e-conservationthe online magazine No. 14, May 2010

http://e-conservationline.com/

edit

oria

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So, why do we do it?

e-conservation

"... nothing, not even neglect, lasts forever."

Leo Steinberg

As conservator-restorers it’s only natural that we conserve. It is what we have chosen to do. We studied

to do it and we work on and for it the rest of our lives. Occasionally we are faced with the question,

why do it? Why do we conserve? Is it because of our love of History? Is it because of our romantic

fascination to unravel the artists’ closely guarded secrets? Or is it because conservation is at the

interfacing point between art and science? Or do we all feel somehow invested with the ‘sacred’

responsibility to take care of and to preserve our ancestor’s objects and pass them on the legacy to

our children? I’m sure everyone will have their own favourite answer but nonetheless the question

remains: why do we do it?

The motives behind why we conservators do it are usually completely different to those which

motivate a society to conserve their cultural heritage. Society in general seems to have a simple

answer, almost like a cliché: to maintain our historical identity, to know more about who we are and

where we come from. And all this is achieved through the conservation of the objects that our

ancestors left behind. But is that all we do, preserve objects so that others can interpret them? For

society, one may think, this attitude towards conservation is almost a natural way to think. After all,

that is why we collect objects and it is why we build museums, isn’t it? But the truth is that there

have never been so many of us on the planet, nor have there been so many producers of culture,

either material or immaterial or such an increasing number of museums and collections. The logistics

of collecting, caring for and preserving objects can never be sufficient for the amount of increasing

cultural heritage objects and, therefore, loss is inevitable. Even the digital world, that many thought

would be part of the solution, is now actually part of the problem. Let’s face it, it’s impossible to

keep everything, so where exactly do we draw the line? Shouldn’t there be some guidelines, some

general orientation, other than common sense?

The idea that “cultural heritage ought to be protected” is transmitted everyday. It is a need that

responds to international values that everyone understands and agrees with. If so, why are there

people who persistently reject it? Certain things immediately come to mind, like acts of vandalism,

disfiguring graffiti, slashing or throwing acid on public sculptures or paintings. These, fortunately,

are isolated acts and quite uncommon. But, what about when an entire community tries to get rid of a

part of its history, and its cultural objects because of their identity symbolism become their targets of

eradication? For example, a village in Portugal, for reasons yet to be understood, recently got authori-

sation from the local city hall to demolish a XVI century church! The demolition has not yet occurred

for lack of funds, but when it does happen, no doubt that community will lose part of its local

identity. Indeed that loss would be for the entire nation. So, when those supposedly most interested

in protecting their heritage are in fact also those who seek its destruction, should they be entitled to

do so? Of course we, as specialists, know the answer; after all, heritage is not ours to dispose of but

merely to preserve it in order to pass it on to future generations. However not everything can be

preserved, so can we choose what to forget? And if so, how do we choose what to forget? Should we

just accept that History has always had its own editing process? As we see, conservation of cultural

heritage is not universally acknowledged. We ought to conserve, but are we entitled to forget?

Rui Bordalo

Editor-in-Chief

www.prorestauro.com

NEWS & VIEWS 6

ARTICLES

80

ARP PROCEEDINGS 54

Building Bridges in the Third Place

By Daniel Cull

REVIEWS

Multidisciplinary Conservation – A Holistic View for Historic

Interiors. ICOM-CC Interim Meeting

March 23-26, 2010, Rome, Italy

Review by Ana Bidarra

VI Symposium of Art and Science

Conservation and Restoration of Decorative Arts

February 27, 2010, Porto, Portugal

Review by Rui Bordalo

UPCOMING EVENTS

June - July 2010

Wikipedia Saves Public Art:

An interview with Richard McCoy and Jennifer Geigel Mikulay,

conducted by Daniel Cull

Conservation-Restoration Interventions in Extreme Cases

Improving the Structural Resistance of Wood Damaged by

Biological Attack

by Cornelia and Dinu Sãvescu

The Challenges of Digital Art Preservation

by Lino García and Pilar Montero Vilar

The Conservation-Restoration of the “Charola” Paintings of the

Convent of Christ in Tomar

by Frederico Henriques, Ana Bailão and Miguel Garcia

The Conservation and Preservation of a Photographic Print.

The “Panoramic View of Constantinople”

by Élia Roldão and Luis Pavão

Conservation. Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths

Review by Christabel Blackman

EVENTS

8

70

INDEX

19

16

8

30

43

11

INTERVIEW

5

BOOK REVIEW

e-conservation

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BUILDING BRIDGES IN THE THIRD PLACE

In a world in which bridges between

cultures are more often blown apart

than built, museums hold an intriguing

potentiality for bridge building. Elaine

Heumann Gurian noted that museums

can play "an enhanced role in the build-

ing of community and our collective civic

life" [2]. The community or civic life

of the museum is intimately linked to

collective spaces within the museum

environment, therefore our use(s) of

space(s) within museums takes on sig-

nificance. These days museums are more

than an exhibit space with perhaps a

shop and cafe, today you’ll find informal

and formal meeting space, cinemas,

wi-fi hotspots, performances, creche,

theatre, viewable conservation studios,

there may be cocktail parties, fairs,

dances, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs

and a whole lot more besides, it would

be true to say that "without necessarily

intending to, museums have become

mixed-use environments" [3]. One the-

oretical point of coalescence for investi-

igating spacial use within the contem-

porary museum is that of the so-called

'third place', influenced by the sociolo-

gist William H. Whyte [4] who researched

the use of public space in Manhattan,

and the writings of Ray Oldenburg [5]

who discusses the significance of spaces

for communities and civic life. The mixed-

“culture is a bridge for everyone” (Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, 2001) [1]

By Daniel Cull

use museum environment is an important example

of such a 'third place':

"Neither work nor home, the third place is a neutral

community space, where people come together

voluntarily and informally in ways that level social

inequities and promote community engagement

and social connection." [6]

Corporations were quick to realize the importance

of selling a "third place experience" [7], and

museums have unsurprisingly not been far behind.

The IMLS document the 'Future of Museums' em-

phasizes the third place as a social tool: "Not just

a third place, but a third force if you will" [8]. As

the conservation profession increasingly enters

the public realm the act of conservation gains

in public comprehension, both tangibly (as an

activity) and intangibly (as a symbolic metaphor),

this coupled with increasing possibilities for com-

munication may allow conservators to develop

their own roles within third place scenarios. Pye

and Sully challenged conservators to "evaluate

their relevance to 21st century situations" [9]

and in so doing developed a socially conscious

conservation combined with bench work. Such a

vision of socially responsible conservation could

perhaps start by drawing on the idea that "con-

servators provide a paradigm [...] for a wider so-

cial ethos of care" [10], such ideas could provide

very significant bridge building tools within the

museum as a third place. Whether or not conser-

vation embraces ideas such as the 'third place'

e-conservation

is ultimately unimportant, what is however sig-

nificant is that conservation is increasingly a pub-

lic endeavor and as such it’s necessary to consider

how the profession interacts within the museum

space(s) and with the wider community/ies.

Notes

[1] Marcos, Subcomandante Insurgente, Paths

of Dignity: Indigenous Rights, Memory and

Cultural Heritage, accessed March 12, 2001, URL

[2] Elaine Heumann Gurian, "Function Follows

Form: How mixed-used spaces in museums

build community", (2001), in Elaine Heumann

Gurian, Civilizing the Museum: The Collected

Writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian, Routledge,

London and New York, 2006, p. 99

[3] p. 103, ibid.

[4] William H. Whyte, The Social Life of Small Urban

Spaces, The Conservation Foundation, 1980

[5] Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place: Cafes,

Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons,

and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Com-

munity, Da Capo Press, 1999

[6] Erica Pastore, The Future of Museums and

Libraries: A Discussion Guide (IMLS-2009-

RES-02), Institute of Museum and Library

Services, Washington DC., 2009, p. 9, URL

[pdf]

[7] Rafe Needleman, Starbucks: Stay as long as

you want, cnet news, August 15, 2009, URL

[8] Harold Skramstad, quoted in Pastore, ibid.

[9] Elizabeth Pye and Dean Sully, "Evolving

challenges, developing skills", The Conser-

vator, Volume 30, 2007, p.29.

[10] Samuel Jones and John Holden, It’s A

Material World: Caring for the public realm,

Demos, London, 2008, p. 16, URL [pdf]

DANIEL CULLConservatorThe Musical Instrument Museum

Daniel Cull is a Conservator, Wikipedian, Social Networker, and Blogger from the West Country of the

British Isles. Trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, where he received a

BSc in Archaeology, MA in Principles of Conservation, and an MSc in Conservation for Archaeology

and Museums. He was later awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the

American Indian/Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. He currently works as an ethnographic

musical instrument conservator at the Musical Instrument Museum, in Arizona.

Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com

Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org

VIEWS

e-conservation 7

Review by Ana Bidarra

The conference “Multidisciplinary conservation

– a holistic view for historic interiors” was a joint

interim meeting of five ICOM-CC working groups:

“Leather and related materials”, “Murals, stone

and rock art”, “Sculpture, polychromy and archi-

tectural conservation”, “Textiles” and “Wood, fur-

niture and lacquer”. More than 200 delegates from

20 different countries attended the conference.

The meeting was hosted by the Ministero per i

Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC) and by the

Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Res-

tauro (ISCR), with the support of the Internation-

al Centre for the Study of the Preservation and

Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and

the International Council of Museums – Italia

(ICOM Italia).

During the three days the main subject was divided

in 8 different themes, covering different approaches

to the conservation of historic interiors: “Historic

interiors and wide ranging conservation projects”,

“Museums and private residences: of conserva-

tion”, “Interdisciplinary issues”, “Preserving ori-

ginal context while maintaining a functional role”,

“Preventive conservation, care and maintenance”,

“Cultural property: changes in the original con-

text”, “Composite material artefacts: conserva-

tion projects” and “Materials and artefacts: tech-

nical and scientific update”. The poster sessions

took place before lunch and afternoon coffee

breaks. The subjects were related with different

areas: “Historic interiors”, “Textiles”, “Leather

and related materials”, “Sculpture, polychromy

and architectural decoration” (2 sessions) and

“Wood, furniture and lacquer”. Each author had

3 minutes to make a presentation on the theme

of the poster, inviting the delegates to a more at-

tentive look. The posters were in display during

the 3 days in the lunch room.

March 23-26, 2010 Rome, ItalyComplesso Monumentale di San Michele a Ripa

http://iscr.beniculturali.it/...

Hosted by:Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC)

Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il

Restauro (ISCR)

MULTIDISCIPLINARY CONSERVATION – A HOLISTIC VIEW FOR HISTORIC INTERIORS

REVIEWS

ICOM-CC Interim Meeting

8 e-conservation

During the 3 days several speakers from public and

private institutions approached the conservation

of different interiors, with different materials

and in different countries. There were global ap-

proaches (Netherlands), integrated approaches

(Belgium) and historic interiors improvements

(England). Different case studies were discussed,

such as a Refectory (Malbork), a Sacristy (Tibães),

a Palace (Padmanabhapuram), a Royal Vineyard

(Torino), a Chinese room (Warsaw), a Castle (To-

rino), a Theatre (Italy), Villas, Temples (Taiwan),

Museums and Churches. Some objects were also

mentioned related with the environment where

they were located: tapestries, paintings, sculp-

tures, lacquer panels, altarpieces and parchments.

Some of the presentation showed really interest-

ing approaches to the conservation of historic

interiors and all the aspects involving such hetero-

geneous environments. Multidisciplinary teams

made possible good final results sometimes in

difficult conditions – logistic, monetary or geo-

graphical - these examples thought the interven-

tions in a methodical way, with a scientific ground

and within reasonable timings. However, a less

successful approach was made in other presenta-

tions especially regarding the degradation of ma-

terials in historic interiors, its causes and how

to solve them. In an overall appreciation this was

probably the weakest point of the congress, the

lack of well based scientific methodology to con-

servation issues and how to solve certain environ-

mental problems and degradation processes. Many

of the presentations were quite empirical and the

support of a more rigorous approach clearly lacked.

The 21st century conservation of historic interiors

can not be based only on installing air-condition-

ing systems or humidifiers in the rooms and then

expect them to solve problems. Apparently, one

of the speakers was very surprised when several

months later things were still the same!

Choosing a colour for an historic interior is, with-

out doubt, a very important aspect of the conser-

vation process – as some examples have shown.

REVIEWS

Poster presentation: “Sculpture, polychromy and architectural decoration” (Session 6).

Discussion of the session “Cultural property: changes in the original context”. Chair: Rui Xavier.

e-conservation 9

Presentation of Conservation works in refectories in the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, by Marcin Kozarzewski and Agnieszka Wielocha.

Several exams have to be performed, the need of

historical research is fundamental, but spending

months or even years discussing it? That doesn’t

seem a very practical approach and in an everyday

conservation process that is very far from reality...

The organisation of the congress in its different

aspects – timing, lunches and visits – was flawless.

The coordinators and assistant coordinators of the

different groups made everything run smoothly

and the fact that the different groups could meet

after the congress – some of those meetings oc-

curred during dinner time – was a great idea, so

people from different countries could talk and

share their thoughts.

ANA BIDARRAConservator-restorer

Contact: anabidarra@portugalmail.com

Ana Bidarra has a Degree in Conservation-Res-

toration and a Master Degree in GeoSciences on

white structured pigments for restoration.

Currently she is a PhD candidate researching the

compositional and technological aspects of gold

leaf from Portuguese baroque altarpieces. She

works as conservator-restorer in private practice

since 1999.

10 e-conservation

Closing remarks by Kate Seymour - “Sculpture, polychromy and architectural decoration” Group Coordinator.

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

REVIEWS

Review by Rui Bordalo

February 27, 2010Porto, Portugal

Organiser: Portuguese Catholic University (UCP)

http://www.porto.ucp.pt/

The VI Symposium of Art and Science (VI Jornadas

de Arte e Ciência) was a one day meeting that took

place in February 27, 2010 at the Portuguese Cath-

olic University (UCP) in Porto. UCP, which teaches

several degrees in conservation and restoration,

was the organiser of this event.

On its sixth edition, this symposium has already

some tradition. Since its first edition in 2003, each

meeting has been dedicated to a different theme.

The present one was dedicated to the conservation

and restoration of Decorative Arts. As established

by the organisers, the meeting intended to con-

tribute to the valorisation of decorative arts by

presenting current conservation and restoration

methodologies that are applied to these arts.

Decorative Arts gather a wide number of object

typologies and materials, and thus an wide number

of conservation specialties. This one-day event,

somehow short for the number and diversity of

the projects and interventions described, was not

organised in specialty panels but rather in con-

tinuous presentations. The meeting comprised 11

presentations from several specialties.

The traditional opening was made by Joaquim Aze-

vedo, director of the School of the Arts (EA) and of

the Research Center for Science and Technology

in Art (CITAR), followed by Gonçalo de Vasconcelos

e Sousa, director of the Department of Art and

Restoration of the School of the Arts.

The first presentation was given by Daniela Coelho,

from CITAR-UCP. The lecture focused on a study

of painted furniture from the late XVII and XVIII

centuries of Portuguese manufacture. One of the

main objectives was the relationship between the

original materials and the techniques used with

the actual state of conservation. In fact, there

seems to be a difference between those pieces

which were ordered for the national market and

those with a strong external influence, such as

oriental trends. Thus, there were national crafts-

man ateliers that tried to reproduce some tech-

niques without mastering them which had reper-

cussions on the furniture degradation and its

actual state of conservation.

The next presentation was given by Eulália Subtil,

from EA-UCP, who spoke about an intervention on

an XVI century ivory counter. This Indian-Portu-

guese counter was originally made in Kotte, Ceilan,

and is made of teak and ebony wood and completely

e-conservation 11

REVIEWS

VI SYMPOSIUM OF ART AND SCIENCE

Conservation and Restoration of Decorative Arts

12 e-conservation

REVIEWS

covered by plaques of ivory. These plaques, highly

worked in detail with vegetal and geometric mo-

tifs, presented several problems such as lacunas

and alteration of its aspect. The intervention fo-

cused, thus, on the cleaning, consolidation and

volumetric reintegration of the ivory.

Mafalda Veleda, conservator-restorer in private

practice, presented the conservation of an historic

interior, more precisely of the wallpapers from

Casa de Ínsua. The presentation promised to be

interesting. The lecturer spoke enthusiastically

about what the work entailed, from the study of

the historical background of the wallpapers to

their manufacturing in Germany, their purchase

and finally their mounting at that historic house.

Due to the long explanation on the historical back-

ground the presentation of the actual conserva-

tion intervention had to be considerably shortened,

nevertheless, the treatment, which included fix-

ation, lacuna filling and chromatic reintegration,

was worthy of interest.

Conservator-restorer Rita Maltieira presented an

intervention on a textile map of England, dating

from the XVIII-XIX century. This intervention is

part of her master degree project at the Textile

Conservation Centre (UK). The map, of silk satin,

is characteristic of the English school system from

the late XVIII century and early XIX century. The

map is owned by the Bristol City Museum and was

in rather advanced degradation state. The inter-

vention included consolidation with a synthetic

adhesive and the making of a support for the stor-

age of the map.

Paula Monteiro, conservator-restorer from the In-

stitute of Museums and Conservation (IMC), intro-

duced the audience to the intervention on a most

original object, a sedan chair (also know as palan-

quin or litter). This XVIII century chair belongs to

the Museum Quinta das Cruzes, in Madeira. This

singular object involves a multiplicity of materials

in its making, from the wood structure to the lining

and textile wrapping, including woodcarving. The

chair structure was so degraded by wood-boring

insects that the structure was literally holding

up on the exterior textiles. The description of the

techniques and materials and of the chair’s intri-

cate conservation problems was followed by the

step-by-step methodology that was found to

overcome all those problems and to achieve an

adequate conservation treatment at all levels.

After lunch, a presentation was given by Carla

Simões and Júlia Fonseca, both conservator-re-

storers from the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha

(St Claire-the-Old). Their presentation was focused

Opening session (from left to right): Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa, Ana Calvo and Eduarda Moreira da Silva.

