult

to understand contents more accessible. Short

video sequences (approx. 10 sec.) of practical

examples make clearer what is relevant.

However, not everything that is possible is didac-

tically useful. The multimedia elements must

contribute to learning.

Internet-based communication elements such as

e-mail, chat rooms, discussion forums allow the

instructors and users to exchange experiences

and work on tasks together. The institute tutors

can also be reached by telephone and will assist

in technical problems or problems relating to

the subject.

Printed media are better suited for long texts

than the new media – no one wants to read a

thousand pages on a computer screen. Good

study courses focus on where established media

show their limitations. The average time a learner

spends at the computer is forty-five minutes.

The News section is publishing diverse

information on cultural heritage topics, such

as on-site conservation projects reports,

conferences, lectures, talks or workshops

reviews, but also course reviews and any other

kind of appropriate announcements. If you are

involved in interesting projects and you want

to share your experience with everybody else,

please send us your news or announcements.

For more details, such as deadlines and

publication guidelines, please visit

www.e-conservationline.com

NEWS

18

He should be able to grapple with a subject in

this time. So we ask our authors to provide

precise and concise material.

Presently, there are three courses undergoing:

-Conservation Theories and Methods from the

mid-20th century to the Present, by Prof. Dr. Ursula

Schädler-Saub (19 January – 12 April 2009)

-The Examination of Transparent Coatings on

Furniture and Wooden Objects, by Prof. Dr.

Maierbacher-Legl, Julia Schultz M.A. and Merle

Strätling M.A. (26 January – 19 April 2009)

- Globe Conservation, by Dr. Patricia Engel and

Michael Höjlund Rasmussen (26 January – 22

March 2009).

Next available course in English

Microbic Infestation of Objects of Art and Cultural Heritageby Prof. Dr. Karin Petersen und Barbara Hentschel M.A.

28 September – 22 November 2009

The focal point of this course is presenting dif-

ferent methods of detecting and analyzing micro-

organisms encountered in objects of cultural

heritage. The user is introduced to simple ana-

lyzing techniques as well as modern and specific

approaches. The different ways of removing sam-

ples and of nondestructive testing are described

explaining which results obtained using these

techniques are of significance for the conservator.

Moreover, one module deals with the principles

and fundamentals of a discipline, thus enabling

a user without any background in the field to gain

access to the contents of the course.

Read more about this course...

For further information about the courses see: www.hornemann-institut.org

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) is known

for promoting the dissemination of information

through freely available electronic publications.

Their most recent addition is the proceedings of

"GCI's Experts' Roundtable on Sustainable Cli-

mate Management Strategies" that took place

in Tenerife, Spain, 2007.

The meeting was organised on the occasion of

an ongoing project concerning an alternative

climate control system. The share of experience,

the identification of new areas for research pur-

poses and education opportunities were some of

the objectives of this meeting.

The roundtable bought together internationally

recognised specialists such as Dario Camuffo,

Stefan Michalski and Tim Padfield among others,

to discuss topics concerning climate management

strategies and sustainability in preservation of

cultural heritage.

The proceedings are available in pdf format at

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/science/

climate/climate_experts_roundtable.html

EXPERTS' ROUNDTABLE PROCEEDINGS

The Getty Conservation Institute

NEWS

19

The forthcoming book by Ahmed Sedky, architect

and specialist in area conservation, is proposing

a new preservation assessment of historic regions

of Middle East cities, with a focus on Cairo as a

case study. The deterioration of urban historic

areas in the Arab–Islamic countries is the author's

main concern, who reveals the reality of these

cities regarded as "a glamorous urban dream in

human cultural memory". The city of Cairo, still

preserving a traditional lifestyle in the medieval

urban system, is explored and compared with

other regional or international case studies.

The author seeks to understand the causes be-

hind the actual condition of the historic city

starting by the elaboration of criteria for the

retrospective assessment of the area conservation.

Structured in 3 parts, the book starts with 'what'

and 'how' to conserve, and concludes with the

assessment of the area conservation in Cairo.

The analysis is done by looking at factors such

as integrity, authenticity and sustainability.

Tourism and financial aid are discussed as funding

mechanism for conservation. The author also

makes an effective analysis of the conservation

FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION

Author: Ahmed Sedky

Publisher: AUC Press

Date: April 2009

Pages: 320,

90 b/w illustrations

ISBN: 978-977-416-245-9

Language: English

Price: US $ 35.00

(Hardbound)

Living with Heritage in CairoArea Conservation in the Arab–Islamic City

process, discussing issues like general appraisal,

bureaucracy, management, partnership and com-

munity participation among others.

The book is one of the first publications that

focus on conservation on an urban scale in Egypt

and probably the first that assess the work of

conservation conducted in Historic Cairo.

The book is addressed to specialists such as archi-

tects, engineers, urban planning decision makers

but also to students, social scientists and to any-

one with an interest in old quarters mainly in the

Middle East and Islamic countries.

e_conservation

even

tsCall for Papers: LACONA 8Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks

A Race Against Time: Preserving Our Audiovisual Media

Febr

uary

200

9

3D-ARCH Workshop 2009

Date: 25-28 February Read more...

Place: Trento, Italy

The main focus of the workshop will be the

process of creating virtual environments from

multiple data sources.

Topics include: Image and Range-based 3D

modeling of complex sites and architectures;

Data registration and integration; Automated

modeling techniques; Procedural methods for

architectural modeling; Accuracy requirement

and assessment for 3D reconstruction; Visuali-

zation issues for large and complex sites; Appli-

cations in cultural heritage and conservation

policies.

Learning to Look:Early Photographs

Date: 26 February Read more...

Place: Los Angeles, USA

First organized in 2002,The American Institute

for Conservation-sponsored workshop "Learning

to Look: Early Photographs" bring together art

historians, conservators, and artists to discuss

works of art. Led by a curator and a conservator,

each workshop focuses on the material aspects

of one type of object. Past workshops have

focused on Classical art, Abstract Expressionist

paintings, and Rodin sculptures.

First Bolzano Mummy Congress - "Mummies and Life Sciences"

Date: 19-21 March Read more...

Place: Bolzano, Italy

The Institute for Mummies and the Iceman offer a

biennal mummy conference, during which current

research topics as for the Iceman and other mummies

will be presented and discussed within a professional

environment.

The events in this section are

linked to the original homepage

of the organisers or to the

calendar of events at

www.conservationevents.com.

Click on "Read more..." to find

out more details about each event.

Date: 21-25 September Read more...

Place: Sibiu, Romania

Abstract submission deadline: 13 February

LACONA 8, organised by the National Institute of Research

and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE) will include

presentations on the following topics: Laser cleaning of

monuments and artifacts - innovations, case studies,

evaluations; Laser based techniques for analysis and

diagnostics; Imaging, 3D documentation and modelling;

Optoelectronic devices and sensors; Laser for monitoring

of environmental conditions; Projects, Networks, Edu-

cation; Safety and health aspects.

Date: 2-3 March Read more...

Place: Austin, TX, USA

The conference, presented by the Conservation Center

for Art and Historic Artifacts, will include topics such as

Machine-Based AV Media Identification and Preservation;

Reformatting Options for AV Media; Contracting for AV

Preservation Services; Surveying and Selecting AV Media

Materials for Preservation and Access, and Funding

Opportunities for AV Preservation, among others.Fe

brua

ry 2

009

Mar

ch 2

009

e_conservation

Call for Papers: Symposium on Principles of Conservation

Heritage Care through Active Citizenship

European Conference on Civil Society Organisations active

in the Field of Heritage

Date: 23-24 March Read more...

Place: Mechelen, Belgium

Non govermental heritage organisations play a crucial

role in the field of heritage. Recent international heritage

conventions (UNESCO, Council for Europe, etc) now finally

fully acknowledge the importance of volunteers and civil

society in protecting and safeguarding all kinds of heritage.

What is happening - in practice - in your international

network in Europe? Which initiatives look promising?

CAA 2009: Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology

Date: 22-26 March Read more...

Place: Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

The annual meetings of CAA are devoted to topics such as:

agent-based models, bioarchaeology, CIDOC and other digi-

tal standards, databases, 3D data capture and modeling,

data management systems and other field applications,

GIS, predictive modeling, open source software in archae-

ology, photogrammetry and imaging, prospection and

remote sensing, quantitative methods, high precision

surveying, virtual museums, and virtual reality.

Terracotta Army and Polychrome Cultural Relics

Date: 23-27 March Read more...

Place: Xi’an, China

The Second International Symposium of Conservation

and Research of the Terracotta Army and Polychrome

Cultural Relics will focus on topics such as Polychrome

of Emperor Qin’s terracotta figures; Conservation and

restoration of polychromy; Chinese ancient polychromy;

European ancient polychromy; World other region

ancient polychromy.

2009 Preservation ConferenceDigitizing for Preservation and Access: Past is Prologue

US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Date: 26 March Read more...

Place: Washington, DC, USA

The conference will focus on institutional approaches,

case studies, standards and management techniques

for projects and programs that are either underway or

already completed. Thus, the discussion has moved from

the experimental and theoretical to examining and

learning from what has already been done.

Participants will get an understanding of what digitizing

choices are appropriate for their institution, based in

part on lessons learned and new ground broken by other

institutions, large and small.

Mar

ch 2

008

Date: 24-25 September Read more...

Place: London, UK

Abstract submission deadline: 31 March

The Royal Academy of Arts is organizing a two-day

symposium following the publication in Summer 2009

of the book Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and

Uncomfortable Truths, edited by Alison Richmond and

Dr. Alison Bracker.

The symposium seeks to re-examine conservation prin-

ciples, theories, and taboos regarding art, artefacts,

buildings, monuments and sites, human remains, natural

history, the arts and antiquities markets, and cultural

heritage institutions within the context of the changing

global economic and environmental climate of the early

21st century. Abstracts for papers that cover these and

other relevant themes from a variety of disciplines, periods,

and approaches, as well as specific case studies should

be submitted by 31st March 2009.

EVENTS

e_conservation 21

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS:A DYNAMIC APPROACH TO

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVATION

by Dominica D’Arcangelo, Christie Pohl and Melina Smirniou

proj

ects

23e_conservation

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS:A DYNAMIC APPROACH TO

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVATION

Background to Conservators without Borders

As post-graduate conservation students at Uni-

versity College London’s (UCL) Institute of Archae-

ology in 2006, Melina Smirniou, Christie Pohl and

Dominica D’Arcangelo together identified a need

for increased conservation input on archaeological

sites. Through their on-site experience, each had

witnessed opportunities whereby the life and

use of objects might be prolonged through the

implementation of basic preventive techniques.

They also realised that funding short-falls, a lack

of understanding about the long-term benefits

of conservation, and a lack of regulation by host

countries all meant that conservators were rarely

considered critical to on-site archaeological teams.

Devising an international volunteer organisation

called Conservators without Borders (CWB), the

founding members looked at ways in which conser-

vators could become more actively involved in

archaeological projects through improved com-

munication with archaeologists and specialists.

Active and dynamic approaches to information

exchange were seen as key to improving the visi-

bility and understanding of conservation and its

modern principles. CWB’s founding members

believe that raising the profile of conservation

is one way to successfully inform decision makers

about the benefits of conservation. Ultimately,

CWB would like to have a positive influence on

how they choose to spend their money when

planning future projects.

A timely grant was awarded to CWB by UCL Futures,

a grant making body which funds non-research

projects carried out by members of the UCL com-

munity, in the spring of 2007. It allowed CWB to

run a two-year pilot programme from 2007-2008

which provided the opportunity to practically

trial its theoretical underpinnings. The founders

began to look for archaeological sites that fit

CWB’s missions.

One of CWB’s aims is to provide field conservation

support to archaeological sites where insufficient

funding and expertise does not allow for any on-

site conservation activity. Priority is given to

sites where finds are in need of special or urgent

conservation attention and where there is a keen

interest in artefacts’ preservation.

Another guiding principle of CWB’s work is to

cooperate with archaeologists, heritage profes-

sionals, local communities and students to build

long-term, preventive conservation programmes.

Founded in the spirit of Doctors without Borders, Conservators without Borders (CWB) is a volunteer

organisation that provides support to archaeological projects where insufficient funding or expertise

does not allow for conservation activity. Priority is given to sites in countries where finds are in

need of urgent attention, either during or post-excavation. Other key objectives include collaboration

with archaeologists, the development of sustainable methods of conservation alongside stakeholders,

outreach to local communities, and conservation training for students, volunteers and the wider

community. In 2007, CWB was awarded a grant by University College London (UCL) Futures to carry

out two pilot seasons in 2007 and 2008. With the grant, CWB has run successful projects in Greece,

Jordan and Peru. This article introduces CWB and describes its unique projects to date.

For more information regarding CWB’s founding principles, projects or contact details, visit

www.conservatorswithoutborders.org.

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

24 e_conservation

The three primary strands of CWB’s activities

include: practical conservation, education and

outreach. The initiative also aims to work closely

with conservation students to contribute to their

training by giving them experience with conser-

vation in the context of archaeological sites.

Through the provision of outreach, education and

training, communities become better equipped

to understand conservation needs and have an

increased ability to participate in conservation

activities.

CWB’s practical work consists of first aid conser-

vation on newly or post-excavated unstable objects

and helping to improve artefacts’ packaging in

storage. With limited resources, CWB aims to

make a lasting impact in a short period of time

by restricting complex remedial conservation

treatments to the most urgent cases. The goal is

to treat and stabilise as much material as possible

in a 2-3 week fieldwork session. The focus of CWB’s

training is to show how damage can be minimised

through preventive conservation techniques rather

than repairing damage after it has occurred.

CWB has been warmly welcomed by hosts in Greece,

Jordan and Peru. Feedback from the conservation

community at large has been positive and encour-

aging. The overall results of the pilot seasons are

promising and CWB is currently seeking funding

to carry on their work. The remainder of this

article describes each of CWB’s projects to date.

Greece

The first CWB project took place on the island of

Kythera in Greece for a total of five weeks during

the summers of 2007 and 2008. Kythera is 280 sq

km in area and is situated between the southern

tip of the Peloponnese and the island of Crete.

The island has a very rich archaeological heritage

resulting from 7000 years of continuous occupa-

tion, which spans the late Neolithic, Bronze Age,

Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, Ottoman

and Modern Greek periods [1].

In the 1960’s, the British School at Athens exca-

vated at the coastal site of Kastri concentrating

on the Early Bronze Age layers and the Minoan

presence on the island. Apart from Minoan finds,

there are artefacts from Classical, Hellenistic, and

Roman periods. The collection is comprised of

pottery sherds, ceramic, metal, stone and glass

small finds. Poor packaging and inappropriate

micro and macro environmental conditions resulted

in the deterioration of the objects. An earthquake

in 2006 severely damaged the museum where

these objects were stored. Their movement to

the storerooms of the Kythera Island Project (KIP)

ultimately lead to CWB’s involvement.

The co-directors of KIP, Cyprian Broodbank and

Evangelia Kiriatzi, recognised that something

needed to be done to stabilise the objects and

make them more accessible for researchers. CWB

was invited to collaborate with the KIP directors

to improve the overall conditions of the collection

and implement a new storage regime. Two conser-

vation students, Saray Naidorf and Jackie Chapman,

joined the CWB founding members to provide

conservation assistance in Kythera.

Figure 1. A view of Kapsali, Kythera which is located in the south of the island.

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO, CHRISTIE POHL & MELINA SMIRNIOU

25e_conservation

The CWB conservators and KIP directors together

made the decision to first treat and stabilise the

most vulnerable and fragile objects, and then re-

house the small finds which specialists frequently

access. The final task involved reconstructing and

repacking ceramic vessels and fragments from the

Early Bronze Age tombs.

The original small finds packaging included paper

bags, cigarette cases, biscuit tins, and small paper

boxes with sheeps’ wool; all were stored with larger

ceramic vessels in open wooden crates filled with

hay and straw. This organic material resulted in

pest infestation and some of the ceramic and glass

sherds had shattered upon contact with one

another as a result of the poor original packaging.

