E-Conservation Magazine - 15

e-conservation
the online magazine No. 15, July 2010
Contemporary Art Wall Clock by PaulaArt
Back to Basics?
"The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple." Freeman Dyson In the 70s my father acquired some electronic tools that I now own and still use. Their simplicity always fascinated me as after some 40 years they still work perfectly, aside some natural wear out, of course. I doubt that the tools made today will pass the test of time as those of my father did. Over the years several high-tech devices were developed that helped to move forward the knowledge we have of art materials, either helping us to take conservation decisions or just for the sake of research and knowledge. In that same way, much of our education in art conservation focuses on 21st century technologies that can be used in the analysis of materials or for diagnosis, such as spectroscopy techniques, 3D, and, more recently, even nanotechnology. However, once the young professional starts his career in the private sector it is unlikely he will use most of these high-tech tools only at the reach of big budget institutions. And we should not forget that the most recently developed high-tech products are also those experiencing the fastest obsolescence. Conservators are (or should be) trained with problem-based methodologies which means they should know how to resolve an intricate conservation issue, although their training should also include the development of new tools when needed, often low-tech ones, to help resolve those same problems. I would like to point out that using low-tech conservators could often achieve the same level of information that high-tech could provide. Not everyone can use Raman spectroscopy on a daily basis for pigment identification, for example. But there are several new technologies available at affordable cost that can be employed quite easily. For example, a digital camera, some filters and an open access software can generate high-end imaging data, allowing the identification of materials, etc., without the hassle of high-tech analytical tools. Low technology solutions are everywhere. Need to know if a certain metal is iron? You can always use a magnet. Their only requirement is creativity. They are often of high fiability, inexpensive, off-the-shelf, and although they are fairly simple by definition they should not be confused with DIY (Do-It-Yourself) philosophy. Although DIY is characterised by the use of low-tech solutions, it always has a strong amateur character which is undesirable in our field. We, conservator-restorers, are said not to need creativity in the course of our work. However, creativity and ingenuity are the two most powerful tools that we should use in problem-solving. After all, it is in the making of these low-tech tools that we can show our highest creativity. Perhaps the everyday presence of too much technology around us has made us lose track of what the simplest technologies can still achieve. Perhaps before embracing 21st century products we should go back to basics and re-evaluate what has already been achieved. Rui Bordalo Editor-in-Chief
e-conser vation
editorial
Do you need an online presence? Do you want a brand identity for your new business? Do you feel its time to update to digital conservation? Do you have a website that looks like built in the last century?
GRAPHIC AND WEB DESIGN SERVICES FOR CONSERVATION
Yconservation is a collaborative project designed especially for individuals and small businesses in the cultural heritage field. We create online solutions that provide you with what you need, combining design, functionality and ease of use, and we offer HIGH QUALITY and LOW COST SOLUTIONS for your business or project.
If you want to build your online presence visit our website for more information!
www.Yconservation.com
INDEX
NEWS & VIEWS
Conserve or Destroy?
By Daniel Cull
REVIEWS VII Symposium of Art and Science Research in Conservation of Paintings from the North of Portugal
June 11-12, 2010, Porto, Portugal Review by Rita Veiga and Stefan Alves
13 16
NEWS Virtual Reintegration of Renaissance Mural Paintings The Gates of Brasov

By Silvia Demeter-Lowe
EVENTS PERSPECTIVES INTERVIEW ARTICLES
20
UPCOMING EVENTS
August-September 2010
22
Preventive Conservation, a Deliberate Choice

By Jaap van der Burg
27
Risk Management and Care of Collections in the Balkans Interview with Asterios Apostolidis Identification of Natural Dyes in Historical Coptic Textiles from the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
By Estrella Sanz Rodrguez, Angela Arteaga Rodrguez, Mara Antonia Garca Rodrguez, Marin del Egido and Carmen Cmara
32
46
Laser Cleaning in Art Conservation Part I: Laser Fundamentals

By Rui Bordalo
CASE STUDY
54
The New Discoveries of the Restoration and Archaeology in the Church of King St. Stefan in ilina, Slovakia
By Jozef Dorica
HERITAGE IN DANGER
67
Forgotten Heritage The 18th Century Wooden Church from Ursi Village, Romania
By Anca Nicolaescu
e-conser vation
news & view
CONSERVE OR DESTROY?
By Daniel Cull
"Conservation is not merely an act of stewardship that privileges the past over the present; it is a creative destruction of alternative futures." (Erica Avrami) [1] The passion for destruction is a creative passion too!(Mikhail Bakunin)[2]
The art world is no stranger to the concept of destruction. Works of art are unfortunately destroyed by accidents, by deliberate vandalism, and sometimes by strange phenomena such as Stendhal Syndrome a rare condition in which often perfectly sane individuals momentarily lose all reason and attack a work of art [3]. Works of art are also intentionally destroyed by artists themselves; the avant-garde has an iconoclastic tendency in which the destruction of art and cultural institutions (museums, libraries, etc.) has featured heavily. Famously Gustav Metzger coined the term autodestructive art to describe art which destroys itself within 20 years but his own nylon canvases over which he threw acid lasted significantly less time. More recent examples of auto-destructive art include performance installation works such as Breakdown by Michael Landy in which he shredded everything he owned so that after two weeks nothing but powder remained [4], or the sculpture Always Becoming by Nora NaranjoMorse, in which the concept is re-spun so that the aim of the artworks is to adapt to a continually changing cultural, political, and environmental landscape [5]. As we can see there is a long established legacy of creative destruc-
Michael Landy, Breakdown, 2001. Photo by Julian Stallabrass, Some rights reserved.
tion in art, however, while the legacy of destruction art may be guaranteed, the museum's role in the presentation and interpretation of this art, is not [6], issues of collecting, exhibiting, and preserving such art are complex and approaches vary significantly, being guided mostly by the institution, the artists intent, and the individual work of art itself. As conservators we have begun to formulate approaches to the conservation of works of art that auto-destruct, however, the question remains whether we have come to grips with the destructive potential of conservation itself. Working as a conservator there is no avoiding the simple fact that no matter how well cared for an object may be, eventually it will degrade to the point of destruction. This simple fact establishes the classical conservation discourse of an epic struggle to prevent the inevitable, and the utopic idea of
e-conser vation
VIEWS
a system that will one day arrest decay. Contemporary conservation has developed a more complex and nuanced relationship with the concept of destruction than simply its prevention. Perhaps most explicitly in the debates surrounding the principle of reversibility [7], in which the term change developed as a synonym for destruction. The resulting acceptance that all conservation treatments cause change to the material elements of objects has led conservators to accept that reversibility is at best a fuzzy concept [8]. This was expanded to incorporate metaphysical elements of objects too. It is slowly being accepted that conservation treatments have the potential to destroy not only physical but metaphysical elements and associations of objects, in fact such realizations lead directly to questions of whether retaining material culture in collections could itself be considered emotionally and culturally destructive. Most simply any object undergoing conservation could perhaps be considered to have been permanently destroyed in its essence as it existed prior to the conservation intervention. Alternatively, we could view the process as similar to have undergoing a life-changing metamorphosis. Either way, we can view the resulting object as being new and uniquely different. In theorizing the conservation process as a creation of new objects conservation praxis can potentially align itself with the growing trend in museology towards embracing individual and collective agency, "an activist museum practice, intended to construct and elicit support amongst audiences (and other constituencies) for alternative, progressive, ways of thinking" [9]. If the discourse in destruction so far has focused on negative connotations it is in the act of conservation that we can begin to locate the positive potential of destruction. If the conservation process facilitates future uses of objects, in taking a particular course of action the potential for one set of uses are elee-conser vation
'Always Becoming', sculpture by Nora Naranjo-Morse, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC. Photo by Daniel Cull, Some rights reserved.
vated, as conversely another are destroyed. This potential is shaped not only by the physical act of intervention, but also by the process itself. Moreover, it is increasingly clear that as conservators we do not simply act upon the physical manifestations of material culture, but our actions also play out within surrounding metaphysical landscapes as well. Contemporary conservators therefore make treatment decisions based on the views of an expanded range of experts, it is possible that the growing participatory nature of museums will expand the range of voices further, following the trend towards the melding of audience and authoritative voice, which although in its infancy has already proven to be both a popular and worthwhile approach [10]. It is clear that conservation choices are subjective; albeit based on particular scientific, artistic, and craft knowledge, as well as experience and past
7
VIEWS
precedent. It is in this understanding of the subjective nature of our profession that we can begin to take ownership of our collective and individual agency, and the necessity for far greater exploration of both the positive and negative implications of such destructive power; perhaps in so doing we can be inspired by, and bring new meaning to, the oft-mis/quoted scripture "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" [11]. Notes
[1] E. Avrami, Heritage, Values, and Sustainability, in A. Richmond and A. Bracker (eds), Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas, and Uncomfortable Truths, Butterworth-Heinemann, London, 2010, pp. 183 [2] M. Bakunin, The Reaction in Germany: From the Notebooks of a Frenchman, originally signed as Jules Elysard, in S. Dolgoff (ed. and tr.), Bakunin on Anarchy, Black Rose Books, 1996 [3] H. Samuel, "Woman attacks Mona Lisa", The Telegraph, 11 August 2009, URL [4] M. Landy, Breakdown, URL
[5] N. Noranjo-Morse, Always Becoming, URL (blog), URL (site) [6] J. D. Powell, Preserving the unpreservable: A study of destruction art in the contemporary museum, MA Museum Studies Thesis, University of Leicester, 2007, pp. 59, URL [7] A. Oddy and S. Carroll (eds), "Reversibility - Does it Exist?", British Museum Occasional Paper 135, British Museum, London, 1999 [8] S. Muoz-Vias, Contemporary Theory of Conservation, Butterworth-Heinemann, London, 2005 [9] R. Sandell and J. Dodd, Activist Practice, in R. Sandell, J. Dodd and R. Garland-Thomson (eds), Re-presenting Disability: Activism and Agency in the Museum, Routledge, London, 2010, pp. 3 [10] N. Simon, The Participatory Museum, Museum 2.0, Santa Cruz, 2010 [11] The Bhagavad Gita, Verse 32, Chapter 11, URL, famously quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, in reference to the Trinity Test of the first atomic bomb
DANIEL CULL
Conservator The Musical Instrument Museum Daniel Cull is a Conservator, Wikipedian, Social Networker, and Blogger from the West Country of the British Isles. Trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, where he received a BSc in Archaeology, MA in Principles of Conservation, and an MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums. He was later awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. He currently works as an ethnographic musical instrument conservator at the Musical Instrument Museum, in Arizona. Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org
e-conser vation
REVIEWS
VII SYMPOSIUM OF ART AND SCIENCE Research in Conservation of Paintings from the North of Portugal
Review by Rita Veiga and Stefan Alves
June 11 -12, 2010 Porto, Portugal Organiser: Universidade Catlica Portuguesa (UCP) http://www.artes.ucp.pt/jornadasarteciencia/
The VII Symposium of Arts and Science (VII Jornadas de Arte e Cincia) was held at the Portuguese Catholic University, in Oporto, on the 11th and 12th of June 2010. It was organized by the Department of Art - Conservation and Restoration and included the presence of 13 researchers. This event has been organized since 2003. This time the Symposium focused on the research in Painting Conservation. The oral presentations addressed works from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, illustrating technical and material features. Most works were developed in the scope of a research project in progress at the Research Center for Science and Technology in Art (CITAR) entitled "Materials and Techniques of Painters from the North of Portugal.
e-conser vation
For the first time, several companies and associations could present their material during the coffee breaks: Agar-Agar, the Iberian Heritage Institute (Instituto Ibrico do Patrimnio), the Association of Restorers Without Borders (Associao Restauradores Sem-Fronteiras), the Digital Interface for 20th Century Portuguese Art (Interface Digital de Arte Portuguesa do sculo XX), the Spanish Group for Conservation of International Institute for Conservation (Grupo Espaol de Conservacin - IIC), the Professional Association of Conservator-Restorers of Portugal (Associao Profissional de Conservadores-Restauradores de Portugal). The digital magazine of CITAR ECR - Conservation and Restoration Studies (Estudos de Conservao e Restauro) was also presented to the public.
9
REVIEWS
An exhibition consisting of radiographs of paintings that were shown during the Symposium was also organized. The Symposium was opened by the director of the Department of Art - Conservation and Restoration of the School of Arts, Gonalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa. The first presentation was carried out by Ana Calvo, coordinator of UCP Bachelor, Masters and PhD programs in conservation and restoration. Her presentation focused on the need of complementing the information on the materials and techniques used in paintings with different historical sources, such as artistic treaties and working contracts. On this occasion, a review of the main treaties that have been published was provided. Ana Brito presented seven paintings of Abel Salazar (1889-1946) on rigid supports, such as wood and plywood. The use of the wood textures, the importance of the drawing, the absence of a ground layer and the use of impastos together with transparent colors were some of the characteristics identified. Maria Aguiar showed some portraits and self-portraits on canvas from the nineteenth century artist Aurlia de Sousa. The presentation focused upon some pieces from a larger group that is being studied and that belong to private collections, to the Museum of the School of Fine Arts of Oporto and to the National Museum Soares dos Reis. Through non-invasive laboratorial techniques, such as infrared photography, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXRF) and radiography, it was possible to identify the materials and to characterize the techniques used. The artist technique was contextualized in the turning over that took place in the nineteenth century in what concerns the use of traditional and modern materials.
10
Prof. Ana Calvo (UCP) during her presentation "Contribution of technical and material studies to the conservation of painting".
Ending the morning session, Snia Barros presented her work about the use of white pigments in Portuguese paintings from the nineteenth century and made a comparison between the theory stated in historical references and the actual practice implemented by artists. She crossed documentary sources and elemental analysis by EDXRF undertaken on 21 paintings from the collections of the National Museum Soares dos Reis and the City Hall (Cmara Municipal do Porto), dated from 1828 to 1891. She also related external trade in the second half of the nineteenth century with the introduction of white pigments found in each work. In the afternoon session, Gonalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa presented "The romantic portraits in Oporto". He focused on the most important Romantic portrait painters who worked in the city, showing some of their major pieces. In his presentation, the contribution of important families and of some institutions for the development of this kind of painting was also shown. The speaker addressed the evolution of representation during the three phases of Romanticism and the sociological dimension that these paintings have achieved. Rita Veiga presented a study of three oil paintings on tinplate (iron recovered with tin), by Francisco
e-conser vation
REVIEWS
Jos Resende (1825-1893). A brief background on the study of paintings on metal was given, which were more traditionally made of copper alloys. The materials and techniques used in those three paintings on tinplate were identified and possible reasons for their conservation condition were pointed out, relating them to certain material aspects. Carla Tavares presented four paintings on canvas by Pedro Alexandrino de Carvalho (1730-1810), property of the Church of Bom Jesus do Monte, in Braga. Two of the paintings belong to the collateral altar of the transept, and two oval paintings were situated in the walls of the main chapel. The altar canvases are now separated from their original location but they were originally crated and fixed in their respective niches. Carla Tavares presented the results of the technical research, including the characteristics of the canvas, ground and paint layers as well as considerations on their conservation condition. Rita Rodrigues focused upon the study of the ceiling paintings from the church of the Old Salvador Convent, in Braga. This work consists of a set of 40 panel paintings affixed to the ceiling. For this study only two were selected. The lecturer addressed the contextualization of this type of paintings, methods of affixing them to the ceilings and the research results of the materials and techniques of the paintings. Invited speaker Professor Vtor Serro presented his research on a recently discovered painting by Antnio Leito that belongs to a church in Freixo de Espada Cinta. The painting depicts a Pentecost and brings together more than 40 figures. Its probably the oldest Portuguese work with the representation of Japanese figures. Other topics of this presentation included the painters background, who studied in Lisbon, Rome and Antwerp,
e-conser vation
and some remarks on other known paintings by the same author, such as "Visitao", belonging to a chapel in Cepes (Lamego), and the old altarpiece of the Church of Vila Nova de Foz Ca. The last communication was carried out by Gonalo Vasconcelos e Sousa and Vtor Serro to present the book "Studies in History of Paintings and Engravings, by Carlos da Silva Lopes (1904-1978). This book was edited by the Portuguese Catholic University, similarly to what has happened to other studies by Carlos Silva, in the field of ceramics, jewelry and furniture. The book is a series of 34 chronics, originally published between 1963 and 1969 in the newspaper O Primeiro de Janeiro ". As Vtor Serro noticed, the importance of these writings is related mainly with the fact that they were written at a time when little importance was given to other painters than "great masters". Starting the second day of the symposium, Dalila Rodrigues proposed a model to understand the artistic systems that frame and support fifteenth and sixteenth centuries paintings. The art historian explained the correlations between the different dimensions of painting, sculpture and architecture. Each one of these artistic media legitimizes their presence for aesthetic reasons but also for the functional aspect that each one can provide to the art system. Altarpieces, sculptures and paintings are combined to form a certain iconology and symbolism. They cannot be disconnected from the aesthetical functionalism by which they mold their observation. Visualizing thus presupposes another correlation: the one that is established between the artistic media and the spectator. Joana Salgueiro presented the technical study of the five panels paintings made by Vasco Fernandes for the main altarpiece of Lamegos cathedral (1506-1511). The research focused upon the wooden supports, exploring the techniques involved in their construction. The speaker crossed
11
REVIEWS
Ending debate. From left to right: Carla Ferreira, Joana Salgueiro, Dalila Rodrigues and Ana Calvo.
the study of painting materials and techniques. The researcher showed some specific characteristics of the equipment used in the project Materials and Techniques of Painters from the North of Portugal, since results may diverge with the use of different equipments. Through some case studies, the advantages and limitations of this technique were identified. Despite the great amount of information that is provided, EDXRF always requires the comparison of the results to other analytical techniques. The symposium ended with a debate by Ana Calvo, Carla Ferreira, Joana Salgueiro and Dalila Rodrigues that focused mainly on aspects related with the conservation of panel paintings and the necessity to proceed with this kind of researches.
documentary references with the radiographies made for these panels. The researcher not only traced an historical profile of previous restorations, but also explained the pathologies identified in the wooden supports. It was shown by graphical means the dimensional subtraction undertaken and the conjecture of the original dimensions and full extensions of each composition. Carla Ferreira presented the problematic of the authorship of the Triptych of Pentecost from So Pedro de Miragaia church. The researcher focused the stylistic and material issues of this piece in the discussion of its geographical provenance. Starting with the presentation of analytical data obtained through several laboratory techniques, the researcher presented some conclusions about the origin of the central panel and both wings. By comparing this piece with other Flemish paintings, especially those from the school of Tornai, Antwerp and Brugges, the researcher explained the main influences that were stated in this triptych, as well as the presence of several features, such as decorative, architectural and figurative details. Sandra Saraiva (UCP), on behalf of Jorgelina Carballo, ended the VII Symposium of Arts and Science with a presentation on the importance of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXRF) for
12
ANA RITA VEIGA

