e_conservation

the online magazine No. 2, December 2007

the online magazine
 editoria
It's all about sharing...

Since our first number was published, I have seen with pleasure the
conservators community being active and excited about our project. I see
readers curious to know more about what was published and authors willing
to participate. But I’ve also seen that the conservation community is busy.
I know how demanding our profession is but I believe we can always find
some time to get involved. Lately, I’ve noticed many of you are keen to
participate but do not believe their experience is interesting enough to be
shared. We all can learn even from mistakes and failures. As John Powell
said, the only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. We all
know how hard conservators confess mistakes but the truth is that
sometimes we commit them…

On this second number you will continue to read a series of interesting articles.
Since nowadays there is a major preoccupation with Conservation of
Contemporary Art, some of you may be interested to read about a recent
project of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Porto, where a 1972's neon installation
was reconstructed.
If you are interested in material characterization, you will find engaging the
article about the alteration of cinnabar red from the church of Suceviţa.
We continue our Case Study section introducing the problematic of
derestoration. What do we do when we are confronted with layers of
repaintings during a conservation intervention? Here you can read what was
done in the case of a World Heritage Monument, the church from Arbore.
What’s special about this number?
We opened a new section dedicated to the associations of conservators from
all over the world, thus if you were ever curious about organizations in other
countries, read about the Chamber of Restorers in Slovakia in this first article.
Furthermore, you can find information from interdisciplinary domains like
art history, architecture and documentation.
I hope you will enjoy it!

It is a fortunate coincidence that this issue is launched just before Christmas.

Holidays are always needed and so we should all take a well deserved break
from the daily routine and start the new year in the best way possible.
In the name of the whole team, I wish you a successful 2008!

Rui Bordalo,
Executive Editor
www.prorestauro.com
 Index

NEWS 6 2007 Worksites

Medieval Values Discovered at the Assumption Church,
Cepari Village, Argeş, Romania (1752)
by Mihail Gabriel Bîrhală

Events Reviews
9 Lecture on Preventive Conservation of Contemporary Art
30 November 2007, Sintra, Portugal

10 Berlin Conference on Preservation of Himalayan Culture

4-5 December 2007, Berlin, Germany

EVENTS 12 Upcoming Events

December 2007 to February 2008

PROJECT 15 Cultural Project

The Sibiel Cultural Centre, Ecomuseum – Contemporary Art Gallery
by Ovidiu Daneş

ARTICLES 24 Material Studies

An Alteration Phenomenon of Cinnabar Red Pigment
in the Mural Paintings from Suceviţa
by Ioan Istudor, Anca Dină, Geanina Roşu, Doina Şeclăman
and Gheorghe Niculescu

34 Conservation of Contemporary Art

Reconstructing a 1972’s Neon Light Installation at the Faculty
of Fine Arts, University of Porto
by Filipe Duarte

CASE STUDY 46 The Church of "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist" from Arbore
Previous Interventions from the Perspective of Derestoration
by Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura

ORGANISATIONS 66 Conservation Organisations in Europe

Chamber of Restorers in Slovakia
by Barbara Davidson

ART HISTORY 70 The Crucifixes of Marginime

by Ovidiu Daneş

DOCUMENTATION 78 Documentation for Architecture Conservation:

La Villetta Cemetery in Parma, Italy (part 2)
a project coordinated by Michela Rossi

79 Formal References in Funerary Architecture

by Maria Carmen Nuzzo

81 The Urban Planning of Parma Cemeterial System

by Silvia Ombellini

83 The Master Plan for the Safeguarding and Restoration of La Villetta

by Elisa Adorni

86 The Virtual Museum - The Memory of the Cemetery Heritage

by Simone Riccardi

BOOK REVIEW 88 Lost City, Resumed Architectures

a book by Michela Rossi, reviewed by Federica Ottoni

91 LACONA VI Proceedings (Laser in the Conservations of Artworks)

reviewed by Rui Bordalo
new 2007 Worksites

MEDIEVAL VALUES DISCOVERED AT THE

ASSUMPTION CHURCH,
Cepari Village, Argeş, Romania
(1752)

Worksite supervision:
Mihail Gabriel Bîrhală, Specialist Restorer

Period: 2006 - 2007

The conservation works of the The discovered frescoes were entirely

mural paintings from the church
of Cepari Village brought to light
the existence of a valuable
ensemble of Romanian
medieval paintings from 1752.
covered by oil paintings executed between
1889 and 1890. Unexpected evidences of
older painting beneath the new one were
found during the preliminary research
performed for the submission of the

e_conservation
 News

conservation project. Several stratigraphic Two conservation projects were submitted

exams and successive cleaning tests were
carried out in the narthex on the paintings
from the dome, the arches, the
pendentives and the vertical walls. It was
proceeded with maximum care, taking
advantage of all exfoliations and lacunas
of the oil paint layer. The results showed
that there were well preserved frescoes
beneath the entire surface, the new layer
of painting being applied directly or over
a very thin and strong intermediary layer
of chalk and linseed oil.
to approval: one regarding the
preservation of the present oil paintings
and the other proposing to reveal the old
painting through the removal of the new one.
This last was approved by the Minister of
Culture due to for the remarkable value of
the original paintings and the opportunity
to recover them. The actual intervention
on the original paintings was as less
intrusive as possible due to the well
preserved state of preservation and
mainly in respect for the preservation

Short History

In the north-west side of Argeş

County, on the Topolog Valley,
Cepari Village can be found.
The church from Cepari was
erected between 1751 and
1752 by jupân Ştefan Balotă.
Nave shaped, the church is built
of brick masonry, consisting of
the altar, the nave and the
narthex. A later inscription
located at the church’s entrance
says that on the occasion of
the restoration works in 1888
an exonarthex was added and
the church was entirely
repainted. The original painting
was made in a fresco
technique, on a intonaco
support (lime with addition of
fine sand and hemp). The
1888’s intervention consisted in
a new layer of oil painting
applied directly over the
frescoes or over a thin
separation layer.

During the intervention - different stages of the

cleaning process.

e_conservation 7
News

Whereas the ulterior layers

provoked physical-chemical
deterioration of the original
paintings, they also protect it
against other degradation
factors. In consequence a fairly
good preservation state was
observed.
During the conservation works
started in 2005, the church
environment was monitored and
the presence of high, abnormal
content of moisture in the
interior walls was identified in all
church’s compartments. It was
proceeded to the removal of the
cement repairs which obstructed
the exclusion of capillarity
moisture from the walls. The
small size lacunas were filled
with mortar and chromatically
retouched.
Areas where the painting and the
original support were not
preserved were filled below the
surface’s level with coloured
mortars.

of the original matter. During the cleaning
of the painting in the narthex, major
lacunas of the support in the inferior
register and at the north-west and north-
east pendentives were observed, but after
completing the intervention around 90%
of the original painting was recovered.
It is expected to meet the same
situation in the rest of the church.
Unfortunately at this point the works are
stopped due to major structural
problems that require immediate solution.
These paintings are unique, having being
made by village painters with no academic
education but with a native talent and
skills. Cepari’s discovered paintings can be
discussed about at large, from both
professional and personal point of view.
Cepari is now a point of interest for those
specialised in conservation-restoration or
art history and a controversial event for
its inhabitants, those village people
and their capability of acceptance of the
message that this work of art transmits.

Text and photos by Mihail Gabriel Bîrhală

8 e_conservation

Preventive Conservation of Contemporary Art
In every number of the magazine we will
report temporary worksite activity.
If you want to see news about your worksite
here, please contact us.
However, our news section is not limited to
on-site projects, but to any kind of
conservation activities. If you are involved in
an interesting project and you want to share
it with everybody else, please send us your
news or announcements.
e_conservation
News
LECTURE
30 November 2007, Sintra, Portugal
Organiser: The Leal da Câmara Museum
The Leal da Câmara Museum is a small
institution dedicated to the life and work
of the Portuguese master Leal da
Câmara. Among several artistic
activities, the museum promotes regular
talks on several subjects including
museology and conservation. On this
context, on November 30th Nuno
Moreira, conservator and adviser of the
Portuguese Museum Network, gave a
talk on Preventive Conservation of
Contemporary Art. The audience, with
an average age of nearly 50 years old
and from the most diverse backgrounds,
showed high interest in the subject.
The talk was structured around three
main topics: what contemporary art is,
the importance of preventive conservation
in this field and reflections on the new
problems that conservation faces with
the introduction of new materials in
works of art.
The public was eager to participate in
the discussion that took place after the
presentation, making plenty of questions
mainly about the difficulties of the
conservation practice in museums.
In our opinion, this contact between
conservators and the general public is
fundamental for a better understanding
of preventive conservation and
contemporary art, thus these initiatives
should be encouraged as much as possible.
9
News
Conference Review
CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF HISTORICAL CITIES IN ASIA
4-5 December 2007
Berlin, Germany
A project implemented by:
ASIA Onlus and
Tibet Heritage Fund,
Co-funded by European Commission
Safeguarding traditions & ancient
knowledge to promote development
This was the motto of a project planned
and carried out by the two NGOs ASIA
Onlus (Rome) and Tibet Heritage Fund
(Berlin). Both organizations have been
working for over a decade on
development projects in Tibet that include
the preservation of Tibet's unique cultural
heritage. With support from the EU, a
program to investigate the issues of
sustainable preservation of the heritage
of Tibet seeks to evaluate adequate
methodologies to preserve aspects such
as Tibet’s ancient architecture, its
traditional cities and its monastic art was
launched. Activities include seminars and
exhibitions in Italy and Germany, and
publications of the results.
In June 18 - 22 2007, three seminars
were held in Napoli, Torino and Roma,
addressing the same topic. The papers
10
presented gave an overview of Buddhist
and Tibetan architecture in the region
(Napoli); of the need for and examples of
sustainable interventions in architectural
design, architectural conservation, urban
planning and financial investment in the
region (Torino); and examples of
successful interventions in Buddhist wall-
painting conservation (Roma).
To bring these topics to a conclusion, THF
and two German universities have
organized an international conference in
Berlin from December 4-5 2007. This was
designed to create a forum to discuss and
define parameters and strategies for
intervention in the Himalayan areas,
addressed to experts working in the fields,
policy makers, donor institutions and the
general public. More important, it was
also meant to link different people
e_conservation
 News

working in Himalayan areas with different

expertise, to create more holistic project
approaches. The first day, held at
University of Technology, dealt with
themes related to architecture and
planning, and included presentations on
Lhasa, Ladakh, sustainable new
architecture in Burkina Faso and
resettlements in Qinghai. The second day,
held at Humboldt University, dealt with
the relation between Tibetan material
culture and development, with a particular
Tenzin Nyandak (New Delhi School of Architecture and Planning)
emphasis on wall-painting conservation. presenting Modern Tibetan Architecture in Exile.

Speakers included architect Prof. Dr. Peter

Herrle from TU Berlin, who regularly
advises German development institutions
on urban sustainability; Aga-Khan-Award
recipient Francis Kere; the eminent
Tibetan art historians Heather Stoddard
and Erberto Lo Bue, wall-painting
conservators Anca Nicolaescu and Luigi
Fieni, and THF and ASIA representatives.
In parallel, there was an exhibition made
by THF about Tibetan architecture on
show, entitled: Exploding City Lhasa:
Urban Development on the Roof of the
World, shown in the foyer of the Main
Building, Humboldt University, Unter den
Linden 6, Berlin.
More information, including conference
abstracts for download, under
www.tibetheritagefund.org/pages/news.php

Reviewed by André Alexander,

Tibet Heritage Fund,
photos by André Alexander and Lala,
International Seminars Proceedings - Naples, Turin, Rome
2007 18, 20, 22 June 2007, published by Politecnico Di Torino 2007.

e_conservation 11
event The links in this section
will take you to the homepage
of the event. In case the event
does not have an individual page,
you will be directed to
our website, from where
you can check more details
and find out how to apply.
Nigel J. Seeley
December 2008
Memorial Lecture
Date: 13 December Read more...
Place: London, UK,
University College
A range of speakers from different
disciplines is invited to give their own
unique views on "Sustainable Heritage".
These lectures, which are open to the
public and free of charge, take place
monthly at UCL.
Cleaning the Uncleanable
Treatment of Millais' Hearts are Trumps
Date: 19 December Read more...
Place: London, UK
Natasha Duff from Tate will be talking
about the recent treatment of Millais'
'Hearts are Trumps' prepared for the
current Tate Britain exhibition.
This talk addresses the dilemmas tackled
and decisions made as part of such a
complex cleaning treatment.
Register no later than Monday 17
December.
Pre-Columbian Textile
January 2008
Workshop
Date: 8 January Read more...
Place: Lima and Yarinacocha, Peru
Workshop organised by Museum Textile Services
- document, conserve, and mount pre-
Columbian textiles
- conserving textiles and ceramics salvaged
after the August 15, 2007, earthquake, which
damaged buildings and archaeological sites
around Huaca Malena.
Restoring the Royal Pavilion
Date: 12-20 January Read more...
Place: Brighton & Hove, UK
The Royal Pavilion will host a series of lectures
and guided tours exploring the craftsmanship
and materials used in the on-going restoration
of the most exotic palace in Brighton.
Speakers, such as architects and engineers who
have worked on the Royal Pavilion, will give
specialist lectures including a talk on the current
major project to restore the stonework.
The project is currently in its fourth phase on
the east front of the palace and is due to be
completed towards the end of 2009.
Architectural Paint Research
In Building Conservation
Date: 17-19 January Read more...
Place: New York, US
Columbia University
Topics:
Cultural Significance. The examination of
finishes as a social, economic and cultural
component of material culture.
Paint materials and their development, as a
history of technology.
Wallpapers, historical uses as well as modern
conservation and replication approaches.
Analytical and instrumental techniques used in
architectural paint research and standards for
these techniques.
Practical Applications. Replicating, recreating
and conserving historic finishes.
e_conservation