General view of the audience during the presentation of Daniela Coelho.

13e-conservation

REVIEWS

on the intervention they performed on the archae-

ological glass found during the excavations at the

monastery. This gothic monument was originally

abandoned due to the frequent floods and re-

opened to the public recently, after 12 years of

conservation.

Next, Belmira Maduro, conservator-restorer at

IMC, introduced the audience to the most recent

intervention (2008-2009) on Custódia de Belém,

a masterpiece of Portuguese goldsmithing. This

gold and silver monstrance was made in 1506 by

the order of king Manuel I of Portugal. The presen-

tation included a highly detailed view of its con-

struction techniques and their importance for the

actual intervention, as well as an overview of past

interventions such as the one from 1929. The con-

servation intervention did not involved only con-

servator-restorers but a whole team of researches.

This team was able to study the materials and

construction techniques providing valuable in-

formation for the history of the object and for

the conservation methodology.

Isabel Tissot, conservator-restorer of metals, pre-

sented a general overview of some problematics of

the conservation of metals and the predominant

use of metals in decorative arts. On a richly il-

lustrative presentation, several case studies were

discussed, focused on the development of meth-

odologies for the treatment of corrosion and the

maintenance of the natural occurring patina. Al-

though the presentation did not focus on the study

of a single case, it was very educative for those who

are not familiar with that particular area.

One of the most discussed interventions was the

one given by Nuno Proença, conservator-restorer

in private practice, who spoke about a methodo-

logy for the treatment of lacunas in old tiles. The

results are from an ongoing project that his com-

pany is undertaking and thus the results were pre-

liminary. His approach was based on the use of

polymeric materials rather than the traditional

preparation of new tiles in large areas of lacunas.

The presentation of such method, or just variation

of a method according to some, arose some com-

ments although the novelty and use of this meth-

odology may have been somehow misunderstood.

However, from my point of view as paintings con-

servator-restorer, this new method presents a flaw

on the level of chromatic reintegration of large

areas when no exact model is available.

Towards the end of the day, Teresa Lança, conser-

vator-restorer and chief of the Division of Preser-

vation and Conservation of the National Library,

introduced the audience to methodologies, equip-

ments and projects that are currently put in prac-

tice in the field of conservation and restoration

of paper at the National Library in Lisbon. This

presentation brought me memories as an ex-in-

tern at that institution during my formative years.

Although it was clear to me that most methodo-

logies didn’t change much since then, from con-

solidation to washing and from filling lacunas to

bookbinding, it was good to see an update after

so many years.

Belmira Maduro(IMC) during her presentation about the conservation of Custódia de Belém.

14 e-conservation

REVIEWS

Finally, the last intervention was given by Maria

João Petisca, conservator-restorer at IMC, who

spoke about the treatment of a Chinese lacquered

folding screen from the XVIII century. This fold-

ing screen, made of wood and covered by urushi

lacquer, consisted of nine pieces that were once

separated and now belong to two separate Portu-

guese museums. Maintained during part of their

life in different conditions, the pieces presented

also different state of conservation, and degra-

dations which may also be connected to the urushi

application technique. The conservation interven-

tion, performed at IMC, took into account these

conditions but presented a similar approach for

the conservation of the different pieces once they

were part of the same piece of furniture.

The meeting finished with the launching of the

third number of an annual magazine published

by CITAR and dedicated to the study of decora-

tive arts by Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa, who

also thanked the audience for their presence and

closed the long day meeting.

This event is a clear example of dynamism that Uni-

versities promoting research in conservation and

restoration are having in the organisation of events

to support relevant discussions and exchange of

information in this field.

The next symposium will be dedicated to Research

in Conservation of North Portuguese Paintings

and is scheduled to take place already on June,

11-12.

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

FREE

CONSERVATION

RESOURCES

Art Conservation Research

conservationresearch.blogspot.com

Do you need to have an online presence?

Do you want a brand identity for your new business?

Do you feel it’s 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

www.Yconservation.com

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

Yconservation is a collaborative project designed especially for individuals

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

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

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

your business or project.

even

tsThe 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.

Seeing is Believeing: New Tech-nologies for Cultural Heritage

Date: 9 June Read more...

Place: London, UK

Recently there has been an upsurge in the

cultural resources available on the web and

many collections of this kind are becoming

available. This event will provide an opportu-

nity to hear about current work with texts,

archives, objects and museum collections, from

both a theoretical and an implementation stand-

point, and to look at a variety of approaches

to the material. There is also a focus on user

contribution and the way in which Web 2.0

can offer solutions.

36th Annual CAC Conference

Date: 10-12 June Read more...

Place: Ottawa, Ontario

The theme of this year's conference is Sustain-

ability of the Profession. We are interested in

exploring how the field of conservation can meet

the challenge of creating a more sustainable

workplace and environment. Papers will focus on

all aspects of conservation including the preser-

vation of First Nations' collections, library and

archival material; works of art; objects; furniture;

archaeological materials; conservation science

and digital media, etc. Two training workshops

will be held in conjunction with the Conference:

the Conservation of Feathers and Identification

and Care of Plastics in Museum Collections.

June

201

0

European Conference on X-Ray Spectrometry (EXRS )

Current Practices in Fine Art Reproduction

Date: 16-18 June Read more...

Place: Los Angeles, CA, USA

This symposium will present results of a 30-month pro-

ject funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that

was undertaken to evaluate current practices in fine art

image reproduction, determine the image quality gen-

erally achievable today, and establish a suggested frame-

work for art image interchange. Results from multiple

experiments will be among the inputs used to construct

a conceptual framework of the various types of imaging

taking place in cultural institutions at present. Results of

the project to date will be presented along with related

presentations from other experts. The symposium is de-

signed for people involved in all aspects of art image re-

production in museums, libraries and archives. The sym-

posium will consist of talks, panels, tours and an exhibit.

Symposium registration will be limited to 125 people.

Date: 20-25 June Read more...

Place: Figueira da Foz, Coimbra, Portugal

EXRS is a biennial conference series devoted to the ex-

change of emerging and inventive X-ray spectrometry

techniques and related areas, as well as to their important

applications. The main topics will be Interactions of X-rays

with matter and fundamental parameters; X-ray sources,

optics and detectors; Quantification methodology; TXRF,

GIXRF and related techniques; Microbeam techniques;

Mobile and portable XRF; WDXRS; Synchrotron XRS; PIXE

and electron induced XRS; Recent Scientific Developments

by XRS Instrumentation Manufacturers; X-ray imaging

and tomography; High resolution X-ray absorption and

emission spectroscopy; XRS Applications. The program

will consist of invited lectures, oral presentations, poster

contributions and will include an industrial exhibition.

e-conservation

2nd Annual ARCA Conference in the Study of Art Crime

EVA London 2010

Date: 5-7 July Read more...

Place: London, UK

EVA London's conference themes will include, but are not

limited to: Digital and computational fine art and pho-

tography; Reconstructive archaeology and architecture;

Visualising ideas and concepts; Moving and still images in

museums and galleries; Digital art; Digital performance;

Historic sites and buildings; Immersive environments;

Web 2.0 technologies in art and culture; Visualisation

in museums and historic sites; Sound, music, film and

animation; Technologies of digitisation, 2D and 3D ima-

ging; Virtual and augmented worlds.

Date: 10-11 July Read more...

Place: Amelia, Italy

The goal of the conference is to bring together interna-

tional scholars, police, and members of the art world to

collaborate for the protection of art worldwide.

The conference will feature the presentation of the an-

nual ARCA Awards to honor outstanding scholars and

professionals dedicated to the protection and recovery

of international cultural heritage.

In Situ Technical Imaging for Art and Archaeology

Date: 15 July Read more...

Place: London, UK

This symposium will discuss current practice and devel-

oping technologies for technical imaging in situ using

portable equipment. Recent technical developments in

the field will be discussed, together with the application

of imaging techniques to specific case studies.

Chemistry for Cultural Heritage (ChemCH)

I-CHORA 5: 5th International Conference on History of Records and Archives

Date: 1-3 July Read more...

Place: London, UK

The conference will address the subject of 'Records,

archives and technology: interdependence over time',

exploring this subject from a historical perspective, but

interpreting it as broadly as possible. It will consider the

evolving interrelationships between records, archives

and any technology, not just the digital technology of

our own time; and will embrace any kind of interdepend-

ence, including the role, challenges or opportunities of

technology in creating, maintaining or using records.

It will provide an opportunity to examine these topics

from the standpoint of different disciplines, including

philosophy, sociology, anthropology, archaeology, his-

tory, archival science, computer science, law and literary

and cultural studies.

Date: 1-3 July Read more...

Place: Ravenna, Italy

Since the very beginning of conservation and restoration

concepts and practice different branches of Chemistry,

such as physical, analytical, organic and environmental

chemistry have been playing a key role in diagnosis, un-

derstanding causes and state of conservation, studying

ancient production techniques, developing and evaluating

restoration materials and methods, guiding conservators

in the planning and execution of conservation-restora-

tion interventions of both movable and immovable cul-

tural heritage as well as in the education and training of

conservation professionals. The last decades have seen

the introduction of new and advanced chemical techno-

logies applied to the different above mentioned fields of

application, improving the capability of the discipline to

answer specific conservation-restoration needs.

July

201

0EVENTS

July

201

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WIKIPEDIA SAVES PUBLIC ART:

An interview with Richard McCoy and Jennifer Geigel Mikulay,

conducted by Daniel Cull

The internet has increasingly become a central tool of the conservation

profession, most notably with the advent of Web 2.0 technologies and user-

generated media. For many the wiki-based online encyclopedia ‘Wikipedia’ has

become a frequently utilized source or first point of call for information.

However, Wikipedia is more than an encyclopedia, it is also a platform from

which a whole variety of interesting projects have been launched, including a

recent conservation themed project entitled: ‘Wikipedia Saves Public Art’

(WSPA) [1]. Expanding upon the project’s stated aim to “encourage the

creation of accurate, informative and up-to-date articles about public art”, this

interview aims to discuss this project in more depth with its founders; Richard

McCoy and Jennifer Geigel Mikulay, who launched the project along with their

students in a Museum Studies class at Indiana University-Purdue University

Indianapolis (IUPUI).

© M

icha

el M

ikul

ay

e-conservation

Daniel Cull: Let’s begin with a brief introduction to

yourselves and your role within this project.

Jennifer Geigel Mikulay: I’m on the faculty at

IUPUI. I teach visual culture and museum studies.

My scholarship deals with public art’s civic role,

so I am very interested in the ongoing digitization

of public art and how that process facilitates or

hinders access and engagement. This past fall, I

worked with Richard McCoy to pilot Wikipedia Saves

Public Art in a museum studies course called “Col-

lections Care and Management.” The process is

documented on my blog [2].

Richard McCoy: I’m a conservator at the Indiana-

polis Museum of Art where I work on all kinds of

art, including outdoor sculptures and other things

in the public sphere.

DC: I’m interested in the background to this project.

I was wondering how the project came about, and

how the Museum Studies course at IUPUI took up

the project? Furthermore, I am interested to know

whether ‘Save Outdoor Sculpture!’ (SOS) [3], a

project concerned with documenting public sculp-

ture, and ‘Wikipedia Loves Art’ [4], an excellent

wikipedia/museum world cross over project had

a role to play in the development of WSPA?

JGM: I learned about SOS! when I was writing my

dissertation and collaborated with Civic Studio (a

studio art course at Grand Valley State University)

to build a website to collect images of people in-

teracting with the first NEA-funded public art-

work, Alexander Calder’s La Grande Vitesse (1969).

Doing the ‘Big Red Thing’ project [5] demonstrated

for me that the Web could be a powerful venue

for documenting how people use public art. The

museum studies class at IUPUI took up WSPA be-

cause Richard and I were team-teaching the course

and we wanted a concrete, public way for the stu-

dents to learn about some of the practicalities and

politics involved with being a steward of cultural

material.

RM: Jenny and I first met through the IMA’s Blog

and Wikipedia. In early 2008 I wrote about the

idea of using Wikipedia as a place to document

artworks [6]. But it wasn’t until we offered a free

lunch with the IMA’s Director and CEO, Maxwell

Anderson, that people actually started creating

articles [7]. Jenny was one of the first 5 people

to make an article about an IMA sculpture, Mark

DiSuvero’s “Snowplow” on the grounds of the IMA

[8]. Of course, I was thrilled to find out more about

Jenny and her work over the course of time. Her

project Big Red Thing really is very cool and close

to this project.

I have to say, though, that I don’t think the idea

for creating articles about art in an encyclopedia

INTERVIEW

20 e-conservation

Zephyr, a stainless steel sculpture by Steve Wooldridge (1998). Photo by LTalley, Some Rights Reserved.

is necessarily new or unique, but with Wikipedia

there is a lot more potential for the number of

actual articles and contributors. This process

opens up a whole new set of possibilities. What’s

to stop us from cataloging all of the public art in

the world?

WSPA is fundamentally different from SOS! in that

SOS! is a closed database that is managed by the

Smithsonian; WSPA is completely open, evolving

in real-time, and collaboratively managed by

everyone.

As for the IUPUI component, I was motivated by

my own college experiences: I always despised

teachers that used a phrase like “in the real world

you do x or y.” I mean, we pay real money to go to

school, so college always felt like the “real world”

to me. With this in mind, Jenny and I wanted to

make a project that pushed the students to work

in what they would recognize as the real world in

the hopes that they would take their work very

seriously and in the end have a finished product

they could be proud of and use to demonstrate

their abilities to potential employers.

Further, the principal notion we wanted to explore

is the potential for Wikipedia to operate as a con-

tent management system (CMS). Nearly all mu-

seums use some kind of CMS, and there are tons

of different ones out there, so it seemed a bit silly

to teach them how to use one particular CMS. By

using Wikipedia as a CMS for cataloguing a collec-

tion of public art we could focus on the big con-

cepts and have the students actually help build

the structure by which the data would be entered.

Museum registrars are constantly working in a

CMS and frequently create their own databases

for special projects, so we thought this project

would be ideal. Also, there are many small to me-

dium-sized institutions around the globe that will

never have the money for a CMS, especially one

that allows them to publish information on the Web.

Those pieces of software can easily cost $100,000,

while Wikipedia, one of the most visible websites

in the world, is absolutely free and available for

use right now.

Another big part of WSPA is the photo documen-

tation of public artworks. But due to copyright

issues, Wikipedia is not very good at accepting

lots of images of contemporary artworks. To work

around this problem, students created their own

free Flickr accounts and uploaded their images

there. We also had a crew tagging these images,

so now when you look in Flickr for things about

IUPUI you see art and not just images of the cam-

pus basketball team. So, with the use of Wikipedia,

Flickr, and other web-based technologies, collec-

tions can emerge quite easily and become visible

components of our cultural landscape.

WIKIPEDIA SAVES PUBLIC ART

21e-conservation

Herron Arch 1 by James Wille Faust (2005). Photo by Katie Chattin, Some Rights Reserved.

Finally, I want to say that this was just one com-

ponent of our IUPUI class. The students learned

a lot of other things along the way that were not

related to Wikipedia, and they had opportunities

to meet a number of arts professionals in the

city.

DC: I was wondering whether previous teaching prac-

tices using Wikipedia played a part in developing

the curricula? I also noticed from a blog post [9]

that at least some of the students on the course were

unfamiliar with Wikipedia and social media, which

I found somewhat surprising, was this a trend across

the student body?

JGM: We really learned by doing. I did not have

previous experience teaching with Wikipedia, other

than occasionally busting students for plagiarizing

it. It would have been smart to connect with other

college-level teachers using Wikipedia in their cur-

ricula, but I didn’t pursue that until the semester

ended and I began reflecting on the feedback we

received from our students.

As you note, our students did not have much fa-

miliarity with Wikipedia or user-generated Web

content generally, which was a total surprise to

me. I’m a techie, so maybe I assume that others

are also really enthusiastic and enjoy experimen-

tation using new digital tools. I also think I bought

into the hype about young people being “digital

natives” and assumed our students could easily

pick up Wikipedia. I didn’t give sufficient attention

to how things like gender, persistent economically-

based digital divides, inexperience with art his-

torical research methods, and institutional cul-

ture might hinder student embrace of the project.

Knowing what I know now, I would devote signi-

ficant instructional time to stepping students in-

to Wikipedia. Collective Wikipedia naïveté limited

our ability to achieve consistently strong results

in the timeframe we had.

RM: It’s my guess that the data about the use of

social media is a moving target. I came away

from the project having to re-calibrate some of

my thinking about who is creating web content,

and a fresh awareness about the relatively small

numbers of Web “creators” versus “spectators”.

I know Forrester Research [10] has published a

lot on this but I think even the concepts of social

media and a read-write Web are still emerging.

DC: One interesting aspect of the documentation

process was the inclusion of geographical locations

for the public works of art. This seems potentially

to be a useful approach to mapping works of art in

the public realm.

RM: It’s become a lot easier to do, and GPS seems

to get more popular by the day for the technology

sector. Knowing the actual location of a public

artwork is extremely important. It’s the first step

in caring for something. Plus, if you have a GPS

location of a public artwork you can then link to

lots of other things to it and can create maps and

perhaps even virtual tours based on this informa-

tion. A GPS coordinate can become a central spoke

around which all information around it can radi-

ate. For example, if you put a GPS location in a

Broken Walrus I, a public sculpture by American sculptor Gary Freeman (dedicated 1976, destroyed ca. 2004). Save Outdoor Sculpture, Indiana survey, 1993. WSPA, Some Rights Reserved.

22 e-conservation

INTERVIEW

Wikipedia article, it automatically links it to a ton

of other data, including Google Maps, Flickr maps,

OpenStreetMaps, and geocache locations.

If you think about how quickly mobile devices are

improving, it’s not hard to imagine having a mo-

bile application that allows you to geolocate a work

of public art, take a photo of it, describe what it

is, and assess its condition all while in the field.

iPhone applications like Gowalla, Geocaching, and

Historic Place all are very close to doing exactly

that.