Conservator-restorer Contact: aveiga@porto.ucp.pt Ana Rita Veiga has a Bachelor Degree in Conservation-Restoration and a Master Degree in Conservation of Paintings, both in the Portuguese Catholic University. STEFAN ALVES Master's Student Contact: sfalves@porto.ucp.pt Stefan Alves has a Bachelor Degree in Conservation-Restoration and currently is attending the Master Degree in Conservation of Sculpture and Gilded Wood, both in the Portuguese Catholic University. Currently, they are researchers on the Project Materials and Techniques of Painters from the North of Portugal, in Research Center for Science and Technology in Art (CITAR).
e-conser vation
NEWS
VIRTUAL REINTEGRATION OF RENAISSANCE MURAL PAINTINGS

A new way of reintegrating lost parts of mural paintings experimented by German conservators
In the 16th century Hans Ritter, a student of Lucas Cranach the Elder, executed the mural paintings in the Broemserhof manor, Ruedesheim, which houses today a museum of mechanical instruments. The renaissance murals were painted in the seccostyle and depict some biblical scenes next to a great variety of genealogical motifs. The conservation of the murals has started in 2007 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Nicole Riedl from the University for Applied Sciences and Art in Hildesheim (HAWK). The team integrated students and alumni from the Cologne University for Applied Sciences and from HAWK. The mural has a tumultuous history, including heavy damage during the Second World War.
A damaged area of the murals in the Broemserhof manor.
However, there is a precise water colour copy of the intact mural paintings made by the 19th century artist Mogens Francesco Hendrik Ballin. This copy has inspired Michaela Janke, a student at the Cologne University for Applied Sciences conservation and restoration institute, to come up with an idea to restore the damaged murals. The idea consisted of projecting a digital picture based on the water colour painting onto the missing parts of the mural. The project came into reality with the support of the private software and hardware companies coolux GmbH and Burmester Event und Medientechnik. Although this has already been tried, the novelty of this project resides in the manipulation of the image file. If a conventional slide projection would
The projection of a grid pattern onto the area for recognition.
Belmira Maduro(IMC) during her presentation about the conservation of Custdia de Belm.
e-conser vation
13
REVIEWS
have been used it would have resulted into a distorted image due to the curvature of the arches where the image is projected. To overcome this problem, a special software normally used in opera performances and rock concerts was used. The method consists in the projection of a grid pattern onto the target area which is then recognised by a software that allows the picture to be easily adjusted. The area to be projected is about one and a half square meters. The image formed has a good quality and integrates well into the mural ensemble, remaining chromatically recognisable and non-intrusive at the same time. This new approach allowed Michaela Janke to prepare her forthcoming dissertation on the subject. A short movie about the project can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WbzDSArOMA
Credits
Virtual Restoration Project Leader/Idea: Michaela Janke Contact: m.janke@gmx.de Financing: Hessian Department for the Protection of Historical Monuments, LfDH Supervisors: Professor Adrian Heritage and Professor Dr. Elisabeth Jaegers, University for Applied Sciences, Cologne. Christine Kenner, LfDH Prof. Dr. Nicole Riedl, HAWK Installation/Sponsoring: coolux GmbH and Burmester Event-und Medientechnik Conservation Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Nicole Riedl, HAWK Supervision of the restoration works: Christine Kenner, LfDH
Projection of the image on the mural surface.
14
e-conser vation
NEWS
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
FREE CONSERVATION RESOURCES
Art Conservation Research

conservationresearch.blogspot.com
e-conser vation
15
NEWS
THE GATES OF BRASOV A Pro Patrimonio Foundation Project

By Silvia Demeter-Lowe Partners: The Directorate for Culture and Cultural Heritage, Brasov The Evanghelical Church CA, Brasov Each place on Earth has a story of its own. One needs a good ear in order to hear it and a little bit of love in order to understand it. Nicolae Iorga
The gate of 22 Baritiu Street, Brasov, has just been dismantled and a temporary gate has been installed in its place until the completion of the repair and conservation works. On the 16th of April 2010, the gate of 7 Britiu Street has been re-installed. After years and years since being dumped and forgotten in one of the cellars of the property, it has been brought back to light and restored.
Above: 22 Baritiu Street before conservation. Below: Gate of 7 Baritiu Street before and after the works completed.
16
e-conser vation
NEWS
These initiatives are part of a project initiated by the Pro Patrimonio Foundation. Under the name of "The Gates of Brasov", the project aims to raise awareness about the importance of the preservation of architectural elements. The Foundation is supporting the owners of traditional buildings from the historical areas of Brasov who wish to repair and conserve the gates of their properties. The support consists in financial help and professional assistance. The works are undertaken by craftsmen specialised in conservation of timber and metal elements, employing only traditional materials and techniques. The project begun in 2009 when a Brasovian citizen contacted the Pro Patrimonio Foundation asking for help to save the gate of his property. An impressive, old timber gate, with beautiful carved walnut wood decorations, was supposed to be replaced with a modern metal one. Unfortunately, in a "throw-away" society, replacement rather than repair is the preferred option. But the story of this gate was not to end there. Pro Patrimonio Foundation, though the generosity of their High-
nesses Princess Marina Sturdza and Prince Serban Cantacuzino, together with the Foundations architect Mrs. Silvia Demeter-Lowe and Mr. Arpad Jakab from Frizart joinery firm, managed not only to prolong the life span of this gate but also to restore its former beauty. This first initiative brought the attention on the necessity of supporting the owners of historic properties in their efforts of maintaining and repairing their buildings. As a consequence, other organisations joined in and a partnership has been created with the Directorate for Culture and Cultural Heritage-Brasov and the Evanghelical Church CA - Brasov. Therefore, other nine gates have been selected as potential candidates for the continuation of the project. The main criteria for the final selection were: architectural and historic value, location and, foremost, the desire of involvement of its owners. The costs of the repair works and professional assistance are covered almost entirely by the Pro Patrimonio Foundation and partners. Only 3% to 5% of the repair costs are covered by the owners.
16 Brancoveanu Street, before and after the works completed.
e-conser vation
17
NEWS
Above: Selected gates (from left to right): - 2 Poarta Schei; - 8 Piata Sfatului; - 18 Brancoveanu Street; - 8 Paul Richter Street; - 3 Vasile Saftu Street; - 46 Castelului Street; - 23 Cerbului Street; -15 Republicii Street.
Gates of Brasov inauguration, with the participation of leading architect Serban Cantacuzino, one of the founders of Pro Patrimonio Foundation.
SILVIA DEMETER-LOWE
Architect, Project Coordinator Contact: contextarchitecture@gmail.com Silvia Demeter-Lowe is architect and consultant for Pro Patrimonio Foundation, an organisation dealing with conservation of vernacular architecture. She is also the director of Context Architec18
ture Ltd. Her work experience includes project management, sustainable new built and architectural conservation projects. She is the representative of the Romanian Order of Architects to the Architects Council of Europe - Environment and Sustainable Architecture Work Group. Over the years she has coordinated various projects on the conservation of monuments from Romania.
e-conser vation
Are you reading this?

So is everybody else...
For advertising and other information on publicity, please contact general@e-conservationline.com and request a copy of our mediakit.
e-conservationline
event
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.
14th European Conference on Digital Libraries

Date: 6-10 September Place: Glasgow, UK The European Conference on Research and Advanced Read more...
4th International Architectural Paint Research Conference August 2010

'Sharing Information'
Date: 3-6 August Place: Lincoln, UK This conference will focus on current issues facing the profession and examines the relationship between Architectural Paint Researchers and those commissioning the research exercise. It will bring together international members of the architectural paint research community and provide a platform for the interchange of knowledge and to explore the future directions of this significant aspect of buildings and artefact conservation. Read more...
Technology for Digital Libraries (ECDL) is the leading European scientific forum on digital libraries and associated technical, practical, and social issues, bringing together researchers, developers, content providers and users in the field. The ECDL Conference Series started in 1997 in conjunction with the activities of the first DELOS Working Group.
SEM and microanalysis in the study of historical technology, materials and conservation
Date: 9-10 September Place: London, UK The Department of Conservation and Scientific Research is hosting a conference on the application of scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis (SEM-EDX) to the study of materials, manufacturing methods and deterioration processes of objects from ancient through to contemporary cultures. Read more...
Reusing the Industrial Past

Date: 10-15 August Place: Tempere, Finland Read more...
Museums and the Market

The primary theme of the first joint conference of ICOHTEC TICCIH is 'Reusing the Industrial Past' and it is intended to be a broad idea covering various approaches. Clearly, the industrial past is reused whenever old industrial installations are reno-vated or adapted. There have been many attempts to preserve the most significant aspects of old industrial areas after productive activity has ceased, by giving them a new viable function. However, the idea of reusing the industrial past need not stop there. Date: 10-11 September Place: Leeds, UK This event focuses on the intersections, the formal and informal spaces where the market and the museum meet and overlap. The papers reflect a wide range of interests and perspectives and bring together leading academics, museum professionals in order to further discussion and debate around this increasingly significant subject. The conference will be of interest to all those who are interested in the history of the museum and its role in society. Read more...
e-conser vation
September 2010
EVENTS
Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future

Collecting and Conserving Fine and Decorative Arts
Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean

Date: 20-24 September Place: Istanbul, Turkey The Congress will focus on the conservation of moveable and immovable heritage in or from the Eastern Mediterranean. This will include material held in collections around the world, the care and conservation of works of art, artifacts and sites, and the preservation of architecture, all reflecting the influences that have made this region one of the worlds richest centres of heritage. Read more...
September 2010
Date: 14-16 September
Read more...
Place: High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire), UK The conference will bring experts from the industry and academia together with enthusiasts of the collection and conservation of the fine and decorative arts. It will focus on new and evolving ideas in the conservation and restoration of private and public collections, examining issues in furniture, painting and ceramics, and exploring the contrast between traditional techniques and the most recent breakthroughs in conservation and restoration.
Glass and Light Colloquium 130 Years Rothkegel

Date: 18 September Place: Wrzburg, Germany Read more...
11th Symposium on Virtual reality Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

Date: 21-24 September Place: Paris, France The goal of this VAST will be to build on the open dialogue Read more...
This conference is organised in the context of the celebration of the company's 130th anniversary and it includes a series of ten expert presentations from confirmed specialists on topics such as glass conservation, construction physics, glass design and lighting architecture.
between these different areas of expertise, and in particular allow ICT experts to have a better understanding of the critical requirements of the CH scientists for managing and delivering cultural information. The result of this interaction will be disseminated through use of innovative digital techniques in research and education for Cultural Heritage and through publications.
7th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects

Date: 19-24 September Place: Vienna, Austria iPRES2010 will be the 7th in the series of annual international conferences that bring together researchers and practitioners from around the world to explore the latest trends, innovations, and practices in preserving our digital heritage. iPRES2010 will re-emphasise that preserving our scientific and cultural digital heritage requires integration of activities and research across institutional and disciplinary boundaries to adequately address the challenges in digital preservation. Read more...
Museums and the Market

Date: 24-25 Septembe Place: Austin, Texas, USA The symposium aims to bring together an international group of graduate students who are involved in the research and practice of protecting cultural heritage. In order to prevent the loss of material and intangible culture due to both human and natural causes, EPOCH will engage a new generation of scholars in the practices and methodologies necessary to preserve our cultural legacies for today and the future. Read more...
e-conser vation
21
September 2010
perspective
PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION, A DELIBERATE CHOICE