Pigment, extender or
January 2008
adulterant
A discussion on artists' white, watercolour
pigments in the early twentieth century
Date: 25 January Read more...
Place: London, UK
The lecture will review the historic and current
literature on the manufacture, usage and issues
surrounding the ageing characteristics of these
pigments. Of particular focus are the potential
detrimental effects to paper substrates when
zinc oxide and titanium oxide are present.
The Object in Transition
A Cross Disciplinary Conference on the
Preservation and Study of Modern and
Contemporary Art
Date: 25-26 January Read more...
Place: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Presented by the Getty Institute.
The conference will explore some of the key
issues surrounding the conservation of
contemporary sculpture, painting, and
mixed-media artworks, and the collaborative
possibilities, primarily between conservators,
art historians, and curators, working in
these fields.
Free entrance. Registrations will be accepted
until the conference is full.
Training Seminars –
ARCHAIA
Research Planning, Characterisation,
Conservation and Management in
Archaeological Sites
Date: 28-30 January Read more...
Place: Copenhagen, DK
Addressed to 90 post-graduate students,
scholars and professionals of different
backgrounds. The results of some funded EU
research projects and COST actions will be
presented.
e_conservation
Events
Napoleon’s Legacy
January-February 2008
The Development of
National Museums in Europe,
c. 1794-1830
Date: 31 January - 2 February Read more...
Place: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
International conference, organized by the
Huizinga Research Institute of Cultural History
(Amsterdam) and the Institute for Museum
Research (Berlin).
The French Revolution and the subsequent
Napoleonic Wars had a major impact on
European museums. The central question is how
did various European countries in this period,
stimulated by these confiscations and
subsequent restitutions, design and disseminate
the image of a ‘national culture’ through their
museums.
Terra 2008
February 2008
10th International Conference on the Study
and Conservation of Earthen Architecture
Date: 1-5 February Read more...
Place: Bamako, Mali
Organized by the Getty Conservation Institute
and the Ministry of Culture of Mali with the
collaboration of Africa 2009, CRATerre-ENSAG,
ICOMOS South Africa, and the World Heritage
Centre, under the aegis of ICOMOS and its
International Scientific Committee on the
Earthen Architectural Heritage.
The 10th conference to be organized by the
earthen architecture community under
the aegis of ICOMOS since 1972, and the first to
be held in Africa.
It provides a unique opportunity to discuss and
observe firsthand conservation issues particular
to sub-Saharan Africa, a region rich in earthen
architecture. During this conference, specialists
will present papers and posters that reflect the
latest research and practices in the study and
conservation of earthen architecture worldwide.
Funding opportunities for participants from
developing countries to attend the conference
will be available.
13
 Events
The Science behind
February 2008
Paper Structure
British Museum Lecture Series - Part 3
Date: 6 February Read more...
Place: London, UK
The physical properties of paper. Tensile
strength, tear strength, folding endurance,
bending stiffness, brightness, whiteness,
opacity, gloss, smoothness, air permeability,
resistance to water penetration. How and why
each property is measured.
Was David Hockney
right?
Did van Eyck, Lotto, Memling and de la
Tour trace projected images?
Date: 8 February Read more...
Place: London, UK
In 2001, artist David Hockney and scientist
Charles Falco stunned the art world with a
controversial theory that, if correct, would
profoundly alter our view of the development of
image making. They claimed that as early as
1420, Renaissance artists employed optical
devices such as concave mirrors to project
images onto their canvases, which they then
traced or painted over. Analysis of the paintings,
infra-red reflectograms, modern reenactments,
internal consistency of the theory, and alternate
explanations allow to judge with high confidence
the plausibility of this bold theory.
Risk Assessment and
management strategies
in Preventive Conservation
After (the flood) = Before (the flood)
Date: 15-16 February Read more...
Place: Aschaffenburg, Germany
The conference is to set the state-of-the-art in
the field of risk assessment and management
strategies.
The official languages are German and English.
Registration closes by January 31st 2008.
14
Holding it all together
February 2008
Ancient and modern approaches to joining,
repair and consolidation
Date: 21-22 February Read more...
Place: London, UK
The aim of this meeting is to bring together
conservators, scientists and curators with an
interest in the methods by which artefacts have
been manufactured, repaired (both in antiquity
and modern times) and conserved.
Polychromed Wood
Icon Stone & Wall Paintings Group:
'Polychromed Wood' - Part 2
Date: 22 February Read more...
Place: London, UK
Hampton Court Palace
A conference in two instalments on the care and
conservation of polychrome and gilded wood
including architectural panelling, structural
timbers and wooden statuary both in-situ and
in museums.
Call for Papers -
Deadlines
International Workshop
SMW08 - In situ Monitoring of Monumental
Surfaces
Date: 27-29 October Read more...
Place: Florence, Italy
Abstracts, preliminary registration: 15 February
The main objective of this workshop is to
illustrate the ultimate state of the art of portable
diagnostic technologies for monitoring cultural
heritage and their general and specific uses.
The typologies of artefacts involved in this
workshop are focused on: monumental
buildings, painted facades and archaeological
remains, whilst the materials to monitor are:
stones, mortars, plasters, bricks, ceramics,
tesserae, wooden structures and metals.
e_conservation
 projec
THE SIBIEL CULTURAL
CENTRE
Ecomuseum –
Contemporary Art Gallery

by Ovidiu Daneş

DALA Cultural Foundation

www.dala.ro
Ovidiu Daneş
Introduction
The project of the DALA Foundation
started from the idea of restoring the
dialogue between two cultures, rural and
urban. The setting of the Sibiel village
provides, through the dynamic of
changes, interesting documenting-
research-experimenting material. The
Sibiu outskirts, currently going through a
transformation process that can be
followed along several lines (image,
human composition, and oral tradition),
provide their journey of identity
development up to present times.
Rearranged old boundaries, drawn anew
on the basis of the recent law on
residential colonisations, weave new
centres of tension, new village hearths
into the rural realm. One of the most easy
to observe constants is the immediate
16
The DALA cultural foundation was
established in May 2006 in Romania
and operates as an NGO.
Objectives
1. Promoting and supporting projects in
the area of visual arts, curatorial
activities and cultural management;
2. Drafting and implementing alternative
educational projects on various
components of contemporary arts;
3. Drafting and supporting architecture
projects with an effect on public spaces;
4. Supporting research programmes in
the areas of stable and mobile heritage,
of monument restoration and
conservation projects, of research in
the area of old Romanian art;
5. Book publishing.
e_conservation
Ovidiu Daneş
alternation between well preserved areas
of vernacular architecture, clearly defined
in vicinity, with the current ambiguous
insertions, oversized and with standard
purposes. The demolition or abandonment
of the area specific housing system is
joined more or less symbolically by the
disappearance of crafts, traditions, or by
the transformation of the image of
identity-giving monuments. The
phenomenon is new to the Sibiu outskirts
villages, and interventions in recent years
are radical.
The Sibiel Cultural Centre will emphasise
the contemporary reality in a particular
manner, by means of the location, the
architecture project and the program.
In the summer of 2006, the recently
18
established DALA Foundation acquired a
house registered in the local patrimony, in
an attempt to mediate the conflict
between the former owner and the Local
Patrimony Department. After the
takeover, dismantling and transportation
to its new location (approximately 200 m
from the original location), the house was
prepared for restoration on a land
property at the end of the village. Placing
the Cultural Centre on a land separating
the old Sibiel village from its more recent
extension allows for the taking on of the
double discourse of boundary. Physically,
the proposed boundary is a river stone
alleyway, a historical emphasis which will
articulate the architecture project. Being
the first of the village from the point of
Image 1, 2. Wood houses from Răşinari village (left)
and Gura Raului (right).
e_conservation
 The Sibiel Cultural Centre

view of the traveller and the last seen

from the village hearth, the alleyway
separates the Centre in its two
components, the Ecomuseum and the
Contemporary Art Gallery, proposing a
face to face dialogue between them.
The Ecomuseum, seen as a future space
for the local community to present its
current daily life, will use as raw material
the image of the local household; the
typology of the latter is that of a U-
shaped living area which makes
maximum functional use of the land,
where the house is always smaller than
the auxiliary spaces – stables, barns,
workshops.

Image 3, 4, 5. Wood houses from Sibiel village

(right, up), Fântânele village (right) and Arpaş
village (down).

e_conservation 19
Ovidiu Daneş
The Ecomuseum program will be
organised around a long term exhibition
of 6-9 months, during which one family
from the village at the time will manage
the living space, and the auxiliary spaces
will host workshops; glasswork, ironwork,
wood sculpting and cutting, pottery – all
trades which survived until recently in the
region. The cellar and attic will be used to
store preserves made according to
methods specific to the area of the Sibiu
outskirts. An accommodation centre for
20 persons will be built on the same side
of the alleyway and in the immediate
vicinity of the Ecomuseum, following the
same typology of the U-shaped living
area. The basement of this space will
serve as cooking and dining area.
The materials used for the two buildings,
Image 6. Old house moved to new location and rebuilt.
20
the Ecomuseum and the accommodation
centre, will come from demolished or
abandoned houses and barns; wood
pillars, large stones strapped with
wrought iron, gates, river stone, tiles.
On the other side of the alleyway, the
Contemporary Art Gallery conceived as a
container space will host a research
centre and a multi-functional space for
events hosted by the Sibiel Cultural
Centre: exhibitions, workshops, training
sessions, seminars, lectures.
Both the multifunctional space and the
accommodation centre will periodically be
made available to companies interested in
organising events: training sessions,
seminars etc., thus ensuring the
sustainability of the Sibiel Cultural Centre.
The purpose of the Cultural Centre entails
e_conservation
 The Sibiel Cultural Centre

Image 7. Wood house from Fântânele village.

finding technical solutions with minimal Project team:

impact on the environment, such as: heat
pumps with shafts, a combined system Ovidiu DANEŞ - art historian,
with solar cells for hot household water, project manager
thermal insulation through processed
sheep wool, wall covering out of clay Şerban STURDZA - architect
mixed with sand, hemp and straw fibres.
Klaus BIRTHLER - architect

Buildings
Luiza ZAMORA – art historian

- Ecomuseum – old house moved to new

location and rebuilt Ioana POPESCU - research director

- Workshops of the ecomuseum Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest

- Multifunctional building with research offices

- Accommodation rooms with dining room Laurenţiu TOMA - visual artist

- Administrator’s house DALA Cultural Foundation

e_conservation 21
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 article
AREAS OF PUBLISHING

Conservation Treatment
Mural Painting
Painting (any support)
Stone
Sculpture (any support)
Textiles
Paper / Documents
Photography
Metals
Tile / Ceramic / Glass
Furniture
Music instruments
Ethnographic assets
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Reviews

Preventive Conservation Art History, Iconography,

Theoretic principles Iconology, Chemistry,
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Documentation in Conservation Management, Museology,
Standardisation Computer Science,
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Policies and any other
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Ethics Conservation and
Conservation History Restoration

Check out more: www.e-conservationline.com

AN ALTERATION PHENOMENON
OF CINNABAR RED PIGMENT
in the Mural Paintings
from Suceviţa
Ioan Istudor, Anca Dină, Geanina Roşu,
Doina Şeclăman, Gheorghe Niculescu
 Alteration of Cinnabar Red Pigment

Introduction

The mural paintings from northern

Moldavia have always been a point of
interest for specialists in conservation, due
to their technical qualities that assured
their preservation over the years in the
severe climate of this region in Romania.
Over the years, both exterior and interior
paintings showed colour alterations caused
by environmental factors like atmospheric
deposits, humidity and light among
others. Through physical, chemical or
biological processes, these factors induced
superficial chromatic alterations of the
colours, modifying the artistic expression
of the paintings.
These alterations are generally considered
as patina. The term patina, according to Image 1. General view of the church, east facade.
Paul Philippot1, is attributed to the
modifications that occur in normal The conservation works started in 1989
conditions in the colour layer under the by Oliviu Boldura and Tatiana Pogonat
action of the previously mentioned factors. gave us the possibility to perform a detailed
When the painting materials are submitted scientific research on the exterior and
to environmental factors which take interior mural paintings. Even from the
course at high intensities on long time beginning our attention was drawn to the
periods, we deal with other alterations phenomena of alteration of pigments in
which can not be considered as patina these paintings from which here we shall
anymore. Some of these alterations made focus on the alteration of cinnabar red.
the subject of a previous paper2. In a first phase, while analysing the state
of conservation of the paintings from the