Many of the metal objects – iron, copper alloys,

and lead – were actively deteriorating.

The team cleaned the small finds, mechanically

removed active corrosion, consolidated flaking

glass surfaces, reconstructed several ceramic

vessels, replaced the old storage material with

new conservation-grade packaging, and relocated

the collection into air-tight containers or poly-

ethylene bags, as appropriate. This packing method

created a stable micro-environment which will

prevent further damage. New identification tags

and labels were also made.

Figure 2. Several wooden boxes in which archaeological objects excavated by the British School in Athens in the 1960’s were originally stored.

Figure 3. A close up view of archaeological ceramics stored in a wooden box and padded with wood chips.

Figure 4. Dominica D’Arcangelo removing wood chips and straw from a storage box.

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

26 e_conservation

The collaboration between the teams and inter-

disciplinary approach to the work was very

informative for both the CWB conservators and

KIP archaeologists. The two-way communication

meant that archaeologists extended their under-

standing of conservation processes while the CWB

team addressed the KIP’s priorities and imple-

mented a complimentary work system using

available resources.

The biggest challenge during the project was

overcoming the bureaucratic administrative

museum structure and local politics in order to

reach the local community. CWB realised that

trust can be built through establishing a long-

term relationship. During the first season in

Kythera, the team managed to launch an initial

communication channel with the local authorities

and aimed to collaborate with these officials to

develop sustainable archaeological conservation

practices. Building trust is an on-going effort

Figure 5. Ceramic objects after repackaging.

Figure 6. (from left to right) Melina Smirniou, Christie Pohl and student volunteer, Saray Naidhorf treating ceramic objects in 2007.

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO, CHRISTIE POHL & MELINA SMIRNIOU

27e_conservation

and CWB strives to develop relations with museum

and local authorities through transparency and

openness.

During the 2007-2008 seasons in Kythera, a total

of 751 ceramic, metal, glass and stone objects

were stabilised and re-housed in conservation-

appropriate storage and packaging conditions.

An initial outreach effort was established, aiming

to promote best conservation practices and sus-

tainability, and a continuous dialogue with all

the stakeholders involved was also encouraged

and fostered.

Jordan

CWB began discussing a collaborative mission with

Jordan’s Department of Antiquities (DoA) in the

spring of 2007. The DoA expressed a need to treat

post-excavated material in storage, involving

objects from six different museum collections: the

National Archaeological Museum in Amman, the

Umm Qais Archaeological Museum, the Dar As-

Saraya Museum in Irbid, the Jarash Archaeological

Museum, the Al-Karak Antiquities museum and

the Petra Archaeological Museum. The primary

materials treated from each of the six collections

included copper-alloy and glass artefacts.

CWB teams travelled to Jordan for a total of six

weeks in the autumn of 2007 and 2008. The DoA

provided accommodation and working space for

CWB at a dig house on the archaeological site in

Jarash. The team also worked at the Petra Archaeo-

logical Park Headquarters and the National Museum

in Amman.

The strategy in Jordan was multi-disciplined. Each

day, CWB gave a four-hour training session with

interested employees and archaeologists from

each museum. In the afternoon and evening, CWB

had time to carry out additional conservation

treatments. The DoA organised several trips for

CWB allowing them to get a useful picture of local

issues in terms of storage conditions, museum

displays, space and budgetary restrictions.

Training sessions were initially focused on preven-

tive conservation measures, including packing

techniques using conservation-grade materials,

appropriate environmental conditions and

Figure 6. (right) From left to right: Jackie Chapman, professional conservator and Melina Smirniou cleaning ceramic sherds prior to repackaging them in 2008.

Figure 7. (above) Saray Naidhorf training a local museum employee in ceramic conservation techniques.

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

28 e_conservation

creating controlled micro-environments for

archaeological metals. Important health and

safety measures were also discussed with each

group of participants.

After covering minimal intervention, preventive

conservation methods and best practices, the

team members discussed and demonstrated basic

chemical and mechanical cleaning techniques.

CWB’s microscope allowed the museum employees

and archaeologists to view objects in a new way

and use it as a tool for removing active corrosion

from copper alloys. CWB also described methods

for consolidating fragile glass vessels to preserve

a weathered surface and how to reconstruct

Figure 9. View of the Oval Plaza in Jarash, Jordan.

Figure 10. CWB conservators working with archaeologists and museum employees at the Petra Archaeological Park Headquarters, Jordan during the 2007 season.Figure 11. CWB conservators conducting a training session on object packaging in Jarash during the 2008 season.

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO, CHRISTIE POHL & MELINA SMIRNIOU

29e_conservation

fragmentary ceramic objects through support

fills. This interaction gave participants a better

idea of the more complex practical treatments

used in conservation and a more well-rounded

understanding of conservation methods and

processes. The aim was to pass on skills to the

trainees that could be utilised to better preserve

artefacts within Jordan’s museum collections.

By demonstrating more complex conservation

work, CWB communicated the necessity of formal

training for many of the treatments and the im-

portance of consulting a conservator for involved

remedial work.

Overall, the CWB work in Jordan was successful

in terms of stabilising a finite number of objects

from the six collections. The outreach activities

gave the participants an introduction to valuable

and achievable preventive conservation measures

and gave them more confidence in handling

objects. Amy Drago and Mags Felter, the volunteer

conservators that were part of the CWB team in

Jordan, provided invaluable help as they shared

their knowledge and expertise with the local

professionals.

The work in Jordan was very rewarding due to the

enthusiasm and appreciation of the participants.

Knowledge sharing, an important aim for CWB,

was carried out successfully. Travelling and work-

ing in Jordan for two consecutive years allowed

CWB to build on relationships and establish a

growing sense of trust. Reciprocal relations, par-

ticularly with tangible benefits for the countries

and participants involved, are fundamental to

CWB’s mission and are a crucial ingredient for

negotiations and successful, international

archaeological collaborations.

Figure 12. A copper alloy bowl before conservation. Figure 13. The copper alloy bowl after stabilization and conservation treatment.

Figure 14. The 2007 CWB team during a practical demonstration at Jordan’s Department of Antiquities.

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

30 e_conservation

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO, CHRISTIE POHL & MELINA SMIRNIOU

Peru

CWB worked on the northern coast of Peru for 3

weeks in 2008 at two separate archaeological

sites. The first project took place at San José de

Moro, a Moche period site (AD 200 – 800), in

collaboration with Project Director Luis Jaime

Castillo. This project, which also incorporates a

field school, is one of the only Moche cemeteries

currently being researched. It has yielded some

of the most complex elite burial and ritual settings

pertaining to 1,000 years of continuous occupa-

tion. The excavations and related studies at San

José de Moro have helped scholars understand

traditions, beliefs, artwork, and organizational

and governmental forms of ancient societies of

the area [2].

CWB’s work at San José de Moro primarily involved

the conservation and restoration of unique unfired

clay house models, or maquetas. These objects,

painted with colourful natural pigments, were

found in an elite tomb during the 2007 excavation

season. The conservation of the maquetas was

extremely challenging due to the fragile nature

of the unfired clay and the considerable damage

that had occurred since their excavation. CWB

worked with excavation assistants to find joins

between the clay maqueta fragments and collabo-

rated with them on designing a roof support for

one of the models. Some of the field school

students were interested in conservation and

assisted with the remedial work.

The conservators also assisted on-site with the

excavation and lifting of fragile textile samples

associated with human remains. The team con-

cluded their visit with a lecture on archaeological

conservation methods for the field and a summary

of the work completed during their visit.

The second project in Peru took place at Magda-

lena de Cao in collaboration with Principal Inves-

tigator Jeffrey Quilter. This colonial period site

abuts the El Brujo Archaeological Complex and

contains an early Spanish church and town. The

CWB team worked alongside American and Peruvian

archaeologists, as well as other specialists to

conserve paper, textile and metal finds.

At Magdalena de Cao, CWB carried out documen-

tation, cleaning and re-housing of the finds

using conservation-grade packaging materials.

The team implemented a visible storage system

for all of the 2008 paper finds that minimises

handling and allows researchers to view both

Figure 15. Professional conservator and volunteer, Margrethe Felter, mounting a copper alloy belt from the Amman National Archaeological Museum.

Figure 16. Melina Smirniou (center) discussing an object treatment with Jordanian participants Dr. Fatma Marii (left) and Nihad Hendawi (right).

31e_conservation

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

sides. In addition to the work on the artefacts,

CWB also had the opportunity to discuss several

different conservation issues and concerns with

the El Brujo Archaeological Complex employees,

technicians and archaeologists. During this

process, suggestions were made for preventive

conservation practices and the long-term care

of vulnerable materials. The conservators also

demonstrated some basic conservation tech-

niques, showing the variety of tools and materials

used during the project.

Because CWB works in different geographical

locations, language can sometimes be a challenge.

In order to achieve the most effective communi-

cation, CWB recruits volunteers with language

skills that are beneficial for a specific project.

Diana Medellin and Judy Jungels, both professional

conservators, were part of the CWB team for the

projects in Peru. Diana is from Mexico and was

instrumental in the discussions and translations

that took place between local peoples and the

CWB conservators.

Once again, establishing a sense of trust between

CWB and the project stakeholders was key to the

success of both projects in Peru. Skepticism and

Figure 17. Peru. One of the unfired clay 'maquetas' after excavation and before conservation treatment.

Figure 18. The 'maqueta' after conservation treatment.

doubts about the involvement of conservation on

an archaeological project can be overcome through

the identification of the archaeologists’ needs

and tailoring the conservation activities to these

priorities. The time spent at each site in Peru was

limited; however, CWB had the opportunity to

demonstrate how conservators can be an asset

to an archaeological project and contribute to

the overall understanding of a site by conserving

associated finds. The response to the two Peruvian

projects was very positive and CWB has been invited

to continue collaborative work at San José de

Moro and Magdalena de Cao.

Conclusion

Each of the projects is distinctly unique, but all

three provide examples of how conservators can

add value to archaeological sites and programs. Figure 19. CWB volunteer conservator, Diana Medellin, working with one of the Peruvian excavation assistants.

Figure 20. San José de Moro field school students assisting with the conservation of the 'maquetas'.

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO, CHRISTIE POHL & MELINA SMIRNIOU

32 e_conservation

These case studies also highlight some of the

key considerations and challenges involved in

the successful collaborations.

Based on projects in 2007-2008, CWB firmly believes

that two-way communication and interdisciplinary

working are fundamental to raising the profile of

conservation. In addition, they provide opportunities

for conservators to respond to real world concerns

and problems with practical, feasible solutions.

Conservators have an important role to listen

carefully to local needs before formulating sustain-

able conservation suggestions. CWB’s activities

demonstrate that amongst the sites visited, there

is a real openness, willingness to learn and appre-

ciation for the information exchange on offer.

There is great potential for long-term relation-

ships with contacts in Jordan, Greece and Peru

as a result of CWB’s 2007 and 2008 projects.

CWB is enormously indebted to its volunteers. Its

success is due to their commitment and contribu-

tion of their expertise, time and energy. Thank you

to Saray Naidorf, Amy Drago, Jackie Chapman, Judy

Jungels, Diana Medellin and Margrethe Felter. The

directors would also like to acknowledge the support

of their respective employers who have granted

leave requests allowing the coordination of all of

CWB’s projects: the Smithsonian’s Museum Conser-

vation Institute, The Peabody Museum, The British

Museum and the Institute of Archaeology, UCL.

CWB is interested in hearing about archaeological

projects which are interested in conservation

support. For more information on CWB and details

on how to get in touch, please visit our website:

www.conservatorswithoutborders.org

Figure 21. The CWB Peru team working in the field at San José de Moro.

Figure 22. CWB conservators touring Magdalena de Cao Viejo with Principal Investigator Jeffrey Quilter.

Figure 23. Paper finds from Magdalena de Cao after conservation treatment and rehousing

Figure 24. CWB conservators during an outreach session with archaeologists, technicians and excavation assistants at the

El Brujo Archaeological Complex.

CONSERVATORS WITHOUT BORDERS

33e_conservation

e_conservation34

References:

1. A. Bevan and J. Conolly, "GIS, archaeological survey and landscape archaeology on the island of Kythera, Greece", Journal of Field Archaeology, 29, 2004, pp. 123-138.

2. L.J. Castillo Butters, Programa Arqueológico San José de

Moro, Temporada 2005, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú,Lima, 2006

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO34A St. Asaph Road, Brockley,

London SE4 2EJ, UK

Contact: dominica@eccomi.co.uk

Dominica D'Arcangelo (BA, MA, MSc) is a conservator currently employed as a research assistant at The Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Since beginning her conservation career, she has been interested in the communication of conservation to other heritage professionals and the public.

CHRISTIE POHL15A Buena Vista Park, Cambridge,

Massachusetts 02140 USA

Contact: christiepohl3@msn.com

Christie Pohl (BA, MA, MSc) is an archaeological conservator and has experience with inorganic and organic materials, including waterlogged artefacts. She was a Samuel H. Kress fellow in archaeo-logical conservation at the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute from 2006-2007 and is currently an assistant objects conservator at Harvard University's Peabody Museum.

MELINA SMIRNIOUConservation and Scientific Research,

Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, UK

Contact: m.smirniou@ucl.ac.uk

Melina Smirniou (BSc, MA, MSc) is an archaeological conservator currently employed in the Stone, Wall Paintings and Mosaics conser-vation section at the British Museum. She is also working on a PhD at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, focusing on Late Bronze Age glass production in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean.

www.conservatorswithoutborders.org

DOMINICA D'ARCANGELO, CHRISTIE POHL & MELINA SMIRNIOU

arti

cles

AREAS OF PUBLISHING

Conservation TreatmentMural Painting

Painting

Stone

Sculpture

Textiles

Paper / Documents

Photography

Metals

Tile / Ceramic / Glass

Furniture

Music instruments

Ethnographic assets

Archeological objects

Conservation ScienceScientific research

Material studies and characterisation

Analytical techniques

Technology development

Biodeterioration

State-of-the-art

Reviews

Preventive ConservationTheoretic principles

Case studies

Documentation in ConservationStandardisation

Documentation methods

Data management

Conservation TheoryEthics

Conservation History

Art History, Iconography,

Iconology, Chemistry, Physics,

Biology, Photography, Cultural

Management, Museology,

Computer Science, Legislation

and Juridical Processes,

Conservation Policies

and any other field applied to

Conservation and Restoration

of works of art.

Find out more: www.e-conservationline.com

e_conservation

by Cristina Georgescu

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN 'PIETRELE'

Translation into EnglishPhilip Georgescu, Gabriela Georgescu

This article is also available in Romanian languagein html format here.

37e_conservation

Along the Danube, the fifth millennium B.C. slowly

begins to unravel its mysteries. And that, with

the help of archeologists and their colleagues in

connected fields, who come from far away lands

sometimes even here, in time forsaken places,

where everything seems to happen according to

different rules than in the nearby cities. It is in

such a village (Pietrele1, Băneasa commune, Giu-

rgiu county) that the international interdisciplinary

team2 chose to start its studies, fighting against

the hot summers of the South. That which arouses

their interest is a tell3 approximately 7 km from

the Danube, a little further from the centre of the

village. This tell (Figure 1) is an artificial lump, an

important expression of the Eneolithic civilization:

Gumelniţa. The Gumelniţa culture in southern

Romania was once a part of a larger cultural area

that included a part of Bulgaria, thus its complete

name: Kodžadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI.

The site has been known for its scientific impor-

tance since 1934 [2] but it is only now, thanks to

the modern investigation technology, that we may

follow, into detail, the economical strategy of

the long-term inhabitation of the area (cca. 300-

500 years), the social order of the inhabitants,

as well as establish the weather conditions and

the cultural changes between the lower Danube,

the Black Sea and Central Europe4.