By Jaap van der Burg
By stating that preventive conservation is a deliberate choice I do not intend to say that not opting for it is a choice. Preventive conservation aspects will always be around whether we are aware of them or not. Whether we like it or not, preventive conservation is always an issue, but one often overlooked. I am talking about a choice, because resources such as time and money can be spent only once. The decision to free up funds for a beautiful design, for example, is indirectly a choice not to spend these resources for the forgotten issue of preventive conservation. As we all know, before a choice can be made the advantages and disadvantages of all alternatives should be considered and set against each other. However, we oftenmake our choices based on routine and 'gut' feeling. Whenever preventive conservation is a factor, the choices have to be deliberate. As an illustration of the non-conscious way we all treat preventive conservation we can consider the following example. In March 2010 a foundation focused on safeguarding and distributing knowledge of preventive conservation was established in The Netherlands. Before the founders decided that this foundation was useful the ground was tested. A wide variety of organizations, institutes and individuals were asked how they felt about an organization focused on preventive conservation. The reaction was twofold. There was a clear and solid support for the initiative but sometimes questions were raised by its necessity. After all, The Netherlands already has three educational organizations working on conservation. This should be enough. To see where preventive conservation is featured in these schools their programs were consulted. While some programs do not even mention preventive conservation at all others only reserve a very limited amount of time and ECTS for it. To make matters worse all other preventive conservation courses in The Netherlands given by governmental institutions are discontinued. The only course focused on preventive conservation is one for behoudsmedewerkers (conservation assistants/technicians). This program is focused on working with objects and collections and obviously tackles many preventive conservation topics. However, it lasts only 1 year with 30 contact days and it is only accessible to people with existing employment in our industry. With these limitations it cannot be anything but a short introduction to preventive conservation. The conclusion has to be that preventive conservation is not a major topic in education. Of course everybody in these schools is doing their utmost to deliver the best education they can.
e-conser vation
PERSPECTIVES
However, they are tied to their own history and to financial and educational structures. The actual needs, developments and new insights in the field itself are seldom leading. One example is the importance still given to chemistry. Ever and always since the first conservation course was established chemistry was included and therefore we still have it on our programs. But we should know by now that most impacts on objects have a physical nature, but physics is rarely (if ever) a feature in these programs. I do realize that it is very difficult to change running courses and programs. Due to all organizational and financial restrictions and established routines the tendency to stick with what we have is strong. What I want to do now is to think outside the box. So forget the existing structures etc., just focus on the needs first. We are all working in the beautiful field of cultural heritage and in particular we are trying to maintain it. The best way to achieve this is to prevent something potentially damaging from happening to it. Prevention beats every cure. A synonym for maintaining is conserving. Looking at these words and phrases I cannot do anything but state that preventive conservation is at the core of our business. But then, what is preventive conservation? It is a nice slogan, but what does it mean? Preventive conservation is described by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) as the indirect measures and actions aimed at avoiding and minimizing future deterioration, damage and loss of value1. So let us look at the agents causing damage, deterioration and loss. The nine causes for deterioration2 are a well established and accepted framework for risk assessment.
e-conser vation
1. Physical forces (shock, vibration, gravity, handling, etc.); 2. Vandals and displacers (people who do not replace objects where they should be placed making it difficult to find (use) them in the future); 3. Fire (as with flames); 4. Water (in its absolute form as drops, leakage, flooding); 5. Biological damage (by insects, rodents, fungi); 6. Contaminants as environmental influences, such as dust and gases; 7. Radiation (referring to light and x-ray); 8. Incorrect temperature; 9. Incorrect relative humidity. Even though the last two aspects are most discussed and looked at we still do not really understand their impact very well. We can measure temperature and relative humidity in air and we can reason that this has an impact on an object. But we still know very little about the speed of response, intensity of deformation and fluid transport within an object. We tend to focus on the measurement of the air where we want to keep objects. An example of the discrepancy between what we know and can control, and what is happening to objects in our charge, is a new very high-technology designed showcase, especially made for very RH sensitive material. It is air tight and has a standalone humidifier as well as a standalone dehumidifier. As long as both machines indicated an RH of 53% everything was supposedly going
1 prEN 15898, CEN, Milan Jan. 2010 2 R. Waller, Conservation risk assessment: A strategy for
managing resources for preventive conservation, in Preprints of the Ottawa Congress, International Institute for Conservation, September 1994, International Institute for Conservation, London, 1994, pp. 12-16; also available online in Preservation Framework Online, Canadian Conservation Institute, URL.
23
PERSPECTIVES
well. After several weeks someone noticed that more water was added into the humidifier than was taken out of the dehumidifier. But because the data of RH in the air were OK no action was taken. Clearly, water that is issued into an airtight container and not taken out has to go somewhere, probably into the object. The fact that more water goes into a closed system than comes out of it should ring an alarm bell. This is exemplary for the fact that we all tend to focus on things we can measure. By narrowing in on the resulting data we lose the bigger picture. The more aspects and unknowns we are confronted with the stronger the urge will be to flee into these false securities. Concerning the nine causes for deterioration I want to point out that agents 8 and 9, as well as 1, 3 and 4 are mainly physical by nature, and only 6 is (mainly) chemical. 5 more categories could be added to these international accepted agents. They are useful as in the
first 9 there is some overlap but above all because these causes need to be dealt with in an entirely different way: 10. Logistics (how to get the object into the building, out of the room, etc.); 11. The collection or the object itself; 12. The shelving, storage units, wardrobes, etc. the collection is stored in; 13. The building itself, the shell around the collection; 14. The organization working with the collection. The latter agent is sometimes added to the first nine under the title custodial neglect. In the courses and workshops the Dutch company Helicon Conservation Support has given over the years, it is usual to start with an assignment to get participants involved. They are asked to categorize the causes of damage they have encountered into one of these 14 categories. Figure 1 shows the overall results of these questionnaires.
Figure 1. Results of the questionnaire made to participants at the Helicon Conservation Support courses.
24
e-conser vation
PERSPECTIVES
It is not that much of a surprise that our colleagues in cultural heritage expect physical forces to be the biggest cause of decay. It is an eye opener that the organization is second, closely followed by climate, logistic and the building. It is good to know where causes of decay may come from but the important is to prevent them from damaging the works in our charge. To be able to prevent these causes from actually ending up in damage we need to know the sources and the effects of these influences and the sensitivity of the objects. The required knowledge and skills can be categorized as follows: a. Object/collection awareness, including manu facturing, history, material, significance; b. Physics, including about shocks, vibration, water migration, characteristics of materials; c. Management, including organization, finance; d. Logistics, including means of transport, materials used, accessibility and routes to take; e. Buildings, including structure, insulation, weight distribution, structural integrity, engineering; f. Risk assessment, including statistics; g. Environment, including macro and microclimates, relative and absolute humidity, h. Safety and security, including laws, rules and regulations for objects as well as people, direct and indirect (hazardous materials); i. Information technology, including managing huge amounts of data, interaction, variety of resourses of data, accessibility of these data now and in the future; j. Communication, including written and verbal presentations and people skills. And every item picked out of this list will be influenced by many others and have an impact on even more. Everything is connected.
e-conser vation
This list proves that preventive conservation is a full fledged occupation. It is not something looked into while we are at it or taken care of in the wee hours in between serious business. Preventive conservation is something to focus on, something we deliberately chosen to do, something that needs a proper focused education. Preventive conservation could easily fill a full minor and masters program. Going back to real life, education is expensive. No country in Europe will ever need that many new preventive conservation specialists every year to make a focused dedicated program financially feasible. What can be done for something that is need but which is too expensive for the small niche it is aimed at? Actually the solution is quite basic. Reduce the expenses and broaden the market. Expenses can be reduced by using bits and pieces already existing. For example, to do proper risk assessment we need to be able to work with statistics. There are plenty of courses on that. The technique of Risk Assessment is the same for airports, football matches and exhibitions. When we start looking for it we will find programs galore on this topic. Even though most of these programs will not be given by universities they might very well have university quality. Using existing programs is a lot less expensive then tailor-making our own. We will have to start thinking modular. What we will have to provide is the translation to the specifics of our field, namely from the point of view of the object, collection and cultural heritage. Next to reducing our expenses we need to expand our market. We will have to look across our national boarders and work at least on European level on this. All this will need coordination, planning and control. And since I am convinced this will move for25
PERSPECTIVES
ward to university and postgraduate degrees, I am hoping that our universities will take this need in consideration. But as we will also need conservation technicians and assistants specialized in preventive conservation, these universities will have to coordinate with as many other educational programs as possible. To be able to come up with something useful for future professionals and our cultural heritage everybody involved will have to start working and thinking outside their well known and comfortable structures. Think outside the box, involve the professionals in the field, lure students leaving high school, use commercial skills, knowledge and experience, allow creativity even in education.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

e-conservation magazine is open to submission of articles on a wide range of relevant topics for the cultural heritage sector. Next deadlines for article submission are: for Issue 16, October 2010 submissions due 1st September 2010 for Issue 17, December 2010 submissions due 1st November 2010 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.
JAAP VAN DER BURG

Conservator-restorer Contact: j.vanderburg@helicon-cs.com Website: www.helicon-cs.com Jaap van der Burg is a conservator-restorer specialised in preventive conservation with over 35 years experience. He was one of two founders of Helicon Conservation Support B.V. in Alpen aan den Rijn (The Netherlands), company with a focus on problem solving in preventive conservation for collections and individual objects, including collections management and recovery after disasters. In the last 10 years he worked on over 500 projects including designing packing, couriering, risk assessment, storage planning, courses and workshops, registration, building and collection integration.
26
e-conser vation
RISK MANAGEMENT AND CARE OF COLLECTIONS IN THE BALKANS

Interview with Asterios Apostolidis, project manager of 'Collections Care Co.'
Collections Care Co (CCco.) is a private company based in Thessaloniki, Greece, and is committed to the preservation of cultural material via the application of collections risk management. The interview was conducted by the team of e-conservation magazine by email in June 2010.
intervie
INTERVIEW
e-conservationline: What are the benefits of the risk management approach? Asterios Apostolidis: In a few words, risk management gives a clear insight of the existing risks to a collection. Further, it evaluates optimum and cost-effective ways of blocking the agents of deterioration that cause damage to collections, and greatly reduces future costs allocated to conservation. The risk management approach is very important for the reason that it prevents the agents of deterioration from occurring, rather than responding to material damage after their occurrence. Finally, risk management draws the attention of the staff to the necessary alterations into museum policies and practices and leads to strategic thinking. These are some of the benefits, among others. e-cons: What is the level of risk management in the area of the Balkans? AA: In the Balkans there is a good quality effort from certain professionals, in the preventive care field, to advance the level of risk management. I think that it will take time to establish a decent level of risk management approach for the preservation of collections, for the reason that the generation that would promote this idea is not yet employed in major positions as that of a museum director. It is a hard task to alter peoples approach to preservation management. Museum staff feels that their institutions status quo is questioned. We, all the professionals involved, have to show them clearly the long-term benefits of this approach; and most importantly how to motivate them to take part in the risk management exercise. e-cons: Is there any action from private institutions, or companies, to train museum staff on risk management?
28
Collections Care Co. at the ICOM-SEE workshop on risk management in Sofia (Bulgaria) in June 2010.
AA: As I said, during the last few years there has been a good quality effort taking place from certain professionals in the Balkan area (Serbia) in order to advance and promote this method. At this period we are preparing the ground in order to make workshops in Greece on risk management with the help and advice of various professionals from Greece and abroad. We hope that we will eventually succeed in doing so. We were honored to participate and present our experience at the ICOM-SEE workshop on risk management in Sofia, Bulgaria, in June 2010. I have to say that the organizers did a really good job and we were very pleased to see that the level of the workshop was very advanced. e-cons: How do you see the preventive care approach to collections management in Greece? AA: In my opinion, the preventive care approach in Greece is not where it should be. This is not because there are not professionals around, but it has to do with the whole approach to preventive care at all levels in Greece. People think that preventive care requires state-of-the-art equipment in order to create the proper environment for a collection. This is not true. An economical approach, in-line with the structure of the building and its surroundings, can result equally in a
e-conser vation
RISK MANAGEMENT AND CARE OF COLLECTIONS IN THE BALKANS
safe environment for a collection. This is exactly what CCco is trying to promote and it does that by adopting the risk management approach to collections management in Greece. e-cons: How came Collections Care Co. first into existence? AA: Our company was established in January 2009 aiming at preserving cultural material housed in institutions or privately owned by collectors. The initial thought started years ago when still as students at Cardiff university, we had this idea with Alexios Papapelekanos (now head scientist of the company) to establish a private company in Greece in an effort to offer preventive care services. e-cons: What are your services? AA: In general, CCco. promotes the proper care and preservation of museums and private collections.
We achieve that via three main services, which are: care of collections, risk management and conservation management. Apart from analyzing the environmental conditions for the display and storage of collections, we also undertake the installation of appropriate equipment to create the required conditions. Our policy is to solve a problem with the minimum cost. e-cons: Finally, how do you see CCco. in the future? AA: What is important for us is to advance preventive conservation in Greece and abroad. If we succeed to bring in more professionals in the conservation field to promote the idea of preventive care, that would be a great step. On a personal level, and I think this also applies to my business partners, I would like one day to look back and see that we contributed into the establishment of a good level of collections care in Greece and abroad.
e-conser vation
29
e-conservation magazine offers the possibility to publish bilingual articles in the html version. Articles in English may also be published in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian, at authors request.
AREAS OF PUBLISHING Conservation Treatment

Mural Painting Painting Stone Sculpture Textiles Paper / Documents Photography Metals Tile / Ceramic / Glass Furniture Music instruments Ethnographic assets Archeological objects
Conservation Science
Scientific research Material studies and characterisation Analytical techniques Technology development Biodeterioration State-of-the-art Reviews
Preventive Conservation
Theoretic principles 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:
e-conser vation
Case studies
Documentation in Conservation
Standardisation Documentation methods Data management
Conservation Theory
Ethics Conservation History www.e-conservationline.com
article
IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