1 Paul Philippot, La notion de la patine et le church’s dome, we observed significant

nettoyage des peintures in Bulletin de l’Institut Royal surfaces coloured in red having dark
du Patrimoine Arttistique, Bruxelles, IX, 1966, pp.
aspect and turning into black-brown.
136-142.
2 Ioan Istudor, Alteration de la couleur observees sur Ulteriorly, once the conservation works
les peintures murales des eglises de Bucovine, in
were started, the same phenomenon
Colloque sur la Conservation et la Restauration des
Peintures Murales, Suceava, Romania, 1977, pp. 21- 35. could be observed as well in other

e_conservation 25
Ioan Istudor et. al.
Image 2. Altar, east apse and triumphal arch
compartments of the church. The visual
inspection and the first cleaning tests led
to the conclusion that we do not deal just
with common dirt deposits but with a
colour alteration.
Literature mentions the alteration of
cinnabar (red) into metacinnabar3
(black). The same phenomenon is
mentioned in the painting manuals of the
3 Rutherford J. Getens, Robert L. Feller and W. T.
Chase, Vermillion and Cinnabar, in Studies in
Conservation, 17 (1972), pp. 45-69.
4 The book of the art of Cennino Cennini: a
contemporary practical treatise on quattrocento
painting (1922), 15th century, George Allen &
Unwin, London, Chapter 40. Of the properties of a
red called cinnabar, and how it ought to be ground,
free to download from:
www.archive.org/details/bookofartofcenni00cennuoft
26
old masters. Cennino Cennini4 described
the alteration of cinnabar as follows: “bear
in mind that it is not its nature to be
exposed to the open air; it is more lasting
on panels than on walls, because, by long
exposure to the open air (all’ aria) it
becomes black when applied to walls.”
Dionysius of Furna writes in his manual
(Erminia)5: “[…] as for the cinnabar, when
you want to paint outdoors in a place with
wind, you should give up, because it turns
black while the white must have a high
concentration; when you want to paint
indoors you should add some ceruse6
and Constantinople ochre and like this it
won’t turn black.”
The old masters had already noticed the
phenomenon, without knowing exactly
what causes it and still recommended the
use of cinnabar for interior and panel
paintings, “in order to keep it away from
air and wind”.
The exact explanation of the phenomenon
was given later afterwards. The mercury
sulphide presents two enantiomorph
states: a red one, stable, crystallised in
the hexagonal system known as cinnabar7
and very appreciated in painting, and a
black one, metastable, crystallised in the
5 Dionysius of Furna, Carte de Pictură, Meridiane,
Bucharest 1979, pp. 86, “Cartea întâi, îndreptar
pentru meşteşug”, 66 paragraph.
6 Term used by Dionysius of Furna for the white
pigment usually used in the Byzantine frescoes,
prepared from grinded old intonaco.
7 The red pigment based on mercury sulphide was
artificially prepared since the antiquity from sulphur
and mercury. Starting with the 18th century (1785),
it is commercialised under the name “vermillion”.
e_conservation

cubic system or in amorphous state,
known as metacinnabar (polymorphism).
After a long exposure to solar light, the
cinnabar red turns into black
metacinnabar. The change takes place
through the absorption of a light radiation
of 400 to 570 nm wavelength. The
alteration is only superficial, under the
black layer being the unaltered red.
A similar process occurred in the paintings
from Suceviţa, thus we proposed to prove
that the red pigment and the alteration
product are indeed mercury sulphides.
Image 3 and 4. Nave, dome, Prophet David. Sampling area. Images during the conservation of the painting.
e_conservation
Alteration of Cinnabar Red Pigment
Methods and materials
The analysed samples were taken from
both the red and the superficial overlayer
of black colour from the paintings in the
dome of the church (sample no. 1, 1st
scene, garment of Prophet Solomon and
sample 14, 2nd scene, red frame between
the scenes) (see images 3 and 4).
The first data were obtained by
microscope examination with reflected
light. In the cross section no. 329 (90x)
from image 5 can be observed the
presence of a 5µm thick black layer and a
25µm thick red layer.
27
Ioan Istudor et. al.
Image 5. Sample no. 329. Cross section (90x)
showing a 5µm thick black layer of metacinnabar
and a 25µm thick red layer of cinnabar.
For the chemical analyses, the samples
were dissolved in aqua regia (a mixture of
HCl and HNO, 2:1, v/v). Hg2+ ion was
microchemically identified as mercury
tetrathiocyanatocobalt8 (blue crystals,
CoHg(SCN)4, which belong to the
rhombohedral system) (see image 6) by
comparison with HgCl2 (reference
substance) and by the reduction of Hg2+
to metallic Hg on the copper lamella,
which makes a deposit similar to a silver
mirror.
8 S. Savencu, A. Bordea, J. Linde, A. Luca, Chimie
Analitică Calitativă, Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică,
Bucharest 1963, pp. 185 - 186
28
Image 6. Microchemical identification of the
mercury tetrathiocyanatocobalt - CoHg(SCN)4.
The obtained results were verified also by
X-ray Diffraction (XRD), using a Dron 2.0
equipment and the working parameters:
- Cu Kα radiation; 36 KV, 20 mA, Ni filter;
- angle range 2θ, goniometer speed 4°/’,
- cinnabar ASTM 6 – 256, metacinnabar
ASTM 6 – 261
The obtained spectrum is shown in figure
1 that shows the presence of both forms
of mercury sulphides.
Figure 1. Spectrum obtained by XRD, showing the
presence of both forms of mercury sulphides:
- cinnabar HgS ASTM 6 – 256,
- metacinnabar HgS ASTM 6 – 261.
e_conservation
 Alteration of Cinnabar Red Pigment

Results and discussion

The chemical reaction has shown crystals

of the same shape, colour and size for
both the samples and the reference
substance. This allows us to state that the
analysed samples contain mercury
sulphite (cinnabar, metacinnabar, HgS).
The metacinnabar presence was
confirmed by XRD.
The initial hypothesis was confirmed.
This is the first case in Romania of mural
paintings presenting an alteration of
cinnabar.
At Suceviţa, the cinnabar red pigment
was used in many scenes from all the
compartments of the church. It was
applied according to the Byzantine Image 7. Nave, south apse, jamb of the west
window. The direct action of sunlight
technique, on a fresh plaster made of lime
over the mural paintings.
and hemp fibbers. The alteration took

Figure 2. Longitudinal section, south facade.

Drawing adapted from G. Balş, Bisericile moldovenesti din veacul
al XV-lea, BCMI, Tiparul Cultura Nationala, Bucharest (1928).

e_conservation 29
Ioan Istudor et. al.
Figure 3. Longitudinal section, north facade.
Drawing adapted from G. Balş, Bisericile moldovenesti din veacul al XV-lea, BCMI,
Tiparul Cultura Nationala, Bucharest (1928).
place not only in the dome’s paintings, but
also on scenes from the nave, narthex
and exonarthex, on the walls exposed to
solar light through the rather large
windows. The dome, with an interior
diameter of 3.64 m is fully exposed to
solar light due to the four 1.83 m
windows. The affected surfaces
correspond precisely to the strongly
lightened areas. A graphic representation
of the surfaces from the dome is
presented in figures 2 and 3.
In the summer of 2007, together with the
coordinator of the conservation works
Prof. Oliviu Boldura, our research
extended to other compartments of the
church and to the areas in undergoing work.
The cinnabar red did not suffer any alteration
30
in areas where the sun light did not reach.
In the nave, due to the six windows
symmetrically disposed in the north and
south apses (three windows in each), we
can observe the paintings from the
intradoses and jambs suffered a
progressive and differentiated alteration
of cinnabar red pigment. A first
observation is that the alteration is more
obvious in the windows of the south apse,
where the sun is stronger in the morning.
A differentiated degree of alteration can
be seen in each of the three windows,
progressive from east to west. Moreover,
the west side of the windows was clearly
more exposed to sun, thus the paintings
from the west jambs are more altered
then the ones from the east.
e_conservation

window (solar light)
Image 8. Nave, south apse, jamb of the west window. The differentiated alteration of red cinnabar.
A detailed analysis of a scene9 shows the
transformation process or cinnabar red
pigment. In near proximity of the window
can be seen that cinnabar turned into
dark-grey and black, the drawing lines
applied with ochre-red becoming visible
(see image 8 and 9). Next garment
painted with cinnabar is located at 0.5 m
9 The chosen area to exemplify this process is
located in the south apse, west window, west
jamb, as the painting here is rich in cinnabar,
applied on several decorative elements located at
variable distances from the window.
e_conservation
Alteration of Cinnabar Red Pigment
interior of the church
distance from the window, thus here only
a slight alteration to black can be seen
(see image 10). The alteration is
superficial so it is still possible to see the
original red colour. Proceeding to the
inside opening of the jamb we notice the
alteration becomes discontinuous, insular
and the red is much better preserved
(see image 11).
In the narthex we meet a similar situation
but a more pronounced alteration, due to
the wide size of the windows and their
large opening angle. Here the alteration
31
Ioan Istudor et. al.
Image 9. Strong alteration of cinnabar red.
Image 10. Alteration of cinnabar in a smaller degree.
32
Image 11. Areas where cinnabar is well preserved.
Image 9, 10 and 11. The conservation state of the
cinnabar red on various surfaces located at
different distances from the window.
occurred not only at the jambs of the
windows, but also on the north and south
walls, especially in the inferior parts.
In the exonarthex, due to the three wide
windows from the west wall and the two
lateral doors that are permanently open,
important areas where cinnabar was used
were affected by light. A similar case was
mentioned in literature at a late Byzantine
church from Cyprus10, where the light
penetrated through a window and
produced on the lightened areas the
darkening of the red pigment from a
repainting of a interior decoration frame.
The inversed process of metacinnabar into
cinnabar, possible in the laboratory (e.g.,
by sublimation or sodium polysulfide
treatment), was not achieved by now on a
painting. Thus, in the present, when the
removal of metacinnabar is required it is
performed by mechanical means.
10 Rutherford J. Getens et al., loc cit., pp. 54.
e_conservation

Image 12. Narthex, north wall, inferior level, scene
from the life of St. George.
Conclusions
To prevent this alteration phenomenon
from producing the use of adequate
window filters (to retain the too strong
radiations) is recommended. Knowing
these types of alterations and taking the
right decision to prevent them we avoid
the formation and thus, the mechanical
removal of metacinnabar as an integrant
part of the original painting.
*Note: Partial data presented in this article were
previously published by Ioan Istudor and Geanina
Roşu, in "Un fenomen de alterare al pigmentului roşu
cinabru la Biserica Mănăstirii Suceviţa", Buletinul
Centrului de Restaurare-Conservare, Iaşi, no 3/2004.
e_conservation
Alteration of Cinnabar Red Pigment
Image 13. Narthex, north, jamb of the east window.
Ioan ISTUDOR
S.C. CERECS Art S.R.L. Bucharest
Contact: bistudor@gmail.com
Anca DINĂ - S.C. CERECS Art S.R.L.
Contact: anca@zappmobile.ro
Geanina ROŞU - S.C. CERECS Art S.R.L.
Contact: geacorest@yahoo.com
Doina Şeclăman
Romanian National History Museum
Contact: investita@mnir.ro
Gheorghe NICULESCU
National Research Institute for
Conservation and Restoration, Bucharest
Contact: niculescu.geo@gmail.com
33
 RECONSTRUCTING
A 1972’S NEON LIGHT
INSTALLATION
at the Faculty of Fine Arts,
University of Porto

FILIPE DUARTE
 Reconstructing a Neon Light Installation

Fine Arts, University of Porto1, of which

A 1972’s neon light installation from
collection Quadros Ferreira’s installation is
the artist António Quadros Ferreira
currently part of.
was investigated and reconstructed
The very scarce written documentation
35 years after its original
available on the museum’s database as
presentation, under a pilot project on
well as the inexistence of any visual
Conservation of Contemporary Art at
record of the original assembled
the Museum of the Faculty of Fine
installation led to a scenario of extremely
Arts of the University of Porto
poor information regarding several
(FBAUP). The reconstruction of the
aspects of the artwork (even its overall
artwork was carried out in close
appearance), situation lived in the
communication with the artist without
museum until the beginning of 2007.
whom this project would not have
The case study presented in this article2
been possible to be accomplished -
reports to the investigation and
such was the lack of information
reinstallation of the artwork by Quadros
available on the artwork. This article
Ferreira, 35 years after its original
aims to describe the whole process
presentation and was carried out in the
behind the reconstruction of Quadros
context of a pilot project on Conservation
Ferreira’s installation, from the
of Contemporary Art currently being
identification of what was left from
developed at the University of Porto3.
the original components at FBAUP’s
The intervention was carried out in close
Museum depot until its reinstallation
communication with the artist between
and public exhibition in April 2007.
February and April 2007.