As organizer and coordinator of the mobile

conservation-restoration laboratory5, I had the

privilege of intensely studying the ceramics and

the artifacts discovered during the excavations.

The laboratory provides, all along the digging

1This article was also published in German as a chapter of a comprehensive article about the project, thanks to DAI (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Eurasien Abteilung) translated by Dr. N. Boroffka (whom I once again thank) [1].

2Partners in this joint project include: Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute (Prof. Dr. Svend Hansen and Dr. Agathe Reingruber), the Archaeological Institute "Vasile Pârvan" (Prof. Dr. Alexandru Vulpe and PhD cand. Meda Toderaş) and the Institute of Physical Geography of the University in Frankfurt a.M. (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wunderlich). Members of the excavation team are Nico Becker (clay spoons), Prof. Dr. Norbert Benecke (archaeozoology), Dr. Irma Berdzenishvili (drawings), Prof. Dr. Ivan Gatsov and Petranka Nedelcheva (flint tools), Cristina Georgescu (restoration), Dr. Jochen Görsdorf (archaeometry), Prof. Dr. Andreas Hauptmann and Dr. Michael Prange (archaeometallurgy), Jorrit Kelder, M.A. (miniature furniture), Florian Klimscha, M.A. (axes and celts), Ute Koprivc, M.A. (grinding stones), Michael Müller (statuettes), Andrei Mocanu (animal figu-rines), Dr. Reinder Neef (archaeobotany), Prof. Dr. T. Douglas Price (isotope analyses), Christoph Schröder (miniature

vessels), Dr. Baoquan Song (geophysics), Dr. Daniel Spânu (house models), Tilmann Vachta, M.A. (loom weights), Prof. Dr. Joachim Wahl (anthropology), Heide Wrobel (jewellery) and Petar Zidarov (bone artifacts).

3Tell: generic term from Arabian (tall) and Hebrew (tel) defining an artificial (made from architectural materials, organic or mineral artifacts, bones etc.) lump in the land, used initially in the Archaeology of the Nearby East. In Turkish it is a synonym for höyük (Çatalhöyük), Persian tappeh. In the Balkans there are some synonym terms, magoula or tomba (in Thessaly and Macedonia, also defining tombs). In Bulgaria the term moglia is also used and in Slovenia - gomila and in Romania - măgură.

4See http://www.dainst.org/index_6832_en.html and http://www.instarhparvan.ro/pagini%20secundare/activitati/santiere/preistorie/pietrele/text.htm

5Between 2004-2007 exclusively, in 2008 in collaboration with Maria Tomuschat and Sandra Kaufhold, students at Fachhoh-schule für Wirtschaft, Restaurierung, Grabungtechnik, Berlin.

Figure 1. 'Tell am Morgen' - Mãgura Gorgana in the morning light (Foto by Hansen).

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

38 e_conservation

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

period, operations of different difficulty levels,

special recordings of the archeological materials

(photographs, drawings, state of conservation,

interventions, etc.) as well as processing the

materials in a proportion of 80%-90%.

A special case was offered by the two apparently

queer fragments (Figure 2) discovered in succes-

sive excavation campaigns, that proved to be

parts of the same object: a terracotta figurine.

Figurine’s dimensions

Preserved height: 7.1 cm

Preserved length: 7.9 cm

Maximum width preserved (at the level of the chair

seat): 3.6 cm

Maximum width of the back of the chair: 4.8

Preservation status

The figurine has been discovered in high state of

fragmentation.

Main6 type of preservation: transversal.

After the first reconstruction (Figures 3 and 4),

the conservation state remains fragmentary, due

to secondary fragmentations that have occurred

to the figurine whose missing components haven’t

been found in situ.

Main fragmentation area:

figurine’s waist (practically 'torn' in two pieces).

Secondary fragmentation areas:

- The head is missing; acute angle fragmentation;

- Its superior limbs are fragmentary, transversally

cracked;

- The inferior limbs have acute cracks on the calf;

- The legs of the chair are transversally cut at two

levels: three of them, the back ones and the front

left one, are cracked at the joint with the chair

seat. The front right leg is cracked transversally,

but it is almost entire, practically missing just its

bottom point;

- The lower side of the back is cut transversally.

Substance; color

The statue is made of good quality clay, cleansed

of impurities and well compacted. On the outside,

the color of the figurine varies from very pale

brown (10YR 7/3)7 to dark gray and black (10YR

4/1 + 10YR2/1).

Deeper, as can be seen in the cracked areas, the

color of the clay varies from pale brown (10YR 6/3)

to very dark gray and black (10YR 3/1+ 10YR 2/1).

This variation of the clay color suggests an initial

burning at the approximate temperature of 500˚

C- 600˚C and a possible free oxygen first burn,

continued in an oxidized environment [3]; it is

possible that the clay contains organic vegetal

substances. The circumstances of the discovery

suggest even a second inner burning, with little

amounts of oxygen and without vitrification.

Conservation-restoration intervention

The conservation-restoration intervention applied

to this figurine was minimal because the conser-

vation state of the material had no major problems.

Practically, the figurine was cleaned mechanically

with brushes and cleaned with water then left

out to dry. Dissoluble salts have been observed

neither on the surface nor in the cracks.

The assembling has taken place in the main frag-

mented area. An acryl adhesive was used for the

reattachment of the cracked areas.

6Technically speaking, the crack that mostly affects the structural integrity of an object can be considered the main fragmentation.

7"Munsell soil color charts 2000", this code is going to be used on further descriptions of colors of the interior and exterior of the figurine.

39e_conservation

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

Figure 2. Figurine before conservation (Photo by Hansen, drawings by Kelder, Vachta).

Figure 3. Figurine after conservation-restoration intervention.

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

40 e_conservation

41e_conservation

The volumetric reconstruction of the missing area

has proved to be more interesting; the operation

took place in a laboratory because the research

and decision of the material that is to be used in

the process takes more time. Due to the multiple

fragmentation areas of the figurine, the general

shape and positioning have been more difficult

to determine and study and the reconstruction

of the missing parts became a top priority.

An easily removable substance was used in order

not to deteriorate the original one in any way -

a low fat white modeling material (Figure 5a, b).

Given the fundamental points of the figurine,

the process started by finding shapes to help

put the statue together. After a couple of failed

attempts, the reconstruction was restarted from

the horizontal seat of the chair; from this point

on, a human-like figurine gradually came together.

Therefore, observing the anatomical features of

the figurine and connecting the fragments with

the whole, a 'readable' (Figure 6) piece was

achieved: a human-like figurine sitting on a chair,

known in the technical literature as "the sitting

figurine" or, according to Radian Andreescu [4],

Figure 4. Figurine drawing documentation.

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

42 e_conservation

the "semi-seated" type B figurine, one of the pe-

culiar figurines "tailées d’une seule piece avec

l’escabeau sur lequel elles sont assises in aeternis",

as Vladimir Dumitrescu [5] calls them.

Analysis

Compositional analysisIn order to decipher the means of composition

of the statue, first each one of its parts had to

be analyzed: the chair, the humanlike body and

its features as well as the connection between

these elements. Separating them is also impor-

tant for a more detailed analysis of the category

of similar objects.

The chairThe reconstruction of the shape of the chair was

based on the lines of the shapes. From bird-per-

spective, the seat of the chair is slightly shaped

like a trapeze, the front side is 3 cm narrower

getting wider towards the back side, in contact

with the back of the seat, where it reaches the

maximum width of 4.5 cm. When looking from

Figure 5 a, b. Volumetric reconstruction of the missing areas.

Figure 6. Volumetric reconstruction of the figurine in drawing.

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

43e_conservation

the side, the length of the seat is 3.5 cm. The legs

of the chair are 1.9 cm long and we may presume

they initially were 2, maybe 2.3 cm long.

The back of the seat is approximately 5.1 cm. The

maximum width is 4.7 – 4.8 cm in the upper side

(the widest part). About 3.5 cm above the contact

line between the seat and the back of the chair,

it forms two edges, the right one with an inclina-

tion of approximately 21-22 degrees and the left

one of 28-29 degrees. The two lines unite in the

middle creating a back seat shaped as a pentagon

that also includes a small round window.

The joint angle between the seat and the back of

the chair is obtuse (120˚). This is very important

when defining the wider category that includes

the piece. The back of the chair shaped like a bow

or like a pentagon with a hollow is an important

element of the Gumelniţa culture. The seat shaped

like a bow can be found in Zamineţ [6] and like a

pentagon in Drăgăneşti-Olt Corboaica [7], Sultana

[8], Luncaviţa-punct Cetăţuie8 south from the

Danube [9] (Tellisch Redutite) and Pietrele9. An

original exemplary, like in Stoicani-Aldeni, can

be found in Bălăneşti10.

Human-like figure; position of the bodyThe body is half-seated joining the back of the

seat in a 120º angle (Figure 7 position C).

Practically, the back with its curved spine has the

same proclivity as the back seat of the chair with

which it organically bonds.

In the front, the body is slightly twisted, the axis

of the shoulders slightly bent to the left, creating

a winding of the medio-sagital symmetry axis on

the AB axis (Figure 8.1).

The left forearm and arm create one anatomical

unit, lacking any separating line in the articula-

tion of the elbow; both of them go over the chest,

ambiguously ending without a palm, in the articu-

lation of the right elbow, marked here by a strong

flexion between the right arm and forearm.

The right hand is missing but the analysis of the

8A "Lost" Civilization: Gumelniţa, in Finds Catalogue, Miniatural Objects - "Miniatural Chair", inv. 629, Eco-Museum Research Institute, Tulcea.http://www.cimec.ro/Arheologie/gumelnita/gumelnita_engl/cd/default.htm

9Unique finding, Pietrele - Măgura Gorgana 2006.

10Diggings Silvia Marinescu – Bîlcu.

Figure 7. Possible anatomical positions and the cinematic chains.

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

44 e_conservation

trails left behind (Figure 9) seems to indicate lift-

ing it towards the head almost vertically. The neck

of the body is long, the head is missing.

The inferior limbs along with the pelvis are slightly

twisted to the right hand and are separated by

a crenel starting from the thoraces continuing

deeper towards the pelvis (the line measures 1.7

cm in this area) and then up to the calf, separating

the inferior limbs throughout their length.

The sex of the figurine can not be determined,

the feature belonging to the Eneolithic asexual

figurines. However, it can be noticed that where

the inferior limbs are inserted into the pelvis,

unless we consider it a mark left by the modeling

tools, a small 'V' is carved.

The legs are bent, the lower calves and the feet are

missing, but studying the proportions indicates

the feet do not touch the ground. Practically, the

feet are hanging in the air.

Human-like figurine proportionsAlthough barely sketched out, the human-like statue

shows a long neck on a small torso diminished

by sinking it into the chair11 and long thighs con-

tinued by calves that are supposed to have been

quite long proportionally with the rest of the fi-

gurine. These references show that the figurine

belongs to the tall human type, with long-type

muscles [10, pp. 36-37] similar to the modern man.

Connecting the composition, the position and the proportionsAfter having described each element alone, the

chair and the human body, it is clear that there is

a natural connection between the two; the con-

struction angle of the chair apparently determines

the position of the body. The chair seems to be

very important as it has been carefully molded,

the greatest attention being given to details12.

Figure 8. Compositional analyses.

11Although it may be ignored at first or considered acciden-tal, this “sinking” of the human-like body into the back of the chair may have as a starting point the direct observation of this phenomenon by the creator of the statue; modeling the entire figure may also prove the direct observation.

12This was also noticed by Silvia Marinescu-Bîlcu when I showed her the piece.

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

45e_conservation

In comparison to the chair, the human figurine

seems to be neglected.

From compositional point of view, the insertion

obtuse angle of the back of the chair into the

seat determines the human figurine to bend and

slightly sink [10, pp. 56-57] into it, the torso

looking as if it were 'sunk' into the back of the

chair; this may be well observed from the back

side of the figurine. Practically, when studying

such a figurine, not only the angle described by

the bent legs is important, but also the one be-

tween the thighs and the spine. The 'sitting' posi-

tion makes possible at least anatomically speaking

to determine the position of the figurine, as well

as its belonging to a certain subtype and to the

'sitting figurine' category. For a better expla-

nation I have resorted to drawing the possible

anatomical positions and highlighting the cine-

matic chains that change radically according to

the angles between the involved anatomical ele-

ments (Figure 7).

In the sitting position (Figure 7, position A) with

the feet leaning on the floor, the main support

is on the ischium and the thighs and the angle

between the thighs and the calves is approxi-

mately 90º, similar to the one between the thighs

and the torso or the vertebral column.

Anatomically speaking, this is a natural resting

position that may present endless positioning

possibilities [10, pp 56-57].

Practically, in the classical 'sitting' position the

center of gravity is situated towards the back limit

of the support which prevents the torso from lean-

ing back. When the back is supported, it reaches

maximum [4, 6] muscle relaxation.

In the technical literature significant pieces in

terracotta representing the second sitting po-

sition, dating back from the late Neolithic and

Eneolithic were found South from the Danube as

well as in the North. Figure 7 position B shows

the angle defining this position that opens more

than 90º, which leads to the modification of the

Figure 9. Analyses of the modeling trails.

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

46 e_conservation

cinematic chain that also opens. This is where

another element gains position and that is the area

holding the feet. In this particular case, the feet

stand on the ground. The drawing is the result of

the study on the published statues belonging to

this position.

Common features of statuettes in this position

The angle between the seat and the thighs of the

figurine on the one side and the back of the chair

on the other is an obtuse one, sometimes reaching

120º.

The chair has 4 legs, clearly separated one from

the other, two in the front and two in the back.

The chair and the figurine have been molded

together.

The back of the chair is either in the shape of a

pentagon or in the shape of a bow, being hollowed

in the center.

The bent lower limbs reach the ground having

been molded as part of the front legs of the chair.

All the statues are women.

The statues come in different sizes, between 3

and 8 cm high.

Particular features

The position of the upper limbs is different. For

example, at Zamineţ on the area of Neolithic cul-

ture, Sălcuţa (I-III) – Krivodol-Bubani the figu-

rines have their upper limbs stretched sideways

and present a symmetry on the medio-sagital

axis. One of them has one of arm over the chest,

the other one bent and lifted towards the head

and the legs are symmetrically placed; another

figurine has the upper limbs bent and placed

under the breasts, and other two have the upper

limbs are symmetrically placed around the medio-

sagital axis, flexed, leaning on the hips. The statue

in Potcoava (belonging to the Gumelniţa culture)

has its upper limbs flexed and asymmetrically

positioned, the right one over the chest, ending

in the opposite shoulder, the left one bent, ending

in the lap, while the lower limbs are symmetrically

positioned.

The way of representing the legs differs for Zamineţ

three figurines are represented with the lower

limbs flexed and compact to the knees, from where

they divide and merge with the legs of the chair.

For other two statues the lower limbs are modeled

together up to the calf; after that they separate

and merge with the legs of the chair, creating a

fish tail. The statue in Potcoava has the lower

limbs molded together, the sexual triangle is

marked by carved lines, the lower limbs are also

separated one from the other using a carved line;

due to the fragmentation of the figurine, we do

not know how the lower limbs end.

As a result of a brief study on the Neo-Eneolithic

statues, another semi-sitting position was included

in the drawing (Figure 7, position D). A third op-

tion (Figure 7, position C) was conceived accord-

ing to the data of the statue from Petrele after

studying some of the other statues published in

the literature.

As it may be observed, the cinematic chain of

this position has some significant changes in

comparison to the initial sitting position; it is

extremely open due to the bigger angle between

the pelvis and the spine, that reaches 120º. The

main differences separating it from the previous

position are the flexed legs that do not touch

the ground. The position might be considered a

transitory one, between 'sitting' and 'laying on

the back'. It would rather belong to the 'lay back

figurines', the half-laying figurine or the long

figurine, than to the seated or semi-sitting figu-

rine.