from the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
by Estrella Sanz Rodrguez, Angela Arteaga Rodrguez, Mara Antonia Garca Rodrguez, Marin del Egido and Carmen Cmara
The aim of this work was the identification of natural dyes employed in the manufacture of eight fragments of the collection of Coptic textiles from the Spanish National Archaeological Museum, using HPLC-DAD. Two extraction methods, the classical methanol/hydrochloric acid extraction and a mild extraction using 5% formic acid in methanol, were evaluated using several reference fibres dyed with a selection of red, yellow, blue, purple and black dyestuffs. In both cases, an additional step, extracting with methanol/dimethylform-amide, was employed. The results showed that the number of compounds detected is higher when the mixture with 5% formic acid was used, contributing to give more information about the source of the dye, although the extraction efficiency was lower in the most cases. The latter method was selected and applied for subsequent dye extraction from the samples. The dyestuffs identified in the fragments under study are in agreement with dyestuff commonly reported for Coptic textiles. Introduction The identification of natural dyes present in historical textiles can contribute to answer different questions linked with the how, when and where a textile was made [1]. Moreover, this analysis can evidence past restoration processes and provides key information for the application of an appropriate treatment in current interventions of restoration or conservation. In all parts of the world, natural dyes have been used since the most ancient times until the end of 19th century when they were replaced by synthetic dyes. The ancient dyestuffs were organic materials obtained from plants, insects, shellfish and lichens [2]. The classification of dyestuffs can be based on their application method (direct, vat and mordant dyes), according to their origin (natural or synthetic, animal or vegetal), their colour (red, yellow, blue and purple dyes) and in relation with the chemical constitution (chromophore structure) of the dyestuff molecule. The different chemical classes of chromophores present in natural dyes yield the following general classification: anthraquinoid, flavonoid, indigoid dyes and tannins. There are other chromophores existing, which are not included in this classification because they are less common [3-5]. This classification is useful for the analyst in order to choose the right
e-conser vation
sample extraction procedure to recover the components from natural dyes [6]. The extraction step is crucial, within the whole analytical method, because identification of dyestuffs will be done upon the extracted components. The standard procedure for extracting natural dyes from textiles involved heating in 6M methanolic hydrochloric acid solution. This extraction method was introduced three decades ago [7, 8] and actually is still being applied as evidenced in recent works [1, 9-11]. The process has the advantage of providing a high extraction efficiency for the majority of dyes, particularly anthraquinoid and flavonoid types, excepting indigoids, which are poorly extracted because they remain practically insoluble. Moreover, the majority of yellow dyes and some red and orange dyes are composed of glycosides, which, when heated in strong HCl, are hydrolyzing glycoside linkages, causing that only the aglycone chromophore can be detected. As a result, most information about the original dye components and their plant source is lost [12, 13]. Other limitations of this rather aggressive process are the degradation of several labile compounds and the chemical transformation of different chromophores [14]. Recently, several investigations have been carried out to overcome these problems. The most noticeable with respect to improving the solubility of indigoids dyes have been those including an exclusive extraction step for these
33
ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.
dyes using pyridine, dimethylformamide (DMF) or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) [15-17] solvents, in which blue and purple dyes are more soluble, and one proposed by Surowiec et al. [18], which is based on HCl hydrolysis and involving an additional DMF/ Methanol (MeOH) extraction step. The introduction of this additional step offered a notable improvement for the recovery of indigotin. Regarding preservation of labile compounds and glycosidic linkages, the development of milder extraction schemes is actually a tendency of general importance. Different approaches have been proposed herein. More systematic studies focused exclusively on dyed textiles were compared by Valianou et al. in 2009 [19]. For example, Zhang and Laursen [20] developed a mild extraction method in which HCl was replaced by 5 % formic acid (HCOOH) in MeOH solution, which is more efficient than the common HCl scheme when extracting anthraquinone and flavonoid dyes from dyed silk, wool and cotton fibres, further preserving glycosisdic linkages. Although this method was successfully applied to historical microsamples extracted from preColumbian Andean [21] and Chinese textiles [22], another study, focused on the extraction of Rubia tinctorum L. components from wool fibres, reported that classical HCl extraction provides the most satisfying results [23]. In another investigation, dyed wool was treated with aqueous solutions of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), oxalic acid, oxalate, citrate and citric acid [24]. It was reported that none of the five procedures was better than the classical method, although the oxalic acid extraction was comparable to HCl extraction for alizarin and carminic acid. In their study, Valianou et al. [19] compared five extraction methods, including the use of HCl, citric acid, oxalic acid, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and a combination of HCOOH and EDTA with respect to: (a) number of compounds extracted, (b) relative quantities of compounds extracted and (c) values for the signal-to-noise ratio of the compounds ex34
tracted. It was shown that the TFA method provided in this sense the best overall results. Since dyes are mixtures of organic compounds and a fibre can be dyed employing various dyes, those chromatographic techniques which are able to separate very complex mixtures are the most appropriate tools for this type of analysis. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is by far the most commonly used chromatographic technique for analysis of natural dyes, enabling the separation of dye components from a small sample amount [25]. A HPLC system can be coupled to different detectors. Because the vast majority of dye components are strong chromophores, UVVis absorbance detectors or, more usually, diode array detectors (DAD) are commonly applied in analysis of natural dyes in extracts from plant or animal sources [7, 8, 26-28], from contemporary dyed materials [29, 30] and from archaeological textiles [9, 18-20, 31-35]. Employing DAD, the detection can be done at any wavelength in the UV or visible spectrum and a complete spectrum of any substance eluting from HPLC column can be obtained. As a result, dye molecules can be characterised in terms of retention time from the HPLC system and their UV-Vis spectrum. However, DAD detectors have the disadvantage that they are not very specific and similar compounds present similar spectra. Therefore, identifying the particular components in the often complex dye mixtures requires a more discriminating technique than UVVis spectroscopy. For example, the flavonoid aglycones and their glycosides often show identical UV-Vis spectra [12]. For this reason, the actual trend goes towards the coupling of mass spectrometry detectors (MS) to the HPLC system, which offers the mass spectrum of each component separated, thus allowing to characterise unknown compounds. In fact, over the last years, most of the research in this field tends towards uniting and complementing all the information obtained
e-conser vation
by on-line coupling of these two detectors, DAD and MS [1, 9, 13, 19, 21, 22, 36-40]. Egypt was one of the first countries where dyestuffs were used, and its climatic and cultural conditions are favorable to conservation of archaeological textiles. The literature about the characterization of natural dyes in Coptic textiles is relatively extensive. For example, Wouters presented different studies using HPLC-DAD of extracts from Coptic objects [7, 41, 42]. Later on, between 2003 and 2004, results about the natural dyes present in Coptic textiles from National Museum in Warsaw were presented employing HPLC-DAD [43], LCDAD-MS [44] and LC-DAD/fluorescence detection/ MS [45]. Other interesting research article was presented by A. Verhecken [46], where the objective was to establish a correlation between the age of a textiles from Egypt, Syria and Israel and the dyestuff used in them. Further work was carried out by R. Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. [47], where the authors give an overview of dyes and dyeing
techniques used in the Late Antiquity in Egypt presenting their results about an investigation of natural dyes in two Coptic textile fragments from the Museum fr Angewandte Kunst (Vienna). The Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE) receives numerous historical textiles from museums and excavations for their conservation, technical analysis and identification of their dye content. Over the last years, the restoration of the collection of Coptic textile belonging to the National Archeological Museum from Spain, dating from IV AD to X-XI AD, was accomplished. This collection was studied in the framework of the project Technological and chronological characterization of the Coptic textile productions: antecedents of the high medieval Spanish textile manufactures [48]. Characterization of natural dyes present in eleven of these fragments was carried out by thin layer chromatography (TLC) in the IPCE laboratory [49], finding the common natural dyes used in the Nile Valley, such as madder, indigo (or woad), weld,
Figure 1. Sampling in a Coptic fragment code from the National Archaeological Museum: 15083. Photo by Jos Baztan.
e-conser vation
35
lac and probably orchil. Madder, indigo (or woad) and weld cannot be used for dating in the first millennium, but the presence of lac dye in one textile suggests that this textile was made later than the VII century, according to A. Verhecken [46]. The objective of the present study was the identification of natural dyes employed in the manufacture of another eight fragments belonging to this collection using HPLC-DAD. Prior to analysis, two extraction methods for dye were evaluated, using several reference fibres dyed with a selection of red, yellow, blue, purple and black dyestuffs obtained from a reference collection of IPCE which contains more than 300 dyed fibres, and from a personal collection of Ana Roquero. Experimental Instrumentation The chromatographic system used consisted of a model 600E Multisolvent delivery system (Waters Chromatography, USA) equipped with a Luna C18(2) HPLC column (150 x 2.1 mm id, 5 m particle size) and a guard cartridge system (Phenomenex, USA).
Samples were injected by a 717 auto sampler (Waters Chromatography, USA). Separated components of dyestuffs were detected with a 996 DAD detector, scanning from 200 nm to 600 nm at scan rate of 1 scan/second and with a resolution of 1.2 nm (Waters Chromatography, USA). The mobile phase, pumped at 0.5 ml min-1, consisted of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in water (A) and acetonitrile (B). The gradient applied was the following: 10% B isocratic to 1 min, to 30% B (linear) at 30 min, to 100% B (linear) at 50 min. The column temperature was maintained at 35 C. Reagents, reference fibres and samples High-purity deionized water (Milli-Q Element system, Millipore, USA), trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) from Fluka (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) and acetonitrile (ACN), both from J.T. Baker (Deventer, Holland) were used for preparation of the mobile phase. Gradient grade methanol (MeOH) from J.T. Baker (Deventer, Holland), formic acid (HCOOH, 98%) and dimethylformamide (DMF) both from Panreac (Barcelona, Espaa) were employed for sample preparation.
Figure 2. Sampling in a Coptic fragment code from the National Archaeological Museum: 1976/130/12. Photo by Jos Baztan.
36
e-conser vation
Extraction methods were evaluated using the ten before mentioned reference fibres, dyed with American cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa), Brazilwood (Caesalpinia sp), madder (Rubia tinctorum L.), weld (Reseda luteola L.), old fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria), saffron (Crocus sativus L.), indigo (Indigofera sp.), Tyrian purple (Plicopurpura pansa L.), alder bark (Alnus sp.) and sumac (Rhus spp.) on wool, except the Tyrian purple reference fibre, which was dyed on silk. Fiber samples were obtained from different colored Coptic textiles from the National Archaeological Museum in Spain. Figures 1-8 show the photographs of these fragments. A total number of 29 sub-samples were taken. Extraction procedures Extraction methods were applied according to the following general schemes: Method 1: HCl extraction + MeOH/DMF extraction Samples were placed in a conic vial and were treated with 250 l of a mixture of H2O : MeOH : 37%HCl (1:1:2, v/v/v) for 10 minutes at 100 C. The solvent was then evaporated under a N2 current. A volume
of 250 l of the mixture MeOH:DMF (1:1, v/v) was added to the dry residue and the mixture was heated for 5 minutes at around 100 C. Then, the solution was transferred to 0.2 m nylon filters Spin-X (micro centrifuge filter) and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 10 minutes. The filtrate was evaporated to dryness under a N2 current and the residue was dissolved in 50 l of MeOH:DMF (1:1, v/v) solution. After shaking it in vortex for 1 minute, the extract was injected to the HPLC-DAD system.
Figures 3-5. Sampling in Coptic fragments codes from the National Archaeological Museum. From up to down: 1976/130/14; 15059 and 15076. Photos by Jos Baztan.
e-conser vation
37
Method 2: HCOOH extraction + MeOH/DMF extraction Samples were placed in a conic vial and treated for 30 minutes at 45-50 C with 250 l of a mixture of MeOH:HCOOH (95:5, v/v). The solvent was then evaporated under a N2 current. 250 l of a solution of MeOH:DMF (1:1, v/v) were added to the dry residue and the mixture was heated for 5 minutes
at around 100 C. Then, the solution was transferred to 0.2 m nylon filters Spin-X (micro centrifuge filter) and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 10 minutes. The filtrate was evaporated to dryness under N2 and the residue was dissolved in 50 l of MeOH:DMF (1:1, v/v) solution. After shaking it in vortex for 1 minute, the extract was injected to the HPLCDAD system. Results and discussion Comparison between the two evaluated extraction methods The two extraction methods applied are based on classical methanolic hydrochloric acid extraction, with an additional MeOH/DMF extraction step as proposed by Surowiec et al. [18] and on the mild extraction proposed by Zhang and Laursen [20], where 5% formic acid in methanol was used. Surowiec et al. confirmed the greatest improvement in extraction efficiency for indigotin when using the additional step involving MeOH/DMF and Zhang and Laursen observed the preservation of flavonoid glycosides. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been performed comparing the method
Figures 6-8. Sampling in Coptic fragments codes from the National Archaeological Museum. From up to down: 15064; 15065 and 1976/130/11. Photos by Jos Baztan.
38
e-conser vation
Figure 9. Comparison between the two extraction methods evaluated. N upon bar= n detected compounds.
proposed by Surowiec et al. with others, where the acidic hydrochloric extraction has been replaced by a mild extraction. The objective was to join the advantages of both in one extraction method, because the sample amount available for an analysis is always very small, therefore it is crucial to obtain the maximum information in one analytical run. The results obtained in this comparison are summarized in Figure 9. As expected, the indigoid dyes, indigo and Tyrian purple, were extracted in a similar way because they are mainly affected by the MeOH/DMF extraction, which is identical in both methods. Four reference fibres, dyed with brazilwood, old fustic, alder bark and particularly, saffron, were extracted more efficiently employing the mild extraction, or Method 2. As expected, when saffron was extracted using Method 1, no peaks were detected because crocin and crocetin, its principal components, are decomposed by hydrochloric acid to compounds non-detectable by HPLC-DAD. Regarding the rest of reference fibres, for those dyed with American cochineal, madder, weld and sumac, Method 1 was able to extract more efficiently the dyestuff. The difference for weld was not very high (with Method 2 a 95 % of
e-conser vation
what has been achieved with Method 1), for American cochineal, madder and sumac, the sum area of detected compound employing Method 2 was 40 %, 70 % and 1.5 %, respectively, compared to results using Method 1. This indicates that anthraquinone dyes and ellagic acid are poorer extracted with formic acid. For madder, this effect was also observed by other authors [23]. However, the total number of compounds detected was higher when Method 2 was employed, with the exception of only two dyes: American cochineal and sumac. These results were attributed to the milder conditions, the ones with which the glycosidic linkages were preserved, and, thus, the number of detected compounds increases. To set an example, the number of compounds increases from four to eight, from seven to eleven or from four to twelve for weld, madder and alder bark respectively. If the extraction efficiency is acceptable, the criteria to choice the best method would be the extraction of a maximum number of compounds, which will offer more valuable information about the origin of the dye. Consequently, Method 2 was selected as optimum and applied for subsequent dye extraction from the Coptic textile samples.
39
Application of the optimum method for dye extraction from the Coptic textile samples The results obtained applying the optimum extraction method to dyestuffs from the Coptic textiles under study are summarised in Table 1.
Indigotin was identified in five blue samples, eight green samples and five purple samples. These results indicate that the dye employed for these samples was in all cases indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.), whose main component is indigotin, therefore the differentiation between the two species was impossible.
Table 1. Results obtained applying the optimum extraction method for identification of dyestuffs employed in the Coptic textiles.
Colour Yellow
Samples 4, 20
Detected compounds luteolin-7-O-glucoside apigenin-7-glucoside luteolin indigotin indirubin
Identified dyestuffs Flavonoid luteolin-type yellow dye, probably weld Indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) Madder A
Blue Red and pink Orange
2, 3, 6, 8,16
Brown
1, 14, 16B, 22, Munjistin (?) 24, 11, 13 alizarin purpurin 7 luteolin-7-O-glucoside luteolin alizarin tannin 19 tannin indigotin indirubin 12, 15, 21, 23, alizarin 25 purpurin indigotin indirubin 5, 17, 18 indigotin Indirubin luteolin-7-O-glucoside apigenin-7-glucoside luteolin
Flavonoid luteolin-type yellow dye, probably weld + Madder A + Tannins Tannins + Indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) Madder A + Indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) Indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) + Flavonoid luteolin-type yellow dye, probably weld Indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) + Tannins Indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) + Flavonoid quercetin-type yellow dye
e-conser vation
Purple
Green 1
Green 2
28
tannin indigotin indigotin Indirubin flavonoids (trace level)
Green 3
9, 10, 26, 27
40
In red, purple, orange and salmon-pink samples, the red dye found always contained alizarin and purpurin as main components, indicating a madder source. According to some authors [46, 47], the two madder species most frequently employed in the manufacture of the Coptic textiles were, probably, the Rubia tinctorum L., whose principal component is alizarin and Rubia peregrina L. (wild madder), where purpurin is the main component. In mentioned publication the term madder A is used for dyeing which contains alizarin as the main dyestuff and madder P for those which contain mainly purpurin. In this study, alizarin and purpurin were found to be within the range of 60-99% and 2-12%, respectively, and the type of madder detected was madder A, closer to the composition of Rubia tinctorum L. Luteolin-7-O-glucoside, as main component, luteolin and traces of a glucoside of apigenin were detected in two yellow, three green and one orange samples. Although there are numerous plants which may contain these components, the most important yellow dye originally found in the Mediterranean region and in West Asia was weld (Reseda luteola L.) which presents this composition and is the major yellow dye found in Coptic textiles. Consequently, this dye can be identified as weld. Another yellow dye, though at very low concentration, was detected in three green samples. This dye had a flavonoid glycoside as main component, probably a quercetin-type flavonoid, but yet unidentified. Presence of gallic and ellagic acids in the brown sample indicate the use of tannins as dye, probably obtained from oak galls because the main component was gallic acid. Moreover, in this sample indigotin and indirubin were detected, indicating the presence of indigo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) in the mixture.
e-conser vation
Finally, in one sample of dark green to brownish colour, beside indigotin an unknown component with absorption in the UV range only, presenting one strong band at 253 nm and one shoulder at 275 nm, was detected. This absorption is possibly due to condensed tannins, although more studies are necessary to achieve concludent data. Conclusions The optimized method successfully achieves marked objectives since it employed a single extraction process. High efficiency was obtained for the indigoid dyes while labile compounds and glycosides were preserved. The efficiency for extraction of certain compounds, like anthraquinones, and especially carminic and ellagic acid shall be improved in future investigations. Dyestuffs identified in the fragments under study in this work are in agreement with commonly reported dyestuffs for Coptic textiles, in particular madder, yellow flavonoid dyes, tannins and indigo or woad. One yellow dye present in mixture to raise green colour in three samples remains unidentified because it was present at very low concentration. Unfortunately, as the identified components were employed all over the first millennium AD, the gathered information does not provide clues for a more precise dating of these fragments. As the amount of investigated samples was rather limited, the obtained results may be not very representative. Nonetheless, they provide valuable information, especially when compared with results obtained by other authors dedicated to ancient dying techniques applied in the Nile valley. Besides these results, this study represents the first milestone of an ongoing systematic characterisation by HPLC-DAD of the principal components used for dying of the textiles contained in the IPCEs fibre reference collection.
41
Acknowledgments The authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Complutense University of Madrid for the establishment of the agreement of collaboration, in the frame of which the present study has been developed. Ana Roquero is also gratefully acknowledged for her important advice on dyed fibres belonging to the Reference Collection of the IPCE and for providing us reference fibres dyed with Reseda luteola L. and Rubia tinctorum L. from her personal collection. We would like to thank to the staff of the Textiles Department of IPCE for their collaboration and valuable help.
[8] J. Wouters and A Verhecken, The coccid insect dyes: HPLC and computerized diode-array analysis of dyes yarns, Studies in Conservation 34, 1989, pp. 189200 [9] L. Rafally, S. Hron, W. Nowik and A. Tchapla, Optimisation of ESI-MS detection for the HPLC of anthraquinone dyes, Dyes and Pigments 77, 2008, pp. 191-203 [10] I. Karapanagiotis, A. Lakka, L. Valianou and Y. Chryssoulakis, High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of colouring matters in historical garments from the Holy Mountain of Athos, Microchimica Acta 160 (4), 2008, pp. 477483 [11] I. Karapanagiotis, E. Minopoulou, L. Valianou, S. Daniilia and Y. Chryssoulakis, Investigation of the colourants used in icons of the Cretan School of iconography, Analytical Chimica Acta, 647, 2009, pp. 231-242 [12] E. Rosenberg, Characterisation of historical organic dyestuffs by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, Analytical Bioanalytical Chemistry 391, 2008, pp. 33-57 [13] X. Zhang and R. Laursen, Application of LCMS to the analysis of dyes in objects of historical interest, International Journal of Mass Spectrometry 284, 2009, pp. 108114 [14] J. Sanyova and J. Reisse, Development of a mild method for the extraction of anthraquinones from their aluminium complexes in madder lakes prior to HPLC analysis, Journal of Cultural Heritage 7, 2006, pp. 229-235 [15] P. Walton and G. Taylor, The characterisation of dyes in textiles from archaeological excavations, Chromatography Analytical 17, 1991, pp. 5-7 [16] J. Wouters and A. Verhecken, High-performance liquid chromatography of blue and purple indigoid natural dyes, Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists 107, 1991, pp. 266269 [17] M. Sato and Y. Sasaki, Blue and Purple Dyestuffs Used for Ancient Textiles, Dyes in History and Archaeology 19, 2003, pp. 100-105 [18] I. Surowiec, A. Quye and M. Trojanowicz, Liquid chromatography determination of natural dyes in extracts from historical Scottish textiles excavated from peat bogs, Journal of Chromatography A 1112, 2006, pp. 209217 [19] L. Valianou, I. Karapanagiotis and Y. Chryssoulakis, Comparison of extraction methods for the analysis of natural dyes in historical textiles by high-performance
e-conser vation
References
[1] D.A. Peggie, A.N. Hulme, H. McNab and A. Quye, Towards the identification of characteristic minor components from textiles dyed with weld (Reseda luteola L.) and those dyed with Mexican cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa), Microchimica Acta 162, 2008, pp. 371-380 [2] E.S.B. Ferreira, A.N. Hulme, H. Mcnab and A. Quye, The natural constituents of historical textile dyes, Chemical Society Reviews 33, 2004, pp. 329-336 [3] J. Hofenk de Graaff, W.G.Th. Roelofs and M. van Bommel, The Colourful Past: The Origin, Chemistry and Identification of Natural Dyestuff, Abegg-Stiftung, Switzerland; Archetype Publications, London, 2004 [4] D. Cardon, Natural Dyes: Sources, tradition, technology and science, Archetype Publications, London, 2007 [5] M. J. Melo, History of Natural Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World, in Thomas Bechtold and Rita Mussak (ed.), Handbook of Natural Colorants, John Wiley & Sons, 2009 [6] I. Degano, E. Ribechini, F. Modugno and M.P. Colombini, Analytical methods for the characterization of organic dyes in artworks and historical textiles, Applied Spectroscopy Reviews 44, 2009, pp. 363-410 [7] J. Wouters, High performance liquid chromatography of anthraquinones: analysis of plant and insect extract and dyed textiles, Studies in Conservation 30, 1985, pp. 119-128
42
liquid chromatography, Analytical Bioanalytical Chemistry 395, 2009, pp. 2175-2189 [20] X. Zhang and R.A. Laursen, Development of mild extraction method for the analysis of natural dues in textiles of historical interest using LC-diode array detectorMS, Analytical Chemistry 77 (7), 2005, pp. 2022-2025 [21] X. Zhang, R. Boytner, J.L. Cabrera and R. Laursen, Identification of yellow dye types in pre-Columbian Andean textiles, Analytical Chemistry 79, 2007, pp. 1575-1582 [22] X. Zhang, I. Good and R. Laursen, Characterisation of dyestuffs in ancient textiles from Xinjiang, Journal of Archaeology Science 35, 2008, pp. 1095-1103 [23] C. Clementi, W. Nowik, A. Romani, F. Cibin and G. Favaro, A spectrophotometric and chromatographic approach to the study of ageing of madder (Rubia tinctorum L.) dyestuff on wool, Analytical Chimica Acta 596, 2007, pp. 4654 [24] I. Surowiec, W. Nowik and M. Trojanowicz, Optimization of solvent extraction of dyes for their identification in archaeological textiles, Dyes in History and Archaeology 22, 2003, in press [25] I. Surowiec, Application of high-performance separation techniques in archaeometry, Microchimica Acta 162, 2008, pp. 289-302 [26] G. C.H. Derksen, T.A. van Beek, A. de Groot and A. Capelle, High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of anthraquinone glycosides and aglycones in madder root (Rubia tinctorum L.), Journal of Chromatography A 816, 1998, pp. 277-281 [27] M. Cristea, I. Bareau and G. Vilarem, Identification and quantitative HPLC analysis of the main flavonoids present in weld (Reseda luteola L.), Dyes and Pigments 57, 2003, pp. 267-272 [28] R. Pedreschi and L. Cisneros-Zevallos, Pheonolic profiles of Andean purple corn (Zea mays L.), Food Chemistry 100, 2007, pp. 956-963 [29] S.M. Halpine, An improved dye and lake pigment analysis method for high-performance liquid chromatography and diode-array detector, Studies in Conservation 41, 1996, pp. 76-81 [30] M. van Bommel, I. Vanden Berghe, A.M. Wallert, R. Boitelle and J. Wouters, High-performance liquid chromatography and non-destructive three-dimensional
e-conser vation
fluorescence analysis of early synthetic dyes, Journal of Chromatography A 1157, 2007, pp. 260-272 [31] J. Wouters and N. Rosario-Chirinos, Dye analysis of pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles with high-performanceliquid-chromatography and diode-array detector, Journal of the American Institute of Conservation 31(2)7, 1992, pp. 237-255 [32] W. Nowik, S. Desrosiers, I. Surowiec and M. Trojanowicz, The analysis of dye stuffs from first- to second-century textile artefacts found in the Martres de Veyre (France) excavations, Archaeometry 47, 2005, pp. 835-848 [33] G.G. Balakina, V.G. Vasiliev, E.V. Karpova, and V.I. Mamatyuk, HPLC and molecular spectroscopic investigations of the red dye obtained from an ancient Pazyrik textile, Dyes and Pigments 71, 2006, pp. 54-60 [34] I. vanden Berghe, M. Gleba and U. Mannering, Towards the identification of dyestuffs in Early Iron Age Scandianavian peat bog textiles, Journal of Archaelogical Science 36, 2009, pp. 1910-1921 [35] I. Degano and M. P. Colombini, Multi-analytical techniques for the study of pre-Columbian mummies and related funerary materials, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 2009, pp. 17831790 [36] M. Puchalska, K. Polec-Pawlak, I. Zadrozna, H. Hrysko and M. Jarosz, Identification of indigoid dyes in natural organic pigments used in historical arts objects by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, Journal of Mass Spectrometry 39, 2004, pp. 1441-1449 [37] G. C.H. Derksen, H.A.G. Niederlnder and T.A. van Beek, Analysis of anthraquinones in Rubia tinctorum by liquid chromatography coupled with diode array UV and mass spectrometric detection, Journal of Chromatography A 978, 2002, pp. 119-127 [38] I. Karapanagiotis, Y. Chryssoulakis, Investigation of Red Natural Dyes Used in Historical Objects by HPLCDAD-MS, Annali di Chimica 96 (1-2), 2005, pp. 75-84 [39] K. Pawlak, M. Puchalska, A. Miszczak, E. Rosloniec, M. Jarosz, Blue natural organic dyestuffs-From textile dyeing to mural painting. Separation and characterization of coloring matters present in eldberry, logwood and indigo, Journal of Mass Spectrometry 41, 2006, pp. 613-622 [40] R. Marques, M. M. Sousa, M.C. Oliveira and M.J. Melo, Characterization of weld (Reseda luteola L.) and spurge
43
flax (Daphne gnidium L.) by high-performance liquid chromatographydiode array detectionmass spectrometry in Arraiolos historical textiles, Journal of Chromatography A 1216, 2009, pp. 13951402 [41] J. Wouters, Dye analysis in a broad perspective: a study of 3rd to 10th century Coptic textiles from Belgian private collections, Dyes in History and Archaeology 13, 1995, pp.38-45 [42] J. Wouters, Kleurstofanalyse van Koptisch textiel (Dye analysis of Coptic textiles), in Koptisch Textiel (Coptic Textiles), Publicaties van het Provinciaal Archeologisch museum van Zuid-Oost-Vlaanderen, site Velzeke, A. De Moor (ed.) 1993, pp. 53-64 [43] J. Orska-Gawrys, I. Surowiec, J. Kehl, H. Rejniak, K. Urbaniak-Walczak and M. Trojanowicz, Identification of natural dyes in archeological Coptic textiles by HPLC-PDA, Journal of Chromatography A 989, 2003, pp. 239-248 [44] B. Szostek, J. Orska-Gawrys, I. Surowiec and M. Trojanowicz, Investigation of natural dyes occurring in historical Coptic textiles by high performance liquid chromatography whith UV-Vis and mass spectrometric detection, Journal of Chromatography A 1012, 2003, pp. 179-192 [45] M. Trojanowicz, J. Orska-Gawrys, I. Surowiec, B. Szostek, K. Urbaniak-Walczak, J. Kehl and M. Wrbel, Chromatographic investigation of dyes extracted from coptic textiles from the National Museum in Warsaw, Studies in Conservation 49, 2004, pp. 115-130 [46] A. Verhecken, Relation between age and dyes of 1st millennium AD textiles found in Egypt, in Proceedings of the 4th meeting of the study group. Textiles from the Niley Valley, 2005, Antwerp, 16-17 April, pp. 208-209 [47] R. Hofmann-de Keijzer, M.R. van Bommel and M. de Keijzer, Coptic textiles: dyes, dyeing techniques and dyestuff analysis of two textile fragments of the MAK Viena, in Proceedings of the 4th meeting of the study group. Textiles from the Niley Valley, 2005, Antwerp, 16-17 April 2005, 214-228 [48] L. Peinado, A. Cabrera, P. Borrego, E. Parra, C. Herrero, L. Turell, R. M. Martn Ros, A. Arteaga, Ministerio de Educacin y Ciencia, Plan Nacional I+D+I (HUM200504610), 2005-2008 [49] A. Artega, P. Borrego, M. Moreno and A. Platero, Tejidos del Valle del Nilo del Museo Arqueolgico Nacional, Patrimonio Cultural de Espaa 1, 2009, pp. 279-288
ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ

Conservation-Scientist Estrella Sanz Rodrguez (MSc, PhD) studied at the Faculty of Chemistry in the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), graduating in 1996. After first degree obtained in 1997 with the work Identification of dry oils in paint layers by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), she worked during three years as an analytical scientist in the Department of Analytical Chemistry, carrying out investigations about the identification of organic and inorganic materials in historical samples by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to ultraviolet detection, Raman spectroscopy and GC-MS. From 2000 until 2003 she worked in the Spectroscopy Research Assistance Centre of the UCM. Subsequently she carried out her PhD in the group of trace analysis, speciation and metallomics (UCM), dedicated to the development of new methods for arsenic species extraction from environmental samples by HPLC and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), work which she completed in 2007. From 2006 until present, she works as UCM investigator in the Laboratories of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE). Her research interest include the development a new extraction methods for natural dyes from historical and archaeological textiles samples and their analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to array and mass detector (LC-DAD-MS).
ANGELA ARTEAGA RODRGUEZ Conservation-Scientist Angela Arteaga Rodrguez received her CINE-5b (1972) in Chemistry by the School of Industrial Masters of Madrid. Since 1992 she develops her professional work in the Area of Laboratories of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE).
e-conser vation
44
Her work consists in the analyses of natural dyes, binding media from works of art by different techniques like FTIR, TLC and HPLC-DAD. She has also participated in several publications, congresses and other professional meetings, both national and international.
MARA ANTONIA GARCA RODRGUEZ

Conservation-Scientist Mara Antonia Garca Rodrguez received her MSc (1991) in Analytical Chemistry from the Complutense University of Madrid. From 1992 to 1997 she developed her professional work in the Laboratory of Doping Control in Madrid (The Sports Council, CSD). In 1998 and 1999, she collaborated with the Laboratory of Public Health of the Community of Madrid. Between 2001 and 2005 she worked as technical attendance in the study of instrumental techniques applied to the Investigation and documentation on artworks in restoration process in the IPCE, where since 2006, she belongs to the technical staff in the Area of Laboratories. Her work consists in studies related to mural paintings and archaeological material, as well as the analysis of organic materials in other art objects. She is author of several articles that appear in various publications.
meetings organized by the Scientific Instrument Society and the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. She is author of several publications on History of Science and History of Scientific Instruments. Since 2000, she is Head of the department of Scientific Conservation of the IPCE. During this period, she has participated in national and international projects related to scientific conservation of cultural heritage, has coordinated and directed several interventions and researches on scientific methods in conservation and organized many courses and seminars.
CARMEN CMARA Chemist Carmen Cmara is a professor in Analytical Chemistry at the Complutense University since 1992. She is the leader of the Research Group of Trace Determination and Speciation, belonging to the department of Analytical Chemistry. Her main research interest is focused on the development of new analytical methods for trace metal speciation, emergent contaminants, bioaccumulation studies of trace metals and organic compounds in zebra fish embryo, proteomics and other topics related with a wide variety of samples. She has coordinated more than six European and several National projects. She has also participated in more than 30 European projects. Carmen Cmara has extensive experience within quality assurance, development of validation methodologies and the use of hyphenated techniques, among others. She has published more than 250 papers in international journals, was invited to held plenary lectures in the most relevant international meetings related with her activity and helds two patents. She has also been, from 2005 to 2009, the president of the Spanish Analytical Chemistry Society.
45
MARIN DEL EGIDO

Conservation-Scientist Marin del Egido received her MSc in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2003. From 1995 to 2000, she worked as researcher in the National Museum of Science and Technology (Madrid), where she participated in projects related to documentation and publication of historical collections of scientific instruments and she was attending national and international
e-conser vation
LASER CLEANING IN ART CONSERVATION