Introduction 1 In 1992 the Fine Arts School of Porto (ESBAP) was

In 1972 António Quadros Ferreira
presented his final work for graduating in
Painting at the Fine Arts School of Porto
integrated in the University of Porto and became the
Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP).
2 Note that the original article was published in
Portuguese at the Portuguese Association for Art
Historians’ (APHA) bulletin no.5, 2007.

(Portugal), a peculiar and innovative

artwork in its academic context: a study
of light, colour and movement in the
shape of a neon light installation. That
same year, following its original exhibition,
the artwork would have been dismantled
and all its different components stored in
the depot of the Museum of the Faculty of
3 The Fine Art Museum and the Science Department
of the University of Porto, in collaboration with the
Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (The Netherlands),
are developing a project focusing on the conservation
of modern and contemporary artworks. A group of 10
representative objects, on non-traditional supports, was
selected from the museum’s collection and is currently
under investigation and/or conservation treatment. The
investigation includes topics such as materials’
characterisation, art historical relevance, conservation
needs, preservation strategies and artists’ interviews.

e_conservation 35
Filipe Duarte
The installation
Despite having been created in the
academic context of a Paintings Degree,
Quadros Ferreira’s neon light installation is
an example of the diversity of the means
of artistic expression explored by artists in
early 1970’s. In this particular case,
Quadros Ferreira explores the numerous
possibilities of colour and movement
through neon lights, in a work understood
by the artist as an example of kinetic art,
not by the physical movement of the work
itself but by the constant movement of
light and colour.
The installation is made of six vertical
neon light tubes housed in six black-
painted independent columns with cca. 2
metre high. The neon lights are divided in
three pairs of primary colours (i.e. two
blue, two red and two yellow lights). Each
of the columns, with its own light tube, is
connected by a series of electrical wires to
a transformer which in turn connects to a
central element, a black-painted box with
a keyboard/programmer, fully designed by
the artist. The installation is meant to be
exhibited in a totally darkened room. The
spectator is invited to interact with the
installation either through the keyboard,
which allows him to turn on/off each of
the lights independently (creating distinct
rhythms and light patterns), or by
accessing an automatic cycle,
predetermined by the artist in the
programmer. This cycle was developed in
such a way that it would never repeat
36
itself and therefore is called by the artist
as the perpetual movement of colour.
The introduction of this technological
component as support of the artwork,
without which the work does not fully
exist, mirrors the modernity sought by
Quadros Ferreira. The physical structure
of the installation (columns, electrical
wires, transformers and keyboard
/programmer) work as a mere support for
the essence of the artwork: the colour, the
light and the movement.
The original documentation that was
presented in 1972 together with the
installation was still in possession of the
artist. This documentation was the
theoretical fundament of the work, an
exhaustive and complex study with
drawings, diagrams and texts in which the
artist explores numerous possibilities of
use for his installation.
Condition of the installation
prior to reconstruction
Until February 2007, very little was known
at FBAUP’s Museum about the neon light
installation created by Quadros Ferreira 35
years earlier, as a final thesis for his Degree
in Painting. In the depot of the Museum
there were several disperse and non-
identified elements, stored together with
parts of other artworks (Image 1).
A cardboard-box with a bundle of crooked
electrical wires and wooden supports; black-
painted wood columns lying on the floor;
old neon light bulbs on top of wood shelves...
e_conservation
 Reconstructing a Neon Light Installation
Image 1. Card-box with some elements of the
installation stored, FBAUP’s Museum depot,
February 2007.
Image 2. Inventory record of Quadros Ferreira’s
installation, FBAUP’s Museum database,
early 80’s.
e_conservation
In the Museum files, an inventory record
dating back to early 1980’s (Image 2)
recorded Quadros Ferreira’s installation as
part of the museum’s collection (included
in the “Paintings” collection). The inventory
file of the installation did however not
contain any photograph of the work
assembled nor did it have any description
of the artwork. Furthermore, a series of
elements were missing from the brief list
of materials that make up the installation.
This scenario was clearly insufficient to
allow an overall image of the complete
artwork, to understand the way the
different elements of the installation
connect to each other or even to
understand the way the installation
relates to the surrounding space.
37
Filipe Duarte

First steps together with the installation.

The elements that make up the
In February 2007, following preliminary installation were isolated and organised
investigation on the work, the artist was according to their typology:
contacted and invited to participate in this
project of reconstruction of his 1972’s 1. Six wooden columns and six
installation. Quadros Ferreira, currently supports
teacher of Painting at FBAUP, was fully
available to collaborate and to provide any The columns, referred to as “modules” in
useful information, without which it would the original documentation of the artist,
not have been possible to reconstruct and measure cca. 2 metre high and present a
re-install his work as close as possible to
the original work as exhibited in 1972.
In the working plan drawn together with
the artist in the first meetings it was
defined as a starting point the
identification of each different original
element that make up the installation in
the Museum’s depot and to evaluate the
condition of each of these separately. This
would allow, on one hand, to know
whether the installation was complete
and, on the other, to obtain an overall
view of the complete installation. In order
to facilitate the process of identifying the
elements and the subsequent
reconstruction of the artwork the artist
was asked to draw a sketch of the
structure of the installation.
Thus, all the elements stored in the
Museum’s depot were identified and
collected at FBAUP’s workshop. The artist
also brought along with him a more
sensitive element which he had kept in his
possession since 1972 (the keyboard and
programmer), as well as the original
Image 3. Constituting elements of the
documentation which was exhibited installation - columns.

38 e_conservation
 Reconstructing a Neon Light Installation
Image 4. Constituting elements of the
installation - feet.
central rail which houses the neon light
tubes. The six supports (or “feet”) have
small wheels to facilitate the transport of
the columns and their adaptation to the
surrounding space. Each foot has a
metallic rod onto which the columns are
screwed. Both modules and feet are
coated with a monochromatic black paint
layer (evenly applied over a grey ground
Image 5. Constituting elements of the
installation - neon light tubes.
e_conservation
layer). None of the elements presented
damages of particular relevance on these
layers, only small damages caused by
wear and abrasion and minor losses,
particularly along the bottom part of the
columns. Structurally, both columns and
feet were in good condition
2. Six neon light tubes
The six neon light tubes measure
approximately 2 metres long and are
grouped in three pairs: yellow, red and
blue4. Regarding their condition it was
observed that, from the six original light
tubes, three were irreversibly damaged
(two clearly broken and one presenting
small cracks in the glass which proved to
be irreversibly damaged as well). A thick
and opaque dirt layer was covering the
light tubes (Image 5).
4 In general terms, the light tubes usually
denominated as “neon lights” are made of a glass
tube with two electrodes in the ends. When these
electrodes are connected to an electricity source, the
gas (in vacuum) inside the glass tube is passed
through by the electrical current and light of a
specific colouration is produced. Despite being
known as neon lights, this is not the only gas used to
obtain colour, since different gases and different
processes permit different light colours to be
produced. While neon gas produces a bright red
light, argon gas produces blue. In order to obtain
colours other than these two, powder pigments are
usually added to the gas or sometimes even painted
glass tubes are used. This type of illumination was
discovered around 1950’s and was initially used in
the publicity world, slowly becoming adopted by
artists as a new mean of artistic expression, entering
the international scene some years later. Initially,
only blue and red colours were available but
gradually new colours were introduced in the
market, with advancing technology.
39
Filipe Duarte
Image 6. Constituting elements of the installation - transformers.
3. Six transformers
Each of the “archaic” transformers is
housed in a metallic box (20x18x15cm).
These make the connection between the
central keyboard/programmer and the
neon lights and have the function of
momentarily increasing the received
electrical current to a much higher current
in order to allow the lamps to be turned
on during the energetic peak. Tests
carried out at a later stage showed that all
the transformers were in good working
conditions (Image 6).
40
4. Electrical wires
The long electrical wires establish the
connections between all the elements in
the installation: keyboard/programmer,
energy source, transformers and neon
lights. Despite being crooked and rigid
from being stored in a box for the past 35
years, all the cables were in good working
conditions (Image 7).
5. Central keyboard/programmer
The central device is made of a keyboard
and a programmer, housed in a black-
painted wood box (35x25x10cm),
similarly to the columns. The programmer
is an electrical system associated to a set
of meal gears which defines the patterns
and light sequences. The keyboard, on
top of the box, allows the spectator to
Image 7. Constituting elements of the
installation - electrical wires.
e_conservation
 Reconstructing a Neon Light Installation
Image 8. Constituting elements of the
installation - central keybord/programmer.
access an automatic program,
predetermined by the artist in the
programmer, or to access the manual
programme. In this case, the spectator
creates his own light sequences and
patterns through the six buttons,
corresponding to each of the six lights.
This device was in possession of the artist
since 1972. In the preliminary tests
carried out, it was observed that the
programmer was not working in perfect
conditions (Image 8).
Course of action
Once every element of Quadros Ferreira’s
installation was identified and separated,
a strategy for the intervention was
defined. Dialogue with the artist as well as
the access provided to the original
documentation were of extreme
importance for this procedure since they
provided essential information about the
way the different elements relate to each
other. The different steps taken in the
process of conservation and
e_conservation
reconstruction of the installation are listed
as follows:
1. Removal of thick layer of dirt from the
surface of the neon light tubes (Image 9)
and surface cleaning of columns, feet and
programmer/keyboard. This procedure
was carried out by dry cleaning with
microfibre cloth and soft sponges.
2. Retouching of small damages and
losses of the black monochromatic paint
layer in different elements of the
installation. Retouching was carried out
with gouache, which allowed replicating
the matte feel of the original paint in the
damaged areas5.
3. Following information provided by the
artist in the first meetings it was possible
to find and contact the original supplier
company which provided the neon light
5 The original monochromatic black paint layer was
identified through infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) as
an acrylic-based paint, in the Scientific
Department of the University of Porto.
Image 9. Detail of neon light tubes during
surface cleaning.
41
Filipe Duarte
tubes and gave technical support to the
artist in 1972. The company, “Neolux”, is
still functioning and was keen to
collaborate with this project. The original
and intact light tubes were taken to their
specialised workshop and their condition
was investigated by Neolux’s technicians
(Image 10). Although the three structurally
intact tubes were to found to be working
(light was produced), the intensity of one
of the blue tubes was considerably
reduced in comparison to the others.
Since it would not be possible to
reconstruct the installation with all the
original elements (half the lamps were
irreversibly damaged) it was necessary to
take a decision regarding the replacement
of the missing elements. Therefore,
Image 10. António Quadros Ferreira (left) and Neolux’s technician performing
preliminary tests to investigate the condition of the original neon lights.
42
decision was taken together with the
artist to order new lamps to the original
supplier, with the same length, diameter
and colour/light intensity as close to the
original as possible.
Original material versus artist’s
intention
The six neon lights (three 1972’s originals
and three 2007’s reconstructions) were
then fit in the rails of the columns, set
side by side and turned on. However, as it
may be observed in image 11, the blue
“pair” presented an enormous disparity of
light intensity emitted. The new tube
presented a much higher luminous intensity
than the original one, worn by time and
e_conservation
 Reconstructing a Neon Light Installation
possibly weakened by small damages.
Although the original blue lamp was
functioning it would have been technically
impossible to replicate its partially lost
light intensity onto a newly made light
tube. In this context, taking the decision
of keeping the original blue lamp as part
of the reconstructed installation would
Image 11. Blue neon light tubes, reconstruction
and original side by side.
e_conservation
imply accepting that the “blue pair”
would not work as a single colour since, as
shown, they presented different intensities.
After considering different possibilities and
discussing these questions with the artist
it was decided to order a new blue lamp
to replace the original one. This way the
blue pair, made of two new neon light
tubes, would present a single colour and
intensity of blue, which would go much
more in conformity to the artist’s original
intent of exploring the three primary
colours with three pairs of lamps in this
installation. The original blue tube, not
used in the reconstruction, was stored in
the museum’s depot and registered as “an
original piece, replaced”.
4. The entire electrical device that makes
up the programmer and keyboard was
carefully cleaned and lubricated (Image 12).
The terminals of the electrical wires were
reattached in the correct positions in the
programmer and the metal clips
associated to each of the rotating gears
were individually repaired in order to allow
a fluid functioning of the programmer.
Image 12. Programmer, after cleaning and repairing.
43
Filipe Duarte
Re-installing the installation
In April 2007, 35 years after its creation,
all the elements that make up Quadros
Ferreira’s installation were brought to
FBAUP’s exhibition room where the new
exhibition of this work was prepared,
according to the original plans6. Although
the original documentation would consider
different possibilities of exhibiting this
work, decision was taken that - in a
similar way to the original presentation of
this installation - the columns would be
displayed linearly, in an enclosed room,
with minimum possible external light
(Image 13). The public was invited to
interact with the installation by using the
keyboard placed in front of the line of light
Image 13. António Quadros Ferreira’s installation, Study of Light, Colour and Movement, 1972.
Artwork reconstructed and re-installed in 2007, FBAUP.
44
modules. Some of the pages of the
original documentation were presented
together with the installation during the
exhibition period in a contiguous room.
Acknowledgments
António Quadros Ferreira, Lúcia Almeida
Matos, Jill Sterrett, Ana Martins, Cláudia
Garradas, Patrícia Almeida, Cláudio
Ferreira, Associação Regional de Protecção
do Património Cultural e Natural (ARPPA),
Neolux.
6 More information on recovering installations are
available online at the website of the project Inside
Installations: Preservation and Presentation of
Installation Art, at http://www.inside-installations.org
e_conservation
 Reconstructing a Neon Light Installation

Call for Submissions

e_conservation magazine is open to the

submission of articles on a wide range of
relevant topics for the cultural heritage
sector.