While I occasionally obsess over little details and

the possibilities of a mobile application, I think we

should be thinking really big about documenting

public art and how it can help us better understand

and appreciate our global cultural heritage. There’s

lots of very detailed information in Wikipedia about

popular culture, but there’s really not a lot about art

in there. We should change that and at the same

time continue to find ways to make Wikipedia help

save public art by raising awareness about it; it

is, after all, one of the most frequently referenced

Websites in the world and public art is the most

accessible form of artwork in the world. A match

made in digital heaven?

DC: In summary, to me, it seems that this project

then has several aims: firstly, a short-term aim to

document public art on the campus of IUPUI, secondly

to demonstrate a potential model for Wikipedia as

a content management system (CMS) for public art,

and lastly and perhaps most significantly to be a

potential catalyst for changes to Wikipedia—making

it more ‘arts friendly’, in terms of acceptable and

quality content. Would you agree with this assess-

ment and what would you see as additional aims?

JGM: Yes - you’ve got it. I also think it’s good, in an

educational context, for people to increase their

fluency using digital tools creatively and critically.

RM: I would only expand on the first part in that

Jenny and I, and our other Indy-based collabo-

rators (IUPUI Museum Studies graduate student

Lori Byrd Phillips and IUPUI undergraduate alumna

Sarah Stierch), continue to see Indianapolis as a

testing ground for documenting other collections

of public art and exploring what technologies

might be the most efficient and effective in this

effort. If we can do a good job of documenting

the public art here in Indianapolis, why shouldn’t

other cities around the globe do it? Think of the

public art that’s in other urban places like New York,

London, Berlin, Mumbai, and Tokyo. Not much of

it is in Wikipedia—yet.

We’ve spoken to a lot of people about using WSPA

to document their collections, but I’ve come to

learn that we’re a bit ahead of the curve on this.

It takes a certain bit of courage and know-how

to start using Wikipedia seriously. For whatever

reason, art folks don’t find contributing to Wiki-

pedia a worthwhile use of their time. It’s a shame.

Right now we are also looking at ways to optimize

current applications and processes to make the

project broadly applicable, including developing

a way to streamline the use of the SOS! data, and

finding ways to make the project accessible to

younger editors. Perhaps as we continue on, more

communities will take interest and other catalysts

will arise that get people motivated to put informa-

tion about art in Wikipedia.

JGM: Implicit in the logic of this project is that

caring for public art is not a “job” we can rely on

an individual or organization for—it’s a collective

activity best pursued collaboratively and openly.

DC: That’s an interesting point and I think such

concepts of collective care could be drawn from

those that exist within digital culture. The idea

that for collaborative online projects to work they

23e-conservation

WIKIPEDIA SAVES PUBLIC ART

necessitate the establishment of communities who

will care for the content, to protect from spam and

vandalism, etc. I wonder how else digital culture

might play a part in developing the theory and prac-

tice surrounding offline/online cross-over projects

such as these?

RM: That’s a really intriguing question, and one

for which I’m not sure I have a solid answer. I’m

optimistic that the collaborative models that are

being developed in places like Wikipedia and Flickr

will have a push back on the practice of art con-

servation in particular. So many decisions about

the care of our cultural heritage are made by one

person working in the basement of a cultural in-

stitution. Perhaps as we push this process further

into the public domain, there will be a raised aware-

ness about the complexities involved in physically

caring for public art.

This is slow going right now though. We certainly

aren’t being overwhelmed with people wanting to

help us with WSPA. Perhaps that will change and

more people will find value in the project and the

process.

JGM: Fernanda Viégas and her colleagues at IBM’s

Visual Communication Lab are doing really inter-

esting research on how collaboration works with-

in Wikipedia. One of the things that concerns me

is the lack of gender and racial diversity within the

English Wikipedia. If it’s going to be a credible

venue in which many different kinds of people

can collaborate using digital tools, Wikipedia

will have to lose some its macho, geekocentric

culture.

DC: A recent press release from IUPUI [11] quite

rightly praised various aspects of this project. How-

ever, I was wondering personally what do you con-

sider the successes, failures, lessons learnt, in re-

gard to such work relating to Wikipedia?

JGM: I was very impressed to see some of the art-

icles written by our students featured on Wikipe-

dia’s homepage in the “Did You Know” box. Being

24 e-conservation

East Gate/West Gate by Sasson Soffer (1973), on loan from the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Photo by Ron Wise, Some Rights Reserved.

INTERVIEW

featured there significantly increased traffic to

those articles, and it was thrilling to the students.

As for failures, I think the quality of some of our

articles is poor. Articles that aren’t well-researched

or include obvious errors and carelessness simply

reinforce the ideas many have about Wikipedia—

that it’s an unreliable, sloppily prepared inform-

ation resource. I regret that some of our work

contributes to that view.

RM: Jenny and I have talked a lot about the pro-

ject in terms of it being a successful teaching tool.

But it’s difficult to truly asses its effectiveness

as a teaching tool because we just created it last

year and none of our students are actually work-

ing in the field now. I might be delusional, but I

think that many of them will appreciate the pro-

cess they learned and understand the project a

lot better once they are actually working in a mu-

seum. Perhaps they will realize that while Wiki-

pedia was the medium, what they were doing was

looking at, researching, cataloguing, document-

ing, and really considering a collection of art. In

the most basic sense they learned to care for art.

Along the way, they created a ton of useful infor-

mation about these artworks—much, much more

than previously existed in the university’s files.

The day after the students finished the project I

had them rate their feelings about Wikipedia from

0-10. Zero being they would never, ever create

another article in Wikipedia in their lifetime, and

10 being they were going home that night to do

more work on an article. Out of the 16 students

that I spoke to, the average rating was 5.25. I’m

not really sure what that number means, if any-

thing—and I probably have no way of ever knowing

what the students learned in the project. Hope-

fully the students learned two things: 1) it’s not

really that easy to care for art, and 2) Wikipedia

is created by people just like them. I bet they un-

derstand Wikipedia now on a fairly profound level,

and therefore use it more critically. And consider-

ing the pervasiveness of Wikipedia, this is a pretty

important life lesson for citizens of the 21st century.

DC: And as an obligatory add on, what do you think

the successes in (and for) the world have been?

JGM: I like the way this project brings people into

cultural discourse. The skills people gain participat-

ing in WSPA are readily transferrable to other sites

of civic action.

RM: I’m not certain I have a good answer for that

one. I was talking to a friend about this other

day and she was saying that the first 100 people

are the most difficult to get interested in any

project, but then the next 100 are easy. I’m not

counting, but I don’t think we’ve gotten to 100

interested folks yet. But what if the project were

taught in 5 other museum studies programs in

the world? That would be huge.

I’m hoping someone else tries out our project in an

academic setting so we can see how they do with it.

DC: I was interested to note that the project also

incorporated other social media in the form of a

Facebook page [12] and Twitter account [13], I

was wondering what role you envisioned for these?

JGM: Many of our students were also concurrently

enrolled in a “Museums and Technology” course,

which pushed students into Twitter. Richard and

I both use it extensively, so we thought it would

be an easy way to spread the word about WSPA.

The Facebook group was actually student-initiated.

Of all of the social media outlets on the Web, Face-

book was the most widely used among our students.

I don’t really think of Twitter and Facebook as par-

ticularly effective for outreach, nor do I think we

have a goal for outreach, but Twitter and Facebook

both work well to broadcast information and gen-

25e-conservation

WIKIPEDIA SAVES PUBLIC ART

erate a feeling of energy, and they are both tools

we use anyway, so why not use them with WSPA?

RM: Like any new project, half the fun is in experi-

mentation. I see both the Facebook and Twitter

accounts as experiments—if they fail it will be at

no financial cost to us, so they are worth the gam-

ble. We’ve brainstormed a number of ways to use

these as outreach tools, but we’re both very busy

in our careers so we haven’t really given them a

lot of effort.

Our Indianapolis-based collaborators Lori and

Sarah have been helping us out with these tools

recently, which has allowed more people to ex-

periment with them. Hopefully they evolve into

more useful tools. But I know that it’s awfully hard

to create a voice that can be heard through the

hubbub of Facebook and Twitter.

DC: This has been a fascinating discussion, and

I’d like to conclude with a bit of a philosophical

query, regarding the name, I have to ask how is it

that Wikipedia “saves” public art? By which I mean

to wonder how one makes the cognitive leap from

consuming content, to creating content on Wikipe-

dia, and finally to real world actions?

JGM: That connection only becomes explicit in the

doing. It’s an investment to work in Wikipedia - it

moves people from knowing a subject in a private

or small community context toward sharing that

knowledge and actually interacting and debating

its use in the world. The problem with public art

is that it gets taken for granted—it’s always there,

so it almost becomes invisible. As much as I dis-

like the religious grandiosity of saying we’re in-

volved with “saving” something, I recognize that

moving people from consuming culture to making

it is a Herculean undertaking. It’s important to

tap concepts and popular technologies that might

motivate a person to try something new, assert

their voice, or contribute their knowledge even

when it’s not their “job” to do so.

RM: Jenny is very kindly not telling you about

my occasional obsessions over the name of this

project. Ever since we agreed we were going to

make this a project for our IUPUI class I’ve been

thinking about names. I’ve had dozens and told

her most of them. But she’s rightly pushed me

away from obsessing over them by referencing

her days of playing in bands that spent more time

worrying about their name than actually making

music. So, in the end, the name isn’t all that im-

portant. Hell, we’d sell naming rights if someone

gave us enough money. And by “enough” I cer-

tainly don’t mean much. How about something

sponsored by a coffee or beer company that sup-

plied us with the necessary beverages?

Sorry, I don’t mean to make light of the question,

but my point is that the title really isn’t all that

important: it’s the work that gets done that ends

up being important.

Having said all of that, I want to take seriously the

notion of whether or not SOS! saved any sculptures

or if WSPA will be able to save any, much less care

for them. I believe that the first step in taking care

of any artwork is to understand what it actually

is on a physical level. And since there are a ton of

artworks in the public sphere that people don’t

even know about, they aren’t being cared for at

all. In this way, the first step in caring for art is

to know where it is, after that you can get to know-

ing from what it is made, by whom, what it “looks

like”, and finally then know what it is, what it is

doing in the world, and how it can be used.

To this end, I think there is great potential for a

project like ours to serve a real need in caring for

our global cultural heritage; it just so happens

that we started in Indianapolis.

26 e-conservation

INTERVIEW

Notes

1. Wikipedia Saves Public Art

2. Jennifer Geigel Mikulay’s Project Blog

3. Save Outdoor Sculpture!

4. Wikipedia Loves Art

5. Jennifer Geigel Mikulay’s ‘Big Red Thing’ Project

6. McCoy, Richard, Calling all present and future

Wikipedians, IMA Blog, 2008

7. McCoy, Richard, Wikipedia Entries - It’s Just

Lunch, IMA Blog, 2008

8. Mark DiSuvero’s “Snowplow”

9. Basile, Elizabeth, On New Beginnings: or How

Wikipedia Can Help Us All Care for Public Art,

IMA Blog, 2009

10. Forrester Research

11. IUPUI Press Release

12. WSPA Facebook Page

13. WSPA Twitter Account

RICHARD McCOYAssociate Conservator of Objects and Variable

Art Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA)

Website: http://www.imamuseum.org/

Contact: rmccoy@imamuseum.org

Richard McCoy is Associate Conservator of Objects

and Variable Art at the Indianapolis Museum of

Art. A former Fulbright Scholar to Spain, McCoy

studied journalism and political science at Indiana

University, Bloomington, and received his MA

from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts Conservation

Center. He received a Samuel H. Kress fellowship

to work at the IMA prior to joining the conserva-

tion department in 2005. In 2008 he became a

Professional Associate of AIC.

JENNIFER GEIGEL MIKULAY

Assistant Professor, Public Scholar of Visual Culture

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

(IUPUI)

Website: http://www.mikulay.org/

Contact: jmikulay@iupui.edu

Jennifer Geigel Mikulay is an assistant professor

and public scholar at Indiana University-Purdue

University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Her research

interests include public art, visual culture,

new media, communications, and public sphere

theory. She earned the first Ph.D. in visual cul-

ture studies from the University of Wisconsin-

Madison in 2007.

DANIEL CULL Assistant Conservator

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com

Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org

Daniel Cull is an Assistant Conservator at the Mu-

sical Instrument Museum, and collaborator with

e-conservation magazine. He trained at the Insti-

tute of Archaeology, University College London,

where he received a BSc in Archaeology, MA in

Principles of Conservation, and an MSc in Con-

servation for Archaeology and Museums. He was

later awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at

the National Museum of the American Indian/

Smithsonian Institution.

27e-conservation

WIKIPEDIA SAVES PUBLIC ART

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

arti

cles

AREAS OF PUBLISHING

Conservation TreatmentMural Painting

Painting

Stone

Sculpture

Textiles

Paper / Documents

Photography

Metals

Tile / Ceramic / Glass

Furniture

Music instruments

Ethnographic assets

Archeological objects

Conservation ScienceScientific research

Material studies and characterisation

Analytical techniques

Technology development

Biodeterioration

State-of-the-art

Reviews

Preventive ConservationTheoretic principles

Case studies

Documentation in ConservationStandardisation

Documentation methods

Data management

Conservation TheoryEthics

Conservation History

Art History, Iconography,

Iconology, Chemistry, Physics,

Biology, Photography, Cultural

Management, Museology,

Computer Science, Legislation

and Juridical Processes,

Conservation Policies

and any other field applied to

Conservation and Restoration

of works of art.

Find out more: www.e-conservationline.com

e-conservation

CONSERVATION-RESTORATION INTERVENTIONS IN EXTREME CASES

Improving the Structural Resistance of Wood Damaged by Biological Attack

by Cornelia and Dinu Sãvescu

The mindset formed from conservation practice is

that the missing timber due to biological attack

should be completed with a quantity of material

equal in volume, be it wax, glue, Paraloid, syn-

thetic materials or plaster, etc. These materials

are selected because once introduced into the

wood support they pass from liquid to solid state.

We believe that introducing into the support ma-

terials, such as consolidants that become irre-

versible in time, exceeds the competence of the

conservator-restorer, whose duty is to prolong

the lifespan of the work of art in its original state,

without changing it. Supports are changed by

the addition of new materials of the same or a

different nature than the original, or by the trans-

fer of the paint layer to a different support. This

type of operations leaves specific traces trans-

forming the original by altering it irreversibly.

For that reason a different approach to the prob-

lematic of support decay due to biological attack

was sought.

A careful analysis of the work of art before the

conservation treatment has shown that:

1) Biological attack breaks the structural resist-

ance of the wood and thereby endangers the ex-

istence of the work of art as a whole.

2) After a massive biological attack the weight of

the wood required to support the paint layer de-

creases. Weight measurements have shown that

the wooden panel is normally oversized for the

paint layer it supports.

Hence, we sought to respond these issues that occur

before the conservation treatment, as follows:

1) In response to the first problem, we tried to

connect the broken resistance structures mechani-

cally with balsa wood, according to a pre-deter-

mined order of priorities (depending on factors

such as the mounting system, the presentation

of the work within the iconostasis ensemble, the

compression / traction forces that take place dur-

ing the completion with new wood, etc.).

This paper presents and compares two conservation-restoration methods of wooden supports

deteriorated by old-house borer (Hylotrupes Bajulus) biological attack. Research of paint layer surfaces

has shown that supports are irreversibly changed by the addition of new materials of the same or a

different nature than the original, or by the transfer of the paint layer to a different support. This type

of operations leaves specific traces transforming the original by altering it permanently. For this reason

a different approach to the problematic of support decay due to biological attack was sought, by

avoiding to complete unnecessarily the wood support where the paint layer is sufficiently supported by

the substrate. The proposed method is based on the mechanical reinforcement of the broken resistance

structures with balsa wood, according to a pre-determined order of priorities.

Figures 1 and 2. Extreme degradation of the support due to biological attack.

IMPROVING THE RESISTANCE OF WOOD DAMAGED BY BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

31e-conservation

2) In response to the second problem, we avoided

to unnecessarily complete the wood support where

the weight of the paint layer was sufficiently sup-

ported by the substrate.

Case Studies

Our team was involved in the conservation of two

iconostases that presented these specific prob-

lems: the Church of Humor Monastery and the

Arbore Church.

The two iconostases showed similar conservation

problems: both present the same forms of degra-

dation due to widespread biological attack, which

caused major degradation of the colour layer.

These forms of degradation were identified as be-

ing produced by the old-house borer (Hylotrupes

bajulus) that has 3mm as a larva and reaches 10 -

20mm when mature. It is black or brown, elon-

gated by decorated sheaths and has a life cycle of

3 to 10 years. The galleries it creates are branched

and disposed in levels.

A) At the Church of Humor Monastery, the most

severe forms of degradation were present in the

centre of the iconostasis at the Apostles register

level. The support structure of the iconostasis was

weakened at the level of the right column and in

all the inferior area, destabilizing the connection

between the components.

The register of Apostles from the central area -

Deesis scene – presented extreme degradation

due to biological attack: the inside of the support

was practically turned into fine powder and the

support behind the paint layer was transformed

into a “closed box” with very thin walls that held

inside a mass of sawdust with flour consistency.

The support of the icons consisted of a thin layer

behind which the wood was converted into powder.

Figures 3 and 4. As a result of the biological attack, the support was transformed into a “box” with very thin walls filled with a mass of sawdust.

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

32 e-conservation

Figure 5. Aspect of an icon before conservation.

Moreover, if turned upside down, the content of

sawdust would move to the other side, as in an

hourglass. The entire ensemble was in danger of

implosion, collapsing inwards.

The reverse is painted in a decorative manner and

shows traces of rough trimming, element that pro-

vides historical research data. Thus, the iconosta-

sis requires a complete conservation-restoration

intervention on both sides.