Part I: Laser Fundamentals
by Rui Bordalo
This article is the first of a series devoted to the application of lasers to art conservation, mainly focused on the cleaning process, and it will cover notions from the basics of lasers to its application to paintings and other works of art.
Introduction The laser just turned 50 years-old. It has, since long, been part of our daily life and it made possible many technologies that many of us couldnt live without, from dvd readers to telecommunications. But the laser has also been an important development for art conservation. During the development of laser technology the interaction between the laser and the irradiated material has been of the utmost interest in several fields of knowledge. Among its many applications, in art lasers can be used mainly for analysis, when integrated in analytical devices such as spectroscopy, and for cleaning. Laser technology should be always considered as an alternative tool to solve specific problems, when traditional methods are not a viable option. Lasers in Conservation 50 years after the first laser was built there are more than 10,000 laser wavelengths known. Laser technology has a great potential in the development of alternative procedures for conservation mainly due to particular properties of the light beam but also due to its controllable and reproducible technique. Its application in the conservation field includes a wide spectrum of uses, namely surface cleaning, removal of overpaintings and other layers, and analysis of art materials. Laser has always captured much attention due to its potential over traditional cleaning techniques, either chemical or mechanical ones. It became the first tool that did not interact physically with the artwork, minimizing thus the contact with the surface and the stresses or damages that can be inflected during normal procedures. This minimum contact respects the minimal intervention principle that every conservator aspires to follow. Research in laser cleaning is focused on the de-
Laser scanning device. Lasers can be used to scan 3D objects of any size, from coins to building facades.
velopment and optimization of the controllable removal of surface selected layers. Although in the beginning laser technology could have been seen by some as a new fast technique to clean any material, soon it was obvious that the technique required much research before being applied to works of art. Nowadays its potential is to complement the established traditional techniques by overcoming their disadvantages and limitations. Although conservation is traditionally a conservative field, scientific research is very active in both the material characterization and the development of new technology to the cultural heritage field. Traditional cleaning techniques employed by painting conservators are either of mechanical or chemical nature. The use of solvents presents several disadvantages such as the difficulty to control their degree of penetration into the paint layers, interfering thus with the chemical stability of the original, and their toxic nature. It was attempted to overcome the former disadvantage by the development of gels instead of the liquid form, although this technique is also not exempt from disadvantages. An important factor is that some
47
RUI BORDALO
Some rights reserved, available at Wikimedia Commons.
The electromagnetic spectrum shows a general sequence of all the possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, from gamma rays to radio and long waves. Shown above is a detail of the visible region which is the one the human eye can see. This region is approximately between 400 nm and 700 nm. Below and above those values are the ultraviolet (UV) and the infrared (IR) regions, respectively. Most lasers used in conservation are in those regions, in wavelengths that typically vary between 150 nm (UV) and 1100 nm (IR).
layers to be removed are partial or completely insoluble to strong solvents that can endanger the paint layer and the integrity of the painting. Mechanical cleaning is performed most of the times with a scalpel, which is probably the most characteristic tool used by conservators, but which presents the associated hazard of the direct physical action over the paint layer that can damage the surface. The choice and control of these techniques is directly dependant on the individual skills of the conservator, as the borderline between optimum cleaning and over cleaning is often very thin. Laser technology, and more particularly, laser cleaning provides advantages such as selectivity (it is possible to remove unwanted layers without removing the original material with appropriate parameters), non mechanical contact (enabling the treatment of highly sensitive surfaces), environmental friendliness (avoiding the use of hazardous chemicals or solvents), precise action and reliability.
48
Historic background Lasers are based on the principle of stimulated emission which was first deduced by Albert Einstein in 1917. This principle is simply the process by which electromagnetic waves of a certain frequency can induce (or stimulate) an excited atom or molecule to decay from a high to a low energy level, emitting thus more electromagnetic waves. In the early 50s, Columbia University researcher Charles Townes thought that he could induce molecules to emit at certain wavelenghts. In 1954 Townes and his colleagues built the first device based on that principle. The device was named maser, which stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation and it was able to emit at a very precise unique wavelength in the microwave region. This breakthrough was then reproduced by others, originating several modifications. In 1958, Townes and Schawlow [1] proposed that the emission could also be done in the infrared
e-conser vation
Diagram showing population inversion in a typical three-level laser energy. Diagram by Bob Mellish, Some rights reserved, available at Wikimedia Commons.
and visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Two years later, in 1960, the first light-emitting maser was constructed by Maiman [2] using a flashpumped rod of ruby. The name of this light-emitting maser was changed to Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, or laser. After that, lasers development was soon directed for industrial applications. In short, lasers are devices that produce and amplify an intense beam of highly coherent and highly directional radiation by stimulated emission in specific frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. The first application of lasers to art conservation happened in the early 70s by a team leaded by John Asmus [3, 4]. He was invited by geophysicist Walter Munk to produce high-resolution holographic records from marble sculptures for archival purposes using laser technology in Venice, Italy before further degradation. For the job, the team used a ruby holographic laser, the most powerful in existence at the time. In 1972, and after having produced over 50 holograms, Asmus was introduced to the difficulties of cleaning crumbling marble sculpture by restorer Giulia Musumeci. Asmus had previous experience with laser ablation due to past research on using lasers for space exploration and came with the idea of using the laser to ablate the
e-conser vation
Laser cleaning of a metal object using a Nd:YAG laser that is portable and can be easily managed through a hand gun. Photo taken at the workshop 'Saving Sacred Relics of European Medieval Cultural Heritage', Romania, 2006.
black crusts from the marble with minimum damage [5]. The initial holography program turned then into a laser cleaning project of stone statues, the first of a new area of research. However, before starting to clean sculptures, it was required to assess the safety of the use of lasers for this purpose. Further research funded by the Samuel Kress Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution between 1972 and 1974 found that laser could be applied to clean countless materials used in works of art such as marble, limestone, oolite, sandstone, stucco, concrete, terra cotta, most metals, leather, velum, paper, cotton, wool, silk, moleskin, and wood [5]. Ruby and Nd: YAG lasers had limitations back then, among which the low pulse repetition laser, low reliability, high costs, etc., that prevent them from being extensively employed [6, 7]. Although promising, there was few research developed in the field in the 70s and 80s.
49
RUI BORDALO
The 80s was still an incipient period, although lasers were produced with increasing technological advancements. Their use involved a very high cost when compared with the traditional cleaning practices and their precise short- and long-term effects on the works of art needed further research. The fact that lasers were normally located in industrial environments was not adequate to the cleaning of works of art. During that period this new technology faced scepticism from the conservation community and it was mainly thanks to the work of Asmus and colleagues that research continued [8, 9]. It was only in the 90s, with the progressive development of laser technology, that this slow paced research field met a new interest from European researchers. More studies begun. mainly backed up by European Programs funding, and several research groups arose [10-14]. In this period, stonebased materials were the focus of research and the success cases contributed to the debute of research in other areas to start, mainly in paper, textiles, glass, metals and paintings. Due to the increasing interest in laser applications to conservation, an international workshop was
Detail of a manuscript during cleaning. Lasers are so precise that can be even used to erase ink from paper. The red laser dots in the image are from a secondary laser used for locating the area to be removed as the cleaning laser is not visible.
organised in 1995 gathering the main researchers of the area. The meeting was so successful that it turned into a biannual conference with the name LACONA (Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks), and has become one of the most relevant international meetings in this field of research. Since then, laser technology has continue to evolve and is now much better known by conservators and other professionals. Its research and use has been consolidated by a permanent interest from several research groups, mainly located in Europe.
Schematic representation of the laser cavity.
50
e-conser vation
Example of a Nd:YAG laser. In this particular case the laser beam exit by the top and is redirected by a mirror into the target.
Laser Fundamentals Lasers are devices that can produce and amplify coherent radiation by stimulated emission in specific frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Nowadays lasers can emit in a large range of the electromagnetic spectrum, namely at wavelengths from the long infrared to X-ray regions [15]. Principles of Laser Radiation The theoretical basis of lasers was presented in 1917 by Einstein [16] when he described fundamental concepts of emission and absorption of light by matter: stimulated absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated emission of radiation. Spontaneous emission is the process when excited particles transit to a stable state of lower energy resulting in the spontaneous emission of a photon. Stimulated emission occurs when energy of the same frequency of the spontaneously emitted radiation is incident on the material forcing the particle to undergo a level transition emitting radiation. In this particular case, however, the photons emitted by stimulated emission have the same phase, same frequency and direction of propagation as the incident radiation. The resulting radiation
e-conser vation
Typical laser set-up at a laboratory during research. Although not all lasers are small and portable their characteristics may be very useful for the interaction with certain materials. Testing the interaction of laser with several materials is an important step of research in order to minimize possible unwanted effects.
beam is therefore considered coherent, monochromatic and highly directional. It is the most low-divergent and monochromatic light source that is known to man. Lasers emit radiation at several wavelengths covering a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from the microwave to the soft X-ray region. Each laser can only operate at a specific wavelength, except for free electron lasers that have the potential to operate at all wavelengths. The most important regions for most applications are the infrared, the visible and the ultraviolet regions. Basic Structure A basic standard laser requires the same 3 basic components: a power source, an active medium and a resonance cavity. The active medium must have a metastable state in which the electrons can be trapped. After excitation of the active medium by energy pumped from the power source, the active medium particles tend to achieve an excited metastable state with
51
RUI BORDALO
a consequent inversion of the population. The inversion of the population occurs when the majority of the particles (atoms, ions or molecules) are in an excited state rather than in a low-energy state. This condition is critical as the radiation is emitted when the particles decay from energy level. The active medium is contained in the resonance cavity, the main mechanism of the laser, where the light is amplified. The cavity has two mirrors at its extremities, opposite to each other. While one is totally reflective, the other is partially transmitant making possible the exit of the light beam from the cavity. After the spontaneous emission of light is produced in all directions, the photons that travel in the parallel direction of the resonance cavity axis can start the emission of other photons. The light amplification is achieved by successive reflections in the mirrors on the referred axis. When the amplification exceeds the loss of the cavity, a coherent beam of light is produced. Operational Modes Lasers operate in two fundamental modes: continuous or pulsed (either normal or Q-switched). As self-explained, continuous mode is when transmission from the resonance cavity emission is continuous in time and pulsed mode is when transmission is made intermittently. The pulsed mode can be originated by the device set-up or it can be induced mechanically by means of a switch (called Q-switch). Q-switching is a technique used to obtain strong pulses. In the normal laser configuration the energy drains out of the population inversion as fast as is pumped in. However, if the feedback of the light to the mirrors is blocked, the energy is stored until a certain level is reached. When the feedback
52
Example of the laser set-up during testing. The laser beam can be shaped by a mask and a lens before irradiating the paint sample. Previous research in several conditions is an important step before the actual cleaning of works of art.
is unblocked, the energy is released in a single and very high peak pulse. This technique makes possible to produce laser beams with different lengths () depending on the switching frequency. Lasers are complex devices and their explanation can sometimes be hard to comprehend. However, it is required to understand the principles by which they function in order to understand how they can operate and how they can be later used for conservation purposes. The next article of this series will continue introducing the application of lasers in conservation. It will contain, in detail, the interaction of the laser radiation with matter, exploring why it is so convenient for cleaning procedures, and the most used laser types in conservation.
Bibliography
[1] A.L. Schawlow, C.H. Towens, Infrared and optical masers, Physical Review 112, 1958, pp. 1940-1949
e-conser vation
[2] T.H. Maiman, Stimulated optical radiation in ruby, Nature 187, 1960, pp. 493 [3] J. F. Asmus, G. Guattari, L. Lazzarini, G. Musumeci, R. F. Wuerker, Holography in the conservation of statuary, Studies in Conservation 18, 1973, pp. 49-63, URL [4] J. F. Asmus, S. G. Murphy, W. H. Munk, Studies on the interaction of laser radiation with art artifacts, in R.F. Weurker (ed.), Developments in laser Technology II, Proc. SPIE 41, 1973, pp. 19-30 [5] R. Bordalo, John Asmus, from Lasers to Art Conservation, e-conservation magazine 3, 2008, pp. 12-19, URL [6] A. Martini, Utilit del laser nel restauro della pietra e del marmo, Quaderni della Soprintendenza ai Beni Artistici di Venezia, Venezia, 1978, pp. 151-152 [7] L. Lazzarini, La pulitura dei materiali lapidei da costruzione e da scultura, Cedam, Padova, Italy, 1981 [8] J. F. Asmus, More light for art conservation, IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine, March Issue, 1986, pp. 6-14 [9] J. F. Asmus, Lasers in conservation, Conservation News 34, 1987, pp. 9-10 [10] M. Cooper, Laser cleaning in conservation: an introduction, Butterworth-Heineman, Oxford, 1998 [11] A. C. Tam, W. P. Leung, W. Zapka, W. Ziemlich, "Laser cleaning techniques for removal of surface particulates", Journal of Applied Physics 71, 3515, 1992, doi:10.1063/1.350906 [12] S. Georgiou, V. Zafiropulos, D. Anglos, C. Balas, V. Tornari, C. Fotakis, Excimer laser restoration of painted artworks: procedures, mechanisms and effects, Applied Surface Science 127-129, 738, 1998, doi:10.1016/S0169-4332(97)00734-4
e-conser vation
[13] R. Oltra, O. Yavas, F. Cruz, J. P. Boquillon, C. Sartori, Modelling and diagnostic of pulsed laser cleaning of oxidized metallic surfaces, Applied Surface Science 96-98, 484, 1996, doi:10.1016/0169-4332(95)00500-5 [14] C. Fotakis, Lasers for Arts Sake, Optics and Photonics News 6 (5), 1995, URL [15] M. J. Weber, Handbook of Lasers, CRC Press, 2001 [16] A. Einstein, Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung, Physikalische Zeitschrift 18, 1917, pp. 121-128
RUI BORDALO
Conservator-restorer Contact: rmbordalo@e-conservationline.com Rui Bordalo is a conservator-restorer specialised in easel paintings. He has a particular interest in the study of art materials and in the application of new technologies to conservation. This interest led him to pursue a PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art in the application of laser technology in the cleaning of paintings. He currently teaches several disciplines of the conservation course at Portucalense University, Porto. He is a board member of the Portuguese Association of Conservator-Restorers (ARP) and a Committee member of the European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers' Organisations (ECCO) since 2005. He is also one of the founders of econservation magazine, where he is currently the editor-in-chief.
53
case study
THE NEW DISCOVERIES OF RESTORATION AND ARCHAEOLOGY
in the church of King St. Stefan in ilina, Slovakia
by Jozef Dorica
THE CHURCH OF KING ST. STEFAN IN ILINA, SLOVAKIA
National cultural heritage, the Church of King St. Stefan is the oldest sacral building in ilina in the district of Doln Rudiny in Slovakia. The church was built in the Late - Romanesque style likely in the first third of the 13th century. It was created as a compact building as we know it until today. It has an oblong nave, a square choir and a semicircular apse. The church is located in an enclosed area bordered with a roofed fortification wall with an entrance gate and embrasures. A field chapel was built after the year 1700 in the south-eastern part of the ground. Originally the church was surrounded by a cemetery. In 1995 foundations of the razed Chapel of the Gods Body were discovered on the outer southern side of the choir and apse of the church. According to the archaeological survey it is possible to date its creation back to the break of the 14th and 15th centuries and its demise within the first half of the 16th century.
The Church of King St. Stefan went through a number of changes on the interior decorations and also through minor adjustments of architectonic details during its existence. Only in the year 1762 a greater rebuilding was performed in the interior of the church nave. The original flat wooden beam (joist) ceiling was replaced with a baroque brick vault. The small late-Romanesque windows which were positioned in the height were bricked in and on the wall under them they were replaced with larger baroque ones. In the interior of the choir and the sanctuary are wall paintings. They are the most valuable part of the church decoration. In the year 1949 they were discovered by the academic painter Mojmr Vlkolaek (28.12.1915 25.10.2007). As he stated in various texts, he performed on his own the first partial uncover, on the 6th of January 1950. His keen painting restoration activity was from the year 1955
Graphic record of the openings from the fortifying beams.
e-conser vation
55
JOZEF DORICA
professionally guaranteed by the academic painter Peter J. Kern (31.1.1881 25.3.1963), who belongs to the first representatives of the professional restoration in Slovakia. The overall uncovering of the wall paintings was done in the period between 5.10. and 16.12.1955. The final approval report about the completion of restoration works is dated 12.12.1956. The minutes from one of the meetings state: The paintings were uncovered from underneath two layers of plaster, locally up to 8 cm thick. Under the plasters there were paintings also covered with a coat of lime. In the past a few specialised surveys were carried out in the church. Besides their specialised assignments, they always involved the architecturalhistorical survey of the church. In the year 1988 the heritage survey of the whole area, based on visual analysis, considered the possible development of the building in two stages. The sanctuary and the choir are considered to be the older building parts and the nave to be the newer extension.
The archaeological surveys from the external side from the year 1995 and in the interior of the church made in 2000 were aimed also at the survey of the building foundations in the touch point of the choir with the nave and discovered one building stage. Since the discovery and restoration of the wall paintings, the first precise restoration survey was only executed in the year 2008. Unquestionable finds of the survey proved the conclusions of the archaeological survey about one stage of building - historical development. Further, together with the following restoration of wall paintings in the year 2009, they brought new and revealing finds in iconography, which significantly changed a part of its look as it was known since the restoration in the 50ies of the 20th century until now. The restoration survey used all required methods for assessment of the technical state of the wall paintings, verification of their historical development and definition of the extent of restoration
View of the sanctuary before restoration.
56
e-conser vation
interventions in the past century. It was widened by the cooperation with specialists from the field of natural sciences. It was oriented at the survey of the paintings in infrared reflectography, ultraviolet luminescence, survey of the plasters on walls and vaults with thermography and onto a large physical-chemical survey of the compound of the used pigments. The wooden historical constructions of the church and the finds of historical wood in the masonry underwent a dendrochronological survey. The ornithological - osteological survey studied further finds which were related to the historical existence of the church. From the arthistorical point of view the painting was the subject of a large analytic-synthetical study. The whole survey proved that the decoration with wall paintings in the churchs sanctuary was realised in four time varying stages. It was preserved in different technical qualities and extents. After the restoration in the 50ies in the conch of the apse, considering the time of their creation, two
View of the sanctuary after restoration.
Non-invasive survey of the paintings in ultraviolet luminescence.
of the most distant paint layers were presented at the same time. In historical order, the fourth one the newest painting of the four figures, likely Hungarian saints partially covered the first one the oldest paint layer, which in a linear way of painting, pictures the basic parts of a Gothic building construction and decoration blind arched frieze, rustication (brickwork) and ribs with a keystone in the peak of the vault. In the choir space of the vault there are three painting layers. The oldest, first linear painting
e-conser vation
57
JOZEF DORICA
is related to the oldest layer in the conch of the apse. On the sides of the vault a second layer of the painting is covered in historical order with the figures of the 12 apostles - 8 on the northern and 4 on the southern side. In the peak of the vault the third layer by order is the least preserved painting of Christ Pantocrator in mandorla, which is carried by angels. The survey found that the painting of the 4 figures of saints in the conch was painted on multiple layers of lime coats which already at the time of its creation covered the oldest linear layer of Gothic architectural parts. The figures were preserved only fragmentally in the extent of ca. 20 30%. Until now their known aspect was due to the result of the artistic reconstruction from the first restoration. On the keystone of the peak of the conch in the apse we found important iconographical finds
Painted keystone in the peak of the conch of the apse before restoration (right) and after restoration (below).
the painted keystone, which had the shape of Christ solar symbol was an over painting. The original is the blessing Masters Hand in the middle of its semicircle. The sun flames around the keystone were also over paintings. Originally they were four dog heads with the ribs coming out from their mouths. These finds are related to the oldest linear painting. Their symbolism, and so their whole oldest painting decoration, can be assigned to the influence of the order of Dominicans, who were active in Kltor pod Znievom before the second half of the 13th century (1243 1248).
58
e-conser vation
One of the most important developments was the find of the uninterrupted continuation of the oldest linear paint layer - small rustication on the only preserved stone cornice on the northern corner of the naves arch of triumph and of the choir of the church. At the same time it was found that on the corners of both arches of triumph (nave - choir, choir - sanctuary) there are fragments of cut off stone cornices from the same type of stone. According to the finds they had also identical profiles. They were different only in size. They prove the 'one building stage' of the sanctuary, choir and of the nave of the church. The results of the restoration survey were the base for processing the new method of presentation of the paintings in the conch of the apse. With the aim to restore the original artistic-historical
aspect of the sanctuary, the preserved extent and quality of the original enabled us to decide in favour of the presentation of only the oldest linear painting decoration. The process of restoration was chosen so that fragments of the paintings of the figures were not removed, but fixed and covered with lime coat. Even during the restoration works we recorded further important finds. During the removal of the secondary interventions from the repairs on the figures of the apostles we found bricked-in openings from a wooden beam which connected opposite sides of the arch of triumph on the corner of the nave and of the choir. The openings from the beam get wider deeper in the wall and continue into both corners of the eastern wall of the nave. In the corners they turn and continue in the northern and southern wall of the nave. Originally reinforcing beams, which probably rotted out, were placed there. Again, the openings are a proof about the creation of the whole church at the same time. In the openings vomit was found from barn-owls (Tyto alba). According to the ornithological osteological survey the owls nested there for at least 20 years. That means that further in the past in a period not yet determined on the timeline the church was not used for a longer period. During the final cleaning of the oldest preserved plaster layer from the newer plasters on the northern and southern part of the eastern wall of the nave an important completely new find was discovered. Two until then unknown consecration crosses were found there. They are a further important piece of evidence of the architectural unity of the whole church already since the beginning of the 13th century. Their discovery, besides the finds in the conch of the sanctuary, brought a further new and outstandingly inter-
Find of the oldest linear rustication decoration on the northern cornice and its aspect after restoration.
e-conser vation
59
JOZEF DORICA
The find of the one-armed consecration cross on the southern side of the eastern wall of the nave, before and after restoration.
esting document about the unique iconography of the church of King St. Stefan which was not met yet in Slovakia. Both newly discovered 'crosses' have no transverse arms. The northern one has only a vertical and the southern only an horizontal arm. In this way they disprove the existing idea about the consecration cross in the sanctuary regarding to the fact that it also has only one arm, which was considered to be unfinished or damaged. All three together, lead to the conclusion about a possible unknown meaning content and symbolism of these one armed crosses. The find increased the number of the medieval consecration crosses discovered until now in the church to five. The other two consecration crosses on the northern and southern walls of the choir known from before are typologically different. It is possible to assign the difference to their shape and colour adjustment, which is newer. In the peak of the vault choir is, according to the timeline of the creation, the third paint layer. Originally it portrayed Christ Pantocrator in mandorla which is carried by angels. The scene is preserved only in fragments. The reason of its damage was
60
the plaster falling off in the past. The restoration in the years 1950 1956 only conserved its torso. During the restoration research in the year 2008 other small parts of the original mandorla scene
Christ in mandorla in the peak of the choir vault before restoration.
e-conser vation
Christ in mandorla in the peak of the choir vault after the restoration.
e-conser vation
61
JOZEF DORICA
were found which were not involved during the earlier restoration. After the removal of the fillings and proper final cleaning of all the painting remains, it was possible to realise the shape reconstruction of the angels. The central scene with the figure of Christ Pantocrator is preserved only in minimal fragments. Due to the need to reach visual and contextual unity of the painting, which is located in the living organism of the church, it was decided in cooperation with the methodical advisor from the Regional Heritage Office in ilina to realise its hypothetic shape and colour reconstruction. In the row, the second historical paint layer with the figures of the apostles on the lower parts of the choir's vault is the art-historically most valuable artistic realisation in the interior of the church. The restoration survey on the figures did not bring any fundamental changes. It proved large extent of damage and large losses of the original in the past. The reconstruction of a part of draperies of the apostles clothing belongs, from an artistic point of view, to the best managed realisation of restoration in the 50ies. That is why, after our
Details of the apostles on the northern vault of the choir during restoration. The apostles on the northern vault of the choir after restoration.
62
e-conser vation
agreement with the methodical advisor, we decided to accept this artistic part. However, the low quality of large areas of fillings required their replacement. We copied the reconstructed parts of the draperies. After the replacement of the fillings the drawing was remade. On the northern part of the vault of the choir, during the removal of the fillings we recorded an interesting find. In the placing mortar of the vaults masonry we found imprints of the original wooden moulding of the vault. They have shown that the moulding was built from various split wooden beams. The find cleared the reason why the surface of the vault is so distinctly uneven. Their extent was large enough to enable us again to return the original aspect to the figures and their draperies in a larger extent and more closely to the restoration performed in the 50ies of the 20th century.
The art-historical analytic-synthetical study which is a part of the research evaluates the painting decoration of the apostles with these words: The wall paintings in the church of King St. Stefan in ilina with regards to the proposed dating of the oldest layers (before 1250, respectively second half of the 13th century) belong to the most valuable evidences of medieval art preserved in Slovakia. The drawing of such quality and from this period as it is represented by the apostles from ilina has no comparison not only in Slovakia or in surrounding countries. With their style, they represent the transitional phase between Romanesque monumental
Surface survey in direct light (right) and ranking light (below).
e-conser vation
63
JOZEF DORICA
Conch of the apse before restoration.
Conch of the apse after restoration.