Next deadlines for article submission are:

Filipe Duarte
Porto, Portugal
for Issue 3, February 2008 – submission
contact: filipeduarte@hotmail.com due 31 December 2007

Following his graduate studies in Art for Issue 4, April 2008 – submission due
History, Filipe Duarte completed the MA 29 February 2008

Conservation of Fine Art -Easel Paintings

Nevertheless, you can always submit your
at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK. manuscript when it is ready. Between the
He carried out internships at the Modern receival of the manuscript until the final
Art Museum of Barcelona (MACBA) and publication may pass up to 3 months
according with:
the I&R conservation Centre in Madrid,
- the number of the manuscripts on hold,
Spain. Filipe worked for two years in the submitted earlier by other authors
Netherlands with the Stichting Restauratie - the release date of the upcoming issue
Atelier Limburg (SRAL), where he had the - the pre-allocated space in the magazine
to each section
chance to be involved in a series of major
conservation projects (including projects Please check our publication guidelines for
at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the more information.
Royal Palace at the Dam). Here he also
Read more...
collaborated with the Instituut Collectie
Nederland (ICN) in a research project on
modern paints.. Since January 2007,
Filipe Duarte works as a conservator at
the Fine Art Museum of Porto University,
Portugal, where he is part of a pilot
project on contemporary art conservation,
focusing on the investigation and
treatment of artworks on different non-
traditional media from the 1960's and
70's. During this year he has also
collaborated with Serralves
Contemporary Art Museum, Porto.

e_conservation 45
case stud

THE CHURCH OF
"THE BEHEADING OF
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST"
FROM ARBORE
PREVIOUS INTERVENTIONS FROM THE
PERSPECTIVE OF DERESTORATION

by Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura

General Data

The painting from the church

“The Beheading of St. John the Baptist”
from Arbore, Romania, can be described
as vivid in chromatic harmonies, often
using the dialog between green and Image 1. The church of "The Beheading of
pale-red and spontaneous by its St. John the Baptist”, south facade.

graceful and beautifully modulated

drawing. Dynamic in the interaction
between the characters’ gestures and
attitudes, the painting is minutely
elaborated in the smallest detail and
compositionally determined with blocks
of architecture carefully distributed.
These qualities, the stylistic and chromatic
particularities, made the church become
part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
Image 2. South facade, detail from the scene
“The Last Judgement”.

e_conservation 47
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura

Image 3. General view of the west facade.

48 e_conservation
 The Church from Arbore

Built in 15021 in a single work campaign,

the church was established by Luca
Arbore boyar, tutor and later counsellor of
prince Ştefăniţă. Modest in proportions,
the church is remarkable through its
simplicity and its impressing polychrome
decoration.
Both the interior and exterior walls were
decorated with frescoes in the first half of
the 16th century. The difficult historic
conditions in Romania at that time
culminated with the assassination of the
founder together with two of his sons.
The decrease of the economic resources
and the division of the estate and dominions
drove the church to abandonment.
The same factors - natural causes and
negligence - contributed to the partial
deterioration of the artistic components - Image 4. West facade, portrait detail.

1 G. Balş, Bisericile lui Ştefan cel Mare, Buletinul Image 5. West facade, scene from the life of
Comisiei Monumentelor Istorice 1925, Ed. Cartea St. George representing the saint at the court
Românească S.A., Bucharest, 1926 of the Emperor Diocletian.

e_conservation 49
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura

mural painting and iconostasis. Since the

church remained without a roof for more
than one century, the continuous humidity
infiltration led to the detachment and loss
of important surfaces from the superior
mural painting as well as to other
irreversible alterations of the pigments
from the adjacent areas.
However, this article will not focus on
the deterioration produced by natural
degradation factors, but on the human
factor, on those deliberate interventions
that led to the partial alteration of the
original aspect through repaintings.

Image 6. Nave, west wall, detail from

“The Mocking of the Christ”.

Image 7. Narthex, west wall, “The Fourth Synod”.

50 e_conservation

Previous interventions
Undertaking extensive conservation works
at the moment, the mural painting from
the church allows direct access to certain
details, otherwise impossible to observe.
Among the problems we confronted,
we will refer here just those previous
interventions which had the objective of
“refreshing” the original through
repainting.
At the church from Arbore, the repainting
interventions were identified on clear
delimited surfaces located especially on
the lower and accessible areas. It can be
observed that the authors of these
interventions made their choice according
to the iconographic importance of the
scenes or to their position within the
mural ensemble. Thus, the aesthetic
alterations by repainting can be seen at
the ex-voto in the central nave, at the
funerary scene from the narthex, at the
prophets’ scene, at the image of Virgin
Mary painted at the entrance of the nave
and at the icon of the patron saint, St.
John the Baptist, located at the main
entrance of the church.
e_conservation
The Church from Arbore
Image 8. Narthex, west wall, portraits detail from
“The Fourth Synod”.
On the overall, the alterations found at
the inferior level are mainly portrait
replacements.
Even if within the same mural ensemble,
the interventions belong to different time
periods and are executed in different
techniques. Thus, each case requires a
differential approach and the final decision
is imposed by all the contributing elements.
Within this context, we recall the problem
of derestoration, addressed in a well
defined thematic framework with the
occasion of the “Peintures murales”
conference in Dijon, 19932, where
specialists from complementary domains
had participated.
The decision of preserving or removing
the repaintings required a detailed
study of all the characteristics of the
original matter and the additions,
study made in collaboration with
art historians and chemists.
2 Dijon Conference, "Peintures Murales", Section
Française de l'Institut International de Conservation
(SFIIC), Dijon, 1993.
51
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura
Image 9. Narthex, north wall, detail from the
scenes of Martyr Saints.
Starting with the identification of the
execution technique, the aim was to
establish when each intervention was
made and its author3, as far as possible.
Further, it was attempted to find out the
reason that could cause the need for the
new layer – if it was added due to the
poor conservation state of the original,
if it was done according to the time
fashion, if it was imposed by certain
historic events or from the simple desire
of the founder to remind certain facts,
as for example the act of the donation.
After acquiring this information,
3 In the case of the church from Arbore, we were
unable to find any documentation concerning the
repainting interventions, understandable fact due
to the age when the events took place.
52
Image 10. Narthex, north wall, scenes of Martir
Saints, detail of hammer marks.
our decision took into consideration the
state of conservation of the original and
of the overlayers, permanently according
with the historic and aesthetic instance
as they were stated by Cesare Brandi4.
After analysing all the involved components,
the identified interventions were classified
either as historic periods or as discordant
elements covering the original. Thus, the
critic commentary concerning their
preservation or removal was made in
accordance with the artistic aspect which
supposes the transmission of the image
together with the historic-documentary
4 Cesare Brandi, Teoria restaurarii, Ed. Meridiane,
Bucharest 1995, pp. 61-80.
e_conservation
 The Church from Arbore

message of the work of art, taking into Repaintings "a fresco"

consideration the technical elements and
the evolution of the matter in time.
For a better understanding of the
repainting interventions from Arbore
church, we will divide them in two
categories. The first is the category of the
interventions that took place a short time
after the original painting was made. In
principal, these are additions in the same
technique (a fresco) of some surfaces
deteriorated by vandalism in the period of
political instability from that time. The
second category is the one of the
repaintings made a secco, some centuries
after the creation of the original painting.
These are mainly due to the style
influences of those times.
The observations we made before any
intervention were completed by the data
obtained after the removal of the dirt
deposits from the surface.
Until all the information was gathered and
a final decision was established, the
layers of repainting were conserved and
maintained on the surface.
The intervention results were partially
presented in scientific sessions organized
by the “George Oprescu” Art History
Institute and the Ministry of Culture and
Cults from Romania.
A first repainting was made in the central
nave west wall, on the ex-voto
representing the family of the founder.
Other alterations were identified at the
inferior scenes of saints and martyrs from
the main nave and the narthex of the
church.
These are due to vandalism actions5 and
had affected the majority of the
portraits and some important compositional
elements. Our supposition is confirmed by
the existence of numerous marks left by
sharp objects on this particular surface in
comparison with other scenes and well
preserved portraits which do not present
this kind of marks. Some of the lacunas
produced in this way were ulteriorly
filled and repainted. Others, smaller in
dimensions and situated in less important

5 During the politic instability of that time, the painting

was vandalised by the invaders, these marks being

produced by sharp objects like swords and spears.

Image 11. Nave, ex-voto, portrait of Luca Arbore,

the founder of the church. Image in grazing light.

e_conservation 53
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura

areas are still visible, remaining as they

were. It is also obvious that the vandalism
actions were performed preferentially
giving more importance to the portraits
and the hands of the saints, which were
decorated with religious symbols. On this
matter, we recall the representations of
Archangel Michael whose hand holds the
“Sword of Truth'' and St. Peter whose
hand holds “The Keys to the Kingdom of Image 12. Narthex, funerary painting, detail of
Heaven”, both scenes situated on the east hammer marks.

side of the narthex. The same may be

observed on the ex-voto and the funerary
painting, at the hands pointing in the
direction of the church.
The repaintings were performed a fresco
in the areas where the painting presented
lacunas. These repairs belong to different
time periods and can be differentiated not
only stylistically but also because of the
technical skills of the author to apply the
Image 13. Narthex, east wall, inferior scene, detail
mortar or paint layer. These interventions
from the representation of Archangel Michael.
were preserved as witnesses of the
historic events since they show real but the major intervention is visible in the
artistic qualities and the original surfaces central area of the scene and occupies
were irreversibly damaged. cca. 45% of the whole surface. It is well
delimited by the technological elements
The ex-voto parametrically identified and by the
junctions with the original.
This vandalised scene was "repaired" in The repainting evidently reduced the
the same way as all the other scenes from dimensions of the central scene depicting
the inferior level. Still, there can be the Arbore family (Luca boyar and his wife
observed certain marks caused by a sharp together with their five children - four
object which remained unfilled. boys and a girl).
Repaintings are localised at the portrait of The scene shows the family offering the
St. John the Baptist and at the portrait church to the Divinity, represented by
and right hand of the founder, Luca Arbore, Jesus Christ. This act is intermediate by

54 e_conservation

Image 14. Nave, ex-voto, repainted scene.
St. John the Baptist, the protector of the
church. An angel is leading the laic
characters towards the throne where
Jesus is seated.
The reason for repainting this scene is not
yet completely known. A first supposition is
that the scene was vandalised due to the
politic instability in Moldavia at the
beginning of 16th century, thus the
repainting was necessary for completing
the lost areas. The second possibility is
that the family enlarged with time and the
younger members wished to be represented
together with the rest of the family6.
Beneath the image of Iuliana, the wife of
Luca Arbore, can be distinctly seen traces
from the first representation of her richer
veil and garment. An important
inadvertence in matching the details from
the central area is given by the doubled
6 This supposition comes from the reduced scale of
the representation, which is evident as the original
representation of the wife of Luca Arbore is still
partial visible.
e_conservation
The Church from Arbore
Image 15. Nave, ex-voto, two overlayed
representations of Luca Arbore holding the shrine.
presence of the shrine, the scaled
representation of the church. There can
be clearly differentiated two different
images of the church: the first (original),
with the dome and a divided roof for the
church and the altar; and the second
(repainting) without dome, a simple roof
covering the entire church7.
Technologically, both representations are
executed a fresco but differences can be
found between the composition of the
intonaco layers and the drawing and
painting techniques. The composition of
the added intervention layer is clearly
richer in vegetal material, respectively in
tow. By simple visual exam in grazing
light, the surface shows a matte, rough-
cast aspect. The original method of
transposing the drawing onto the wall was
by incision while the intervention was
7 The first that mentioned and treated the subject
of this double representation of the church in the
ex-voto was Prof. Dan Mohanu – expert
conservator, in a communication from 1974.
55
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura
Image 16 and 17. Nave, ex-voto, during the
cleaning of the surface (left) and after the
conservation treatment (right).
performed by pouncing. This detail can be
observed where the colour layer is
missing, as a sequence of black points,
marks of the applied pigment through the
perforated paper. The sinopia contour
lines are carefully but spontaneously
executed while the pigments were applied
late, on a support already poor in water
content and unable to fix sufficiently the
particles in the plaster. From this reason,
the colour had poor adherence to the
surface and most part of it was lost
with time.
In the case of the ex-voto, the alternative
of removing this intervention was
excluded, since the repaintings are
themselves historic stages of the image
of today.
56
Repaintings "a secco"
A second category of interventions come
from the 19th century, when a general
change of taste and style was adopted.
These interventions do not respect neither
the Byzantine style, specific for the 16th
century, nor the original execution
technique, having been executed in tempera
or oil. In fact, this period is known for a
general decadence of the wall painting in
this side of the country (northern
Moldavia, also known as Bucovina).
The icon of the patron saint
This icon represents St. John the Baptist
and is located in the exterior, on the south
facade, in the lunette within the arch
above the entrance door. The traditional
e_conservation
 The Church from Arbore

Image 18. Exterior painting, south facade, the icon of the patron saint before the conservation intervention
with visible repaintings on the surface.