B) At Arbore, the iconostasis presented most of

the same problems. Moreover, 80% of the thin

frame of the back of the iconostasis that sustained

the ensemble was affected by biological attack.

The only element that was still resistant was the

beam that connected the north and south walls,

which remained the pillar of strength to enhance

the resistance of the whole iconostasis structure.

The support of the iconostasis from Arbore was

built in situ on five registers attached and con-

nected between them through mechanical “plug”

type connectors, then it was plastered and com-

pleted by the application of metal leaf and paint

layer. Thus, an eventual detachment of the ele-

ments from the iconostasis was impossible with-

out jeopardizing the original. Therefore, the back

and the resistance frame of the iconostasis were

restored in situ.

In this paper, we wish to draw attention to our

approach to the conservation methodology and

treatment.

Our treatment proposal starts from the premise

that wood structures contain a percentage of

moisture and thus, the introduction of consoli-

dants (wax, colophony, varnish of any kind, or

any other injectable consolidating material) will

reinforce the structure only apparently and will

cause irreversible degradation to the wood struc-

ture by filling the wood fibre.

With time, these filled structures are left without

the ability to produce a regular exchange with the

relative humidity of the microclimate and turn in-

to dust, losing their ability to contribute to the

resistance of the wood support.

Therefore, the conservation of wood structures

decayed by biological attack requires a pragmatic

approach based on a technical thinking, with at-

tention to the details of the wood structural res-

istance.

The intervention is necessary and appropriate

only in those cases when the structural support

resistance is compromised inducing degradation

of the paint layer. Even in this case, the interven-

tion must be limited solely to the consolidation of

those structures that are necessary to the resist-

ance of the ensemble.

In case the resistance of the structures is not af-

fected we can say that once stopped, the biological

attack removes a part of material that is of no use

as long as the scope of the support is to sustain

the colour layer; the support is often oversized

when compared to the paint layer.

Therefore, it is very important to know the actu-

al weight of the layer of paint (together with the

ground) to be supported by the wood structure.

After determining the weight of the paint layer at

Figure 6. Detail of support damaged by biological attack.

33e-conservation

IMPROVING THE RESISTANCE OF WOOD DAMAGED BY BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

the two monuments we found that at Humor it has

31.4 kg ± 3% for 35 square meters, and at Arbore

cca. 54.8 kg ± 3% for 54 square meters.

However, the support and the resistance struc-

ture that are sustaining the above values are in

fact capable of handling cca. 443 kg in the first

case and cca. 657 kg in the second.

The fact that the structure was built on a fixed scaf-

fold with the extremities fasten into the north and

south walls increases its ability to support more

weight, which can become 1000 times bigger than

that necessary to support the colour layer. The

two types of forces that are generated - compres-

sion (from the layer of paint) and bending (at the

back of the iconostasis) - can be obtained by the

following mathematical formula to calculate the

bending strength:

Q (sigma) = 3.P.I

[N/m2] 2.b.h

Where:

- P is the force that breaks the sample (expressed

in newtons, N);

- I is the distance between the resting points of

the sample (expressed in meters, m);

- b is the base of the sample’s cross-section (ex-

pressed in meters, m);

- h is the height of the sample’s cross-section

(expressed in meters, m).

Of course, this formula is not really needed to cal-

culate the strength of a structure to see whether

it can support or not the colour layer! This exer-

cise only helps us understand that in general the

wooden support behind the paint layer is oversized

and when biological attack occurs, we can consider

that it diminishes a useless ballast.

Our approach angle should be that of understanding

the relation between the overall and its components

and that the conservation of timber that suffered a

widespread biological attack is a matter of rein-

forcing the structural resistance and not a matter of

filling, of replacing old timber with new one or of

consolidation with natural or synthetic products.

The problem of timber consolidation by injection

is old and was already mentioned in the 18th

century by Dionysius of Fourna in “The Painter's

Manual”, in the section that speaks about "How

to repair an old and decayed icon": "When you

want to repair an old and decayed icon, do this: if

the back of it is rotted and worm-eaten, first clean

off the rotten parts thoroughly and shake off the

dust. Then soak it in glue so that the panel is well

impregnated and put it in the sun to dry; only be

careful not to let the glue go through to the other

side and ruin the painting. Next take some sawdust

and mix it with glue and fill the holes with it; when

it is dry either give it a gesso covering or strengthen

it by gluing some cloth on to the back”.

Since then, it has been generally sought to re-

place the material of the damaged support with

a new one occupying the same volume. The same

is true today with the use of synthetic products

injected in the work of art.

To better understand the real impact of conso-

lidation by injection with organic or synthetic

products, an experiment was carried out in which

the penetration depth of the consolidants was

measured in ideal conditions. The aim was to see

how deep the consolidants can penetrate into

the sample and how many structures it can link

between them.

To that end, a cardboard box was constructed and

filled with fine sawdust extracted from an icon.

For the first test, an aqueous solution of skin glue

at 6% was injected and for the second, a Ketone

solution of Paraloid B72 at 4%. In both cases 10

ml of consolidant were injected.

34 e-conservation

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

The results were very clear and similar in both

tests: the consolidants do not penetrate as deep

as would be ideal, but when placed into the sample,

they are instantly surrounded by sawdust which

basically stops the further penetration of the so-

lution inside, forming a compact bowl that does

not regenerate the cohesion of the wood destroyed

by biological attack. This is due to several reasons

such as the different polarity of the component

materials, the hydrophobic substances in the wood

composition and the surface tension among other.

In case such degraded support is injected at several

points, we obtain a series of bowls, which unne-

cessarily increase the weight of the icon, without

achieving the consolidation effect. Moreover, we

introduce into the work of art a new material which

has its specific particularities, creating tensions

other than those of the icon, and that has effect

on the colour layer, the ageing cracks, the fissures

along the fibre, etc.

It is known that all the materials introduced into

the work of art produce specific types of degrada-

tions that eventually reach the surface of the paint

layer, altering its integrity and particularities. This

is especially true for the support, which greatly

contributes to the production of ageing cracks and

fissures on the surface of the paint layer.

By employing these methods and knowing their

effects in time, we simply change the normal life-

span of the work of art and thereby violate one

of the principles of conservation, namely to pre-

serve the character of the work of art as it has

reached us.

Operations such as the transfer of the paint layer

on a new support with the same age and essence

as the original and parquetry operations have

the same shortcomings, the final result being

the same, i.e., changing the specific features of

the work.

In what concerns the manual of Dionysius of Four-

na, it responded to 18th century demands which

were very different from those of today. Then, the

artwork had to primarily represent and literary

describe the reality, and for this it had to be as

complete and linear as possible so that the mes-

sage would be quickly learned. Today the conser-

vator-restorer is asked to preserve the original

as a matter of collective memory and a valuable

experience, which lays on the foundation of the

contemporary thinking that he /she needs and

supports.

Taking into consideration the above methods and

knowing their results, it was decided to establish

the exact issues that needed to be addressed and

then choose the most appropriate conservation

method.

The conservation state of the icons from Humor,

previously described, did not allow us to intervene

on the front or the back because of the existence

of a paint layer which was decided to be preserved.

Also, the need to remount the icons on the icono-

stasis in their places, vertically and resting on

their bases, forced us to intervene on the sides

of the icons.

Our aim was to restore the links between the

healthy structures inside icons, considering that

this will restore the initial mechanical strength

of wood substrate, while adding an amount of

new timber as low as possible.

The first step was to make a photographic docu-

mentation and weight measurements as detailed

as possible. After this, the verso was detached

from the front and the sawdust was eliminated.

It was found that the biological attack was pro-

duced in levels and then we proceeded with the

consolidation of the resistance structures between

them. For this, balsa wood was used due to its

35e-conservation

IMPROVING THE RESISTANCE OF WOOD DAMAGED BY BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

qualities, namely the reduced specific weight (0.16

kg), bending coefficient (14 kJ/m3) and compres-

sion ratio in the fibre direction (14 900 N/m3).

The resistance structures were mainly strengthened

from the basis of the icons towards the vertical axis.

These structures had the most important contri-

bution to the conservation of the icon. Afterwards

the edges that had the role of closing structures

between the verso and the front were mounted.

The mounting of complete reinforcement struc-

tures on the sides of the icons induced new ten-

sions that had to be counterbalanced by opposite

forces.

Conservation interventions were performed ac-

cording to the priorities established in the begin-

ning, which stated that the first priority should

be given to the reconnection of the healthy struc-

tures between them, on the path of the forces that

discharge at the basis.

Figures 7-11. Details (left) and general view (above) of an icon support. Consolidation of the resistance structures, connected mechanically with balsa wood.

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

36 e-conservation

The second priority was the construction of the

resistance support according to the mounting

type of the icons on the iconostasis. If the icons

would have had a different mounting system on

the iconostasis, the interior structure would have

been built with another configuration.

The third priority was finding the correct and

equilibrated rapport between the original and

the newly introduced forces, with as little addi-

tion of wood as possible and the minimum con-

tact of this material with the original. This was

achieved by creating mobile connections between

the new structures and half-mobile connections

between these last structures, by constructing

counterforce elements using materials with dif-

ferent flexible capabilities and by using wood of

different thicknesses.

The linking system of the new structures was based

on mechanic connections (tongue and groove)

whenever possible, and with skin glue (8%) and

Figures 12-16. Details (right) and general view (above) of an icon support. Consolidation of the resistance structures, connected mechanically with balsa wood.

IMPROVING THE RESISTANCE OF WOOD DAMAGED BY BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

37e-conservation

Figures 17-19. General view (above) and details (below) of an icon support. Consolidation of the resistance structures, connected mechanically with balsa wood.

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

38 e-conservation

preservative deposited solely in the anchoring

points and not on the entire contact surface. At

the end, the timber support of the front and back

of the icon were closed as in a box with lid.

At the iconostasis from Arbore, the conservation

approach took into account the specific state of

degradation of the paint layer in relation to the

support. Because this layer presented a good ad-

hesion to the substructures from the immediate

vicinity (about 5 mm depth) and because deeper

inside the support the connections were destroyed

by the biological attack, it was considered that

the most appropriate approach would be to link

the substructures between them, from the paint

layer inwards. This was achieved by introducing a

Figure 20. General view of an icon support. Consolidation of the resistance structures, connected mechanically with balsa wood.

IMPROVING THE RESISTANCE OF WOOD DAMAGED BY BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

39e-conservation

40 e-conservation

Figures 21-23. General view of some icons from the Apostols register after conservation treatment.

number of approx. 2400 elements made of acacia

wood with thickness less than that of the flight

holes, that were placed inside them to take over

the bending forces of the support.

In this context, measurements to determine the

weight of the component layers were made, as

follows:

A) The paint layer weighs ~ 54.8 Kg. This value was

obtained by measuring a sample of 8 grams and

multiplying it by the total area of the iconostasis.

B) The support weighs ~ 657 kg. This value was

obtained by measuring the mass of several detach-

able support elements. The support is able to with-

stand a weight 10 times bigger, i.e., 6.570 kg.

Afterwards it was proceeded with the localisation

and identification of the healthy structures on the

back of the icons. These were linked between them

with wooden rods placed through the flight holes

in anchor type connections with cross direction.

After drying the new materials introduced into

the work of art it was found that the support has

a visibly improved resistance and the paint layer

has a better adhesion to the substrate.

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

41e-conservation

Conclusions

1. Consolidation by different types of injection

with various consolidants, whether of animal or

synthetic nature, does not solve the problems of

cohesion between the layers of timber damaged

by biological attack. The consolidation of the sup-

port by the injection of different solutions should

only be used where tests confirm a positive result

and where other methods of consolidation may

not apply.

2. The transfer to a new support made of different

Figure 24. Final aspect of the isonostasis from the Church of Humor Monastery after conservation.

IMPROVING THE RESISTANCE OF WOOD DAMAGED BY BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

Conservator-restorers

contact@savescu.com

Cornelia Savescu is a panel paintings conservator.

She has a degree in Monumental Art and Restora-

tion (1984) from the Fine Arts Institute “Nicolae

Grigorescu”. She specialized in the conservation

of panel paintings (1985-1988) at the Centre of

Professional Training in Culture (CPPE) of the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. She

worked as a conservator at the National Art Mu-

seum in Bucharest (1984-1987) and was a lecturer

at the National Art University, Conservation-Resto-

ration Department (1997-2005).

Dinu Savescu has a degree in painting (1984)

from the Fine Arts Institute “Nicolae Grigorescu”.

He specialized in the technique of oil painting on

wood and canvas (1985-1988) at the Centre of

Professional Training in Culture (CPPE) of the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. He

worked as a curator / conservator at the National

Art Museum in Bucharest (1984-1987). He is a

member of the Romanian Fine Art Association,

Painting Specialty.

Cornelia and Dinu Savescu have worked for more

than 20 years in the conservation of panel paintings

and other wooden objects and works of art. Their

experience includes complex conservation projects

such as the Iconostasis of several monuments

from Romania (Sf. Silvestru - Bucharest, Voronet,

Moldovita, Humor, Sf Gheorghe – Iasi, Kretzulescu),

conservation of furniture and frames, and resto-

ration of icons (15-19th century) and oil paintings

on canvas in private collections from Romania,

Greece, Germany, Switzerland. They participated

in national and international research projects

and workshops, published several specialty papers

and have a rich expositional activity.

42 e-conservation

type of wood, or to other types of support, can

cause major degradation of the paint layer, caus-

ing an accelerated degradation rather than a con-

solidation of the support (eg., through new cracks

due to the shrinkage forces of the fibre of the new

wood introduced into the work).

3. The treatment of the timber that has suffered

a massive biological attack should be addressed

by focusing the attention on issues such as the

resistance of the component structures and the

tensions between them, the interpretation of the

objects based on their location after the conser-

vation treatment and the conditions of micro and

macro climate in which the objects will be pre-

served. Resistance problems must be resolved

by the use of wooden elements that balance

each other in terms of stress, and which must be

put into the work by “welding” points and not

by applying adhesive on the entire contact sur-

face. Elements of new wood should be used so

as to follow the path of the old wood resistance

structures.

Figure 25. Detail of the Apostols and Holy Days registers after conservation.

CORNELIA and DINU SÃVESCU

THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL ART PRESERVATION

by Lino García and Pilar Montero Vilar

The need to preserve digital art is already an emergency. Digital art heritage is endorsed by

UNESCO. Museums, foundations, collectors, etc. increase their collections and at the same

time increase the associated problems with the unstable media conservation, rapid

technological obsolescence, and the lack of development methodologies, documentation,

conservation and restoration. The tools and protocols available for the proper conservation

of such assets are still scarce and the process becomes virtually a forensic experience. The

first part of the article is a categorisation of digital art, which is a starting point for the

understanding of its complexity and scope. The second part describes various approaches to

preservation on a discussion that combines both categories and attempts to clarify the

challenges that are imposed by this relatively new expression of contemporary art.

Introduction

The necessity of preservation of the digital heritage

is, at the moment, a desperate claim. Its own un-

stable nature requires an urgent intervention.

International institutions such as UNESCO are

aware of it. However, except for the case of edito-

rial, bibliographical and documental heritage,

the current initiatives and efforts are insufficient;

the techniques and applicable methodologies

are even scarcer, not just for conservation and

restoration, but also for documentation and cata-

loguing. This complex, multidisciplinary and ur-

gent issue poses a major challenge to museums,

galleries and institutions.

In this article, the authors carry out a study of

the state of the art in the conservation and res-

toration of digital heritage and, in particular, of

digital art. A categorisation scheme of digital

art is proposed herein as a starting point of the

analysis of its complexity. Next, the strategies

of conservation and restoration are also covered.

Finally, the application complexity of these ap-

proaches is discussed according to the previous

categorisation and the increasing challenge that

the new multidisciplinary approach represents,

as well as the technological obsolescence and

the absence of methodologies, standards, etc.

Defining the unstable: the categorisation challenge

The preservation of contemporary art, and of di-

gital art in particular, is sort of a forensic science1.

The concept conversion in art turned into case-by-

case strategies of preservation, instead of general

ones. The conservation and restoration of each

work, usually with a strong temporal, unstable

and ephemeral character, requires an analysis and

a particular approach as diverse as the contem-

porary art itself.

Figure 1 is a map of the categorisation of digital

art. The left side shows a Venn2 diagram of a pos-

sible constellation, while on the right side there

is the correspondent hierarchically ordered cap-

tion. The widest category (universe) in this rep-

resentation of groups (unstable media) contains

all the ephemeral artistic manifestations, or those

of unstable nature, being a subset of a bigger

universe: the contemporary art. The new media

art is a term frequently but inappropriately used

to refer to artistic contemporary practices in the

intersection of art and technology. The art and

technology discipline gathers those activities that

benefit of new technologies, not necessarily ap-

plied to communication, while the new media art

comprises those artistic expressions based on

technologies of the communication media [1].

Laura Barreca [2] shows a constructivist approach

based on the combination of the three C: comput-

ing, communication, content. This way, a work is

considered new media when it uses the outcome

of some of the possible combinations. For example,

communication + computing = mobile telephony;

communication + content = cable TV and interac-

tive TV; content + computing = CD-ROM, DVD; etc.

Digital art has multiple meanings. In this context

digital arts are those artistic practices that con-

sume, process and/or produce digital information,

1 As for the application of scientific practices to the conser-vation process.

2 Venn diagrams are representations of the set theory that shows graphically the mathematical or logical relationship between different groups of things (sets). Each set is normally represented by an oval or circle but we allowed ourselves to represent them as rectangles. The diagram is an approach towards a graphic and organized representation of the mul-tiple terms used in this environment and their interrelations; the volumes of the sets do not carry information and the in-tersections are not very accurate.

LINO GARCÍA AND PILAR MONTERO VILAR

44 e-conservation

usually audiovisual, that always demands the use

of a computer, or at least of those technologies

with digital processing capacity such as micro-

controllers, microprocessors, digital signal pro-

cessors, etc. From this point of view, the tradi-

tional videoart, for example, should not be con-

sidered digital art even when the most reasonable

conservation strategy is the digitisation of the

media, with the highest quality possible and should

not be exclusively restricted to the use of analo-

gical videotapes. Figure 1 shows a small intersec-

tion between the two categories which take into

consideration these cases. Very different is the

intersection between videoart and interactive art,

where those interactive works that use, somehow,

digital video to generate new realities coexist.