The back is leaning against the chair, the legs are

bent and do not touch the ground. Practically,

the weight is supported by the thighs. This is

why the center of gravity moves to the ischium

and on the back. The statues in Tell Tschatalka

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

47e_conservation

and Tell Sawa [11] are in a similar position; the

human-like body is clearly separated from the

piece of furniture and even seems to be molded

separately. In relation with Căscioarele, Sultana

and Stoicani-Aldeni [12], the fragmented statues

seem to be a good analogy to this one; the human-

like figurine as well as the chair have been modeled

simultaneously [4].

Geometry of Composition

The three-dimensionality of the objects might ren-

der the compositional analysis a bit difficult as it

gives us more than one perspective, each point

of view opening new leads in the investigation.

Therefore, such an analysis is extremely selective.

W. Bailey [13] severely criticizes the geometrical

study on prehistoric figurines, a critic well put

as it does not offer any new data and is limited

to a graphical representation and the study of

proportions.

Figures 8.1 and 8.2 show the geometrical hypo-

thetical frames that might surround the figurine.

These are of course, non-scientific, as they only

follow the contours of the statue. However, they

establish the geometric perimeters of the parts

of an image [14], be it a three-dimensional one.

I have made the plastic geometric analysis taking

into consideration two main perspectives that

are, in my opinion, essential for the statue: the

side and the frontal views. The followed objectives

were: the dynamic of the major and minor parts,

the movement of the lines; the composition con-

sisting in straight or curved lines, the type of

composition (opened/closed) according to the

centripetal or centrifugal position of the piece.

The resultant of the diagram is in both cases, simi-

lar: static, closed, compact, centripetal composi-

tion, circumscribed in an indefinite pentagon13.

The indefinite pentagon with slight variations

and somehow decentralized is also used on the

back of the chair. The main guidelines of the pieces

are included in the general pentagon, the more

important lines focus on the curved lines. The

composition is dominated by curved and oblique

lines. The most static piece of the composition is

the horizontal line of the chair.

Even if the outlines of the pentagon are discreet,

the connections they establish is reflected in the

psychology of the perception of a work of art [14].

It is not a mere happening that the back of the

chair is shaped like a pentagon; that is the result

of a mental matrix that, more or less conscious

of the fact, keeps repeating the general shape14.

Among these shapes, the higher mentioned pen-

tagon appears in several objects belonging to

these cultural zones, for example in models in

the houses or on the sacred tombs [4, 15, 16],

on handles and as a functional ornament on lids

[17]. It is therefore a well-known figurine.

The composed figurine15 in ronde-bosse16 is made

of a human body and a chair, molded using a single

piece of material. The figurine preserved areas

showing the way the clay has been handled, a great

13The regular pentagon has all the sides and the angles (108º) equal.

14Important studies are made on mental models, a concept described in 1922 by Ludwig Wittgwenstein and developed in 1927 by Georges-Henri Luquet in Le dessin enfantine (Paris, 1927) and continued by Kenneth Craik in The Nature of Explanation (Cambridge, England, 1943). For further details, see also: http://www.tcd.ie/Psychology/Ruth_Byrne/mental_models/.

15The composed figurine is an appropriate term to define this type of figurine that combines a human figure and one or more elements that together form a plastic composition, term that defines the association of two or more elements in one piece of work.

16Term defining a three-dimensional sculpture regardless the material used in making it (terracotta, bone; stone; copper; bronze etc.)

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

48 e_conservation

opportunity to study the ways of confectioning,

modeling and finishing, the handprints and traces

of tools. The analysis of the marks left on the

back part of the figurine revealed a separation

marked AB (Figure 10), along the crack.

This separation is highly important because it is

a break line and a clue revealing the modeling

technique. It is the result of folding the soft clay;

practically, the craftsman started by making a

stray of clay almost the same width as the finished

piece, folded it once making the piece: in the lower

part, the seat and in the upper part, the torso

(Figure 11). The back of the chair has been added

to this element; judging by the tracks, it was made

separately, using a roll of clay made especially for

modeling a bole, using the 'columbine'17 method

[3, 18] (Figure 12 a).

Figure 10. Analysis of the marks left on the back part of the figurine.Figure 11. Modeling technique.

Figure 12 a. Modeling technique, figurine execution recon-struction; Figure 12 b. Analysis of the modeling technique and cinematic chain.

17Old technique of modeling the ceramic vessels by forming rolls, placing them one over the other and 'sewing' them together [3, 18].

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

49e_conservation

This one has been very well 'sewn' in the upper

frontal side, where it joints the neck and the

body of the figurine; however, it has been left

untouched in the back area, where there are no

traces of sewing (Figure 12 b).

It is very likely that the procedure might have been

similar in the lower side of the back area that is

currently missing; the sewing only appears in the

frontal area. On the back of the figurine one may

observe traces of pressure being applied; they are in

fact traces of the roll creating the back of the chair.

Creating the figurine in this way has left the joint-

ing area between the seat and the back of the

chair very fragile, a zone situated exactly on the

AB line (Figure 10) which became the area most

affected by fragmentation. Therefore, the means

of putting the piece together also determines the

way it was damaged by a mechanical shock.

Vladimir Dumitrescu [19] asked himself the same

question, drawing the line between the confec-

tioning of this type of figurine and the way it was

fragmented, clearly stating that they were molded

differently in comparison to those broken on the

vertical axis, that had been made by assembling

two parts of clay on this very axis that became,

technically speaking, the most vulnerable area.

After having roughly completed the piece, the

artist began working on the details: the legs of

the chair, the anatomic parts, which he carved

out of the raw shape. The model has been molded

by a strong and steady hand, in an alert rhythm

as if from a single blow. The composition is compact

and the forms just rise one out of the other.

Studying the molding traces that are still visible in

some areas, leads us to the following conclusions:

- The contact zone between the left shoulder and

the back of the chair, the outline indicates it was

made by 'pinching' the clay in the back of the chair

and dragging it to the shoulders of the figurine,

the right shoulder, the clay has been 'dragged'

towards the neck.

- The molding area of the upper side of the back of

the chair shows signs of smoothing, done with the

fingers and a tool (on the right side) made out of

the same wood, in the shape of a lamella; the blade

was approximately 0.6 cm thick (Figure 13 a, b).

Figure 13 a. Analysis of traces, photo from beneath. Figure 13 b. Analysis of traces, the lower inferior side.

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

- The inside part of the seat conserved traces of

the way the legs were made; they were made of

a small ball of clay on which a small quantity of

material from the chair was stretched, for better

'sewing'.

In that which regards the type of finishing, the

frontal and side areas are molded neatly enough;

in some places, we even find traces of tools (the

equivalent of the modern spatula) made of bone18

or wood; the surface is smooth, without any clear

polishing marks.

The back of the human figurine, the back side of

the back of the chair as well as the inside of the

seat are slipshod, with unleveled surfaces.

Moreover, the only part that seems to be added

towards the end, is the 'roll' on the upper side,

that creates the back of the chair and that seems

to be 'sewn'19 [20] to the humanlike figurine only

on the front side; the back side clearly shows signs

of having been glued to the front side.

The shapes of the statue are strongly outlined and

slightly rounded; the important anatomic signs

are obviously outlined, especially in the lower

part of the body. Due to treating the frontal and

side areas differently in comparison to the back

area that was somewhat neglected, one might

sustain that the figurine was placed so that only

the carefully finished areas were at sight. Yet,

these differences are not very upsetting, so that

all together, the statue is unitary in that which

regards the modeling and finishing techniques.

Analysis of the traces regarding the fragmentation of the piece

There is a wide range of theories regarding the

fragmentation of the archeological pieces, based

mainly on the intentionality of this action in the

frames of a ritual. Luckily, the piece offers the

most interesting data regarding the fragmen-

tation and the way it occurred. Apparently, the

piece seems chaotically fragmented, confusing

at first. An important step in understanding the

phenomenon is establishing the broken sections.

Therefore, I tried to frame the statue in a geo-

metrical shape (Figure 14). The prism allowed a

clear observation of the plans on which the brak-

ing 'occurred'. Therefore, the cracks revealed

their belonging to one of the plans; most of the

fragments from the frontal area gathered in the

lower horizontal plan IJKL; in the higher hori-

zontal plan I’J’K’L’ there are two cracks in the

arm-forearm area. All of these fragmentations

18The bone as well as the well polished wood are the ideal materials for a fine finishing of the clay; even today, the best modeling tools are made of bone or wood.

19'sewing' is commonly used among the potters and refers to sticking two pieces of clay when making a bowl; the edges are pressed inside and outside the bowl; afterwards, the surfaced is smoothened. The technique is also used for the statues in terracotta at the joints, reassuring resistance during drying and burning and diminishing the risk of cracking or unstitching [20].

Figure 14. Fragmentation process.

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

50 e_conservation

belonging to the horizontal surfaces are trans-

versal and are marked by the orange color, accord-

ing to the area they belong to. This transversal

fragmentation is also present in the main 'crack'

that broke the statue in half. Other types of frag-

mentation, not as many though, belong to the

side surfaces EFGH and E’F’G’H’, colored in purple,

according to the area they belong to. These back

cracks are the result of a ricochet. They have a

different trace than the transversal fragmenta-

tion, although they are in the same area (the

upper part of the neck of the statue, where it

joints with the head) in two opposite sections

that form an acute angle. Only one fragmented

area goes out of the established pattern: it be-

longs to the side surface EFGH and is a direct,

side crack colored in dark violet and marked as Z.

This is in fact the area in which the statue was

hit and fractioned; the next fragmentation took

place in the upper area, horizontally, as well as

side-ways. The lower area being the heaviest, was

the first to be damaged, the following one being

the upper area. That is one way to explain why

most of the cracked areas are situated in the lower

part despite the fact that the upper side is more

fragile and less resistant. The impacts occurred

in two consecutive moments, the second strike

being a ricochet from the first one that hit the

upper part of the statue, thus beheading it.

Figure 15 shows the reconstruction of the impact,

the lines that might have acted on the statue as

well as the impact zones. Regarding the object

that hit the statue, judging by the damage, we may

say it was a blunt, hard, object with a blade longer

than the damaged object. Figure 16 presents the

missing parts of the statue, hypothetically recon-

structed out of plasticine and removed afterwards.

Conclusions

Although typologically it is a semi-sitting figurine,

the statue is different due to its details.

Conceived massively, it resembles the figurines

in the subtype presented in Figure 7 position B;

as it has bent legs that do not touch the ground,

it is similar to the subtype in Figure 7 position C;

it differs due to the curved symmetry axis and the

rhythm of its shapes that take it out of any common

or well-known pattern.

The position of the arms resembles a male repre-

sentation, a semi-sitting statue [4] separately

molded; another analogy is with a standing

statue [8].

Due to the lack of detailed information regarding

the execution technique of the figurine, it is very

difficult to find technical analogies.

Technically as well as regarding the style, the

statue is a time capsule, it is unique, it boils with

information and it allows a wide range of inter-

esting presumptions.

Figure 15. Fragmentation process (above).Figure 16. Reconstructed fragments (right).

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE IN PIETRELE

51e_conservation

52 e_conservation

Bibliography

1. S. Hansen, M. Toderaş, A. Reingruber, I. Gatsov, C. Geor- gescu, J. Görsdorf, T. Hoppe, P. Nedelcheva, M. Prange, J. Wahl, J. Wunderlich, P. Zidarov, Pietrele, "Măgura Gorgana. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen im Sommer 2006", Eurasia Antiqua 13 (2007) pp. 71-80.2. D. Berciu"Cercetări arheologice în regiunea Bucureşti", Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice 2 (1956) pp. 503-544. 3. M. Ciucã, Anghel D., Sabãu D., "Consideraţii cu privire la tehnologia de confecţionare a ceramicii culturii Precriş", in Apulum XXXVIII, 1 (2000) pp. 110, 127.4. R. Andreescu-Romus, Plastica antropomorfã gumelniţeanã. Analiza primarã, Bucharest (2002) pp. 16 - fig. 1,2, 4, pl. 14, pp. 20, pl 31-pic.4, pl. 32, pl. 37, 2.5. V. Dumitrescu, Plastica epocii eneolitice în România, La plastique anthropomorphe en argile de la civilization eneolithique balkano-danubienne de type Gumelniţa, Bucharest (1938) pp. 61.6. B. Nikolov, Zamineţ, Sofia (1975) Fig. 42, 45-47, 64-67, 74, 101, 103.7. M. Nica, Z. Floroiu, Tr. Zorzoliu, M. Vasilescu, "Tell-ul ene- olitic gumelniţean de la Drãgãneşti-Olt, punctul Corbeanca, Studii si cercetari de istorie veche si arheologie (1994) pp. 54.8. E. Comşa, Figurine antopomorfe din epoca neoliticã pe teritoriul României, Bucharest (1995) pp. 219 - fig. 5, 7, pp. 179, Pic. 50, 3.9. Jungsteinzeit in Bulgarien (Neolithikum und Äneolithikum), Katalog zur Ausstellung, Sofia (1981).10. Gh. Ghitescu, Anatomie artisticã, vol II, Formele corpului în repaos şi mişcare, Bucharest (1962) pp. 36-37, 56-57.11. Jungsteinzeit in Bulgaria, Sofia, 1981, Abb. 151 (Kodžadermen- Gumelniţa- Karanovo VI;) for Tell Sawa, Abb. 222, pp. 197.12. M. Petrescu-Dîmboviţa, "Cetãţuia de la Stoicani", Materiale (1953).13. W.D. Bailey, Prehistoric Figurines, Representation and Corporeality in the Neolithic, London – New York, 2005 pp. 13-15.14. Dumitrescu Z. Structuri geometrice, Structuri plastice , Bucharest (1984) Structuri plane şi structuri compoziţionale.15. H. Todorova "Kupferzeitliche Siedlungen in Nordostbulgarien", Hausmodelle von Ovčcarovo, (1-5) und Radingrad (6) München (1982).16. D. Şerbãnescu, Modele de locuinţe şi sanctuare neolitice Culturã şi civilizaţie la Dunarea de jos, XV (1997) pp. 232-251, Fig. 2, 3; 4, 1.17. S. Hansen, A. Dragoman, A. Reingruber, I. Gatsov, J. Görsdorf, P. Nedelcheva, S. Oanţã-Marghitu, B. Song, Der Kupferzeitliche Siedlungschügel Pietrele an der Unteren Doanu. Bericht über die Ausgrabungen im Sommer 2004 in Eurasia Antiqua 11 (2005) fig. 20; Hansen u.a. (2006) fig. 32 (P02B47), fig. 33 (B111Cer1).18. M. Berdoucou, La céremique archeologique in La conservation en archéologie, Paris (1990) pp. 83-84.

Cristina Georgescu is a conservator specialized

in ceramics with a special interest on archaeo-

logical objects. She is currently working at the

Vasile Pârvan Archaeology Institute in Bucharest.

After receiving her degree in Conservation from

the National Art University in Bucharest in 2001,

she specialized in ceramics conservation taking

courses from the Romanian Ministry of Culture

and Cults (2002, 2003) and the Astra National

Museum Complex in Sibiu (2002).

Her experience in the field includes several on-

site projects involving mural paintings and ar-

chaeological object conservation. In 2001 and

2002 she coordinated the experimental archaeo-

logical workshops “Kangourou”, organized by

the Romanian Archaeological Society.

Since 2004 she is involved in the research project

from the Neolithic site of Pietrele where she

undertakes the conservation laboratory work of

the archaeological materials. She has lectured

at symposiums organized by the Vasile Parvan

Institute and has published several articles in

the field.

CRISTINA GEORGESCUContact: iriskant@yahoo.fr

Photo by Arianna Bruno

CRISTINA GEORGESCU

19. Dumitrescu V., The Neolithic Settlement at Rast, in BAR 72 (1980) pp. 57.20. Warshaw Josie, The practical potter, a step-by-step handbook, Techniques, London (2001) pp. 46.

ASPECTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF CONSERVATOR-RESTORER’S PROFESSION SINCE WWII

by Hans-Christoph von Imhoff

The twentieth century has brought considerable development to the idea and to

the operational means of the preservation of material cultural heritage. The

different natural sciences became increasingly more implicated into the field

fostering thus their incredible development during the last century. This was

assisted by a more systematic, thus a more scientific approach to heritage

preservation, in particular in the field of the humanities. Professions concerned

with preservation, and most specifically conservator-restorers were brought to

thoroughly investigate and analyse the reasons behind their activity, to analyse

their responsibility and legal obligations, to define the aims of their activity and

their profession and to ask and propose educational programs as well as training

institutions for preservation professionals, conservator-restorers and conservation

scientists. It also resulted in the foundation of national and international GOs

and NGOs, associations of conservation professionals (like IIC, PACT, ICOM-CC,

ICOMOS, ICCROM) and national institutes for preservation of material, i.e.

tangible and more recently intangible cultural heritage. These exist now in many

countries. Within this framework, congresses and regular international meetings

are organised by the beforehand mentioned international bodies and also by

national Conservator-Restorers’ organisations.

54 e_conservation

How do conservator-restorers train, get educated and work

Conservators use refined means to thoroughly

investigate the condition and fabrication of the

object, research its production technology, and

take into consideration its history as well as the

physical and social environment. On the basis of

this knowledge they conceive their approach,

action and treatments and document all findings,

approaches and interventions, always applying

scientific methodology.

Looking at preservation in this manner, it is under-

standable why all conservation professionals take

their task very seriously1, sometimes even too

seriously and seem often to consider themselves

as charged with a mission, even as missionaries.

This may be one reason why conservation ethics

constitute such a broad field of interest and dis-

cussion and why the emerging field of the history

of conservation is of such importance.

With this perception in mind of the origins of

the conservation-restoration profession and its

importance, it might be an advantage to outline

how training and education was conducted in this

profession some 40 years back before conservator-

restorers' education entered the academic curric-

ulum. In 1959, when I ventured into this profession,

the field was simply called restoration, and the

way that most restorers became professionals was

by a not officially recognised apprenticeship.

Entering the profession prior to 1970, most people

interested in becoming restorers (the common

term at the time) took similar ways to approach

professional education: having obtained a maturity

degree (grade thirteen school level) and in love

with the arts, archaeology, textiles or paper and

books, they contacted the restorer of a major mu-

seum to enquire about the restoration profession.

Usually this contact was followed by one or more

intensive encounters and interrogations of both

parties. Upon acceptance there was generally an

agreement on a term of three years (unpaid), with

a three-month trial period at the beginning.

This direct training on the object and in the studio

would be followed by a period of about three years

of further education in the form of different intern-

ships with other restorers in other museums or

private studios, arranged through personal net-

working and hopefully followed up closely by the

initial educating conservator.

This was not an apprenticeship with an official

recognition, nor was it accompanied - as is legally

obligatory for the recognised apprenticeships -

by typical apprentice instruction like theory of

materials, bookkeeping and legal matters.

Instead, conservation apprentices were encour-

aged to sign up for art history courses, history

and related fields at the closest university, and

to follow lectures in natural science and related

subjects, at least at the status of an auditor (reg-

istered lerner). The success of this part of the pro-

fessional education depended for one part on the

student’s motivation and personal input and for

the other on the educator’s quality in professional

as much as in educational, pedagogical terms.

Conservation-restoration is not only rather par-

ticular as a profession, it is also a certain state

of mind, one the teacher has to achieve in each

of his or her students, which makes it a highly

demanding job. The fact that most conservators

are bench and easel people, doers rather than

talkers, does not make their education easier.

In 1965, having accomplished an apprenticeship

of 6 years under the terms described above I was

1H. Jedrzejewska, Ethics in conservation, Kungl. Konsthög-skolan, Stockholm 1976, pp. 12, recommendation 7: "consider the object more important than your own person".

HANS-CHRISTOPH VON IMHOFF

55e_conservation

employed by the Swiss National Museum in Zürich

as head of the not yet existing paintings and sculp-

ture studio, at the level of a 'technical collabora-

tor' at a salary level slightly above that of the

Museum’s carpenter. Soon after having started my

professional career, I too provided apprenticeship

training. All this happened a year after the very

first code of ethics for the conservation of movable

cultural property, called "the Murray Pease Report",

was published by the IIC in its well known journal

"Studies in Conservation"2, a document which every

IIC member by signing on recognised as binding.

"Cleaned pictures" and the beginning of modern conservation

The developments that lead to the emerging of

modern conservation started in 1930. It was then

that the first "International Conference for the

Study of Scientific Methods for the Examination

and Preservation of Works of Art" took place,

organised by the International Museum Office,

a body from the Leagues of Nations. There it was

decided to edit the still excellent "Manual on the

conservation of paintings", which was printed in

French in 1939, in English in 1940 and reprinted

in 19973. After WWII the United Nations (UN) took

the banner from the League of Nations, established

UNESCO, which helped to found ICOM in 1946 and

ICOMOS 1965 in Rome, both as NGOs. In 1967, the

Executive of ICOM approved the constitution of its

International Committee for Conservation (ICOM-

CC). This was achieved by fusing ICOM’s Interna-

tional Commission for the Care of Paintings, later

renamed Subcommittee for the Care of Paintings,

and the Committee for Scientific Laboratories,

later renamed Committee for Laboratories. The

Paintings Commission had been established al-

ready in 1948 in London, and the Subcommittee

in 1951 in Brussels. Interestingly enough it weren't

the restorers who founded these committees but

the assembled director generals of the world

largest art museums, the Metropolitan Museum

(New York), the Louvre (Paris), the National

Gallery (London), the Doerner Institute (Munich),

the Hermitage (then Leningrad) and a few others.

What kicked it all off? In 1947, just after WWII,

following the unpacking and reinstallation of mu-

seum holdings everywhere, the National Gallery

in London mounted a revolutionary exhibition

entitled "Cleaned pictures", i.e. pictures from

which old varnishes and repaints had been removed,

and the full freshness of the painting, often hidden

for centuries, appeared.

This exhibition was the public appearance of sci-

ence and scientific conservation as major contribu-

tors to enhanced and better connoisseurship of

paintings. This exhibition was created as a collabo-

rative effort by Helmuth Ruhemann, the then

restorer at the National Gallery in London, and

Sir Phillip Hendy, its director. It resulted in a huge

and highly polemic discussion in European profes-

sional journals and even in newspapers and became

an extremely important international controversy

about the cleaning of paintings, patina and the per-

ception of what is original. Among the contributors

were the most important art historians and conser-

vation professionals of the time, including Cesare

Brandi, Ernst Gombrich, Otto Kurz, Stephen Rees

Jones and Joyce Plesters - the main public stage

being the Burlington Magazine, still now a preemi-

nent art historical periodical. Alessandro Conti

assembled all the contributions on this topic and

published them translated into Italian4.

2Report of the Murray Pease Committee: IIC-American Group,"Standards of practice and professional relations for conser-vators", Studies in Conservation, Vol. 9, N° 3, pp. 116

3Michael von der Goltz, Françoise Hanssen-Bauer (editors), Manual on the conservation of paintings, ICOM re-edition, Archetype, London, 1997; ISBN 1-87332-41-7

4Alessandro Conti (Editore), Sul Restauro, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, Torino, 1988, ISBN 88-06-59926-7

CONSERVATOR-RESTORER’S PROFESSION SINCE WWII

This discussion caused many museum directors

to investigate what took place behind the usually

closed doors of their museums’ own restoration

studios. It was the museum directors who wanted

access to the working methods and considerations

of their restorers, who wanted to know the de-

tails, the recipes and the methodologies of their

restorers. The directors started to put their re-

storers and their work into the limelight of public

awareness, and to engage them in discussions

with art historians, scientists and the public. It

was at that moment, in the 1950s, that modern

conservation was conceived and shortly after also

born. Resulting were discussions about appropriate

training and education of this rather unknown

species – the conservator-restorer. Only few coun-

tries had started early to care and think about the

education of restorers; so in the 40s and 50s only

few institutions offered academic education for

conservator-restorers - L’Istituto Centrale del

Restauro in Rome (1939/1947), the University

of London (1948), the Art Academy in Stuttgart

(~1950) and the National Academy of Arts in

Prague (~1948).

At that time conservator-restorers' qualifications

were neither acknowledged economically nor in

status. The period was characterised by a nearly

complete lack of the conservator’s profession and

its formal and legal recognition. Consequently

during the second half of the twentieth century,

the energy of the profession went into formulating

education guidelines, creating conservation fa-

cilities, conceiving programs and setting up edu-

cational institutions for preservation. This situ-

ation persists in many places and has still not

been resolved everywhere. To create a profession

and win its acceptance is always a slow process.

But, as the political and economic situation of

state budgets worsens, it becomes increasingly

difficult for this profession to get recognition in

places where this has not yet been achieved.

Despite the high standards required and requested

for the education of conservator-restorers, at

places they continue to be classified as artisans

and craftsmen, poorly paid and with no say.

This was very unsatisfactory, not only in terms of

economics, but still more so in terms of the lack

of recognition of the responsibility they bear. In

order to exercise a responsibility a person has to

be accorded the right to decide and intervene.

As responsibility is one major criterion at all levels

for the classification of employment positions, the

term has to be defined and definable - the more

responsibility, the higher the level of classification,

the better the salary - a scale used to appreciate

every function everywhere, be it public or private.

Another very important criterion for classification

is the type of education. Curators and scientists

have long been educated at least to the MA level

(lic. in Switzerland and France, mag[ister] in

Germany and Austria) and more often to the

PhD level, i.e. at university. If in their dialog with

curators and scientists, conservator-restorers

were to hold an equal level of responsibility and

decision making power, their education had to

be an academic one as well. As early as the 1950s,

ICOM itself had requested this trinity partnership.

And since then, the topic has always been of

interest5.

So the aim of the conservation profession became

to earn academic credentials, i.e. to be educated

at university with the academic title ladder attached

to it. This happened quite quickly in North America

where, with few exceptions, formal conservation

education since 1967 (Cooperstown - NY) was

always provided by universities.

5B.Ramsay-Jolicoeur, N.M.Wainright (Editors) Shared Responsibility / Responsabilité partagée, Proceeding of a seminar for curators and conservators, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa 1990

56 e_conservation

HANS-CHRISTOPH VON IMHOFF

In Western Europe it took much longer to achieve

the same as its universities are brain centred on

the intellectual type of knowledge, places that

provide education for white-collar jobs. In oppo-

sition to this, countries like the Czech Republic,

Poland and Hungary have academic systems with

a tradition of incorporating blue-collar professions

and artistic disciplines into higher education.

These countries had no trouble to establish

conservation education at an academic level.

The definition of the profession

As this development set in, the need arose to

define the activity and the responsibility of what

then was called restoration, of the professional

conservator-restorer and to establish precise

qualifications for trainees, students and teachers.

The first document in which some criteria were

formulated – the Athens charter - was written in

1931, followed by the Venice charter (1965) and the

Declaration of Amsterdam (1975) but all of them

were concerned predominantly with the theory

and conservation of monuments. In the early

1960s, the American group of the International

Institute for Conservation of Artistic and Historic

Works (IIC-AG) under the lead of Murray Pease

wrote the very first professional code concerned

with conservation of movable cultural heritage.

It was published in 1965 as "Report of the Murray

Pease Committee: IIC American Group Standards

of Practice and Professional Relations for Conser-

vators" in "Studies in Conservation". In the intro-

duction, the aim and reason for this document is

spelled out very precisely:

"These are objective procedural requirements for

the proper conduct of professional work by members

of IIC-AG. The purpose is not to create a handbook

nor define the basic moral obligations that apply to

most professional activities, but to list and describe

actual steps that should normally be taken under

the appropriate circumstances.

In adoption of this statement of standards of

practice and professional relationship the I.I.C.-

A.G. appreciates that all the details enumerated

in each procedure may not be required in every

case. The primary purpose of the document is to

provide accepted criteria against which a specific

procedure or operation can be measured when a

question as to its adequacy is raised".

As of 1965, joining the IIC meant signing and

adhering to the Murray Peace report. In 1974,

IIC-AG became the American Institute for Conser-

vation (AIC) and continued its pragmatic approach

to the verbalisation of the profession's activity.

In 1979, AIC started to rewrite The Murray Pease

Report, which was more pragmatic than the rather

philosophical and moralistic continental Euro-

pean documents. The code revision was discussed

by the entire AIC membership over a period of

several years, and the revised code, which includes

detailed commentaries for each paragraph, is

still a work in progress today. The AIC directory

carries, in each of the yearly issues, the entire

document and the updates, the advances made

in the very elaborate commentaries. What now

is called the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines

for Practice is a straight continuation of the

Murray Pease report.

"The conservator-restorer – a definition of the profession", ICOM-CC, Copenhagen 1984, and related documents

Most European countries took a different approach.

In 1978 the ICOM-CC held its 5th Triennial meeting

in Zagreb. Its international working group "Train-

ing in Restoration” elected a new coordinator, in

the particular circumstances, it was me who was

to take on this group. The working group immedi-

ately set up a task force to start writing a definition

of the profession "conservator-restorer". It took

six years, one special working group meeting,

57e_conservation

CONSERVATOR-RESTORER’S PROFESSION SINCE WWII

two interim publications of the text, the collab-

oration of members of ICOM, UNESCO, IIC and

ICCROM, and many discussions with restorers,

curators and members of related professions, until

the ICOM-CC Board of directors considered the defi-

nition ready to be voted on. This vote took place

in 1984 in Copenhagen during the ICOM-CC’s 7th

Triennial meeting; the "Definition" was adopted

by the entire membership present. Officially enti-

tled "The conservator-restorer – a definition of

the profession" (internally called "The Definition"

or "The document of Copenhagen 84"), this docu-

ment was acknowledged by the Executive Council

of ICOM in 1985 and was communicated and pub-

lished in both the English and the French reference

versions by UNESCO, ICOM6 and ICCROM in their

regular information publications. The Conservator-

Restorer denomination was then adopted. ICOM

included “The Definition” in its general Code of

Ethics (1986) as a footnote in Chapter 6. It was

also adopted quite rapidly as the Code of the

Czech Association of Conservators and served as

the basis for the article in the Greek constitution

regarding preservation of cultural heritage and

the education of its professionals7. I still haven’t

found out the number of languages into which

this document has been translated.

It is this document that introduced the term con-

servator-restorer to describe a professional who

practices conservation and restoration of cultural

heritage. The reason for the use of this etymo-

logically correct double denomination not only

reflects a more differentiated perception of the

professional activity, but also stems from the fact

that in North America and the UK the conservation

professional is called a conservator, and what is

called restorer is more perceived as a charlatan

who prepares paintings in illicit ways for backroom

sales. In most European countries the denomination

'restorer' (Restaurator, retaurateur, restaurador,

restauratore) is an old one and still widely in use.

Until recently, the 'conservateur' (Der Konser-

vator) was the very exquisite title for a museum

director - particularly in France and Switzerland -

in professional terms close to what is a director

in the Anglo-Saxon museum context.

The double term conservator-restorer never entered

the national usage in the UK or the USA, probably

because there the term 'conservator' is completely

unambiguous. However, it was and still is conse-

quently used by all the relevant international

organisations like ICOM, ICCROM, UNESCO, ECCO.