Image 19. The icon of the patron saint during the conservation intervention – the removal of the repaintings.

e_conservation 57
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura

representation of the Baptizer, with the

head on a plate, was replaced with a
chromatically ordinary representation,
without expression. Even if the author is
not known, the inscription shows that the
intervention was performed in 1845. The
repainting is made a secco, on a
2 millimetres thick gypsum plaster.
According with the historic instance, any
intervention is marking a stage in the
existence of a work of art, thus it can not
be removed. In this case the historic
instance comes secondary after the
aesthetic one, the 19th century
representation being clearly inferior to
the 16th century one. In addition, the
original painting and the repainting
needed urgent conservation treatment.
The plaster on which tempera was applied
partially lost the adherence to the original
painting causing visible lacunas on the
entire surface. Loss of adherence being an
evolutional process, to save the repainting
would imply the consolidation of the
plaster, which would have affected the
underlayer, thus the original painting.
At the same time, the lacunas of the Image 20, 21. The icon of the patron saint, details
showing the loss of the adhesion of the two layers,
repainting allowed a clear estimation of
the original and the ulterior intervention.
the conservation state of the original.
The grazing light examination confirmed of the superior intervention layer.
that the green pigment from the garment These elements showed that to keep the
lost its adherence to the support layer. repainting would have meant to lose the
The detachment of the colour, the micro original, which was an extremely important
cracks and the exfoliations proved once aspect that determined our decision to
more that the process was evolutional. Thus, conserve the 16th century original by
the original painting was under constant removing the additions. Through
deterioration by strappo due to contractions derestoration the authentic image was

58 e_conservation

Image 22. The icon of the patron saint after the conservation treatment.
revealed. Even if some elements were
partially deteriorated by repainting, the
uncovered image has a high artistic value.
The repainting was also inducing an
iconographic and artistic fake, since the
head on the plate was replaced with
a phylactery and the blessing gesture
with a denotement sign.
Narthex, east wall
In the narthex, the main repainted area is
the prophets’ scene from the east wall. In
the centre of the scene are represented
The Virgin and The Child (Hodighitria),
surrounded by angels and three prophets.
The problematic of the repaintings was
treated separately for the central part of
the scene and for the side parts since
their state of conservation differed in
great amount. Cleaning of the surface
e_conservation
The Church from Arbore
from the adherent deposits was
performed for a better examination of the
repaintings. On both sides of the scene
discontinuous marks of oil repaintings
could be seen, giving a stained and
unclean aspect to the surface. The original
layer of colour seemed well preserved,
with few lacunas and exfoliations, in
comparison with the layer of repainting
which was cracked, detached and
exfoliated. Thus, it was decided to remove
the repainting, preserving only one
portrait (of the first prophet from the north
side) and some witnesses of small size.
The central sector reveals another
approach of the author of the repainting:
the oil layer was applied thicker and the
grazing light exam revealed this was in
fact the third layer of repainting. The
name of the painter, Ion Bodnărescu, was
visible on the blue background of the
59
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura
Image 23, 24. Narthex, east wall, Prophets scene,
details during the cleaning (up) and the conservation
state of the original and the repainting (down).
scene and the entire inscription was
revealed during the cleaning. Unfortunately,
this layer was affected by exfoliation due to
the thickness of the repainting but the year
of intervention was identified as 1887.
Finding this inscription between two similar
colour layers proves that the author
changed his intention while painting and
covered the text himself, letting visible only
his signature.
Critical comments concerning the decision
of removing or preserving the interventions
on this painting took under consideration
more factors. As mentioned before, there
were two repaintings overlaid on the
60
garment of the Virgin. The second layer of
intervention took over the subsidence and
abruptness of the plaster from the first
intervention layer. The loss of colour in
certain areas allowed to distinguish both
the colour from the first repainting - red-
brown (a secco) and the original - yellow.
Child Jesus’ portrait, hands and garment
were partially showing marks of
repainting. The original portrait of the
Virgin was visible through the small
lacunas of the intervention layer. Thus, it
could be observed that the original was
unaltered under the repaintings and its
aesthetic value, reported to the rest of the
original mural ensemble, was hard to
come up with. On the other hand, the
association between the colours from the
Child’s portrait – pale-red from the
repainting and green from the original –
was breaking the homogeneity, thus to
preserve these layers would have been
difficult. To selectively remove the
repainting, up to their extension degree on
the surface, would have determined an
optic discomfort as well as an ambiguous
image. The Virgin would have had a pale-
red coloured portrait while the Child, a
green one. More over, to preserve all the
repaintings from this area would have
meant to induce difficulties to the aesthetic
presentation of the entire surface. Lacunas
could not be attenuated by chromatic
integration as the original would have
been altered and small discontinuous
surfaces where the oil was present on the
surface would have given a stained aspect.
e_conservation
 The Church from Arbore

Image 25, 26. Narthex, east wall, central area of the Prophets scene, “The Virgin and The Child” before the
intervention (left) and during the surface cleaning (right).

Image 27, 28. Details from “The Virgin and The Child” during the surface cleaning.
Visible repaintings on the hand (left) and portrait of the Child Jesus (right).

e_conservation 61
Anca Dină, 2005

Image 29.
Portrait detail during the removal of the repainting.

Image 30, 31. Narthex, east wall, stages during the removal of the repaintings: the three different layers
of colour, two repaintings and the original (left) and general view after cleaning the most recent of the
repaintings from the garment of the Virgin.
Image 32. The original representation of the
scene, after the removal of the repaintings and
the aesthetic treatment of the lacunas.
e_conservation
The Church from Arbore
The reason for repainting this scene
could be assigned to the non-canonical
colour of the Virgin’s garment. This is why
the first repainting covered only the
surface of the garment. The alteration in
time of the red lead (minium) that was
used for the new garment, as well as the
partially loss of its plaster, determined a
second repainting, this time on all the
surface and in oil technique which was a
fashion at that time. The authors of these
interventions did not appreciate the
artistic quality of the 16th century
representation, the brightness of the
Virgin’s garment given by the simplicity
and the viridity of the colour and of the
Child’s garment given by the light
enrichment decorations with gold.
63
Anca Dină and Oliviu Boldura
Image 33, 34. Details from the scene “The Virgin and The Child” after the removal of the repaintings.
Portraits of Virgin Mary (left) and of Child Jesus (right).
Conclusions
Considering the problematic of the
repaintings from Arbore in retrospect, it
was possible to liberate the original
surfaces from the intervention layers, due
to the technique in which these were
performed. Thus, through the degradation
and the partial loss of the repainting,
we could analyse and correctly establish
the relation between the importance of
the original versus the addition and
backwards.
In the end, we must recognise that the
conservation of an iconographic ensemble
implies a responsible consciousness from
the restorer facing a historic document
64
with a unique character, with significant
details over which time left visible traces.
Our intervention is more valuable as
more information is preserved, being
useful in the research of art historians and
other specialists. On the other side, the
conservation-restoration of mural
paintings must bring in front of the
general public the authentic values of
the past.
All photos by Anca Dină, 2005 - 2007
e_conservation

Anca Dină
contact:
anca@zappmobile.ro
Anca Dină is a conservator-restorer specialised
in mural paintings. She graduated in
Conservation from the Art University in
Bucharest where she also completed a
Master in Visual Arts, with specialisation in
Conservation. She works for the enterprise
CERECS ART S.R.L., having coordinated
several intervention areas from onsite
conservation projects as St. George Church
from the “Sf. Ioan cel Nou” Monastery in
Suceava (2003), “The Beheading of St. John
the Baptist” Church from Arbore
(2004–2006) and the Church of Suceviţa
Monastery (2007).
She has participated in several national
communication sessions within the national
Art History Institute “George Oprescu” in
(2005 and 2006) and within the Ministry of
Culture (2007), with results under
publication at the moment.
Besides the present authors of this article,
the following conservator-restorers have
participated on the conservation works of the
mural painting in Arbore church: Magdalena
Drobotă, Dumitru Dumitrescu, Georgiana
Zahariea, Natalia Danilă-Sandu and Paula
Vartolomei.
e_conservation
The Church from Arbore
Oliviu Boldura
contact:
oliviu_boldura@zappmobile.ro
Oliviu Boldura is professor at the
Conservation-Restoration Department from
the Art University in Bucharest and holds a
PhD in Aesthetics of Visual Arts. Since
35 years he has been continuously working
in the field of conservation-restoration of
mural paintings from important monuments
in northern Romania. These churches date
from the 15th and 16th centuries and are
recognised for their remarkable value, some
of them being part of the UNESCO World
Heritage: Voroneţ, Arbore, Moldoviţa,
Probota, Suceviţa,
"Sf. Gheorghe" from Suceava, Bălineşti.
The diversity of the information collected
during the conservation works is
disseminated by Oliviu Boldura in numerous
scientific sessions and publications. On the
on-site conservation projects that he
coordinates, he is the promoter of
experimental applications of laser and nano-
technologies in the mural painting
conservation and documentation. He is of the
opinion that the use of polymeric resins
should be limited in conservation treatments.
Oliviu Boldura is also member in the
speciality commissions from the Ministry of
Culture and Cults in Romania.
65
organisation Chamber of Restorers
in Slovakia
Text by
Mgr.art. Barbara Davidson.
Barbara Davidson is member of
the Board of Komora Reštaurátorov
(Chamber of Restorers), delegate
for E.C.C.O. and works as a
conservator-restorer of
easel paintings in the
City Gallery of Bratislava.
http://www.restauro.sk
contact:
komora.restauratorov@restauro.sk
▪ Established in 1994
▪ 28 specializations
▪ 192 members
▪ 3 membership categories
▪ Access to university graduates
▪ Independent work reserved
to licensed restorers
▪ Member of E.C.C.O.
Presentation
Professional restorers in Slovakia, who
want to work on listed heritage objects,
have to be a member of the Chamber of
Restorers (Komora reštaurátorov, further
only KR). The KR is a self-governing, non
political professional body and a law entity
which was established on the base of
Slovak law act 200, from the July 14,
1994 on the 1st September, 1994. If you
are interested in reading the law itself,
you can do so even in English on our web
site www.restauro.sk. Why such a body
was created and how it was possible we
have to look back on the development of
the situation in restoration in the
socialistic Slovak Republic, which used to
be a part of the Czechoslovak Socialistic
Republic. From 1973, in the times of so
called “normalization” after the invasion
e_conservation

of the Warsaw Pact armies in August
1968, the execution of restoration activity
as a freelance profession in Slovakia was
stopped and forbidden by the Ministry of
Culture of SSR. The Ministry composed of
communists did not trust freelance artists
with their “suspicious” ways of thinking
and production, even working on objects
of cultural heritage. On top of that, from
the second half of the nineteen seventies
this situation worsened by the
traumatising fact of the invitation of a
certain part of Polish restorers from the
Polish state institution PKZ to work on
heritage objects in Slovakia. Slovak
restorers could only work as employees of
galleries and museums. Immovable
cultural heritage was for them not
accessible. By this decision the space for
work, professional development and
growth of Slovak restorers was lost for a
e_conservation
Organisations
long period of time. After the political
change in autumn of 1989 the long-term
absence of a natural and fluent evolution
in the field of restoration worked as a
strong accelerator of the future
development. After years of the
profession's suppression the restorers
have been well aware of the need and
necessity to decide about and for
themselves without mediation of other
parties. This resulted in the only possible
solution - attempt for constitution of a
chamber based on law. As a source for
preparation of specialised bases for the
proposal of the law we cooperated with
our Czech colleagues and used data from
partner professional organisations abroad.
The proposal itself was formulated so that
it would reflect our own specific situation
and needs in restoration in Slovakia.
67
Slovakia
Membership in KR
Who can become a member of KR? The
procedure is described in our basic
documents which you can look up on our
website mentioned above. But basically
the membership is open for university
graduates, physical persons with
specialization in restoration – in Slovakia
the only school providing university level
of education in restoration is the Academy
of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava
(AFAD). The membership does not
automatically entitle to work
independently and the issuing of a licence,
even in case of MA graduates is based on
a 3 years period of practical execution of
the profession under supervision of a
licensed restorer. The KR invites also
Bachelors to become members, to be able
to understand and learn better and get
into contact with practice in real
conditions. The state examination which is
provided from the Academy is sufficient
for a restorer to work independently on
private collections and collection objects
of galleries and museums, which are not
68
listed as national heritage. The aim for the
future though is to have all collections
which are currently treated under another
law special for museums and galleries to
be considered as listed. At the moment,
institutions dealing with restoration of art
objects can employ people with lower
education or non-members of KR, but in
case of restoration of a listed artwork,
they have to work under supervision of a
member of KR. It means, for these types
of institutions it is preferable to employ
restorers, members of KR. Currently KR
has about 200 members which can apply
for 28 specialisations and members in
categories cooperating member and
honourable member.
The Chamber works according to standard
democratic principles. Starting with self-
determination and asserting of restorers
in the cultural and social space the
Chamber has gradually become an
integral and accepted part of the
institutions in the area of heritage
protection in Slovakia. It registers its
members, protects and creates conditions
for their practise, professional growth and
e_conservation