Videoart is static by nature since it documents a

process and/or artistic result, while the interac-

tive videoart is dynamic, ephemeral and time-based.

The uncertainty of this universe is conditioned by

the decadence of the environment we live in. Every-

thing is condemned to die. Only the continuous

human intervention makes possible to prolong

the existence of inanimate objects. Any media, no

matter how robust, is exposed to an erosion process

by its interaction with the environment, whether

biological, chemical or physical, or even any pos-

sible combination of these.

The power of the digital media is related with the

form in which it appeals to the senses3 [3]. How-

ever, it contains an additional ingredient that ac-

celerates its expiration date: the uncertainty that

produces its own development. This continuous

process of technological versioning makes that

today’s fashionable tools will lose their support

tomorrow. When any element of the complex di-

gital skeleton of a work fails, and there is no tech-

nical support, it inevitably dies.

Digital art is intimately connected to science and

technology and this relationship has, in fact, the

biggest influence on its categorisation. Terms

Figure 1. Categorisation of Digital Art.

3 Bruce Wands draws attention to the participation of the spectator in interactive art. Wands says “The traditional mu-seum and gallery etiquette of 'Look, don’t touch' cannot be applied to interactive art, which requires the participation of the viewer and can be more accurately described as 'Look, please touch'”.

THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL ART PRESERVATION

45e-conservation

such as digital art, electronic art, multimedia art

and interactive art are often used indistinctly as

synonyms of the new media art [4]. The ambiguity

in the description and use of these terms, as shown

in figure 1, is due to the multiple and complex in-

terrelations between them. Digital art is a subset

of the new media. New media basically consider

other artistic practices such as videoart and video

installations “not necessarily” related with digital

art. This last one closely resembles videoart [5].

According to established perspectives, digital art

categorisation could help understand its tech-

niques and purposes, and it is usually related to

the final media that the artwork adopts, no mat-

ter its process.

There is a certain consensus which considers that

digital art often takes the form of data. As Bruce

Wands stated, “Whether or not this data is trans-

formed into something more concrete depends

on artist. As computers grow more powerful and

software more sophisticated, the variety of forms

(often referred to as ‘polyforms’ or ‘meta-forms’)

that the data can assume is increasing. For ex-

ample, a virtual object created with three-dimen-

sional modelling and animation software can end

up as a single image, as animation, or it can be

output as sculpture. The animation or image can

also be incorporated into a website and thus exist

on the internet as net art” [3].

Software art and computer art are two categories

used indistinctly to define, imprecisely, the same

thing. Computer art is any practice in which com-

puters play the role of production or visualisation

of the work. Software art, however, is related to

the creation by means of algorithms [6] and it is

centred in the code itself4. An algorithm is a well

defined, ordered and finite list of operations that

allows to find the solution to a problem through

consecutive and well defined steps. Roman Verotsko

says that the “whole art uses algorithms in an im-

plicit way, what happens is that we make it explicit

focusing our art in the algorithm” [6, p. 66]. The

database art is a variation that uses data as the

work substance.

The art of digital imaging, includes works that were

created or manipulated digitally to be printed in

a traditional way [7]. The image can also be com-

bined with traditional media, such as drawing and

painting, or incorporated in installations, sculp-

tures or videotape projections [3].

The art of digital sculpture comprises those pro-

jects of creation of three-dimensional objects that

use digital technology. The virtual sculpture emerged

as an evolution of the digital sculpture5. In the

virtual world the sculpture rules have no limits:

there is no gravity, and the nature, location and

size of the materials are infinite. The artist does

not only have absolute freedom in the creation of

their piece but they can also examine it from any

point of view and can create a virtual and inter-

active world to place it in.

The sound art and that of digital music are com-

monly related with the plastic action or perform-

ance art, the sound, the listening and the hearing.

Like many of the contemporary art genres, sound

art is interdisciplinary by nature, or it adopts hy-

brid forms. It is related with acoustics, psycho-

acoustics, electronics, noise, audio like media

4 According to Alsina [6] "today software art is based on the consideration that software is not only a functional instru-ment, but rather an artistic creation itself: the resulting aesthetic material is the generated code and the expressive form is the programming" (free translation).

5 “[…] the sculptural work never assumes the form of an actual physical object but resides as a file within cyberspace or within the virtual world of the computer” [1].

LINO GARCÍA AND PILAR MONTERO VILAR

46 e-conservation

and technology (even analogic), environmental

sound, exploration of the human body, sculpture,

film or video and an entire group of aspects in

expansion that are part of the current speech of

contemporary art [8].

The animation art and digital video art is the di-

gital counterpart of the traditional animation, cine-

matography and video. The 3D computer animation

belongs exclusively to the digital domain. The

production of audio, video, and even high quality

digital cinema, thanks to the spectacular develop-

ment of the techniques, instruments and devices

of audio and digital video, have broaden their use

by even questioning the own essence of the audio-

visual market.

The interactive art comprises all those practices

that usually require the interaction or the spec-

tator's participation without the artist's control.

The possibility that interactivity offers of getting

the spectator-participant involved has been fre-

quently used in artworks of social character.

Digital installations constitute interactive environ-

ments built with digital technology such as pro-

cessors, microcontrollers or computers, sensors,

communication devices, etc. that can be as com-

plex as any robotic system6. This is one of the most

complexes and fascinating areas in digital art, with

more expansion in contemporary art, and the one

that presents greater conservation and restora-

tion challenges.

Virtual reality allows the creation of experiences

of immersion. In general a computer interface that

generates artificial environments in real time or

representations of a perceptive reality is considered

without an objective support. The virtuality es-

tablishes a new form of relationship between the

use of space and time coordinates, overcomes

the temporal-space barriers and configures an

environment in which the information and com-

munication are accessible from perspectives that

were ignored up to now, at least regarding their

volume and possibilities.

Life art and artificial intelligence (a-life) were

born from the old aspiration of reproducing the

characteristics of life by means of the intersection

of robotics engineering, computer science, and

biology7. The term was used for the first time at

the end of 1980 in the first International "Con-

ference on the Synthesis and Simulation of the

Alive Systems" in the Los Alamos National Labora-

tory. Some of the recurrent topics are artificial

evolution, simulation of ecosystems, cellular ro-

bots, behaviour in robotics, etc.

The net art [9] defines the artistic activity based

on the Internet. The use of Internet like mean of

expression8 limits the technologies and specific

services that can be used, such as websurfing,

email and file transfer, and, in turn, affects the

specificity of its conservation, restoration and

interaction.

6 They manipulate data in real time, responding to the be-haviour of certain information either from the environment, from the audience or algorithmically generated.

7 Christopher G. Langton, American biologist founder of the study of artificial life, defines it as "the study of systems built by human beings (artificial) that exhibit characteristic be-haviors of natural alive systems (biological)” [6, p.75].

8 "Appropriation is something so normal that it is almost taken for granted" [4, p. 13]. Although it is a property that is normally associated to new media, it is practically natural to the Internet-based art. "Internet and the file-sharing networks give artists an easy access to images, sounds, texts and other resources. This hyper-abundance of materials, com-bined with the ubiquitous function cut/paste of computer software, has contributed to clarify the idea that is better to create something from nothing than to borrow it".

THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL ART PRESERVATION

47e-conservation

The game art is a special type of the software art:

it works with code written by the artist where

the game is considered an artwork. Most of the

times the game is played by means of a browser,

keyboard and mouse. “What makes them art and

not only games? For some, the fact that they are

made as art, for others the fact that they are ex-

hibited as art” [10]. A common manifestation of

this is the manipulation of classic games, either

as their reinterpretation on the same support, or

on a virtual platform or any other medium like the

Internet. The frontier between all these artistic

practices is usually very blurred, independently

of categorisation and uses. A computer code can

generate data (information) of multiple dimen-

sions9, in a centralised or distributed system, with

generic or specific tools. The different combina-

tions will place the work in a certain category that,

in the case of intersections, will probably be la-

belled to the smallest category that includes all

the subsets.

A video, or even a video channel10, would probably

be considered videoart or video installation if it

is part of a sculptural complex, or interactive art

if it requires some sort of interaction. It will be an

animation in case it is generated by a computer,

virtual if it does not correspond to some reality

or net art if it is based on the Internet11.

In this context, categorisation can be very useful

to find the best way to document, to preserve, and

even to restore an artwork. These practices should

be methodical, meticulous, exhaustive and well

documented, as they constitute, in fact, the art

of conserving the digital heritage.

Conserving the unstable: the challenge of get-ting it right

The multiplicity of perspectives that are interre-

lated in the preservation of digital art requires a

deep theoretical reflection on the aspects involved

in the conservation and preservation of digital art.

After forty years a narrow transdisciplinary col-

laboration becomes absolutely necessary between

all the agents involved: stakeholders, artists,

curators, conservator-restorers and collectors.

Organizations, museums and organisms that col-

laborate in research projects in search of solutions

are increasingly collaborating with each other. In

general, work policies and methodologies are re-

lated with three different problems: exhibition,

collection and conservation. Although this paper

only discusses the challenge of conserving digital

art, they are all closely related12. The preventive

conservation in the context of digital art is directly

related to the availability of the work.

9 The sound is a one-dimension signal; the image is bi-di-mensional; the video, the cinema and the sculpture are three-dimensional and the interactive installations are tetra-dimensional.

10 The difference is totally functional. The video is a closed work and stored in digital format while a video channel is a video source in real time that captures certain reality, such as surveillance, which uses security cameras.

11 The artwork Telegarden by Ken Golberg and Joseph Santar-romana is a good example of it. "The TeleGarden is an art in-stallation that allows web users to view and interact with a remote garden filled with living plants. Members can plant, water, and monitor the progress of seedlings via the tender

movements of an industrial robot arm". This work, developed at the University of Southern California and available (on-line) since June of 1995, and whose keywords could be in-stallation, telepresence and participation, is considered, however, interactive art.

12 Media Art Resource, Electronic arts intermix. The project EIA Online Resource Guide to Exhibiting, Collecting & Pre-servation Media Art establishes a series of common guide-lines: introduction, good practices, basic questions, pro-cesses, contract/condition reports (according to which cases), costs, teams and technologies, interviews and articles. It contains three categories or typology of works: monochannel video, computer-generated works and in-stallations.

LINO GARCÍA AND PILAR MONTERO VILAR

48 e-conservation

restoration, which cleans or repairs a file or device

when a new version replaces the original one; and

the networked storage that uses computers con-

nected13 by a persistent loop of data that maintains

critical files in circulation or as multiple copies

cloned on several hard disks.

Migration

Migration consists in upgrading the format of a

work from an old media to an up-to-date one14,

for example, from the VHS video format to DVD.

The DVD, for example, uses MPEG2 codec which

is a codification format with loss of information.

In order to guarantee the minimum degradation

of a video, lossless conservation formats should

be used rather than the ones used for distribution.

The degeneration or loss of quality increases ex-

ponentially with the migration generation. A mi-

gration of third or fourth generation doesn't prob-

ably satisfy the minimum quality required by the

artist. This problem is accentuated when a com-

parison assessment is not possible, and involves

the loss of quality in order to keep the integrity

of the original. This strategy assumes that the

preservation of the content or information of an

artwork with respect to the fidelity of its aspect

and perception is more important than the change

of its media.

Emulation

Emulation is a process of simulation of an obsol-

ete platform (technological support that consti-

tutes the media of the artwork15) in a new one.

The aim of this strategy is to maintain alive an

artwork even though its original media is obsol-

etc. The emulation is usually considered, instead

of migration, only in those cases where the ori-

ginal code of the artwork is preserved. The emu-

lation program, from this point of view, is a kind

of virtual machine that emulates the behaviour

of an old one and is able to execute the same code

in a new support.

Strategies

Although there are many people involved in the

preservation of contemporary art, there are very

few strategies for the survival of digital art and

in fact, they are not exclusive for this category,

as they are often applied to the new media. Most

of the documentation and conservation proposals

of contemporary art only pay attention to those

works that don’t make use of digital technology,

such as sculpture installations, or non-complex

type, such as a video installation.

The most common strategies used in the conser-

vation of digital art are:

Storage

It is only possible to substitute a damaged element

if it is available in stock. This is the most basic

strategy and it lies in accumulating the largest

quantity of devices of a certain technology in or-

der to guarantee its readiness in the event of dam-

age or replacement due to wear. The strategy is

effective in the short term but is inappropriate

as the speed of obsolescence of a certain techno-

logy increases, and notoriously bad to capture

contextual aspects of the works, which makes it

useless for net art.

This strategy has some variants such as: the re-

freshing, which consists in the periodic transfer-

ence of the digital information of a media in danger

of obsolescence to a better adapted media; the

13 Cloud computing offers a special opportunity to distribute information copies or clones throughout the world. This type of architecture provides storage services that ensure data protection to natural disasters.

14 In this sense, refreshing is closer to migration than to storage.

15 It could be an operating system, a program, the appear-ance of a video game console, or an electronic device.

THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL ART PRESERVATION

49e-conservation

Migration implies repetition as new formats are

developed while in emulation, this continuity is

only the responsibility of a virtual machine. The use

of a virtual machinery16 instead of just a virtual

machine expands the capabilities of the emulation.

In both cases, it is essential that the upgrade and

migration speed of the virtual support is as slow

as possible, this being one of the highest impact

characteristics in the struggle with time. It is also

important to have the guarantee of support and

long term maintenance.

Another important characteristic is the implemen-

tation of an architecture with high absorption ca-

pacity of any technology. Although it still does

not exist, a technological architectural standard

that meets the needs of digital art preservation

is a demand. This is why it is so important to work

with open17 and standard environments and with

free tools. The proposal of a standard, or group of

standards, for the documentation, preservation

and restoration of digital art is also a priority.

Reinterpretation

It is the most powerful preservation strategy, but at

the same time, one with greater risks. It consists

in reinterpreting the work each time it is re-created.

The reinterpretation can require the writing of

a code for a totally different platform following a

group of specific instructions in situ with respect

to the installation, or to renovate a work in a con-

temporary media with the metaphoric value of an

outdated media. This technique is very dangerous

without the assurance or approval of the artist, but

it may be the only way to guarantee the re-creation,

installation, or re-design of the artwork.

Duplication

This strategy is applied to the media that can be

perfectly cloned. There is no difference between

the original and the copy.

Case Studies

Each artwork should be treated as unique, and can

be considered a case study. All the previous strate-

gies can be applied to almost any category. How-

ever, it is necessary to consider the particularities

of each case and to value the suitability of each

tool, cost, etc.

TV-Garden, for example, created in 1974 by Nam

June Paik, is a work considered by some as New

Media Art, and by others as Video Installation and

even Electronic Art18. It is an installation that

celebrates the diffusion of television like a garden

that extends, composed of natural plants and moni-

tors with intermittent images. The application of

the storage strategy to this work would require to

stock a large quantity of monitors identical to the

originals. The migration, however, would allow to

replace these monitors with others from a differ-

ent manufacturer. The emulation would be even

more permissive, and it would allow the digitiza-

tion of the installation so that modern digital

monitors such as LCD, Plasma or OLED, could be

used. This last strategy would facilitate the pre-

servation of the work in a totally digital world.

Finally, the reinterpretation of the work would

have no qualms about using monitors of different

size. In each case, the most important is the pre-

servation of the artist’s intention and of the per-

ceptual quality, which diminishes as permissibility

increases. Most of these variables can be clarified

with a good documentation, and with the artist

opinion and supervision. A good documentation,

16 System of systems where several digital devices have the responsibility of running code from an obsolete platform.

17 In terms of interconnection of the systems.

18 The video installation is a subset of new media for which it seems to be a more specific category. However, the corres-pondence with electronic art is given more for its nature than for the means of the expression itself.

LINO GARCÍA AND PILAR MONTERO VILAR

50 e-conservation

in fact, should clearly quantify the perceptual

quality of the images, a process for which the artist

is not prepared and probably neither the institution

that acquires the artwork. Otherwise, how can

one know when the monitor fatigue degrades the

image? How to prepare the illumination to ob-

tain the same visual effect? How do the conditions

and storage time affect the operation of the work?

There are categories with well defined technolo-

gical features such as net art. The pieces, data and

code that share hard disk space in a server can

satisfy in a greater or lesser degree either official

or de facto standard, or can be more or less re-

lated to certain technologies. The use of stand-

ards can be a good strategy because they usually

keep a certain level of compatibility with the pre-

vious technological versions and have a higher

endurance to change.

The protocol of data communication TCP/IP (Trans-

fer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a good

example. In 1969 DARPA (Defense Advanced Re-

search Projects Agency) created ARPANET, a R&D

project to develop an experimental net of pack-

age exchange. This net evolved until 1975 when

it became totally operational. The TCP/IP proto-

cols were developed during that period. In 1983

the protocols were adopted as a military standard

and all the machines connected to ARPANET had

to migrate to those protocols19. At the end of 1983

the original ARPANET was divided in two subnets,

MILNET, the unclassified part of the DDN (Defense

Network Dates) and a new and more reduced ARPANET.

The group of those nets was named the Internet.

Finally, in 1990 ARPANET disappeared but the In-

ternet remains as the net of nets.

TCP/IP are open and free standard protocols.

Their development and update are carried out

consensually and not according to manufacturer

strategies. Anyone can develop products that are

consistent with the specifications. They are soft-

ware and hardware independent. Their wide use

makes them especially suitable for interconnecting

different manufacturer devices, not only for the

Internet but also for local networks. They provide

a common address scheme that allows a TCP/IP

device to find another in any point of the net. More-

over, they are high level standardized protocols

that support services to the user and they are

broadly available and consistent.