e-conser vation
64
painting developing forms passed on through drawing templates and early Gothic style which manifested on them in livelier drapery, tendency to linear and more flowing drawing, communication among the figures and finally also with the decorative architectonic frame of the arcades. An exhibition about the intervention and discoveries at the Church of King St. Stefan organised by the city of ilina, Zbor ilincov (ilina Patriots) will take place between 4 August 2010 16 September 2010 at the Old Town Hall, Marinske nmestie 1, ilina, Slovakia. Credits: Partners: Povask Museum in ilina, Krl Steffanus fine wines Preparation of the exhibition: Acad. painter Jozef Dorica English translation: Mgr. art. Barbara Davidson and Stevin John Davidson Photographs: from archive sources and from the authors archive Archaeological survey in the years 1995 and 2000 by Mgr. Jozef Moravk Restoration research in the year 2008: by Acad. painter Jozef Dorica Technical cooperation: Pavol Santa Methodical advisor for restoration for the Regional Heritage Office in ilina: Mgr. Emlia Michalcov - Boroov Cooperation for the restoration research: Dr. Duan Buran, RNDr. Miroslav Hajn, Ing. Eva Kukov, Ing. Tom Kyncl, Ing. Jn Obuch Restoration in the year 2009: Academic painter Jozef Dorica, Head restorer, Mgr. art Jlius Karco, Mgr. art Jana Konkov, Mgr. art Denisa Petrlov, Mgr. art Zuzana Weiglov, Milan Bagin, Rbert Tibensk, technical cooperation Juraj Dorica.
e-conser vation
Cooperation for the Roman-Catholic church: Ing. Ladislav tefanec, church caretaker Specialised cooperation by the preparation of the exhibition: Mgr. Jozef Moravk, Ing. Miroslav Pfliegel, Mgr. Peter tnsky Curator of the exhibition: Academic painter Jozef Dorica The restoration of the wall paintings was financed from the grant system of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic Obnovme si svoj dom and by the Roman-Catholic church, parsonage ilinacity.
JOZEF DORICA
Conservator-restorer Academic painter Jozef Dorica (1949) is a conservator-restorer specialised in wall, panel and easel paintings. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, department of Painting Restoration under Prof. Karel Vesel. After graduation in 1975 he was active mainly as artist in fine arts. Between 1981 and 2002 he worked as restorer in the Slovak National Museum Museum Bojnice. In 1990 he co-founded Restorers' Union (Obec retaurtorov), of the Slovak Union of Fine Arts and in 1994 he cooperated in the establishment of the Chamber of Restorers (Komora retaurtorov), from which he was the president for two mandates (20012005). At present he is the head of the Restoration commission as the advising body to the General Director of the Heritage Office of the SR in Bratislava. For his work he was awarded twice the annual prize of the Pamiatky a mze (Heritage and Museums) magazine and three times with the Fnix - cultural heritage of the year prize by the Foundation of the Slovak Gas Industry (SPP) and the Ministry of Culture of the SR.
65
www.prorestauro.com
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
The 18th Century Wooden Church from Ursi Village, Romania
By Anca Nicolaescu
with scientific input from Gheorghe Niculescu and Oana Chachula
heritage in danger
ANCA NICOLAESCU
E-conservation magazine from June 2009 (10th issue) published an article regarding the endangered rural heritage from Romania encompassing the South and North areas of the Carpathian Mountains chain. In that paper Ovidiu Danes described the delicate situation of the wooden churches as being Ignored by the village communities and deemed as minor patrimony by the governmental authorities, just a few wooden churches were preserved in their intact initial condition in terms of architecture, paintings, icon collections, furniture, ceremonial objects, etc. But they have actually vanished from our own awareness. The project which was described at that time has already had two years of field and archive researches done by dedicated art historians Luiza Zamora and Ovidiu Danes and photographers who struggled to identify and record the wooden churches from the mentioned areas. During those years they were basically rediscovering many of those monuments, which were never systematically studied except during a partial inventory from 1960. Throughout those field researches a vast documentation has been gathered and used in a series of exhibitions and seminars willing to draw the atFigure 1. General view of Ursi church.
tention of local communities and administrative officials in charge of the national heritage preservation to this grave issue in order to proceed with their emergency conservation. But the only result was a volunteering campaign organized by Dala Foundation and The Architects' Chamber of Romania (OAR) presided at that time by Serban Sturdza, with students from the Universities of Architecture from Timisoara and Bucharest. During the 2010 summer 30 churches were documented from the architectural point of view, being mapped with notes regarding the conservation
68
e-conser vation
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
evaluation. One of them without mural paintings, almost in ruin, was moved to a monastery ensemble. An itinerant exhibition was organized by Dala Foundation and OAR and seminars accompanied it. Again the responsible authorities were not too much moved or interested in this action, nor in its continuation. This introduction was necessary for the readers to better understand the context of an irreparable event that has occurred meanwhile the partial collapse of Ursi Church from Romania, Valcea county, on June 13, 2010. One of the most valuable from this group of rural monuments, an example of fine craftsmanship of both the wooden architecture and mural decorations done in al fresco technique, which survived almost 300 years due to its high technical qualities and not the maintenance it deserved, became this summer almost a ruin. This is the reason for the publication of the present article, which is an updated version of the paper Degradations and conservation strategies for an XVIII century wooden church from Oltenia County, Romania by Gheorghe Niculescu1, Oana Chachula1 and Anca Nicolaescu, presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the International Research Group on Wood Protection (IRG), COST focus meeting, in May 2010 at Biarritz, France. The article was written after a research campaign, which took place in November 2009 involving an interdisciplinary team of conservators, physicists and biologists from different Romanians Institutes like the National Research Institute for Conservation and Restoration and the National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE). The team made an effort to go in situ in
Figures 2 and 3. Pictures taken by the Arch. Stefan Balici after the collapse of church's ceiling, June 13, 2010.
November in order to set up as fast as possible an emergency strategy trying to rush all the procedures for an actual intervention which could have at least protected the church until the beginning of further complex conservation treatments. The research also encompassed, beside the conservation assessment of the wall paintings, the analysis of the component materials and a thorough biological attack assessment. All those efforts, done during an unwelcoming weather and without any financial support, were again, in vane. The bureaucratic difficulties, the lack of interest and therefore of founding, lead to postpones of the emergency intervention having as result the partially church collapse. Therefore we are dedicating a few pages in e-conservation magazine to this sad example of deserted rural heritage, which unfortunately, despite its
69
1 Researchers at the National Research Institute for Conserva-
tion and Restoration, Calea Victoriei 12, Bucharest, Romania