The Swiss National Museum – Musée Swiss seems

to have been the first European national institu-

tion in recent years to apply this new terminology

consequently to all levels of their museum staff8,

thereby introducing the as-yet unused denomi-

nation Kurator (curator). As the professional

designation 'curator' has no inherent double

6The text has been published in several professional organisations newletters and journals, amongst others in: MUSEUM, UNESCO (Ed.), N°. 156/1987, p. 231-233; ICOM News / Nouvelles de l'ICOM, Vol 39, N° 1, 1986, pp. 5

7Greek Law N° 255711997, published in the Official Gazette of the Hellenistic Republic, N° 271, art. 9, special provisions (cited from ENCoRE, the Document of Vienna 1-12-1998, pp. 3, footnote 4.http://www.encore-edu.org/encore/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=186

8Musée Swiss, Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum (The Swiss National Museum), has elaborated denominations, job titles, job descriptions, organigrams and function descrip-tions, which regulate denomination, language and duties in a very clear way – all formulated in "Einreihungskonzept, Funktionsgruppe Konservatorin-Restauratorin, Musée Swiss, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, August 2002, a submission to the Swiss federal personnel authorities". This regulation and linguistic adoption has recently been accepted and adopted by the Swiss Association for Conservation and Restoration, SKR/SCR.

58 e_conservation

HANS-CHRISTOPH VON IMHOFF

meaning, I would guess that after half a century

of hesitation, the term 'conservator-restorer'

will slowly be replaced by the term 'conservator',

hopefully by then also having lost its past ambig-

uous connotations.

It was in the early 1980s, that most countries

started to establish conservation training at in-

stitutions of higher education like universities,

technical high schools and academies. This

brought about an interest in creating formal cur-

ricula, exchange agreements between institutions,

accreditation procedures, and more.

Unfortunately the history of this development

has not been written as yet; this should be done

soon as the detailed historic information easily

gets forgotten or lost and the players at the time

active in these ventures start to disappear.

E.C.C.O.

It was ten years later, that a European develop-

ment was started in France by the English conser-

vator Carol Milner then President of the main French

conservation association. She achieved the join-

ing of the different national associations of con-

servator-restorers in Europe to form a European

professional body – the "European Confederation

of Conservator-restorers' Organisations" (ECCO)9.

As of its inception ECCO has developed a range

of documents. First version appeared in 1993

consisting of three parts (Part I: The profession;

Part II, Code of ethics; Part III, Basic requirements

for education in conservation-restoration) and a

completely revised edition in 2002/2003.

A collaboration between ECCO and the Secco

Suardo Foundation produced the Document of

Pavia, elaborated and signed by 45 invited con-

servation and related specialists, attending as

private individuals during a meeting in Pavia,

Italy (October 1997)10. This document’s main

concern is to foster the establishment of the

profession at university level, to balance its

curriculum, to define the role of the conservator-

restorer in the decision making process, to be in

accordance with European development of train-

ing and research, to promote a regulatory frame-

work to guarantee quality, to build a multilingual

glossary and to provide the resources to do so.

All of it is a well received counselling. The docu-

ment has a great weakness though: it has been

written neither by national nor international in-

stitutions, nor by associations nor other official

bodies concerned with conservation, nor by

official representatives of such institutions, but

by prominent people mainly from professions

neighbouring conservation, many of whom are

employed by these same prominent bodies, but

who acted - as clearly spelled out in the document

- as individuals and, remarkable, by only very few

conservators. So unfortunately the document

represents the personal opinion of just 45 spe-

cialists, chosen by the meeting’s initiators. One

would have wanted also more care applied to the

fine graining of the texts of both official versions,

English and French.

There were follow-ups to "Pavia", the FULCO pro-

ject "Framework for competence of conservator-

restorers in Europe", which established the "Vienna

document" that received the support of the EU and

several national ministries. Of considerable im-

portance was the founding of ENCoRE, "European

Network for Conservation-Restoration Education".

Its aim is the specification of detailed educational

requirements for the profession, the establishment

of standards for this education, and the develop-

ment of models for formal student and teacher

exchange between conservation education 9 http://www.ecco-eu.org10http://www.museumsnett.no/nkf_n/pavia.html

59e_conservation

CONSERVATOR-RESTORER’S PROFESSION SINCE WWII

training institutions in Europe. This happened

parallel to and in response to the 1999 Declara-

tion of Bologna of the EU ministers of culture

and education, regarding university education

and the introduction of bachelor and master

degrees into the European university system.

University education and the inherent dangers in the case of this profession

It is obvious that in the past few years the profes-

sion has made enormous efforts to develop its

systems of education and training, its standing,

and its codes of ethics and practice.

Nevertheless I am somewhat worried: it is a pro-

fession in which the professional works with her/

his hands and eyes in excellent coordination with

her/his highly trained brain. I have seen young

conservator-restorers, trained by recognized

institutions, who wrote brilliant diploma works,

but after having passed their final exams were

not able to stretch a painted canvas on a stretcher

or do other delicate but routine conservation

procedures appropriately, evidently due to lack

of well trained manual experience and know-how.

No abstracting description of a manual action nor

any written instruction can substitute hands-on,

well guided physical experience and extensive

training. There is a danger at present that this

profession, while gaining in great speed a lot

more historical, scientific and highly refined

knowledge about materials, procedures and also

better source information, might be losing a lot

of the physical know-how it had accumulated

earlier passing a far less perfected curriculum

which was not academic. Older conservation

methods are not necessarily bad in themselves,

but their application often caused damage when

they used by inexperienced or incompetent

persons who lacked the necessary understanding

and the experience of how to use them correctly.

This applies to the different classical relining

techniques, hot or suction table treatments, var-

nish removal and much more, and to a lesser ex-

tend also to modern methods of conservation.

Those trained yesterday will be tomorrow’s edu-

cators. What they did not learn and experience,

their students might never experience either.

This problem most often derives from and becomes

enhanced by the present university system: in

order to find time and energy to produce all the

'measurable' work to obtain the obligatory uni-

versity credits, university has developed high

experience in measuring the quality of written

work. On the other hand practical work in the

context of conservation and restoration of deli-

cate objects, such as paintings, is more difficult

to 'measure' in objective terms. As a consequence,

practical work on objects becomes of secondary

importance, and at times and at places much

neglected and this, when the time attribution to

practice in the training schedule is already rarely

sufficient. More intensive studies of earlier resto-

ration practice and their publication might help

to tackle this problem to some extend. Fresh con-

servation graduates from most institutions today

thus have a lot to train until being capable to

manually perform successfully what may be called

'routine' operations in conservation. I say this

from repeated personal experience and observa-

tion, talking to collegues, to teachers and also

according to students themselves. They need to

appreciate and to be training their own imagina-

tion and capacity to develop applications of their

knowledge, develop new approaches and methods

and perform difficult work on a high professional

not routine level, not only when cleaning paint-

ings. Thus, we are back to 1947 and to the "cleaned

pictures" exhibition.

I also worry about the present trend to create

huge sets of rules and regulations, controls and

counter checks, national and EU legislation for

HANS-CHRISTOPH VON IMHOFF

60 e_conservation

This paper is a reduced and up-dated version from

a lecture I gave in 2003 during a symposium for

lawyers and other professionals in the Art field

organised by the Institute of Law of the Amsterdam

University. It was internally e-published in the

'Theory and History News' No. 11 (2004) of the

ICOM-CC working group 'Theory and History of

Conservation-Restoration'; to my recent surprise

it is available online in full length on the ICOM-

CC website. Some of the issues elaborated there

will be if at all, just touched in this paper, such

as communication, terminology and thesauri in

conservation-restoration, legal issues in conser-

vation, the intangibles in dealing with art in

conservation, the role of science in heritage

preservation, as well as considerations as to what

may anthropologically be the origins of conser-

vation. Different short versions of the lecture were

presented at the ICOR2006 conference in Ludbreg

(Croatia) and at EITEC 2008 conference in Oporto

(Portugal), but have not been published. Here I

concentrated on what is promised in the title: the

aspects and development of conservator-restorer's

profession since WWII.

Hans-Christoph von Imhoff is conservator-restorer

of paintings, polychromes and contemporary art.

As chief conservator he founded the painting

and sculpture conservation departments of the

Swiss National Museum, the Fine Art Laboratory

of the Canadian National Historic Sites and Parks

and extensively restructured the Fribourg Museum

of Art and History and the Basle Historic Museum

conservation sections. One of the earliest mem-

bers of the ICOM Conservation Committee and

founder of several of its working groups, namely

Non-destructive methods of investigation of works

of art, Easel paintings on rigid support and Legal

issues in conservation, he is at present member

of IIC council and Professional Associate of AIC.

He has long years been active as a teacher and

lecturer in Switzerland, Canada, France, Mexico,

the US and the Czech Republic. Independent

editorial staff at the German professional journal

RESTAURO he is writing columns and papers on

conservation matters.

As a conservator he is researching the technology

of the Swiss artist Varlin (alias Willy Guggenheim,

1900 – 1977) and has a fundamental interest in

the conservation of this painter’s great work.

HANS-CHRISTOPH VON IMHOFFContact: xoph.von.imhoff@tele2.ch

conservation, accreditation of university conser-

vation teaching and teachers, which has quite

some, but not only positive aspects. In a field as

sensitive and changing as culture and its preser-

vation, which continuously redefines itself, any-

thing like the establishment of potentially too

constringent and restraining control mechanisms,

the writing of charters and laws should be done

with enormous precaution and care. Otherwise we

may devaluate what has been already achieved; so

watch verbal inflation, watch ideological and stereo-

type approaches to the field as they may petrify the

profession as it has happened in former times and

places, and thus put in danger our material cultural

heritage – I like soft conservation with a fine,

differentiated, educated and sensitive approach.

CONSERVATOR-RESTORER’S PROFESSION SINCE WWII

61e_conservation

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

e-conservationline

For advertisingand other information on publicity,

please contact

general@e-conservationline.com

and request a copy of our mediakit.

case

stu

dyA minimal intervention approach

to aesthetic presentation

by Simona Patrascu and Teodora Poiata

THE CONSERVATION OF THE EXTERIOR MURAL PAINTINGS

OF COLTEA CHURCH

64 e_conservation

This paper discusses the conservation project of the

exterior frescoes from Coltea Church, a 17th century

monument from Bucharest. Located in the centre

of the capital, the church was subjected to extremely

aggressive deterioration factors that induced

advanced decay and extensive loss of its exterior

mural decoration. In these circumstances, among

the problems raised by the conservation treatment,

the aesthetical presentation became a challenge

for the conservators. A minimalist approach was

chosen for the treatment of the support lacunas

using coloured and texturised fillings, in order

to valorise the original painting fragments.

Introduction

The conservation project for the exterior mural

decoration of Coltea Church1 required a particular

approach due to the fact that the condition of the

monument is the result of many previous inter-

ventions, some owing to significant historic

circumstances.

Among the interventions that aimed to 'restore'

the monument, there are some that have acquired

historic value of their own, such as the interior oil

paintings executed in 1871 to replace the original

frescoes which had been previously removed.

This major intervention was the result of a change

of taste that became fashion in the second half

of the 19th century and that introduced a new

artistic manner under the influence of the Western

art: the neoclassicism. Oil painting was a novelty

in Romania, particularly in churches, appearing

colourful and brilliant when compared to the

traditional Byzantine frescoes. From this reason

it was used as decoration technique not only for

new monuments but also to replace the already

existing frescoes in churches. At Coltea, the re-

painting executed by Gheorghe Tattarescu2 was

limited to the interior walls of the church. This

oil painting induced a heterogeneous aspect of

the overall ensemble, although today we must

regard it as a fait accompli and acknowledge its

own historic value. Only a small part of the original

17th century painting attributed to Parvu Mutu3

was preserved in the porch of the church, the

exterior murals decoration and a frieze in the

lower part of the original steeple, recently

discovered during the rehabilitation works.

As the monument presented several historic inter-

ventions from different time periods, a difference

had to be made between those that are significant

to its identity. Thus, the ultimate objective of our

intervention was to correct and regain the authentic

configuration and artistic image of the church.

Figure 1. Coltea Church in Bucharest, front elevation.

1The project took place in 2006 and was coordinated by Simona Patrascu, Restauro Art Grup S.R.L.

2Gheorghe Tattarescu, one of the first neoclassicist artists from Romania, decorated several churches in this manner.

3Parvu Mutu (1657-1735) (eng. Parvu the Mute) was a Walla-chian painter, famous for his portraying manner and for decorating a fresco several Romanian church-monuments.

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 65

Figure 4. Actual image of Coltea hospital, located in the proximity of the church. The lower part of the image shows the archaeo-logical excavations that revealed the walls of the former church.

Monument description

The actual Coltea church was erected around 17004

by Mihai Cantacuzino and it was built over the

foundation of an old wooden church. The new

edifice was built in masonry, and it gradually

developed into a monastery, a complex ensemble

that included a hospital, a school, a chapel and

several other annexes. The highest bell tower in

Wallachia was erected at the entrance of the sur-

rounding wall.

Unfortunately the 1802 earthquake seriously af-

fected Coltea ensemble: the tower suffered serious

damage and was demolished in 1888 due to the

systematisation of the urban area. In the same

period the hospital was completely rebuilt. The

church steeples, irrecoverably affected by the

earthquake were also demolished, one of them

being rebuilt in a later rehabilitation project.

From the original ensemble of Coltea monastery

only the church has survived until the present.

The church was built on a triconch plan, with a

slightly widened narthex and an open porch with

arches supported by columns. The church, meas-

uring 27.50 m long, 11.95 m width (on the apses)

and 10 m height, seems rather small today when

compared with the buildings that surround it,

although at the time of its construction it was

one of the most important medium-sized churches

in Bucharest.

Images 2 and 3. Detail of mural painting from the end of the17th century executed in fresco technique by Parvu Mutu and preserved in the porch of the church (left) and detail of the interior mural painting done by Gheorghe Tattarescu in the 19th century to replace the original frescoes.

4The exact date is not known, but by some literature sources, it was between the years 1695 and 1698, while other mention the period between 1700 and 1701.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

66 e_conservation

Exterior mural decoration

Coltea church is a monument with well balanced

volume and beautiful proportions, emphasized

by the configuration of the facades. These are

separated into two registers through a rope shaped

plaster frieze. Recent surveys have uncovered a

dentate frieze made of bricks below the first one.

The horizontal registers are divided in several

niches that vary in shape and size. The superior

register is decorated with arched niches and the

inferior one with three overlapping rows of acco-

lade-shaped niches.

The facades are decorated with ornaments exe-

cuted in a fresco technique. A basic chromatic

scale was used with red, ochre and black colours

on ochre background. The decoration depicts

repetitive vegetal and geometric motifs.

The largest preserved area of mural painting is in

the superior register of the south facade while

the rest was covered with plaster repairs and layers

of repainting from different periods.

The north facade was entirely replastered, thus

all its mural decoration is lost. Following strati-

graphic surveys it was found that many of the

repairs were in poor condition, the plaster was

friable or macerated and part of the niches profiles

was damaged at the time of our intervention.

Conservation state and degradation causes

Aging factors caused by the characteristic local

climatic conditions, calamities such as damages

occured during the Second World War and succes-

sive earth-quakes have caused significant degra-

dation of the monument over time. Among other

destructive factors, the inadequate repairs with

cement content, the elevation of the ground level

around the church, large areas of concrete and

asphalt in the vicinity and inadequate sewerage

and drainage systems led to the increase of

moisture in the walls.

Humidity, by both infiltration and capillarity,

is responsible for the loss and decohesion of

the support and paint layers, as well as for the

pulverulence and detachment of the colour.

At the moment, even if the ground level was

lowered back to the initial level (80 cm above

the 1.50 m foundation) the walls moisture

problem has still not been resolved.

Situated on one of the main thoroughfares in

the centre of Bucharest, Coltea church is also

subject to degradation due to several atmos-

pheric pollution sources.

Figures 5 and 6. South facade. Image of the church after the intervention made in 1989.

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 67

Prior to our intervention, black areas could be

seen on the facades due to the presence of cal-

cium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum, CaSO4.2H2O).

X-ray diffraction has shown that its presence

was due to the sulfating process resulted from the

reaction with the sulfur dioxide (SO2) present in

the atmosphere. Contrasting, light areas could

be seen on the surface due to exposure to acid

rain (sulfur and nitrogen acidic compounds).

The painting of the northern facade was the one

more affected by the rain, which falls directly

onto the wall.