To change the programming of all the TCP/IP de-

vices that constitute the Internet, some of them

using protocols dating from 1975 that work, means

a cost, an effort and a collaboration almost impos-

sible to imagine. However, the use of less common

technologies of a certain manufacturer with mul-

tiple versions represents a risk. Companies follow

expansion policies, merge and even go to bank-

ruptcy according to the market more than they

offer guarantees required by their customers. A

proprietary technology has a shorter expiration

date than a standard one, which is empowered by

a community of internet users, scientific and/or

academic institutions, etc.

To migrate a net artwork means to modify code

over and over again which requires a continuous

and considerable effort. The emulation means to

upgrade a virtual machine, probably the server

and the client, and to preserve any and every of

the involved obsolete technologies. To reinterpret

means to re-create the work with completely dif-

ferent technologies. It should be mentioned that

the diskette, which was the normal support for

the distribution of any technology in the 80’s and

90’s, belongs now in a museum, and it is not sup-

ported by most of 2009 computers.

19 In order to facilitate this migration, DARPA BBN (Bolt, Bera-nek & Newman) was founded to implement the protocols TCP/ IP in the Berkeley Unix system (BSD Unix). This was the be-ginning of the long union between TCP/IP and UNIX.

THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL ART PRESERVATION

51e-conservation

However the migration, emulation, and even the

reinterpretation can be the best options when the

adopted technology is prepared to resist obsoles-

cence. Anyway, the core strategy is to remake the

work in a robust and well-documented technology

that makes its display, conservation and restora-

tion easier for the museum.

Conclusions

It is clear that the mobilization and cooperation of

entities such as museums, collectors, foundations,

and other institutions in favour of the preserva-

tion and restoration of digital art is not enough.

The answer to the concern of UNESCO with this

kind of heritage has been focused on document-

ation. There is still much effort to do regarding

the technology, its stability, methodologies and

their most dangerous natural characteristic: the

obsolescence. A remarkable special feature is the

need of involving the artist in the documentation,

preservation and restoration processes.

The preservation of the digital heritage is a multi-

disciplinary technological forensic activity that re-

quires appropriate training, not only for the new

conservators but also for the artists themselves.

The control of the appropriate technology is as

important as the development of methodologies

that raise good practices and pass them on to all

the agents involved: technicians, conservators

and artists.

Digital heritage did not survive the passing of time.

This is both a problem and a reality: challenges are

there and action is urgent.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the willingness

and collaboration of the preservation and resto-

ration department of the National Museum Centro

de Arte Reina Sofía and to thank Laura Barreca,

who facilitated the access to their important re-

search on the detection of the needs and prob-

lems that the preservation of digital art poses.

References

[1] M. Tribe, J. Reena, Arte y Nuevas Tecnologías,

Taschen, Germany, 2006

[2] L. Barreca, Il di bat tito internazionale into

rno al la conservazione e alla documentazione

della New Me dia Art, 1995-2007, PhD thesis,

Università degli Studi della Tuscia di Viterbo,

Viterbo, 2008

[3] B. Wands, Art of the Digital Age, Thames &

Hudson, London, 2006

[4] M. Rush, Nuevas Expresiones Artísticas a Fi-

nales del Siglo XX, Ediciones Destino, Thames

& Hudson, Barcelona, 2002

[5] S. Martin, Videoarte, Taschen, Germany,

2006

[6] P. Alsina, Arte, Ciencia y Tecnología, Editori

al UOC, Barcelona, 2007

[7] C. Paul, Digital Art, Thames & Hudson, London,

2008

[8] D. Kahn, Noise, Water, Meat: A History of

Sound in the Arts, MIT Press, Cambridge,

2001

[9] R. Greene, Internet Art, Thames & Hudson,

London, 2004

[10] K. Ploug, Art games: An introduction,

http://www.artificial.dk/articles/artgames

intro.htm, 2005 (accessed May 3, 2010)

LINO GARCÍA AND PILAR MONTERO VILAR

52 e-conservation

LINO GARCÍAScientistContact: lino.garcia@uem.es

Lino García has an engineering degree by the In-stituto Superior Politécnico “José A. Echevarría” (ISPJAE), a Master in Communication Systems and Networks by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and a PhD by the same university. He has been teaching at different universities since 1992. He is now Professor at the Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM), at Escuela Superior Politécnica (ESP) and Escuela Superior de Arte y Arquitectura (ESAYA). Currently, he is the leader of a transdis-ciplinar research group on the intersection be-tween art, technology and society. He is also a published author, musician and composer. Since 2007 he is the director of the Master in Arquitec-tonical and Environmemtal Acoustics. In 2008 he published his first novel ISLAS, published by@becedario and received a prize in the Jornadas Internacionales de Innovación Universitaria for his work Metodología para proyectos transdis-ciplinares.

PILAR MONTERO VILARResearcher

Pilar Montero Vilar graduated in Fine Arts, Paint-ings and Conservation specialty, at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) after which she pursued a Master in Aesthetic and Arts’ Theory at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), and a PhD in Fine Arts from UCM. She was teaching Theory and Practice for the Master in Contem-porary Fine Arts from UCM (2002-2007) and she is currently a Professor at the Department of Artistic Creation and Theory of Art of ESAYA, UEM, and an Associated Professor of the Paintings De-partment of the Faculty of Fine Arts, UCM. At the moment she leads a research project entitled Dibujando el Madrid del siglo XXI (Drawing the XXI-century Madrid) at UEM.

THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL ART PRESERVATION

53e-conservation

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 15, July 2010 – submissions due 1st

June 2010

for Issue 16, September 2010 – submissions

due 1st August 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

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to each section

Please check our publication guidelines

for more information.

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

arp

proc

eedi

ngs

This issue contains the last part of a temporary section dedicated to the publication of

the proceedings of the Second ARP Seminar, organised by the Professional Association of

Conservator-Restorers of Portugal.

The Second ARP Seminar, The Practice of Theory – Treatments of Conservation-Restoration

was held in the auditorium of the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA) in Lisbon on May

29-30, 2009. The proceedings were published in Portuguese by the association and the

English version of the articles presented at the meeting were published in the last four

issues of e-conservation magazine.

The articles in this issue are dedicated to the Conservation of Paintings and Photography.

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

THE CONSERVATION-RESTORATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

OF THE CONVENT OF CHRIST IN TOMAR

2002-2006

by Frederico Henriques, Ana Bailão and Miguel Garcia

Introduction

In 2002, the Instituto Português de Conservação e

Restauro (IPCR) created a two-year project, spon-

sored by the Operational Programme for Culture

(POC), for research and conservation of the panel

paintings from Charola in Tomar (Figure 1). This

initiative was developed by a large team of conser-

vator-restorers, photographers, art historians,

physicists, chemists and biologists, who studied

the following works: "Baptism of Christ", "Resur-

rection of Lazarus", "Entrance of Christ in Jerusa-

lem", "Instruments of Martyrdom" and "The Vir-

gin and the Apostles". This program concluded

with the intervention on the painting "Baptism

of Christ" as well as on a small fragment salvaged

from a lost panel "Instruments of Martyrdom". The

“Resurrection of Lazarus" was not completed due

to severe structural problems of its support [1].

Between 2004 and 2006, by the initiative of IPPAR

and the Director of the Convent of Christ Dr. Jorge

Custódio, the work was continued according to

the same conservation criteria. The success of

this work made possible to place back the panels

into their own original niches.

The objective of this text, presented publicly at

the 2nd Conference of the Professional Association

of Conservator-restorers of Portugal (ARP), "The

Practice of Theory" (29 and 30 May 2009), is to

disseminate the intervention procedures performed

on the support and paint layers, indicating the

methodologies and materials used. In the first

phase of the work, problems in the supports were

addressed by panel paintings conservator Miguel

Garcia, and his master Pedro Correia, and the chro-

matic layer was treated by conservators-restorers

Frederico Henriques and Sónia Pires. In the second

phase, the treatment of the support and the chro-

matic layer was performed by conservator-resto-

rers Frederico Henriques and Ana Bailão.

Art Historical Context: the ‘Charola’ Panels

The monumental panels of the Charola are prob-

ably the biggest sixteenth century works produced

at the time of king D. Manuel I (1469-1521). The

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

Between 2002 and 2006, sixteenth century monumental panel paintings from the Charola of the Convent

of Christ in Tomar were submitted to conservation and restoration campaigns. The aim of this paper is

to describe the historical context, aspects related to artistic techniques, conservation procedures and

the materials used in the treatment of these works of art. The activities were undertaken in two phases:

the first, under a project of the Instituto Português de Conservação e Restauro (IPCR) and a second, by

the initiative of the Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR).

Figure 1. View of Charola, the Convento de Cristo in Tomar.

56 e-conservation

panels are attributed by Portuguese historiogra-

phy, but with some doubts, to painter Jorge Afonso.

The paintings are originally distributed through a

deambulatory of twelve niches, representing the

Life of Christ. At the present, though, only five

complete panels and three fragments exist. The

intervention was carried out on two complete

paintings and three fragments, in the following

sequence: "Resurrection of Lazarus", "Entrance

of Christ into Jerusalem", "Baptism of Christ",

"The Virgin and the Apostles" and "Instruments

of Martyrdom" (Figure 2). The art historical con-

text of the Operational Programme for Culture (POC)

in this project was carried out by Dr. Pedro Redol

and Dr. Amélia Casanova.

Execution Techniques

Naked eye and dendrochronological analyses sup-

ported the identification of the wood selected for

the construction of the supports as oak from the

forests of the Baltic region, most likely a “sessile

oak” (Quercus petraea), a native species from that

region. Dendrochronological analyses made by

Dr. Peter Klein and Dr. Lília Esteves indicate the

possible manufacturing of these paintings towards

a period between 1488 and 1499.

Each panel, measuring around 4 x 2,40 meters, is

composed of 10 radial cut oak boards of 4 cm thick-

ness disposed vertically (Figure 3). Their thickness

was entirely thinned with adzes, whose marks are

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

Figure 2 (above). Drawing showing the location of the paintings in the deambulatory (© IGESPAR).

Figure 3 (below). Diagram of the painting construction: vertical oak boards and reinforcement cross-bars in orange.

Figure 4 (below). View of the wood dowels on the painting surface.

e-conservation 57

still present on the back. The boards are butt-joined

(junta viva) and reinforced by square keys doubled

pinned across the thick slats (taleiras) (Figures 4,

5, 6), a Flemish technological typology [2].

These are equidistant in 4 levels high. Compara-

tive observation has shown that, the “Entrance

of Christ into Jerusalem” panel follows more ac-

curately this construction pattern. To get boards

with the extensions of 4 meters high, the wood-

workers used scarf joints, called in Portugal "em-

palmes". Here, two types of scarf joints were found:

in bevel shape (in the Lazarus panel) and in “Z”

shape (in all the other panels) (Figure 7). We con-

cluded that the two different work techniques

could in fact indicate the possibility of two inde-

pendent carpentry workshops involved in this big

project. The solid decorative oak black painted

frames lock the whole panel in the slot and the

entire system panel-frame is locked perfectly

inside the niches through metal spikes nailed

against the stone bricks.

Conservation Analysis

After an exhaustive photographic documentation

in day light, infrared photography, ultraviolet fluo-

rescence photography, infrared reflectography

and X-rays made by Dr. Pedro Sousa and chemical

analysis to the constituent materials performed

by Dr. Carmo Serrano, the plans of action for the

project were finally elaborated (Figure 8). There

was a proposal for diagnosis and treatment. Apart

from some exceptions, the methodologies were

current conservation-restoration techniques that

are commonly used in Portugal.

The observation of the under-drawing observation

was made with naked eye - due to the increasing

transparency of the painting caused by the natural

aging of the materials and the various abrasions

– and by infrared reflectography through digital

recording. This was done with a Sony Handycam

Figure 6. Butt-joint reinforcement: floating key locked with a pair of dowels (or pins).

Figure 5. View of the wood dowels on the back of the painting “Resurrection of Lazarus” and the shellac coverage.

Figure 7. Scarf joints found in the panel boards.

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

58 e-conservation

DCR PC115E PALTM in NightShot mode, with an

infrared filter HoyaTM attached to the lenses. This

video camera has provided images of excellent

quality and high contrast (Figure 9) in relation

to traditional systems such as infrared reflecto-

graphy (vidicon), which was also tested, and in-

frared photography film. In a second phase a Sony

Cybershot F-717TM digital camera (Figure 10) was

used. Concerning the drawing technique, and in

comparison with other examples [3] we can say

that it was done by brush with carbon black on

white ground layer.

Figure 8 (above). General view during the photographic session (© Miguel Garcia).Figure 9 (below). Registration of the underdrawing by infrared (video).Figure 10 (right). Registration of the underdrawing by digital infrared photography.

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

e-conservation 59

Various methods of examination and analysis were

used to determine the paint layer materials: the

stratigraphic analysis (Figure 11), micro-chemical

analysis aided by micro X-ray fluorescence (EIS

FRL - XRF 38TM, equipped with a silicon detector),

high resolution liquid chromatography (2795TM

Waters) with mass spectrometry (Waters Micro-

mass ZQ-4000) and with simultaneous detection

in UV-Vis (996TM Waters). The analysis allowed

the identification of the following pigments and

dyes: azurite, blue smalt, lead-tin yellow, lead

white, animal charcoal, mineral charcoal, brown

and yellow ochre, verdigris, vermilion, madder

lake and cochineal for the original work; and

barium yellow, strontium yellow, Prussian blue,

green chromium and chromium resinate for the

pigments used in earlier restorations. Laboratory

analyses also concluded the presence of gypsum

(calcium sulphate semi-hydrate), mixed with ani-

mal glue and applied in a single layer, as the pre-

paration layer of the painting. Traces of original

varnish were not observed. The varnish used in

the restoration interventions was identified as

shellac [4].

Radiography, for example, was essential to study

the constructive techniques of the wood support

in order to confirm issues concerning the con-

servation state of the works. It was possible to

determine the existence of keys inside the butt-

joints, the lines of the boards' scarf joints, the

structural integrity of the slats, the location and

level of decay of the wood, degraded by fungus and

insect activity (Figure 12). Laser scanning was also

used in the conservation project of the painting

“Entrance of Christ in Jerusalem”, for the docu-

mentation the warp of the boards (Figure 13) [5].

The paintings were subjected to technical study in

order to identify what is original [6], after which

several well preserved marks were found on the

back of the panels. These include carpenter tool

marks and marks of inventory made in previous

treatments, travels, etc. Of all marks, one inscrip-

tion on the painting of “Entrance of Christ in Jer-

usalem” was selected. A recent study attempted

the identification of inscriptions located on a cross-

Figure 11 (below). Example of stratigraphic layer (© IMC).Figure 12 (right). Full size radiography of “Resurrection of Lazarus” (© IMC).

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

60 e-conservation

bar, made with graphite on the back of the panel

by the nineteenth-century restorer [7]. The method

involved the application of tools of remote sens-

ing: maximum likelihood classification and the

elaboration of thematic classes (created polygons

were classified as "inscription area", "wood back-

ground" and "screw"). This study allowed the read-

ing of the inscription: "Foram acentes em 1868

Julho 23" meaning the reinforcement crossbars

were subjected to restoration by July 23rd, 1868

(Figure 14). Another similar exercise was applied

to determine a shellac area brushed widely on the

back of the Lazarus panel. The results showed the

presence of shellac on approximately 41% of the

surface (Figure 15).

Figure 13.Orthophotography made with laser infrared reflec-tance and topographic mapping (© Superfície-Geomática, Lda.).

Figure 14. Inscription obtained by supervised classification.Figure 15. Shellac area detection by supervised classification (in black).

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

e-conservation 61

Subsequent Interventions and Some Historical Notes (16th-21st century)

Table 1 shows an explanatory framework in chronological order of some known interventions [8, 9].

Year Performed by Intervention

1533 Reymão d´ArmasFernão Rodrigues

" to glue and to fix the small and large altars of the Charola””to paint some lacunas and fissures in the panels of the Charola”

1573/75 Fernão Roiz "... Repaint the paintings of the rotunda and instruct the painter Fernão Roiz to refresh the colors ... and all the panels."

1802 João Jorge (Plasterer) "Some of these panels have been retouched in 1802."

1811 General Massena Troops The written documentation indicated by União dos Amigos dos Monumentos da Ordem de Cristo (UAMOC) says that “Some have been misled and destroyed during the French invasion of Massena”.

1834 Academy of Fine Arts 22 paintings are taken to Lisbon (Royal Academy of Fine Arts). The Charola paintings were assigned to Grão Vasco.

1845 Academy of Fine Arts Repair ordered by King D. Fernando II to the "Resurrection of Lazarus" in Lisbon. “It had arrived destroyed in Lisbon, after the extinction of religious orders." Application of shellac in the "Resur-rection of Lazarus" and "Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem" (1849), treatment of the support and retouching.

1855 António Manuel Fonseca Repairs completed and directed by Antonio Manuel Fonseca (head of the Fine Arts Academy).

1861 António Manuel Fonseca Return to Tomar, mounting and retouching.

1863 António Manuel Fonseca (?) Returning to the Academy. Went to Lisbon on the occasion of the Centennial Exposition, the death of King José I (1714-1777). There is no record of António Manuel Fonseca being once more the responsible for the restoration.

1867-

Return to Tomar: “Resurrection of Christ”; “Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem"; “Christ and the Centurion”; “Resurrection of Lazarus”.

20th century

1930s (?)(?)

Travel to Lisbon (?). The paintings would have gone to Lisbon to be restored on the occasion of the Portuguese World Exhibition in 1940 (?)

1936 Fernando Mardel "Ascension of Christ”, "Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem", “Christ and the Centurion” and “Resurrection of Lazarus" are returned to Tomar

1970 José de Figueiredo Institute (IJF)

IJF Report (observations): "... were all with disjointed planks, yellowed varnish and in some cases, the chromatic film in detachment." (Manuel Reys-Santos and Maria Fernanda Viana)

1971 Instituto José de Figueiredo (IJF)

Intervention in the "Ascension of Christ". Should have consisted of reattachment of the paint layer and chromatic reintegration.