e-conser vation
ANCA NICOLAESCU
value, has been left out of any conservation policy by the local or national authorities. Unfortunately this is not an isolated example, the destruction of the rural heritage occurring constantly and increasingly every year. Historical background The church from Ursi village, Popesti, Valcea district (figure 1), was built in the year 1775, following the model of timber houses. The church has a simple rectangular plane, with apses on three sides, and is divided into altar, narthex, exonarthex and open porch, in accordance with Eastern Christian tradition. The simple and low volume of the church was protected by the large eaves of the shingle covered roof. The construction system is a traditional one, the monument being erected on a wooden base by arranging oak logs joint together in spigot at the ends. The exonarthex and narthex interiors are semicircular vaulted, while the altar has a quarter of calotte vault.
Mural painting The church has been adorned, inside and outside, with al fresco paintings of a rare artistic and iconographic value, finding here some rarely represented themes like Protecting Veil of the Mother of God (The Mother of God with Angels Wings), painted on the west gable of the exonarthex. This iconographic scene is found in the neighbouring area only at Govora Monastery, monument of traditional Brncovenesc style. Following the specificity of XVIII century paintings, the painting of Ursi church has a deeply human character, with picturesque scenes included in the biblical ones (soldiers, peasants working the field, chancellors wearing epoch costumes). The inside of the vault level has been painted in a secco technique directly onto the wood, without any preparation layer, the fresco being only applied on the walls as far as the beam level. Taking into account the severe deterioration state of the whole monument, the preservation of frag-
Figure 4. Altar before the collapse of the ceiling. Photo by Ovidiu Danes.
70
e-conser vation
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
ments of original painting indicate a very good knowledge of the fresco technique by the artist. The high professional grade of the master painter is evident especially in adjusting the fresco technique to a wooden support. The arricio layer, meant for levelling the wall, was eliminated, and the intonaco layer is very thin, about 5 mm, sometimes only 3 mm. The same support layer, made of lime and tows, is observed in the logs joints, which sometimes reaches 1 cm thickness. The thinly applied intonaco layer could result in a deficient pictorial layer (powdery, without coherence), but in this case, despite the precarious state of conservation of the mural ensemble, the still existing pictorial layer is in an unexpectedly good condition. The detachments of the colour layer, especially scales like ones, are visible mainly in the areas affected by deformations or/and displacements of the wooden support, so these are due to mechanical causes and not to a technical deficiency. Another very important technical detail, as in time it became a degradation factor, is the wooden beam incision in order to improve the pictorial layer adherence to the wooden support. By a thorough inspection of the pictorial surface it was noticed that these incisions (initially just cuttings of wood fibres) grew in volume, expanding under the action of humidity, penetrating in the support layer
Figure 6 and 7 (above). Example of flaking occurred in the areas of the wooden support affected by mechanical degradation. Figure 8 (below). Wooden beam incisions done on the whole surface to improve the adherence of the plaster to the wooden support.
Figure 5. Detail of a mural fragment inside of the log joints.
e-conser vation
71
ANCA NICOLAESCU
detachments. So, by successive volume variations, the free wood fibres built an internal pressure, eventually resulting in local detachments or even expelling of fresco fragments. Degradation causes The main cause of deterioration of the church has been the improper maintenance in time. In 1850 great earthquake damage has been reported. The year 1913 marks the beginning of its gradual neglect, due to the building of a new masonry church. This is the moment of the wooden church abandon, which will be used only occasionally, as cemetery church for burials or offices for the dead. Repeated cycles of rainwater infiltrations, due to successive and unsolved deteriorations of the roof, led to cyclic deformations of the wooden
Figure 9. Eastern facade tilted to the north.
support (expansion and contraction of the wood). The accumulation of infiltration humidity, combined, in the lower part, with capillarity one (the church lacks a drainage system and the vegetation grows in the vicinity of the walls), favoured and maintained the biological attack. The wooden structure has been attacked and deteriorated, losing its resistance and severely affecting both the church structure (see figure 9, the church volume is twisted, the west faade is tilted to the south and the east one to the north) and, inevitably, the painted decoration. The first detachments of the fresco layer presumably took place at the level of logs joints, gradually leading to a total loss of the paint on a 4 cm surface on the joints trajectory, expanding on larger areas in certain badly affected parts. This accumulation of humidity led to the biological attack.
72
e-conser vation
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
The bacteria and fungi developed on the pictorial layer, together with the other deterioration agents, played in time an important role in the destruction of the mural painting on a significant area. At this moment the attack is inactive, resulting just in some colour and structural changes on the painted surfaces. We took biological samples and identified species known as biodegradation agents of the fresco, as: Aspergillus flavus, Mucor sp., species of Penicillium and Alternaria alternata. Conservation state and strategy of preservation intervention The degradation causes had an interdependent evolution, starting with the lack of a minimal constant maintenance of the church, which resulted in immediate mechanical degradation the roof gradually deteriorated making way to infiltrations in the upper part, combined, with capillarity in the lower part, also due to negligence and allowing vegetation and earth deposits to accumulate at the base level.
Figure 10. Damages caused by water infiltrations on the iconostasis.
Figure 11. Massive losses of the painted surface on the level of log joints.
e-conser vation
73
ANCA NICOLAESCU
Figure 12. Detail of the rotted wood.

74 e-conser vation
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
Thus, physical and chemical degradations appeared in the wood structure as a consequence of humidity. Eventually, the rise of humidity level in the whole church and in their constitutive elements (wood) led to a biologic attack. The wood weakening, more and more severe structural deficiencies were the natural result of the conditions in which the monument existed for some decades. The painting degradation appeared gradually also, especially at the ground level. From simple fissures and cracks to lacunas and detachments, some of them very large and severe, in form of sloping roof or swelling, displacement or slipping of the support layer, maceration and fragmentation on large areas. Biological attack also affected the mural painting due to the high level of humidity maintained over long periods of time inside the church as a consequence of pluvial waters penetrating through the destroyed roof. The selection of the preservation intervention had to take into consideration this chain of events and their negative effects in order to be efficient in time. Until now a thorough research or specific interventions to remediate the existent deteriorations had not been carried out, with the exception of some local interventions on the roof level (the last replacement of the shingle was done in 1943), followed by the covering with tar paper (also deteriorated since). Some interventions were done by supporting the rafters ends with inclined poles in order to transmit the efforts from the roof directly to the ground, avoiding the stress on the walls, already badly damaged, which could led to the collapse of all building.
Figures 13-15. Damages of the murals at the support layer caused by structural deficiencies of the architecture.
e-conser vation
75
ANCA NICOLAESCU
Figure 16. Image with the church supported by inclined poles.
Experimental Methods Physical analysis The pigments and support layer composition were determined by X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF), on a portable apparatus Innov-X Alpha Series, with a wolfram anode X-rays tube, working at 40 kV and 100 mA. The detector is a Si-PIN detector, cooled by Peltier effect. Seven samples were taken from different locations (outside northern wall N, eastern wall E, exonarthex V and exonarthex ceiling) aiming to cover all the pigments used in the wall painting execution. By X-ray fluorescence analysis the characteristic pigments for fresco (green earth, ochre) were determined, as well as some pigments from an earlier intervention (Titan white, chromium green) (figures 17 and 18). The blue hue was obtained by mixing carbon black with lime white, a technique usually used in fresco painting. Also, the migration of soluble salts as CaSO4.2H2O was revealed.
76
Biological analysis The samples from the paint layer have been seeded in aseptic conditions on culture media: Sabouraud medium for moulds. The incubation has been performed for a time period of 7 to 14 days at 28C. The identification of fungus was performed by a stereomicroscope Nikon SMZ1000, a microscope Nikon Eclipse LV100 and reagents (cotton blue,
Figure 17. Vault decayed by the Macromycetes.
e-conser vation
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
Figure 18. XRF spectrum of the green sample Ursi church outside, east wall.
Figure 19. XRF spectrum of the green sample Ursi church inside, pronartex west wall.
ethanol, KOH). Wood decay fungi (Huckfeldt and Schimdt 2006) and microfungi (Tanase 2002) were identified. Concerning the wood biodegradation the situation is as it follows. The roof, as well as the other resistance structural elements (rafters, logs) are affected in a proportion of 80% by the attack of the Basidiomycete species like: Coniophora puteana, Fibroporia vaillantii, Hyphodontia breviseta and Serpula lacrymans. In some places the resistance
e-conser vation
logs are completely destroyed, even collapsed. The iconostasis and the altar doors, made of fir wood, are also affected by the xylophage attack, inactive at this moment. One can see big flight holes, 4 to 5 on square centimeter. At the same time the base and the floor are completely affected, with some parts even lacking (figure 20). Except for the oak structures, all the wood is attacked by xylophagous insects.
77
ANCA NICOLAESCU
Figures 20-22. Decay of the massive timber floor and different areas of the paint layer affected by biological agents.
Figure 23. Micromycetes identified in laboratory out of the drawn samples.
Recommendation for an emergency intervention on the mural painting Architectural solutions for the stabilization of the severe structural damages should be chosen so as to avoid risky operations for the existing pictorial layer, such as detachment and remounting. Beside the usual operations in cases of prophylactic preservation of the pictorial layer, the plan for the architectural rehabilitation should give a special attention to the materials used in the consolidation of the support layer. This is necessary due to the fact that it is not advisable to use the same consolidation materials as those employed for a mural painting on masonry. The conservation state of the wooden support already damaged by biological attack is conditioning the selection or preparation of the materials in this situation. Thus, some criteria were established regarding the injection material for the situation of Ursi church, such as: - the use of a minimum amount of water; its uncontrolled use could lead to new deterioration of
78
the wooden support or could worsen the existent problems; - the fluidity; a condition difficult to reconcile with the above mentioned one, but necessary, as the intonacco layer is very thin and , in most areas, could not allow the total penetration of a consolidation material with a too high content of aggregate; - quick setting, taking into account the poor mechanical resistance of the support layer damaged by the humidity. Ursi Church has survived as much as it possibly could. It has enjoyed when it was brought to the attention of art historians by a traveler photographer and heritage lover, who has captured its beautiful frescoes -- not only the interior, but also the exterior ones, which had survived not because they were well cared for by those whom it served for so long, but only because they were well done. Now it seems that only nature is still close to it and tries to recover it as long as no one else is interested in what it once represented. Grass is slowly covering its socle and birds store their winter supplies between its beams. A very sad image, but apparently, very much alive, awaiting for some solution.
e-conser vation
FORGOTTEN HERITAGE
Acknowledgments Project participants involved in the saving of Ursi Church: Luiza Zamora, Art Historian Ovidiu Danes, Art Historian, president of Dala Foundation Arh. Serban Sturdza, president of The Architects' Chamber of Romania at that time Serban Bonciocat, Mihaele Dumitru Tranca and Sorin Onisor photographers Caroline DAssay, president ProPatrimonio, France Oana Chachula, Biologist, and Gheorghe Niculescu, physicist, director of the National Research Insitute for Conservation and Restoration Roxana Radvan National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE) Simona Patrascu, Mural Paintings Conservator Prof. Gabriel Panasiu and volunteer students, 5th year, University of Architecture, Bucharest Costin Octavian, Manafu Marius, Oprisan Silviu, and Smanatana Sergiu, among others.
GHEORGHE NICULESCU
Conservation-scientist Contact: niculescu.geo@gmail.com Gheorghe Niculescu is the director of the National Research Institute for Conservation and Restoration (INCCR) and physics professor at the National Art University in Bucharest, Romania. He has over 30 years of experience in the research of historic monuments from Romania.
ANCA NICOLAESCU Conservator-restorer Contact: anca.nicolaescu@e-conservationline.com Anca Nicolaescu (BA, MA) is a conservator specialised in mural painting. She has received her Master degree from the National Art University in Bucharest, Romania. Her professional experience includes coordination of various projects at Restauro Art Grup (conservation enterprise she co-founded) and international participations at conservation projects in UK, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Japan, India and Denmark. Presently she works as freelance conservator in Paris, France. She is a co-founder and editor of e-conservation magazine.
e-conser vation
OANA CHACHULA
Biologist Contact: oana_chachula@yahoo.com Oana Chachula graduated from the Faculty of Biology Al. I. Cuza, in Iasi (Romania) in 2002. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Animal Taxonomy field at Biology Faculty, University of Bucharest. She has been working at the INCCR as a biologist for 3 years, her current work responsibilities including the biological investigation of movable objects and historical buildings.
79
Talk To Us!
If you have just read the magazine and you wish to tell us your
Opinions Ideas Comments Thoughts Projects Interests Feedback Observations Reactions or anything else...?
Just write us an email to: general@e-conservationline.com e-conservationline
No. 15, July 2010 LICENCE ISSN: 1646-9283 Registration Number Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5
125248 Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicao Social Portugal You are free: to Share to copy, distribute and transmit this work
Property
e-conservationline, Teodora Poiata
Periodicity
Bimonthly
Cover
Detail of mural painting from the 18th century wooden church from Ursi village, Romania. Photo by Anca Nicolaescu
Under the following conditions:
Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by our licence, best by linking to CC website.
Executive Editor
Rui Bordalo
Editors
Teodora Poiata, Anca Nicolaescu
Collaborators
Anca Din Daniel Cull
Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Graphic Design and Photography

Anca Poiata, Radu Matase
Execution
Teodora Poiata
No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Address
Rua de Santa Catarina, n 467, 4D 4480-779 Vila do Conde, Portugal e-conservationline informs that the published information legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may
www.e-conservationline.com is believed to be true and accurate but can not accept any All correspondence to: occur or make any warranty for the published material, general@e-conservationline.com 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.

E-Conservation Magazine - 15

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

E-Conservation Magazine - 15

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

e-conservation

the online magazine No. 15, July 2010

Contemporary Art Wall Clock by PaulaArt

GRAPHIC AND WEB DESIGN SERVICES FOR CONSERVATION

NEWS & VIEWS

NEWS Virtual Reintegration of Renaissance Mural Paintings The Gates of Brasov

EVENTS PERSPECTIVES INTERVIEW ARTICLES

Preventive Conservation, a Deliberate Choice

Laser Cleaning in Art Conservation Part I: Laser Fundamentals

news & view

ANA RITA VEIGA

VIRTUAL REINTEGRATION OF RENAISSANCE MURAL PAINTINGS

Projection of the image on the mural surface.

FREE CONSERVATION RESOURCES

Art Conservation Research

THE GATES OF BRASOV A Pro Patrimonio Foundation Project

16 Brancoveanu Street, before and after the works completed.

Are you reading this?

14th European Conference on Digital Libraries

4th International Architectural Paint Research Conference August 2010

Reusing the Industrial Past

Museums and the Market

Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future

Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean

Date: 14-16 September

Glass and Light Colloquium 130 Years Rothkegel

11th Symposium on Virtual reality Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

7th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects

Museums and the Market

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION, A DELIBERATE CHOICE

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

JAAP VAN DER BURG

RISK MANAGEMENT AND CARE OF COLLECTIONS IN THE BALKANS

RISK MANAGEMENT AND CARE OF COLLECTIONS IN THE BALKANS

AREAS OF PUBLISHING Conservation Treatment

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

Detected compounds luteolin-7-O-glucoside apigenin-7-glucoside luteolin indigotin indirubin

Blue Red and pink Orange

tannin indigotin indigotin Indirubin flavonoids (trace level)

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ

IDENTIFICATION OF NATURAL DYES IN HISTORICAL COPTIC TEXTILES

MARA ANTONIA GARCA RODRGUEZ

MARIN DEL EGIDO

LASER CLEANING IN ART CONSERVATION

LASER CLEANING IN ART CONSERVATION

Some rights reserved, available at Wikimedia Commons.

LASER CLEANING IN ART CONSERVATION

Schematic representation of the laser cavity.

LASER CLEANING IN ART CONSERVATION

LASER CLEANING IN ART CONSERVATION