The high level of moisture favoured the appear-

ance of biologic attack on the mural surface, both

on the south and north facades. According to the

analysis made by the National Research Insti-

tute for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural

Heritage, fungal species such as Penicillium, Mucor

and Acremonium were present on the painting.

Figures 7-10. Photos from 2001, before the rehabilitation project. Construction system of the calottes – masonry (upper left), aspect of the church roof (upper right), degradation of the stone ornaments and column plinths in the porch (lower left) and degradation of the masonry in the porch (lower right).

Figure 12 (from left to right). The identified fungal species: Penicillium, Mucor and Acremonium spores.

Figure 11. South facade, inferior register. Example of an area affected by biological attack present on the painting surface.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

68 e_conservation

Furthermore, due to their exterior location, the

paintings are subjected to severe climate changes:

a very high temperature and relative humidity

during the summer (maximum 52˚C and 90% RH)

and low levels during the winter (maximum -20˚C),

these having lead to changes in the structure of

the constituent material and at the same time to

the alteration of the pigments quality.

Even if generally we may state that the conserva-

tion state of the constituent materials was rela-

tively stable, the overall state of the monument

was poor, the masonry presenting degradation

such as profound cracks in the axis of the chancel

and of the two apses. Numerous cracks appeared

in the domes and correspondent arches and ex-

tended on the south and north walls and superficial

cracks were visible on the entire upper surface

of the facades.

The profound walls cracks induced serious struc-

ture problems to the church. In order to solve this

problem, a consolidation project started in 2000.

Previously to this project, the painted surface was

secured by the conservators in an emergency in-

tervention in order to avoid its further degradation

during the works. However, the consolidation

intervention worsened the state of the paintings

leaving consolidation material leakages and drops

on the surface.

In the course of time, several other conservation

attempts were made (as a consequence of the

damages occurred during the 1808, 1838 and

1940 earthquakes) but even if they succeeded to

temporarily rehabilitate the monument, most of

them proved to be incorrectly executed, having

generated a further chain of degradation at the

Figures 13, and 14. Degradation of the support due to the consolidation works (below and upper right).Figure 15. Leakage of consolidation materials on the mural painting surface (lower right).

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 69

support and consequently the paint layer level.

Moreover, these several interventions and repairs

resulted in the inherent change of the ensemble

configuration. The most evident alteration was

caused by a very recent rehabilitation project that

included the reconstruction of the two steeples

of the church. Today, one can see a historic en-

semble restored by parts and based on different

aesthetic principles. Indeed, there is a disturbing

difference between the rebuilt surface and the

conserved one.

At the time of our intervention, a special situation

was encountered with the north facade, whose

entire surface had been practically rebuilt of

plaster based on lime and sand. In the moment

of our intervention, its advanced state of deteri-

oration did not allow its preservation on certain

areas, even if properly consolidated. In these

conditions, the removal of friable and macerated

parts up to the masonry was required.

All the above mentioned forms of degradation

required the implementation of a work method-

ology that could resolve the entire existent prob-

lems of the ensemble.

Figure 19. The state of the northen facade, previously rebuilt. A view of the upper register.

Figure 16. Hammer marks on the surface, made in a previous intervention with the purpose of applying a new plaster layer.

Figures 17 and 18. Different forms of degradations of the colour layer.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

70 e_conservation

Technological exam

The masonry

The masonry is made of good quality well-fired

bricks measuring cca. 3.5 x 28 x 14 cm. These are

bound together by mortar made of coarse river

sand and lime, applied in layers of almost the

same thickness as the bricks.

The walls have a thickness of 1.25 - 1.40 m and

consist of double lines of bricks placed alternately

along their length.

The support layer

The support layer is made of lime and sand mortar.

The previous fillings and repairs were generally

made with compatible mortars but also with lime,

cement, gypsum and whitewash along the cracks

and fissures.

The laboratory tests of mortars used in the repairs

showed that they have different hardness grades,

some being very friable while others are compact

and of an average hardness. The binder/ aggre-

gate ratio ranges from 1/9-1/3. The mortar sand

grain is between 0.1-2mm, with a preponderance

of 200–630 µm.

The paint layer

The painting was done onto a fresh plaster made

of lime, sand and tow. The pigments identified

by chemical analyses are iron oxides (red and

yellow-ochre), smalt blue and carbon black.

Intervention Methodology

The conservation-restoration treatment followed

the methodology established by us and previously

approved by the Romanian Ministry of Culture.

The methodological steps were determined after

carrying our preliminary tests on the entire inter-

vention area in order to establish the particulari-

ties of the surface and to define the appropriate

operations to be executed, as well as the sub-

stances, solutions and materials to be used in

this process. Tests were particularly important

to determine the effectiveness of various treat-

ment procedures in respect to the response of the

painting and to achieve a preliminary impression

of the results. Tests included stratigraphic surveys

of the area to establish the extent of original

painting under the previous fillings and cleaning

tests for the consolidants traces, lime drops and

other deposits present on the surface.

Figure 20. Example of drawing made to record the conservation state of the surface prior to intervention (south facade). Note the percentage of preserved painting fragments (orange areas) in rapport with the original support surface (white areas) and the previously repaired areas (grey areas). Areas affected by biological attack are represented in green.

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 71

At the same time laboratory exams were carried

out for the support and paint layer as well as for

the materials used in the previous interventions,

in order to establish very clearly their nature and

to be able to ascertain the treatment for the

entire surface.

After the removal of the previous repairs, the

methodology intervention was revaluated in

respect to the uncovered surface and its actual

conservation state.

It was seen that the losses at the support layer

level were extensive and the only possible approach

that would permit the valorisation of the original

painting fragments was to adopt a minimalist

approach for the aesthetic treatment.

Interventions at the support level

The first task to complete was to remove the in-

correct repairs from the previous interventions or

the fillings done with mortar that lost its cohesion.

These were executed with several types of mate-

rials (such as lime and sand, sometimes with

addition of tow, or lime, sand and cement) and

often exceed the areas of the lacunas, overlapping

the painting surface. Due to the poor condition

of the mortar, this had to be removed until the

masonry in some areas.

The immediate step was the biological treatment

of the surface. A solution of Desogen (3%) was

applied by brushing or spraying through Japanese

paper. The areas affected by biological attack

were monitored during the entire intervention.

It was then proceeded to the consolidation of the

friable areas of the support layer with a solution

of Syton X30 (5%). The operation was performed

by repeated brushing or spraying the solution at

time intervals until the expected results were

achieved. Once the support was stabilised, we

could proceeded to the filling of the cracks and

deep lacunas of the support. A coarse mortar was

applied in several layers so that it would evenly

Figure 21. A view during the conservation works.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

72 e_conservation

remain cca. 5 mm below the level of the paint

layer. This surface difference allowed the ulterior

application of a finer mortar layer. After filling

the lacunas, the consolidation of the detached

areas of the support by injection was performed,

using Ledan 1/1 in distilled water. The very fine

cracks that could represent outlets for the injected

consolidant were temporarily secured by the

application of pelure paper strips with purified

Carboxymethyl cellulose.

Cleaning and consolidation of the colour layer

Surface cleaning aimed at the removal of the dirt

deposits but also of the overpainting layers. It

was perform by alternation of dry and wet means

(wishab sponges, erasers, fibreglass sticks, scal-

pels) until the expected result was obtained. The

application of patches with ammonium carbonate

(5%) was necessary in some areas to soften the

hard deposits present on the surface, such as ce-

ment, lime drops and leakages from the previous

consolidation works.

The removal of overpaintings was preceded by

tests to establish their resistance to solvents and

the response of the original surface. As they were

Figures 22-24. Aspect of a niche before intervention (left), after removal of the fillings (center) and after filling the lacunas with mortar (right). Deep lacunas of the support were filled with mortar and brick pieces in order to achieve a resistant and compatible material with that of the original structure.

Figure 25. Consolidation of the support by injection.

Figure 26. The mechanical removal of the overpaintings.

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 73

done a secco, with pigments and a weak organic

binder, the removal was possible by softening the

areas with ammonium carbonate (5%) patches left

in contact with the surface for about 5 minutes,

followed by the mechanical removal of the layers.

Cotton swabs were further used in order to elimi-

nate any traces from the painting.

The consolidation of the surface was done by treat-

ment with ammonium oxalate5. This pH neutral

product was chosen as an alternative for the treat-

ment with barium hydroxide. Poultices with paper

pulp and ammonium oxalate solution in distillate

water (5%) were applied for 4 to 6 hours at a

temperature between 18 and 24° C, so that the

transformation of calcite in calcium oxalate can

be achieved. Due to the fact that the conservation

project took place during the summer, and the day

temperatures were between 32 and 40° C, the

treatment with ammonium oxalate took place

during the night. This treatment is laborious

5M. Matteini, and S. Giovannoni proposed the use of ammo-nium oxalate to produce a superficial layer of calcium oxalate on limestone substrates such as wall paintings. Carbonated calcium and calcium sulphate react to treatment by poultice with ammonium oxalate solution to recover the cohesive-ness of the surface, leaving unaltered the optical and hydro-philic properties of the material. Matteini, M. and Giovannoni, S. 1996. "The Protective effect of ammonium oxalate treat-ment on the surface of wall paintings". In: Painted Facades. Proceedings of the Eurocare Project, Vienna 1996, pp. 95 - 101.

Figure 27-30. Consolidation of the surface by treatment with ammonium oxalate: the application of the paper pulp with water on the surrounding areas followed by the poultice with ammonium oxalate. These were applied on areas determined according to the architectonic shapes or decoration.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

74 e_conservation

and requires attention to other factors involved,

such as the protection of the surrounding surface

on an area of 2-3 cm by the application of distillate

water patches in order to prevent the migration

of the ammonium oxalate.

This treatment achieved the reduction of the porous

surface absorption coefficient and the enhance-

ment of the cohesion and thus, the protection

against atmospheric pollutants.

Aesthetical presentation

The aesthetic treatment of the paint layer was

done according to the minimal intervention prin-

ciple, a decision required by the painting condition

itself. Limiting the chromatic reintegration of

the colour to minimum we could value the original

painting fragments and preserve the authentic

aspect of the surface. Thus, the losses of the

support were filled with coloured mortars under

the level of the paint layer while only a subtle

reintegration was done in areas where the colour

layer was lost. A neutral tone was used to naturally

shade away the visually disturbing elements such

as the considerable erosions of the plaster. The

small colour losses on the painted ornament were

punctually integrated by velatura and ritocco.

Filling the support losses

Aesthetic presentation of the areas with extended

support losses using coloured, texturised fillings

was made on the entire north facade, partially

on the eastern facade and in the inferior register

of the south facade. Mortar made of lime and stone

powder was selectively coloured with pigments

in order to achieve a neutral but closer tone to

that of the original.

The operation was carried out by applying mortar

in the superficial lacunas of the support or those

large lacunas previously filled, followed by the

application of a porous and uneven texture to

Figure 31. Consolidation of the surface by ammonium oxalate treatment; application of the poultice on a vegetal ornament.

Figure 32. West facade, first register, sixth niche, aspect of the area after filing the lacunas of the support.

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 75

the fillings. Mortars composition was established

as a result of a series of tests and it differ from

an area to another, depending on the local tone

of the original painting.

In the composition of lime stone mortar various

amounts of pigments were added (blue and iron

oxides: black and ochre) in order to obtain areas

with a chromatic quality that closely resemble to

the original but remain neutral at the same time,

recognisable from the original also through

their texture and level.

The composition of mortar contained one part of

hydrated lime and one part of fine stone powder

and was pigmented depending on the application

area, as shown in Table 1.

The chromatic reintegration of the colour layer

As previously mentioned, our intervention was

minimal and sufficient to balance the chromatic

harmony of the surface and also to allow a good

perception of the original painting.

Thus, the various damages of the colour layer

were treated selectively as follows:

- for the chromatic integration of the erosions it

was sought to apply a diluted watercolour glaze

matching the quality and accumulation level of

the surface patina. At this level, the losses were

superficial and were visible only as a slight abrasion

affecting the continuity of the paint layer. Our

intervention reestablished the continuity of the

area without changing the colour and tone of

the paint layer.

Types of mortars

Composition Texture Area where applied(under the level of the paint layer)

lime stone ochre blue black

1 500 ml 500 ml 10 ml 2 ml 0,5 ml washed cornice

2 500 ml 500 ml 25 ml 2 ml 2 ml washed tore, niche no. 4 (south facade, 1st, 2nd registers), east apse, niche no. 7 (east

facade, 1st register)

3 500 ml 500 ml 30 ml 2 ml 2 ml washed median frieze, inferior areas, west facade

4 500 ml 500 ml 35 ml 2 ml 2,5 ml washed superior areas, south apse and partially east apse

5 500 ml 500 ml 15 ml 2 ml 1 ml washed - inferior area of south and west facades, north facade.

Table 1. Types of coloured mortars used for the filling of the support lacunas.

Figure 33. The application system of different coloured mortars over the previously applied layers of coarse mortar.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

76 e_conservation

Figure 34. General view of the east facade (altar) after conservation.

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

e_conservation 77

- for the chromatic integration of the lacunas in

the pictorial field neutral tones close to the local

colour were applied that would easily differentiate

our intervention from the original. The methods

used were velatura and ritocco. In a final stage a

fixative was applied to protect the chromatic

integration (Acryl 33, 3%).

Conclusions

By using coloured mortars applied below the

level of the support layer the chromatic unity

was achieved and at the same time, the authen-

ticity of the mural ensemble was preserved.

This type of intervention was also sought to easily

differentiate between the fully reconstructed areas

(towers, cornice, northern facade and inferior

areas) and those few areas that preserved origi-

nal decoration.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank conservators Anca Nicola-

escu, Nicoleta Pascale, Mihail Mihalceanu and Mihaela Topor

without whom the successful outcome of this project would

not have been possible to achieve and to all other professionals

whose contribution and advice has been much appreciated.

The participation of conservation students from the National

Art University, willing to accumulate more experience and

knowledge on this worksite, has been most welcomed. Our

thanks are extended to CONTEAM constructors team led by

Dipl. Ing. Alexandru Georgescu as well as to the contractor

company AST Romania, particularly to Mr. Michael Kratzer

and Mr. Mircea Cvaci for their consideration and permanent

support.

Photo credits

Figure 2. Photo by Elena Martin, 2001.

Figures 5, 6. Photos by Raluca Biltiu Ceicu in 1989.

Figures 7-10. Photos by Teodora Poiata and Andreea Banea-

Grimm in 2001 during the conservation of the porch.

All other photos by Simona Patrascu, Anca Nicolaescu and

Teodora Poiata during the conservation project in 2006.Figures 35-37. After conservation, final aspect of different niches.

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

SIMONA PATRASCU and TEODORA POIATA

78 e_conservation

THE CONSERVATION OF COLTEA CHURCH

e_conservation 79

Simona Patrascu is a conservator of mural paint-

ings and one of the co-founders of Restauro Art

Group S.R.L. conservation enterprise. She spe-

cialised in 1995 in the conservation of Ceramics,

Glass and Metal, at Spiru Haret University, in

Bucharest and in 1998 she received the degree

in mural paintings conservation from the Na-

tional Art University in Bucharest. Since 2000

she is member of the conservation section and

professional commission of the Romanian Artists

Union. While at Restauro Art Grup, she coordi-

nated several conservation projects of church-

monuments from Romania.

SIMONA PATRASCUContact: simona_kp30@yahoo.com

Teodora Poiata is a paintings conservator and

has extensive experience with mural paintings,

in particular with Byzantine frescoes. She re-

ceived her BA degree in conservation from the

National Art University in Bucharest in 2002

and the MA degree in 2005. Her interests include

documentation methods and open access to

information in conservation, which motivated

her to co-found e-conservation magazine where

she is editor since 2007. At present she divides

her time between Romania and Portugal where

she works in on-site mural paintings conser-

vation projects.