1977 José de Figueiredo Institute (IJF)

IJF Report (observation): "Resurrection of Lazarus" has wood decay. Chromatic layer detachment, disjoint boards and dirt (Luísa Santos).

Table 1. Chronological order of some known interventions and historical notes.

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

62 e-conservation

Figures 16. The union of the wood joints (© Miguel Garcia).

1988 José de Figueiredo Institute (IJF)

Detachment of the Panels of the rotunda. Transportation to Lisbon for storage. Coincides with the beginning of the great mural campaign of conservation-restoration.

2002 IPCR Transportation to the Convent of Christ. Beginning of POC project (Frederico Henriques, Sónia Pires and Miguel Garcia).

2004 IPPAR Beginning of the 2nd work phase, started in 2002. Conservation-restoration finished in 2006 (Frederico Henriques and Ana Bailão).

Methodologies of Conservation-Restoration Intervention

The methodology of conservation-restoration

presented here briefly was performed on the

wooden support and chromatic layer.

Wooden support

• Removal of the panels with removal of non-

original parts and crossbars;

• Disinfestations with liquid Permethrin-based

biocide (CuprinolTM);

• Mechanical cleaning of wood joints;

• Volumetric reconstructions with the use of slim

and flat trapezoidal Castanea sp. pieces in areas

of cubical rot and some cracks;

• Union of wood joints with polyvinyl acetate

(Figure 16);

• Replacement of the old crossbars by aluminum

bars, which slide over small bridge sections of

wooden blocks, connected themselves with a slim

flat key of the same metal, creating a lighter struc-

ture and reinforcing the panel. The application

and development of the system was previously

studied [10]. The presented system is similar to

the Carità model by Istituto Centrale del Restauro,

in Rome, but it uses aluminum bars with rectan-

gular section instead of circular shape section

(Figures 17 and 18) [11].

Chromatic layer

• Application of facing with diluted adhesive

animal glue;

• Testing the solubility of the aged resins and

overpaintings. To this end, we used the protocol

of cleaning polychromy of Masschelein-Kleiner

[12] and the gel system formulated by Richard

Wolbers [13, 14]. In all panels, the chemical

cleaning of the varnish and overpaintings was

made with a solvent gel (Propanol-2) (Figure 19).

The laboratory information indicated that the

coatings were shellac, thus, not originals.

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

e-conservation 63

Figure 17. The new reinforcement system with cross aluminum bars.

Figure 18. Detail of the new reinforcement system with cross aluminum bars.

• The chosen material for gap-filling was the com-

mercial product ModostucTM, in white color, due

to its stability and elasticity properties.

• The chromatic reintegration was initially made

with gouache and watercolor Talens and Winsor

& NewtonTM. The gouache was applied in most

cases because of their opacity. After the satura-

tion of colours with synthetic resin, the second

phase was started with the use of powder pigments

admixed in the same resin to match the colour of

the gouache used as protective coating and finish-

ing (Figure 20). This technique is very common

in Portugal.

• The application of protective layers was made

according to the paintings. Two systems were used:

one was the application of dammar resin in con-

tact with the original paint layer followed by a

sprayed layer of the copolymer Paraloid B72TM.

In these cases the chromatic reintegration was

done with acrylic synthetic resin dissolved in di-

acetone alcohol. The other consisted in using a

commercial cyclohexanone resin as a retouching

varnish. In such cases the chromatic reintegration

was finished with pigment powder in the same resin

that was used as a protective varnish.

Conclusions

The main objective achieved with these projects,

conducted and followed up by state institutions

was the return of the panel paintings to their ori-

ginal location, the Charola. It is through such ini-

tiatives involving multidisciplinary teams that we

can acquire and disseminate knowledge about

cultural heritage (Figures 21, 22, 23).

When we started this project, in 2002, the treat-

ment of the support was frequently made, in Por-

tugal, only by woodworkers. The painting conser-

vator-restorer merely acted on the chromatic layer.

This work has proved that the paintings conservator-

restorer can undertake, with the proper knowledge,

the support treatment as well. It is important that

this form of understanding the intervention of

conservation-restoration in panel paintings be-

comes a common practice in Portugal, since only

a conservator-restorer is aware of general prob-

lems of the work. Woodworkers do not interpret

the painting as a whole, but try to collaborate in

solving the problems of wood support.

Figures 19 and 20. Cleaning of the varnish (below) and retouching with gouache (second below).

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

64 e-conservation

Figure 21. General view of “Resurrection of Lazarus” after the intervention.

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

e-conservation 65

Figure 22. General view of “Entrance of Christ in Jerusalem” after intervention.

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

66 e-conservation

Figure 23. General view of “Batism of Christ” after the intervention.

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

e-conservation 67

This unique collection of panel paintings repre-

sented a conservation challenge that was success-

fully met due to the highest standard of scientific

collaboration between all the project participants.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank to the ex-Director

of Convento de Cristo Dr. Jorge Custódio, to Pedro

Correia, Rui Ferreira, Paulo Henrique, Júlio Cala-

fate and to the other employees of Convento de

Cristo; Fernando Antunes of the Polythecnic In-

stitute of Tomar (IPT); Dr. Alexandre Gonçalves,

Instituto Superior Técnico (IST); Instituto dos

Museus e da Conservação (IMC); and Instituto de

Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueoló-

gico (IGESPAR).

This work has been supported by Fundação para a

Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and Programa Opera-

cional Ciência e Inovação 2010 (POCI 2010), co-

funded by the Portuguese Government and Euro-

pean Union by FEDER Program. This research was

also partially supported by FCT scholarship SFRH

/BD/42488/2007.

References

[1] A. I. Seruya and M. Pereira (dir.), As Tábuas

da Charola, IPCR, Lisboa, 2005.

[2] H. Verougstraete-Marcq and R.Van Schoute,

Cadres et supports dans la peinture flamande

aux 15e et 16 siècles, Heure-le-Romain, 1989.

[3] D. Bonford (ed.), Art in the making: Under-

drawings in Renaissance paintings, National

Gallery Publications, London, 1992.

[4] L. Masschelein-Keiner, Liants, Vernis et Ad-

hésies Anciens, Institut Royal du Patrimoine

Artistique, Brussels, 1978.

[5] H. Pires, F. Henriques, P. Marques, "Novas

fronteiras no registo e diagnóstico de pinturas

retabulares. A utilização dos sistemas de var-

rimento laser", in Pedra & Cal, nº 33, Janeiro,

Fevereiro, Março, 2007, pp. 20-22.

[6] A. Bailão and F. Henriques, "Cleaning and re-

touching on paintings in Portugal: Historical

and ethical issues in the last two decades of

20th century", in La Restauración en el Siglo XXI.

Función, Estética e Imagen. Actas do IV Con-

greso, Grupo Espanol del IIC, Cáceres, 2009,

pp. 311-318.

[7] F. Henriques, A. Gonçalves, A. Calvo, A. Bailão

"Application of spatial analysis operations for

the characterization of wood painting features",

in COST Action IE0601- Evaluation of Deteri-

oration and Management of Change. Wood

Science for Conservation of Cultural Heritage,

URL [pdf] (accessed 26th April 2010)

[8] Anais da União dos Amigos da Ordem do Con-

vento de Cristo (UAMOC), Vol. 1, Tipografia

António Gouveia, Tomar, 1941.

[9] Anais da União dos Amigos da Ordem do Con-

vento de Cristo (UAMOC), Vol. 2, Imprensa

Lucas &, Lisboa, 1946.

[10] F. Henriques, Conservação e Restauro de

Estruturas e Suportes em Madeira na Pintura

de Cavalete, Instituto Politécnico de Tomar,

Departamento de Arte, Conservação e Res-

tauro, Tomar, 2005, final report of licenciatura

degree.

[11] S. Bergeon, G. Emile-Mâle, C. Huot and O.

Baÿ, "The Restoration of Wooden Painting

Supports: Two Hundred Years of History in

France", in K. Dardes and A. Rothe (ed.), The

Structural Conservation of Panel Paintings,

FREDERICO HENRIQUES et al.

68 e-conservation

ANA BAILÃO Conservator-restorer

ana.bailao@gmail.com

Ana Bailão graduated in Conservation and Resto-

ration by the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar (2005)

and has a master in Conservation of Cultural Pro-

perty, in the area of Painting, from the Portuguese

Catholic University (2010), where she is currently

a PhD candidate in Conservation of Paintings. Her

objective is to study methodologies to enhance

the quality of painting retouching. At the present

she practices conservation and restoration since

2004 in her own studio.

MIGUEL GARCIA Conservator-restorer

miguelalexgarcia@gmail.com

Miguel Garcia has a Bachelor Degree in Conserva-

tion and Restoration, Furniture Area, by the Higher

School of Conservation and Restoration of Lisbon

(2002). Thereafter he has participated in several

projects among which a 2002/2004 project in the

Conservation of Panel Paintings specialty, through

the orientation of IPCR, Lisbon; a brief participa-

tion in the projects Wrightsman Galleries for French

Decorative Arts, and Wisteria Room for 19th and

20th century Galleries, both at the Metropolitan

Museum of Art; and the Spanish Ceiling Project for

the Islamic Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum

of Art, New York, from August 2007 to June 2009.

The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles,

1995, pp. 264-288.

[12] L. Masschelein-Kleiner, Les Solvents, IRPA,

Bruxelles, 1981.

[13] R.Wolbers, Cleaning Painted Surfaces –

Aqueous Methods, Archetype Publications,

London, 2000.

[14] P. Cremonesi, Materiali e Metodi per la

Pulitura di Opere Policrome, Phase, Bologna,

1997.

*Photos by Frederico Henriques and Ana Bailão

FREDERICO HENRIQUESConservator-restorer

frederico.painting.conservator@gmail.com

Frederico Henriques has a Bachelor in Conser-

vation and Restoration by the Higher School of

Conservation and Restoration of Lisbon (1997)

and a licenciatura degree in Conservation and

Restoration by the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar

(2005). He is currently a PhD candidate in the

Conservation of Paintings at the Portuguese Cath-

olic University in collaboration with the Depart-

ment of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Sec-

tion of Systems Support Project, of the Instituto

Superior Técnico. The PhD dissertation is being

supervised by professors Ana Calvo and Alexandre

Gonçalves and is funded by Fundação para a Ciência

e Tecnologia.

THE CONSERVATION OF THE “CHAROLA” PAINTINGS

e-conservation 69

THE CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATIONOF A PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT

The “Panoramic View of Constantinople”

by Élia Roldão and Luis Pavão

This paper describes the conservation of a photographic print, entitled “Panoramic View of Constantinople”. The work, dating from the second quarter of the nineteenth century, consists of 10 albumen prints of an unknown photographer. The work suffered chemical and physical alterations due to a flood accident at the place it was stored. The treatment allowed to remove the deposits of mud, to clean the prints and cards surface and to restore the physical integrity of the work.

Introduction

In general, the conservation of photographs re-

stricts the intervention to the treatment of the

photographic media (glass, paper, plastics) due

to the fragility of the photographic emulsions and

of the constituent materials. The intervention on

photographic emulsions is limited, and often un-

feasible, due to water-based treatments that may

lead to irreversible changes, endangering the

chemical and physical stability of the materials.

Although sometimes it may seem a good solution

to treat a work without taking unnecessary risks,

we are often faced with situations where it is needed

to remove parts such as adhesive tape and grip

elements, in order to restore the material’s in-

tegrity and to promote the reading of the overall

image. These interventions, however, require that

the entire work surface (emulsion and support)

is submitted to the treatment in order to avoid

the appearance of tide lines and spots that would

stand out from the image. Experiments have re-

vealed that it is crucial to perform a dry mechan-

ical cleaning before performing any chemical

treatment in order to prevent the penetration of

dirt in the emulsion and paper fibres, avoiding to

induce chemical and physical alterations to the

image.

In 2007 we were faced with a new challenge that

came from a private collector, himself also a pho-

tography conservator, who brought to our studio

a photographic work that we designated as "Pano-

ramic View of Constantinople". This work, dating

from the last quarter of the nineteenth century,

was identified as being an emulsion on photo-

graphic print with albumen and silver salts. The

owner recounted the entire history of the work

since its acquisition in an antiques fair until the

flood accident.

Intervention

This work consists of 10 photographic prints in

albumen glued or mounted on cards. The set of

prints and cards had the overall dimensions of

31x342 cm. They were organised in folios and it

seemed to have been detached from the interior

of a binding. The making of thematic albums

with urban or rural landscape panoramic views,

especially with monuments views, was very char-

acteristic in the nineteenth century. These albums

were made by photographic studios that wanted

to commercialise their work, whether from their

own initiative or at the request of institutions

or private clients. The albumen prints were very

popular during that period not only for land-

scapes but also for portraits.

Several inscriptions in graphite and ink, for la-

belling purposes, were identified on the front

and verso of the cards. From these, only one men-

tioned a date: December 4, 1895 (Figure 1).

The owner warned us that the date that was

marked could be the date of acquisition by a

previous owner and not the date of execution.

There was no reference to its authorship.

Figure 1. Detail of the date inscribed on the back of the cards. Figure 2. Scheme of the common stratigraphy in albumen prints.

THE “PANORAMIC VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE”

e-conservation 71

The name of these prints derives from the mate-

rial of the photographic emulsion composed by a

fragile albumen layer where the silver salts that

form the image are suspended [1]. They were usu-

ally glued on cards to correct the tendency to curl.

The strong yellowing, the image fading and the

“cracked” aspect are characteristic for the albu-

men prints and result from the material degra-

dation (Maillard reaction) [2] that is sometimes

confused with the yellowing of the possible lac-

quers applied by photographers (Figure 2).

In this particular case it was not possible to de-

termine the existence of a varnish layer or its com-

position, although there was a clearly excessive

yellowing at the periphery of the prints. This type

of deposits are often described in literature as

being run-offs from the application and drying

of the finishing layers applied by the photo-

grapher [3].

The intervention treatment presented here is very

different from the normal conservation interven-

tions on photography that are normally carried

out by our studio, to the extent that the specific

features of this work, such as its size and condi-

tion (Figure 3) forced us to create very specific

conditions for their observation and treatment.

It was urgent to set real objectives for the work’s

treatment and display. Thus, the objectives of the

intervention were defined together with the owner:

- To restore the materials’ physical integrity while

respecting and maintaining the original materials;

- To apply the 'minimal intervention' principle;

- To apply the principle of compatibility and re-

versibility of the materials and methodologies

- To develop a method to preserve and display the

work.

Diagnostic of the state of conservation

The prolonged contact with water from the flood

followed by slow drying promoted the formation

of mud deposits on the surface and the strong

bending of the prints and their respective cards.

This accident has had a strong impact on the phys-

ical and chemical stability of the work.

In general, the prints and cards presented extens-

ive areas with deposits of mud, especially on the

lower half of the cards (Figure 4), as well as evi-

Figure 3. General view of the prints before treatment.

72 e-conservation

ÉLIA ROLDÃO AND LUIS PAVÃO

Figure 4. General view of the secondary card and the mud deposits.

dent physical deformation (curved and wavy) (Fig-

ures 5 and 6) and strong yellowing (Figure 5).

Despite the visible damage caused by prolonged

contact with water, structurally the ensemble pre-

sented physical strength and there were no visible

gaps or detachments of the emulsion. The surface

of both the prints and cards presented dirt, foxing,

tide lines and small areas with clear signs of use.

Before the beginning of the intervention, some

operations were carefully performed, such as the

graphic and photographic documentation of the

original folio organisation, the sequential num-

bering of the prints and cards, and cleaning tests

to determine the most appropriate methodology.

All the information gathered in the documenta-

tion was relevant for the reorganisation of the

prints and conditioning of the work.

Intervention

The identification of the prints and the diagnostic

of the state of conservation were carried out to

the entire ensemble. However, given its overall

dimensions and the loss of function of some mate-

rials, it was necessary to remove the cloth hinges

in order to perform the treatment to each print

and card. The removal of the cloth hinges and

adhesive residues was performed through the

application of a solution of distilled water and

ethanol (50/50) and mechanically with a spatula.

The extension and strong adherence of the mud

deposits to the prints and their cards resulted in

changes in the intervention methodology, lead-

ing to a lengthier treatment.

Given the fragility and extreme sensitivity of the

emulsion, it was decided to start the treatment

with mechanical cleaning of the surface using

scraps of Staedler Mars plastic vinyl eraser and

a soft brush (Figure 7) [4]. This cleaning was

gentle and effective and enabled a new reading

of the image without any creases or traces of gum

on the print surface. This action ensured that the

emulsion would not be damaged during the sup-

port cleaning.

The mechanical cleaning of the cards took place

in several phases. It started with the removal

of the thicker layers of mud with a scalpel and

spatula (Figure 8), followed by cleaning with the

soft brush and the eraser. The effectiveness of

the mechanical cleaning permitted to continue

with the chemical cleaning test using a solution

of distilled water and ethanol (50/50) (Figure 9).

The mechanical and chemical cleaning was suc-

cessful to remove the mud deposits allowing to

Figure 5. Detail of a bent corner before intervention.

e-conservation 73

Figure 6. Physical deformations of the print before intervention.

THE “PANORAMIC VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE”

Figure 8. Removal of the deposits of mud.

74 e-conservation

Figure 7. Detail of cleaning with a soft brush.

ÉLIA ROLDÃO AND LUIS PAVÃO

observe image details and damages that were hid-

den by the mud. However, the physical deformities

that prevented proper handling of the ensemble

were still present.

The need to flatten each print and respective cards

was addressed by a method that consisted in the

humidification of the cards in a smooth and con-

trolled way by applying distilled water over a drying

paper (Figure 10) followed by drying and flattening

(Figure 11). Then, the materials used for flatten-

ing were exchanged by other dry ones to remove

the introduced moisture and an acrylic plaque

and weights were applied to correct the deform-

ations during drying and subsequent flattening.

Flattening allowed to rejoin the peripheral areas

of the prints to the cards from which they had been

detached (Figures 12 and 13) and to consolidate

the cards that presented lamination on the corners

with the application of starch glue for the fixation

and consolidation.

e-conservation 75

Figures 10 and 11. Humidification scheme (left) and scheme of the drying and flattening processes (right).

Figure 9. Detail of cleaning with cotton swab using a solution of distilled water and ethanol (50/50).

THE “PANORAMIC VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE”

Mounting

It was chosen to build a recessed mat to ensure the

most adequate display with respect to the organi-

sation and dimension of the work. It was neces-

sary to find a framing system that would fit the

total dimensions of the ensemble of the prints and

secondary cards, mat and protection glass, and

that would offer the necessary stability for its dis-

play. After consulting several suppliers and assess-

ing the stability of different materials and their

performance in showrooms, we chose, in agreement

with the client, a mahogany frame and museum

grade acrylic glass, with dimensions slightly lar-

ger than those of the ensemble for presenting

the required strength and quality we sought.

We chose to build a mat with recess because it

was the most adequate method for mounting

the prints glued on the cards and those curved

or wavy ones.

This method consists of three card elements:

the first one, designated “back card”, is bigger

than the work and it has the objective to protect

the support of the prints and cards; the second

card, known as “cardboard spacer”, has dimen-

sions larger than the prints and openings with

the exact dimensions of the card, on which the

prints are glued; and finally, a “window card”

that slightly overlaps the cards. The “cardboard

spacer” compensates the thickness of the print

and fastens it without resorting to hinges or

corners [5].

The mat was built directly on the acrylic glass

which had the function of supporting the whole

set. Museum Heritage cardboard of 600 microns

was glued onto the acrylic glass with double-face

adhesive tape 3M 345 in order to create an inert

support and to avoid the direct contact between

the print and the acrylic glass, fulfilling the func-

tion of the “back card” (Figure 14).

76 e-conservation

Figures 12 and 13. Detail of the prints and cards before (left) and after the intervention (right).

Figure 14. Mounting scheme of the ensemble and materials used.

ÉLIA ROLDÃO AND LUIS PAVÃO

A ‘box’, called “cardboard spacer”, was built of the

same materials and at the exact dimensions of the

work. This allowed to centre the print during the

mounting and to prevent future accidents and pos-

sible abrasion of the prints (Figure 16).

The mounting of the prints and their respective

cards was performed directly onto the previously

described structure (Figures 15 and 16), with Ja-

panese paper and starch paste for the cards join-

ing. After mounting the ensemble (Figure 17), a

“window card” was built of Conservation Heritage

Museum card of 1200 microns, fastening indirectly

the print and avoiding it to enter in direct contact

with the protective glass. The gluing of the "win-

dow card" to "spacing card" was made through

the application of double-face adhesive tape 3M

345. Finally, the second acrylic glass was placed

for the protection of the print (Figure 18).

The back of the frame was sealed with adhesive

paper tape to prevent the entry of dust, and it

was reinforced with metallic elements that pro-

moted a higher resistance and stability during

the future display (Figures 19 and 20).

Conclusions

This intervention was definitely a challenge, given

the type of photography, organisation, patholo-

gies and dimension of the work. It was also one

of the most interesting projects due to the dia-

logue with the client who provided us all the in-

formation concerning the history and conser-

vation state of the work, and with whom we set

the real objectives of the intervention.

Although the principles of minimal intervention,

reversibility and compatibility of materials and

actions were respected, we understand that some

Figure 17. General view during the mounting of the prints.

e-conservation 77

Figure 15. Aspect during the mounting of the ensemble. Figure 16. Detail of a print mounting.

THE “PANORAMIC VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE”

doubts may be raised by the use of organic ma-

terials which generally are not recommended for

the preservation of photography, such as the ma-

hogany frame. This option was based on the need

to build a frame with single beams and with dimen-

sions larger than the prints that would promote

the stability we sought. Several suppliers were

consulted concerning the use of frames made of

inert materials but these presented the incon-

venient of joining several elements due to the

Figure 19. Application of adhesive paper tape.

78 e-conservation

Figure 20. Insertion of metallic elements.

Figure 18. Final view of the print mounting.

ÉLIA ROLDÃO AND LUIS PAVÃO

large dimension of the beam, and thus lacking

the required strength and stability for the pre-

servation and display of the work.

It is also relevant to mention that our methodo-

logical options had in consideration the future

role of the owner, who will perform frequent in-

spections to assess the state of conservation of

the work as well as of the mounting materials.

The fact that the work is on display makes easier

to observe and detect possible alterations that

may occur with time.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the owner of the

work for his indispensable contribution on the

identification and diagnosis processes; to their

colleagues at Luis Pavão Lda. for their encour-

agements; to conservator-restorers Ana Coelho,

Catarina Mateus and Lúcia Moutinho Alberto for

their suggestions, friendship and support, and to

photographers Daniel Cristo and Paula Lourenço

for their support and quality of the documenta-

tion record performed.

Bibliography

[1] Gordon Baldwin, Looking at Photographs –

A Guide to Technical Terms, The J. Paul

Getty Museum e British Museum Press,

1991, pp. 7-8

[2] James M. Reilly, Care and Identification of

19th-Century Photographic Prints, Kodak

Books, 2001, pp. 35-42

[3] Clara von Waldthausen, “Coatings on salted

paper, albumen, and platinum prints” in

Coatings on Photographs – Materials, Tech-

niques and Conservation, Photographic

Materials Group of the American Institute

for Conservation of Historic and Artistic

Works, New York, 2005, pp. 78-93

[4] Nancy Reinhold, Hanako Murata, Richard

Stenman, Taina Meller, Nora W. Kennedy,

“Marking Photographs: The Impact of Ink

Stamping Practices”, Topics in Photographic

Preservation, Volume twelve, American

Institute for Conservation, 2007, pp. 3-14

[5] Luís Pavão, Conservação de Colecções de

Fotografia, Dinalivro, 1997, pp. 296-300

e-conservation 79

ÉLIA ROLDÃOConservator-restorer

Contact: elia.roldao@gmail.com

Élia Roldão is a conservator-restorer of photo-

graphy. She has a degree in Conservation and

Restoration and a post-graduation in Chemistry

Applied to Cultural Heritage. She currently works

at Luis Pavão, Lda.

LUIS PAVÃO Conservator-restorer

Contact: lupa@lupa.com.pt

Website: http://www.lupa.com.pt

Luis Pavão has a degree in Electrical Engineering

from the Technical University of Lisbon. He then

pursued a Master in Fine Arts by the Rochester

Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York

(USA) where he specialised in conservation of

photography. He currently works as conservator-

restorer of photography at the company he

established in 1982, Luis Pavão Lda.

THE “PANORAMIC VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE”

book

revi

ewReview by Christabel Blackman

CONSERVATION. PRINCIPLES, DILEMMAS AND UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS

Editors: Alison Richmond and Alison Bracker

Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann

Publication Year: 2009

Pages: 268

ISBN 13: 978-0750682015

ISBN 10: 0750682019

Language: English

“Conservation. Principles, Dilemmas

and Uncomfortable Truths” is edited

by Alison Richmond and Alison Bracker

and published by Butterworth-Heine-

mann, Elsevier, in association with

the Victoria and Albert Museum. The

book is compiled of a selection of 21

essays by a wide variety of contem-

porary conservation thinkers (27 in

all), who represent the various fields

that make up the diversified yet all

inclusive landscape of conservation.

It aims at representing the peculiar

cross-disciplinary innateness of con-

servation and includes philosophers,

historians, sociologists, architects,

museum staff and conservators. Each

voice has the chance to illuminate

ideas and issues, criticize or endorse,

reflect or re-examine. Consequentially an enormous

amount of questions are posed, ideas challenged,

principles redefined, theories disputed, and cri-

ticisms launched.

According to the editors, in this current period of

re-evaluation that we are witnessing, the purpose

of this collection of texts is aimed at the opportu-

nity for cross pollination of ideas between these

various fields. Indeed an effort has been made

to represent all facets of our complex profession.

The editors propose that traditional ethics and

practice have been disputed and debated over

since the evolving interchange of contemporary

ideas has re-evaluated the foundations of conser-

vation theories. The tendency in contemporary

conservation thinking confirms a philosophical

swing towards the belief that conservation stems

from social desire and is determined by decisions

Precursors come from the realm of the Arts, not the Conservation sphere: conservators, the problem solvers, now look towards defining the challenging prospect of the future in conservation ethics and dilemmas.

e-conservation

that are made by the stakeholders, rather than the

previously accepted belief that it was an objectivity

driven activity. These new ideas not only challenge

the principle of objectivity but also other relatively

contemporary premises such as authenticity, mini-

mal intervention, or the role of the conservator as

caretaker.

Contemporary Conservation issues indisputably

emerge from the growth and development of the

profession. They stem outwards and may define,

justify or be a validation for conservator-restorers.

They germinate from concerns and uneasiness

about previous definitions and are nurtured by

problematic uncertainties. Conservators do not

tend to be precursors (that terrain is left for the

ice-breaking giants of the Arts), they are the nur-

turers, minders and caretakers, the problem solv-

ers but not usually the prophets. However conser-

vators are the architects of the definition of their

profession. In the pages of this book, we are served

tempting dishes that have an embracing attitude

towards the future, and are capable of taking the

all important prospect of a changing focus into

account with their challenging views and criticisms.

This collection of essays surges forth from a deep

knowledge and familiarity with the profession by

their authors, through the processes of internali-

zation and contemplation, recognition and ration-

alization. We are thus presented with dilemmas

and current unresolved issues that need to be re-

thought to enable them to be essentially relevant.

A lot of the authors included in this collection are

familiar names to us as their voices have emerged

to create a representative discourse in the conser-

vation world. They discuss, and we the passive

reader-conservators head nod. Others perhaps may

be classified as working conservators, who tend

to be less published, simply because they are too

busy working, but that does not imply that they

do not have equally interesting ideas and views

to propose or expose. There is a wide variety of

nationalities represented which also helps to

colour a more extensive palette.

Jonathan Ashley-Smith writes about the devel-

opment of the profession, saying that the conser-

vator’s attitude and behaviour has been determined

and varies according to chronology and context.

The consideration of options available to a con-

servator comes from “the practical opportunities

and constraints of materials” and by the way that

they are resolved. However, he says that the public

approval factor plays an important role in influ-

encing what the conservator may actually feel is

desirable for the object. He goes on to point out

that the determination to define the profession

within the realms of codes of ethics, rather than

through competence and knowledge, may misguide

us into thinking that there is one single set of ethics

that is unanimously applicable. The understanding

of diversity is what makes these collective common

grounds more variable and not so rigidly valid.

Ashley-Smith’s article, like other authors, chooses

to outline the historical emergence of conserva-

tion issues. Indeed his summaries and conclusions

are similar to those of the Canadian Miriam Clavir,

voices which choose to dance a similar choreogra-

phy on the same tightrope. She points out that

the profession is guided by these codes of ethics,

wherein the conservator juggles his competences,

values and know-how, which can lead to conflict,

because of the predetermined expectations of

these ethical conventions. Clavir points out that

alternative ways of conservation thinking come

out of the perusal and reassessment of conserva-

tion codes and rules. This topic is also taken up by

the Australian and New Zealand authors Marcelle

Scott and Catherine Smith.

In his essay “Practical Ethics”, Jonathan Kemp

strikes at the rationale of definitions saying that

BOOK REVIEW

e-conservation 81

failure is guaranteed if we use a single code of

ethics as a measuring stick. The intention of these

codes is to produce consensual behavior, not rules.

He concludes by proposing that a solution to many

dilemmas, suggesting that any conservation ac-

tion that falls into the interim space between eth-

ics and activity, between material authenticity and

the validity of the conservators experience thus

applied, can be justified and annotated in the work

reports and records.

Both Jonathan Rée and Nicolas Stanley-Price offer

innovative ideas in their specific spheres. The former

suggests that by the faithful reproduction of ob-

jects, we may maintain their symbolic meaning,

while the latter suggests that the reconstruction

of buildings in architectural conservation is a re-

sponse to a public necessity, they both make in-

teresting practical proposals with their consequen-

tial justifications on the theoretical side.

Chris Caple in his piece “The Aims of Conservation”

offers a quick stepped recapitulating global view

of conservation and ends up by questioning how

social values affect conservation and whether this

will determine future purpose of the activity. Jukka

Jokilehto chooses to examine the development of

conservation principles, underling the themes of

authenticity and integrity and the shift of impor-

tance from the tangible to the intangible values

of heritage. He also tends to seek answers in an

historical overview of conservation. Along with

other authors, the same question is posed by ap-

proaching contemporary themes through retro-

spective reflection. The classic Gauguin phrasing

of “Where do we come from?” and thus “Who are

we?” and “Where are we going?” is appropriate.

Salvador Muñoz Viñas offers us some interesting

reflections in his “Minimal Intervention Revisited”

essay. In fact he splits fine hairs in the analysis of

the actual meaning of ‘minimal’ and ‘intervention’,

concluding that the absolute extreme of this dic-

tum would be to not do anything. Any intervention

always modifies the object in some way and there-

fore changes the meaning, often obliging to make

a choice to sacrifice some possible meanings for

a ‘preferred meaning’. But this is a necessary spin-

off of the conservation process. He writes “Con-

servators, or conservation decision-makers, need

to find a happy medium between preserving each

and every feature of the object … and it’s free and

complete alteration to the contemporary observer’s

tastes or needs.” He suggests that there may be a

more appropriate terminology for the concept of

minimal intervention, such as ‘balanced meaning-

loss’.

There is an absorbing essay by Elizabeth Pye which

underlies an important observation, that the agree-

ment about main beliefs and principles that unify

the profession takes time to evolve, and that means

that currently established ethical codes may not

necessarily be up to date with current thinking

practice. She writes about the lenience towards

subjectivity, denying the neutrality of conserva-

tion practice, saying that it actually “contributes

to the unfolding life of an object by instigating

material change or by giving preference to a par-

ticular meaning”. She goes on to say that the sig-

nificance of an object is not necessarily determined

by its physical makeup, but in the meaning inves-

ted in it by the possibly transient opinions and

interests of a given audience. Thus the meaning

is changeable. This idea is reiterated by other au-

thors such as Isabelle Brajer, who illustrates her

ideas with examples of interventions on Danish

Mural paintings. She questions the concept of au-

thenticity, which is another notion which is cur-

rently being redefined by the collective emerging

voices of contemporary conservation subjects.

In this book, we may find articles which include

case studies to illustrate their discourses which

BOOK REVIEW

82 e-conservation

make for an important anchoring effect for so

much theoretical adventuring. Theories that have

emerged through the necessity of the apparent

incongruity between the ‘shoulds’ and what we

all know are the cold realities of our profession.

There are articles with great interest for all branches

of the profession, some that are specific, ones to

read and re-read, some which will become favour-

ites or others that are highly quotable. All areas

are touched upon, from ethnological to architec-

tural, from contemporary installations to the role

of museums of living cultures. There are some es-

says that inspire to further thoughts or readings,

others that clear up doubts, and some that perhaps

make us rethink old ideas or endorse existing ones.

It is definitely a recommendable book for all those

who have interest in contemporary conservation

thinking and a must suggestion for a gift box, com-

petent library, students’ complementary reading

material or just for the vocational conservator. (Are

there any conservators who are not vocational?)

Along a similar vein, and with the intention of

creating involvement by public debate, a two-day

symposium was organized at the Geological Soci-

ety in Burlington House in London in September

2009, to coincide with the launching of the book.

There was a varied group of 20 speakers, including

some of the authors, as the theme of the symposi-

um was a continuation of the book’s content, thus

offering the possibility to expand discussion about

the new emerging era of conservation ethics. The

idea was to bring together representatives of the

different strands of profession, for cross-linking

and interchange, to put forth new ideas and to

challenge existing principles. It was open to the

general public and indeed its diffusion has been

facilitated through internet. The talks are now

available on the following link, and thus can be

listened to simultaneously whilst performing one

of those time consuming menial tasks in the work-

shop that we often find ourselves doing as tech-

nicians or alternatively whilst partaking in some

other available multitasking moment of our domes-

tic agenda. It is highly recommendable and enrich-

ing and absolutely complementary to the publica-

tion, as it does not repeat the same material.

For the curious minded conservator who is inter-

ested in challenging thinking and stirring up the

silted ideas that may have inadvertedly crept and

settled into the residue of their thoughts, these

are interesting literary and audio interludes into

contemporary issues in conservation. There is a

veritable “tapas” session of ideas available for con-

servators with an appetite to lift up their heads

from the suction table, microscope, palette or

scalpel and fling out that peripheral vision to look

beyond their quotidian confines and for those who

would like to harness new ideas and bring them

home for daily use.

CHRISTABEL BLACKMAN Conservator-restorer

Email: christabel1@terra.es

Christabel Blackman is a freelance conservator-

restorer of easel paintings specialized in Gothic

and Renaissance Mediterranean panels and 17th

to 19th century canvases.

She holds a Masters Degree in Conservation and

Restoration (Universidad Politecnica de Valencia,

Spain) and a Diploma in canvas and panel easel

paintings (Istituto per l’Arte ed il Restauro, Italy).

She has written several publications including mo-

nographies, catalogue chapters, congress papers,

newspaper and magazine articles.

She was born in Australia but has lived and worked

in Valencia, Spain for the last twenty years.

BOOK REVIEW

e-conservation 83

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e-conservationline

No. 14, May 2010

ISSN: 1646-9283

Registration Number125248

Entidade Reguladorapara a Comunicação Social

Propertye-conservationline, Teodora Poiata

PeriodicityBimonthly

CoverDigital Infrared Photography by Frederico Henriques,

underdrawing detail of the painting "Entrance of Christin Jerusalem", Charola of the Convent of Christ in Tomar.

Executive EditorRui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata, Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAnca Dinã

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and PhotographyAnca Poiata, Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

Address Rua de Santa Catarina, nº 467, 4D4480-779 Vila do Conde, Portugal

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