TEODORA POIATAContact: teodora.poiata@e-conservationline.com

Anca Nicolaescu and Simona Patrascu, together with the conservator restorer Silviu Petrescu, founded Restauro Art Grup S.R.L. in 2000, a conservation enterprise accredited by the Romanian Ministry of Culture. The enterprise had run several conservation projects for important historic monuments in Romania, among which the conservation of the mural ensemble from the Surpatele Monastery (2002-2003), the a fresco mural painting conservation from the Church of Jgheaburi Monastery (2003-2004), the conservation of the exterior a fresco murals and architectural renderings from Coltea Church (2006) and Mantuleasa Church (from 2007 up to present).

book

revi

ewDECOLONIZING CONSERVATIONCaring for Maori Meeting Houses outside New Zealand

Editor: Dean Sully

Publisher: Left Coast Press

Publication Year: 2007

Pages: 256

ISBN: 978-1-59874-309-8 (Hardback)

978-1-59874-310-4 (Paperback)

Language: English

Review by Daniel Cull

University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications

“Is the past too hard a task.... I askAnd I wait as I do... as I have... as I will” extract from poem 'So Who Invited Tu?' by Rosanna Raymond, pp.174

Who owns the past? Who owns the future?

How do we come to terms with our pasts

and move forwards into the future? And

what role is there for heritage today?

Through reading this book I explored these

questions that, I feel, are at the heart of

the future of conservation in the so-called

'post-colonial' and 'post-modern' world.

Colonialism is the expansion of nationality,

or territorial enlargement. "The underlying

order of colonialism is reflected in control

over the nature of social relationships, trade,

sovereignty, law, and the activities of Western

science" (Sully pp.29). Analysis of coloni-

alism by Gosden and Knowles (2001 pp.5) set

out three colonial models: "acculturation",

"maintenance", and "hybridity".

Understanding the basis, and form, of co-

lonialism is important to conservation, be-

cause "colonial relations always involved

material culture" (ibid pp.6) and as Sully

(pp.30) points out: "Control passed from

the colonised to their colonisers over culture

itself" it is this that both influences and

contextualises the objects we study, and

their 'acquisition'.

In the 'west' de/anti-colonialism is a radical

idea (by which I mean it is anti-status-quo),

since the 1960's radical ideas in academia

have been tied to post/neo-marxism and

the writings of "National Liberation" cham-

pions (c.f. Fanon 1967). Today however a

different movement has (re)arisen on the

streets, its theoretical discourses have

e_conservation

e_conservation

BOOK REVIEW

81

been mirrored in the museum world, if not yet

widely within the academy. This movement

against authoritarian and hierarchical social

structures posits as its ideology simply: "process"

(c.f. Graeber 2007). It is noticeable linguistically,

that both this 'new movement' and contempo-

rary decolonial practice in the 'museum world'

choose words such as "dialogue", "discourse",

"collaboration", "consultation" and "consensus"

as their buzz words. These words indicate process

rather than completion, they signify the impor-

tance of 'the journey' over presuming to know

the 'end point'. This book then fits, perhaps

subconsciously, within this new outlook, as can

be seen from the choice of words used in the

title ('decolonizing' rather than 'post-colonial')

reflecting this 'process' vs. 'final agenda'

thinking that is at the heart of the ideology of

these, non-connected, but concurrent, projects.

The book has three areas of concern; the colonial

relationship, meeting houses outsides Aotearoa

(New Zealand), and specifically Hinemihi o te

Ao Tawhito at Clandon Park, in the English county

of Surrey. The book not only investigates the

journeys that have taken the four Maori meeting

houses now outside Aotearoa from their home-

lands, and seen them end up in Museums in

Germany, the United States of America, and in

the grounds of a country manor house in the

United Kingdom. The book also follows the jour-

ney of western museum professionals and Maori

communities as they have come together to form

collaborative projects to care for these meeting

houses. This concept of "journey" seems to me to

have coloured the book as a whole, and like all

long arduous journeys the emotional turmoil

undergone practically seeps from the pages.

The concept of journey appears in various guises

within the book, at its most literal it is used to

refer to physical movement: "like her people six

years earlier, Hinemihi (I) was on the move".

(Schuster pp.181) however elsewhere journey is

summoned as a metaphor to explain process.

Delong and Lithgow (pp.152) discussing the

National Trust’s mission of public engagement

state that: "Journeys such as those made by

the staff and Maori community on what is to be

done with Hinemihi have the potential to demon-

strate this principle of engagement". Of course

the most obvious next step of the journey may

be a return home (repatriation in the parlance

of museology), and this is discussed within the

book. There is however some disagreement as

to whether this should happen, Schuster talks

of younger members of Ngäti Hinemihi talking

of fighting for her return, whilst in another

article, Burrows (pp.172) says "I feel sad when

I hear of people talking about Hinemihi returning"

as he reviews the important role she has played

for Maori living in the UK he concludes "I would

like her to stay". Whilst it is clear that today she

remains through the continuation of a colonial

relationship, in the form of cultural hybridity,

her presence could in fact be seen as having a

positive potential for sharing Maori knowledge

with the world, and I too would be sad to see

her leave, for she is a powerful teacher. Perhaps

then the words of James Schuster (pp.189) are

most appropriate: "When she is ready to return,

she will".

This is an important book, not because it argues

for anything that is particularly new to the con-

servation profession, but rather because it once

again, and very ably, demonstrates that it is

possible, desirable, and effective to develop

'community conservation' with communities

in distant lands, to break down the barriers of

former colonial social relationships, and to build

new 'participatory' social relationships in their

stead. As a record of the life and conservation

of Hinemihi, in many respects, this book is like

a page torn from a diary, we (the reader) are

getting but one short snapshot of Hinemihi’s

wondrous life; from surviving a Volcanic eruption

and providing care and shelter to her people, to

providing care and comfort to wounded Maori

soldiers in World War I, through to providing

comfort and a piece of home to Ngäti Ranana

(London Maori club) and other associated groups,

to meeting conservation professionals who are

assisting in her survival, and acting as a repre-

sentative and diplomat of Maoridom in the United

Kingdom. These stories represent neither the

full nor final story, which is just as it should be.

How her journey continues and where it takes

her none of us can know, but it is an honour to

have shared in it.

Bibliography (of additional citations)

1. F. Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Penguin

Books, London, 1967

2. C. Gosden and C. Knowles, Collecting

Colonialism: Material Culture and Colonial

Change, Berg Publishers, Oxford, 2001

3. D. Graeber, Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy,

Rebellion, and Desire, AK Press, 2007

Review by Daniel Cull,

Conservation Consultant/Object Conservator

Contact: dan2cull@yahoo.co.uk

Web: http://www.dancull.wordpress.com

82 e_conservation

BOOK REVIEW

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

e_conservation magazine is open to articles

submission on a wide range of relevant

topics for the cultural heritage sector.

Next deadlines for article submission are:

for Issue 9, April 2009 – submissions due

1st March 2009

for Issue 10, June 2009 – submissions due

1st May 2009

Nevertheless, you can always submit your

manuscript when it is ready. Between the

receival of the manuscript until the final

publication may pass up to 3 months

according with:

- the number of the manuscripts on hold,

submitted earlier by other authors

- the release date of the upcoming issue

- the pre-allocated space in the magazine

to each section

Please check our publication guidelines

for more information.

LACONA VII PROCEEDINGSLasers in the Conservation of Artworks

Editors: Marta Castillejo, Pablo Moreno,

Mohamed Oujja, Roxana Radvan and Javier Ruiz

Publisher: CRC Press

Publication date: August 2008

Pages: 512 (Hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-0-415-47596-9

Language: English

Review by Rui Bordalo

Proceedings of the International Conference Lacona VII, Madrid, Spain, 17 - 21 September 2007

LACONA is the most renowned international

conference in the field of lasers application to

conservation. The conference gathers together

every two years researchers and conservator-

scientists to share their latest projects and ex-

periences. For those involved in this area of our

profession, the conference is an up-to-date re-

cord of experience, achievements and recently

proposed solutions for laser technology applied

to conservation of works of art.

The use of lasers in conservation is not new;

it dates back to 1972 when John Asmus first

applied laser cleaning to marble sculptures.

Since then, laser technology has opened new

doors of knowledge in conservation, not only

in laser cleaning but also in the analytical field.

Over the last three decades, much research has

been done and technology has developed

considerably.

From 1995, when LACONA first took place, up

to the latest edition - LACONA VII held in Madrid

in 17-21 September 2007 - the conference seems

to bring together more participants and more

diverse, advanced contributions. This time the

book of proceedings was published in August

2008 by CRC Press in a carefully bounded, full

colour hardcover edition.

As expected, the volume brings to light recent

studies and developments, for both the already

established laser systems applications and the

newly explored, innovative approaches used to

address usual and less usual conservation problems.

The book gathers 77 contributions organised in

10 sections according to their thematic: Innova-

tive Approaches in Laser Cleaning and Analysis;

Analytical Techniques; Portable Laser Systems for

Remote and On-Site Applications; Laser Cleaning

of Monuments and Sculptures; Laser Cleaning of

Paintings and Polychromes; Laser Cleaning of

Metal Objects; Laser Cleaning of Documents and

Textiles; Structural Diagnosis and Monitoring;

Imaging and Documentation; and Miscellaneous.

It has become a tradition that the very first article

e_conservation 83

BOOK REVIEW

of the proceedings is authored by John Asmus,

who is considered to be the grandfather of laser

art conservation. Encouraged by his early dis-

covery of laser cleaning in Venice (Italy) in the

70’s, John Asmus continued testing and applying

laser to clean several materials. The paper now

presented, “Photonic restoration of marine arte-

facts and vessels of New Spain”, documents his

extended experience with laser cleaning in Ballas

Point, San Diego Bay (USA). Among other uses,

the author describes laser cleaning tests of several

archaeological artefacts such as fossils, coins and

wood, and diverse equipment including that used

for underwater laser cleaning.

The opening section of the book is “Innovative

approaches in the laser cleaning and analysis”.

It counts 8 articles that summarise the latest

technologic advances in the field. In laser clean-

ing, the growing use of femtosecond lasers should

be noticed, which offers shorter pulse duration

minimizing potential damage to the surface,

and may be used for the chemical reconversion

of pigments.

Nowadays most analytical techniques are based

on laser technology, which is closely connected

to any industry that we can think of. Its application

to art conservation is of high importance and our

understanding of art and art materials wouldn’t

have been so advanced without it. The section

dedicated to analytical techniques is the largest

of the book, containing 13 papers. The diversity

of techniques, their applications and further case

studies makes impossible their reference in this

review. However it is worthwhile reading and I

have found especially interesting the article con-

cerning the thermal decomposition of basic lead(II)

carbonate by San Andrés et al. This single paper

explains in detail the thermal decomposition pro-

cess that involves historical lead-based pigments,

in particular the production of litharge, massicot

and lead white. The paper is an important addition

to the current research on laser induced degra-

dation of pigments, a possible side effect of laser

cleaning.

In case of immovable cultural heritage, portability

of laser systems is a major concern because the

most likely scenario is that the monument re-

quires on-site treatment. In fact, only a limited

number of objects may be transported to the

laboratory or workshop and therefore the de-

velopment of portable laser systems for laser

cleaning and analysis is a priority. In particular,

the section dedicated to portability of lasers

systems comprises research made with different

types of lidar based systems. Lidar stands for Light

Detection and Ranging and it is a remote sensing

system used to collect topographic data.

One of the most known but also intricate and de-

manding laser applications is cleaning. There are

four sections fully dedicated to laser cleaning of

several materials, namely stone-based materials

(monuments and sculptures), painted surfaces

(paintings and polychromes), and metals and

organic materials such as paper documents and

textiles.

The section dedicated to the laser cleaning of

monuments and sculptures is surprisingly short

containing only 5 papers. I say surprisingly be-

cause this section is the only one specific to the

cleaning of stone-based materials which has been

the main cleaning application for considerable

years. In particular, the section contains case

studies of architectural decorations and a study

of granite stone. Again to my surprise, there is

only a single case study of sculpture cleaning,

that of ivory statues cleaning with Nd:YAG laser.

The largest section is the one dedicated to paint-

ings and polychromes, a remarkably growing

field of research. In fact, a safe interaction of

BOOK REVIEW

84 e_conservation

paintings and laser radiation is one of the most

difficult processes to achieve due to the high

sensitivity of the paint layer. Safety procedures

dictate that the removal of varnish - the most

often use of laser cleaning of paintings followed

by removal of dirt deposits – should be only partial

in order to avoid discolouration. The papers of

this section present the actual state of the art in

this domain. All the papers describe actual case

studies of paintings with several laser types,

namely Nd:YAg, KrF and Er:YAg. Among these,

Er:YAG laser attracts more attention because of

the limited research of its applications. One of

the characteristic properties of this laser is that

by working at 2.94 µm it requires the presence

of –OH groups either at the surface or within the

material composition. I would like to refer here

to two papers in particular. The first is “Laser

cleaning of stucco’s fragments from an early

middle age bas-relief” where Sansonetti et al.

applied mostly laser cleaning with a Nd:YAG

system but also compared the results obtained

with that system with an Er:YAG laser. The Nd:YAG

laser was found more suitable for that type of

support because it allowed to conserve the

patina while the Er:YAG produced a “whitish

surface”. Furthermore, Camaiti et al. studied

“the interaction of laser radiation at 2.94 µm

with azurite and malachite pigments”. It was

found that wetting agents were required in order

to avoid pigment discolouration and that tenorite

is an alteration product of both pigments. I

welcome these researches but the fact that so

far the effect of this wavelength has not been

completely understood in many materials makes

me wonder if the commercial Er:YAG systems are

being well used.

The last section is dedicated to imaging and

documentation. A high-profile paper presents

the case study of the Mona Lisa: “Ultra high-

resolution 3D laser colour imaging of paintings:

the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci” by Blais et

al. I have already come across some news about

this project on the internet but this is the first

detailed paper I found about it. The project

describes the 3D scanning process that a team

from the National Research Council of Canada

(NRC) made of the Mona Lisa painting. The

scanning of both the painting and the reverse

side was made with the support of a custom

built 3D scanner with a depth resolution of 10

µm. The importance of the painting obviously

attracts public attention but the most important

fact, in my opinion, is that the development of

the technique and the type of information that

painting researchers have now access to have a

huge potential.

Last but not least, a paper that is also of high

interest for painting conservators is “Multi IR

Reflectography” by Fontana et al. The authors

developed a high resolution reflectography

scanner that works in the 800-2300 nm spectral

range. The scanner recollects the image from

14 spectral bands which offer high quality infor-

mation from the inner layers of the paintings.

This is way further than what common reflecto-

graphy equipments have ever achieved and I

wish conservators will have access to such

equipment in a near future.

A book of proceedings is not always an easy read

due to its diversity of areas and applications.

However, conservators and other professionals

most interested in new technologies and their

applications to art conservation will most defini-

tively appreciate the reading.

Rui Bordalo is a paintings conservator with a strong interest

in technology development for conservation, particularly in

the application of lasers to the cleaning of paintings, subject

on which he focused his PhD research.

BOOK REVIEW

e_conservation 85

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

No. 8, February 2009

ISSN: 1646-9283

Registration Number125248

Entidade Reguladorapara a Comunicação Social

Propertye-conservationline, Teodora Poiata

PeriodicityBimonthly

CoverPhoto by Anca Nicolaescu

Exterior mural painting fromColtea Church, Bucharest

Executive EditorRui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata, Anca Nicolaescu

Associate EditorAnca Dina

Graphic Design and PhotographyAnca Poiata, Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

Address Rua Peixinho Júnior, nº 9, 1 D

2770-163 Paço de ArcosPortugal

www.e-conservationline.com

All correspondence to: general@e-conservationline.com

LICENCE

Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Portugal

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

Under the following conditions:

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

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

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

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

e_conservation magazine is published and distributed under the Creative Commons Licence

Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works.