development, watches over their
professional activity.
The Chamber of Restorers is the highest
professional guarantor of the quality of
restoration in Slovakia.
Conservation-Restoration
education in Slovakia
The education into becoming a
conservator/restorer in Slovakia is
provided also on the level of a high school
graduation (pupils 14 – 18 years old, or
as lifelong learning) which specialises in
conservation/restoration of collection
objects of applied art from galleries,
museums and libraries. It is realised in a
four year study program finishing with a
practical and theoretical examination.
The pupils absolve artistic preparation
and restoration practice. The theoretical
part of the education is in the area of art-
history, iconography and restoration
technology. This type of education is
provided in two state high schools for
applied arts – in Bratislava since 1980 and
in Košice since 1981.
The university levels are the 4 year study
to become a BA and then you can apply
for MA studies, which takes another two
years. It means you will study for 6 years
in total. In the year 2000 the AFAD
(www.vsvu.sk ) opened the possibility of a
post-graduate study in restoration, which
is awarded with the Art D title. To be
accepted to the AFAD it is necessary to
pass the talent examination which is
e_conservation
Organisations
determined according to your pre-choice
of specialisation (either restoration of
paintings or sculptures). The pass rate is
usually 10% of applicants. The existence
of schooling for restorers in state
accredited schools begun in Slovakia
already in the year 1949 when the
Academy of Fine Arts (Vysoká škola
výtvarných umení) was established. The
restoration department was started by a
personality from the Czech Republic –
Prof. Karel Veselý. At those times in
Czechoslovakia already existed by the
Academy of Fine Arts in Prague the School
of Restoration of Painted Artworks
established in 1945 by Prof. Bohuslav
Slánský. The Bratislava‘ AFAD offers these
specialisations in restoration: easel
paintings, panel paintings, wooden
(polychrome) sculpture, stone sculpture,
metal, paper, photography and textile.
69
art history THE CRUCIFIXES OF
MĂRGINIME
by Ovidiu Daneş

“A window is more of a cross than a
crucifix proper which, logically speaking
should be a cross per se… and that is a
weird thing, at least at first glance.”
Horia Bernea
The Crucifixes of Mărginime – the
outskirts of Sibiu – are public architecture
elements that consecrate crossroads,
boundaries, road twists, springs and
homesteads in a way that qualifies them
as a narrative of the folk imagination.
Time and form are both located
somewhere between a craftwork related
poetic simplicity – so typical of the
monuments erected in the 18th century –
on the one hand, and the more recent
ready-made culture of double-glazed
windows on the other.
The 35 crucifixes that have been spotted
up to the present – all erected between
1784 and 1879 – are located between
Turnu (Porceşti), the south-eastern tip of
the region and the north-western one –
Jina. By their compact volume, their
squarish footprint, and their frugal outer
adornments the crucifixes leave a
significant mark on their surroundings,
being part and parcel of the overall image
of the Mărginime villages as they
participate in the rhythmical proportions
of both private estates and houses of
worship as well.
Previous page image:
The crucifix from Răşinari, 1795
The Crucifixes of Mărginime
The role they played was initially a sacred
related one par excellence and due to
their ritualistic involvement, apotropaic
purpose, and funereal character they
consisted merely of a stone or wooden
cross placed in spots with a significant
symbolical charge. Their being
consecrated – which also brought
consecration to the site of their location –
allowed them to protect that place against
the mischievous presences that would
haunt the folk imaginary. Therefore a
subtle realm laid between what was at
hand, familiar, and proximitous on the one
hand and sheer otherness on the other.
Sites that were consecrated during
specific religious services on Ascension
(Ispas), Epiphany, Pentecost, temporarily
became public places that could
occasionally be perceived and used as
typical places for folk socials – customs
that have survived to this day in Sibiel
and Cacova (Fântânele).
The 1764 watershed when “the city
council of Sibiu decreed us bondsmen, […]
although we had always been yeomen,” is
shortly followed by the erection of the first
masoned crucifixes as the disputes
between the locals of Mărginime and the
bulkingmaestro (in Romanian bulgăr-
meşterul, a humorous alteration of the
German Burgermeister, Town Mayor) over
tax and land ownership related issues
went on until the 40s of the next century.
Erected during that period of time mostly
on the boundaries of the villages off the
71
Ovidiu Daneş
Images 1, 2: The crucifix from Sibiel, 1803
Exterior view (left) and detail of mural painting
(right).
city of Sibiu, the crucifixes marked those
borders as according to the unwritten law.
The people of Răşinari for a good instance
erected no less than three such
monuments within a tight area on the
eastern boundary of the village. There
was a time when the locals involved
crucifixes in their various political
machinations, but even then they did not
do away with their original symbolic
dimension. In certain cases a specific
message was made explicit by resorting
to a remarkably elaborate iconographic
program that was quite often borrowed
from the liturgical field and thus made
into a sure way of asserting identity. The
72
salient penchant for scenes taken from
the Passion cycle, for depictions of the
proto-martyrs or of the military saints,
sometimes duplicated as both interior and
exterior paintings could be seen as an
implement of pointing at certain social
realities.
The crucifix of Sibiel (house no.166, the
year 1803) displays an iconography quite
relevant in the aforementioned
perspective. On the outside, but still
within the precincts of the homestead,
there are scenes from the Passion cycle
representing a sequel to the two interior
iconographic registers: the Prayer in the
Garden of Gethsemane, the Last Supper,
the Judas Kiss, Jesus before Caiaphas,
Pilate’s Judgment, all of them arrayed in
e_conservation
 The Crucifixes of Mărginime

quite an unusual order; the Resurrection

of Lazarus, and once again Jesus before
Caiaphas and Pilate’s Judgment; the
Bearing of the Cross, the Humiliation and
Scourging. The Roman soldiers are clad in
the uniforms of the Orlat frontier guard
regiment whose troops were Romanians
converted to the Church United with
Rome (Greek-Catholic), in charge with
collecting taxes, among many other
duties. The depiction of certain military
saints – St. George, St. Demetrius, and
St. Theodore Tyron – on the interior posts
is itself integral part of a common rhetoric
of representing social realities in
monuments whose status was growing
more and more public. On the other hand,
the collective memory of those times was
still emotionally bonded to figures like the
priests Moise Măcinic of Sibiel, Ioan of
Galeş, Ioan of Sadu or shepherd Oprea
Miclăuş of Sălişte, a fact which will have to
be taken into account by the future
iconographic analyses. And similarly, the
conflicts between the municipality of Sibiu
and the villagers of Mărginime bursting
out right after 1750 could likewise turn
out to be the right key to the question
regarding the numerous masoned
crucifixes phenomenon in the outskirts of
the Sibiu of that historical period.

In the different social context of the early

Image 3 (up): The crucifix from Apodul de Jos,
1800s the private use crucifixes started to
1812.
appear in the locals’ homesteads,
Image 4 (down): The crucifix from Arpaş,
displaying spectacular iconographic
1813.
discourses, some of them mere

e_conservation 73
Ovidiu Daneş

Images 5: The crucifix from Răşinari, 1808

Exterior.

Gethsemane, the Judas Kiss, Jesus before

Caiaphas, the Last Supper, and the

Images 5: The crucifix from Răşinari, 1808 Carrying of the Cross, all of them
Detail of mural painting. surrounded by the four Evangelists,

abbreviations of the mural iconographic against a seraphim background. The

programs in the churches near by, but at cycles of the miracles, the Virgin’s life,

the same time genuine proofs of and the pageant of Christian feasts

masterliness on the part of the painters complete the arches, while the stone

and of well-to-do-ness on the one of the cross painted on both sides advances a

beneficiary. The crucifix of Răşinari (house prolepsis kind of dialogue – the

no.195, the year 1808) breaks away from anamnesis triggered by the depiction of

the common established patterns both in the Crucifixion and the Epiphany. The

terms of size and iconography. It is twice narrative zest of the painter lives on

as large as the average ones and one can ardently to reach the socle of the cross

still make out the outlines of a where it brings forth two scenes that

monumental depiction of St. Archangel correspond in due order to the main

Michael as part of the exterior painting, images: Abraham’s Sacrifice and the Fall

just under the prophet medallions. Inside, from Eden, whereas on the sides there

the vault is decorated with Passion are seraphim surrounded by prophets and

scenes: the Prayer in the Garden of by pious saints.

74 e_conservation
 The Crucifixes of Mărginime

Another appearance, quite unique in the

architecture of Mărginime proposes a
different kind of visual discourse which
was very much simplified on the
architectural / iconographic / theological
level as well as in terms of its political and
social message, while managing at the
same time to be more suitable for the
place and the general village scenery. Its
imagery pertains to a poetics of
vagueness straightforwardly besieging the
physical palpability of the passer-by: an
atypical shape, a whitewashed thick-base/
t-wall with a hat-shaped awning and roof
and a niche whose painting represents the
orant Mother of God with the orant
Emanuel child on her lap-throne and an
inscription unfurling and girding the whole
lintel thus indicating the place to pray for
those crossing the region while in
transhumance. The Healing Spring and
the image in the recess are the ones that
Image 7 (right): The crucifix from Răşinari, 1795
have set since 1795 the place where the
Image 8 (left, up): The crucifix from Turnu, 1787
crucifix should be erected. Image 9 (left, down): The crucifix from Sibiel, 1814.

e_conservation 75
Ovidiu Daneş

Image 10: (right, up): In Săliştea Sibiului just in front of house

The crucifix from
Sibiel, 1812.
no. 37 (according to the present day
numbering) there is a crossroad crucifix
Image 11 (middle, up):
The crucifix from
(undated yet) with a relevant iconographic
Sălişte, 1817. program with regards to the relationship

Image 12 (left, up):

between such monuments and the pace
The crucifix from of life in the local communities. As
Saliste, 1842.
transfigured by the modern taste and
Image 13 (down): sensibility, the monument still preserves
The crucifix from
Sibiel 1814.
its exterior paintings, right under the
cornice, along with the prophet
medallions, while on the inside it still
presents besides its refined decorations,
the four scenes in the unique register of
the tympana: the Annunciation, the Entry
of the Holy Theotokos into the Temple,
the Baptism of Christ, and Saints
Constantine and Helen. The latter
Emperor Saints are quite a puzzling

76 e_conservation

appearance in the context of the whole
cycle but it makes sense in a wider
perspective as they were the patron and
patroness of the school (founded 1779) in
the proximity of this crucifix. May 21st
was in those times celebrated with special
pomp and ceremony as “the girls and the
younger housewives would wear the
embroidered bandannas they wore only
on the greatest feasts.” The day was
chosen as the last school day as well as
the landmark for the beginning of the
pastoral year. The iconographic framework
of the crucifix in the hearth of the village
of Rodu (1871) is a purely liturgical one,
with Jesus Emanuel in the keystone and a
quite unusual version of the Liturgy of the
Angels in the vault, as the Old of Days
replaces one of the images of Christ, while
Images 5, 6: The crucifix from Sălişte, 1827.
e_conservation
The Crucifixes of Mărginime
on the pillars there are representations of
the Archangels, St. Nicholas and St.
Archdeacon Stephen.
No doubt the crucifixes in Mărginime – the
outskirts of Sibiu – represent a cultural
phenomenon whose implications and
ramifications are yet to be looked into.
Unfortunately the paintings they display
are currently undergoing dramatic
alterations as they are abandoned, stored
in museums, or repainted while the
crucifixes are intoning their last tale in the
same voice with the villages of Mărginime.
Text by
Ovidiu Daneş
Photography by
Şerban Bonciocat and Ovidiu Daneş
English translation by
Chris Tănăsescu
Ovidiu Daneş
contact:
ovidiudanes@yahoo.com
is a graduate of the Art University of
Bucharest, the Faculty of History and
Theory of Arts and holds a Master
degree at the Centre of Excellence in
Image Study - University of
Bucharest. He worked at the
Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu, UNESCO
Romania and his main research
activities are on old Romanian art.
From 2006 he is the president of
DALA Cultural Foundation.
77
documentatio
Documentation and
Architecture Conservation:

La Villetta Cemetery
in Parma, Italy (part 2)

A project coordinated by Michela Rossi

Formal References in Funerary MARIA CARMEN NUZZO

Architecture

The Urban Planning SILVIA OMBELLINI

of Parma Cemeterial System

The Master Plan for the ELISA ADORNI

Safeguarding and Restoration
of La Villetta

The virtual museum - the memory SIMONE RICCARDI

of the cemetery heritage
 Formal References in Funerary Architecture

FORMAL REFERENCES
IN FUNERARY
ARCHITECTURE

By Maria Carmen Nuzzo

With the advent of the consumer society

and the standardisation of life, the city of
the living has created homogeneous
neighbourhoods of dormitories and
globalised malls and the city of the dead
has been filled with crowded burial
chambers in anonymous and “normalized”
structures.
The modern culture has created the “not
places”, which means spaces lacking
Image 1: The cemetery of the ideal town of Chaux
identity, non relational and with no (N. Ledoux 1775 d.C.)
history. The loss of the sense of life
identity is expressed by the loss of the
sense of death, so that “the spaces to who live in the silence of the boulevards,
spend one’s life and death” have lost their the memory that appears like ruins in the
“reason for existence”1. green lushness of grass3.
The space for death, which the modern The city of the dead in Parma, founded
world with its hedonistic and omnipotent by Maria Luigia inside the suburban villa,
mentality wants to ward off and remove, is organised in the same way as the city
is the place where one can listen to the of the living, according to the edict of
story of life: in cemeteries, evil and virtue St. Cloud4.
crystallize for eternity. Giving importance The quality of the shapes and architecture
to the grave as a place of exchange of the cemetery, which is expressed by
between the living and the dead, place measurements and archival research to
which encourages the correspondence of define its monumental aspect, is important
dating meaning, as Foscolo2 reminds us, in the development of the new funerary
means rediscovering the memory of those typologies that accompanied the

e_conservation 79
Maria Carmen Nuzzo
post-Enlightenment rebirth in the out-of-
town necropolis.
The layout of Parma cemetery refers to
the architectural aspects of the enclosure
and to the description of these places
given over to burial which is suggested by
Francesco Milizia5.
The architectural shapes of the arcades
joining on the axes of the portico follow the
typology of the columbarium found in early
Christian catacombs and burial chapels.
The significant elements of the cemetery
are: the geometric and symbolic centre
marked by the orthogonal axes; the
austerity and seriousness of the Doric
order; the crosses on top of the obelisks,
which dissolve the reminiscence of pagan
cultures in Christian symbolism; the fronts
and the different parts of the entrances,
representing the relation between the
burial places and the outside areas and
mainly, the outside enclosure. “Sacred
Enclosure” is a widespread expression that
implies as well anthropologic and symbolic
1 Marc Augè, 2005, Not places. Introduction to an anthropology of surmodernità, Eleuthera.
2 U. Foscolo, 1856, from poem “Sepolcri”
3 L. Sciascia, 1952, The flower of poetry romanesca, Caltanisetta, (with a preface P.P. Pisolini)
4 State Archive Parma, Governatorato di Parma, 1817, busta 543.
5 F. Milizia, 1972, Principles of civil architecture, Finale 1781, rist. anstatica dell’ed. 1847, Milano, Mazzotta, pp. 331-333.
80
meanings: it is an arrangement that
indicates a separation and a segregation
but also follows acts of acknowledgement
and implies care, assures protection from
and towards the outside. It is an erected
border that characterises and gives
architectural complexity and sense to the
paths, to the subdivisions and to the logic
of the building.
The Villetta cemetery became a place visited
to recall memories. It is reachable by going
down a long boulevard with trees that from
1862 onwards has connected the cemetery
to the city of the living, as documents and
iconographic witnesses demonstrate.
The tombs and the burial chapels,
witnesses of a stylistic vocabulary
ranging from Neo-Medieval to Neo-
Byzantine and from Neo-Romanic to
Neo-Rococo, reflect an architecture
whose symbolic values and formal
elements derived from a burial culture
becoming the physical features of the
expression of the memory.
e_conservation
 The Urban Planning of Parma Cemeterial System
THE URBAN PLANNING
OF PARMA
CEMETERIAL SYSTEM
By Silvia Ombellini
Like Laudomia, every city has at its side
another city whose inhabitants are called
by the same name: it is the Laudomia of
the dead, the cemetary. (...) The more
the Laudomia of the living becomes
crowded and expanded, the more the
expanse of tombs increases beyond the
walls.
From Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
The cemetery is “another city”. Its
foundation and its increase are similar to
the urban one. The cemeterial system,
which in Parma was born in the last half of
19th century, presents various analogies
with the urban system. Cemeteries are
orientated according to the roman centuriation.
They are characterised by the presence of
the external wall, in analogy to the urban
wall, and by the symbolism of the centre.
Since the Second World War, the plot of the
cemetery has become untidy, chaotic and
anonymous, like that of the city. The city of
the dead has spread out, and its limit has
come nearer the living city.
Today the space of relation between the
two cities is strategic for their regenerations.
e_conservation
The cemetery planning, which is required
by Italian law, is strictly connected with
the urban planning.
In 2004 the Italian region Emilia-
Romagna, through a specific rule
(L.R. 19/04), has imposed to all the
municipalities the cemetery planning.
Parma is one of the first cities in Emilia-
Romagna that made a cemetery plan,
approved in 2007. This project is called
“PCm” (Cemeterial Planning). The main
objectives of this plan are: to protect the
historical architectures, to regulate the
growth of structures, to improve their
quality and to draw new spaces like
memorial gardens. The cemetery planning
started by the detailed research of these
places from their origins to the present
state, in order to focus themes, problems
and visions for the future.
In the past, cemeteries were important
public spaces for the city. The project
intended to recover this public function,
without alienating the cemetery use.
Cemeteries, which were born as meeting
places for the society of the 19th Century,
have been progressively ghettoized from
81
Silvia Ombellini
the city and from the public living. Now it
is essential that cemeteries should
recover their original role of public spaces.
They are stone archives of the city, places
of silence and memory, strongly
connected with the landscape and the
urban space.
The first step of the PCm is the estimation
of demographic and mortality trend in
order to approximate the needs and to
program the increase of the new
cemeterial structures.
The knowledge of the economic,
demographic, social and urban changes
has been the point of departure of a
search of longer distance that has
produced the PCm.
To limit the growth of cemeteries is the
main choice of the project in order to
avoid the risk of abandonment of the
existent structures. Therefore the PCm
foresees new alternative uses for the
historical structures, optimization of use
of the existent structures, and exclusion
of incongruous parts, in order to recover
the original quality.
In the historical structures, the project
foresees the increase in value of the main
architectures, the recovery of original
values, material and forms, and the
support of their use.
The historical parts, in particular the
“Villetta Octagon”, have to accentuate the
role of the memory, and will be
designated to the graves of illustrious
citizens. This part will be a museum of the
town memory. The project foresees the
valorisation of open spaces, through the
design of internal gardens, the recovery
of trees and vegetation, the reorganization
of access and internal routes and the
insertion of monuments, fountains
and signs.
THE CITY IN THE CITY
The cemeterial system of Parma

THE MASTER PLAN
FOR SAFEGUARDING
AND RESTORATION
OF LA VILLETTA
By Elisa Adorni
The Master Plan for the safeguarding and
the restoration (afterward called PPO) of
the Villetta’s monumental Octagon is part
of a larger intervention of the cemetery
planning system in Parma. The PPO is
the completion of the Cemetery Rules
recently adopted.
The development of a specific rule, with
the individualisation of the historical
centre of the urban cemetery, has allowed
the evaluation of the historical-architectural
heritage of the monumental cemetery.
Editing the Master Plan has probed the
analysis of the monumental part, which
needs safeguarding and exploitation.
Therefore, the preliminary remarks of the
Master Plan were to stimulate the
environmental qualification and the
architectural exploitation in order to
guarantee a continuity of use of the
historical structures.
The “safeguarding” does not mean
“musealisation” but control over the
quality of the interventions, maintaining
alive the monument in respect to the
regulations in use.
e_conservation
The Master Plan of La Villetta
The Master Plan has tried to individualize
an alternative use of all the existing
structures, with the exception of perpetual
graves and valuable monuments.
Following the Cemetery Rules, the PPO
also tries to promote the planning and to
delineate specific planning lines. This
project concerns the restoration of
preserved monuments and also the planning
of collective spaces (garden and paths).
Studies about the Monumental Octagon
and about the type of restoration
interventions for the historical building
and the arcade were conducted.
To reconstruct the original unity will
require to foresee layer analysis
(stratigraphies) of the painted surfaces
of the arches and the galleries.
However, different problems arose:
coexistence of different juridical titles of
“ownership”, presence of low quality
interventions, construction of incongruous
elements, tendency to space saturation -
not always in accordance with the general
project of the cemetery, existence of over-
dimensioned private graves, difficulty
83
Elisa Adorni
to adapt the historical constructions to the
rules, precarious state of care of some
historical architectures - with evident
structural disarrangements and superficial
degradation of the exterior layer.
The plan is also useful as control for new
future interventions. The PPO characterizes
the destinations, the categories, the
interventions and the intervention rules.
The intervention rules must consider the
variety of monumental elements and their
specific and original use.
Different ways of intervention can be
individualized: the greatest architectures
(sectors) and the interior of the chapels
and the arches (units) are all subjected to
safeguarding. The PPO allows to perform
interventions of restoration directly on the
single unit or partial consolidation of the
structures.
Image 1: The Porch Arcades - the initial state of conservation
84
There are 5 categories of intervention, as
follows:
- Safeguarding: includes objects (chapels,
graves, arches) and artistic-architectural
records corresponding to a particular
historic memory for the city;
- Maintenance: includes objects (chapels,
graves, arches) of high architectural and
artistic quality;
- Exploitation: includes historical objects
that do not have particular artistic-
architectural merit and the non-historical
objects with incongruous punctual
elements, on which the transformation
(e.g. plastic fixture) is preferred;
- Remodelling: includes non-historical
objects of scarce quality with incongruous
elements, on which the transformation is
preferred (covering material);
- Morphological Reconfiguration: includes
e_conservation

incongruous objects which need
morphology, material and dimension
reconfiguration. This sort of intervention is
only for graves and aedicules.
For chapels, arcades and aedicules,
classified by categories of intervention,
there are specified ordinary maintenance
recommendations.
For the monumental sectors (galleries and
arcade) we have consulted the archive
documents to analyse the original project
indications (specifications of a building
contract) and to compile specific
interventions of restoration.
The PPO gives also general indications
about compatible materials to use in the
new chapels and graves and in every kind
of interventions in the monumental
Octagon, with the specific intention to
Image 2: The Porch Arcades - the initial state of conservation
e_conservation
The Master Plan of La Villetta
avoid the presence of incongruous
elements.
These documents are intended to be
consulted in the future, serving the next
restoration interventions. Finally, the
obtained files allowed us to compile a
catalogue of references, which were
integrated into a technical glossary that is
able to give more useful indications on the
constructive technologies and on the used
techniques and materials.
The Master Plan (PPO) is a complex of
forecast rules for future administration
and it aims to the safeguarding of the
historical monuments inside the Villetta
Cemetery. The PPO includes some
planning proposals to increase the value
of the Octagonal monument through new
and alternative uses of its structures.
85
Simone Riccardi
THE VIRTUAL MUSEUM,
THE MEMORY
OF THE
CEMETERY HERITAGE
By Simone Riccardi
The idea of a Virtual Museum comes from
the need to control and to distribute a
complex data system. The research about
the Villetta cemetery developed by the
University and Municipality of Parma - has
generated a great deal of historical, social,
artistic and iconographic information.
The main goal of the virtual museum is to
organize this information through routes
of knowledge and tools of research.
The virtual museum should not replace
the real space of the cemetery, instead, it
should invite to a personal visit inside
the Villetta.
At the entrance of the virtual museum,
the visitor can see all the possible “routes
of memory” so he can plan his virtual trip
inside the cemetery. The cemetery is the
memory of the city and hence the virtual
routes are named “routes of memory”.
Moreover, the visitor can switch to a real
trip inside the Villetta where he can find a
map with relevant points of visit, and
some useful information, like the schedule
of the cemetery, how to reach, etc.
The first route of memory that the visitor
can choose is the history of the cemetery
foundation. The visitor can browse by
86
video, text and images through the main
stage of the plan and the construction of
the cemetery, starting from the history of
the duchess Maria Luigia.
Another route of visit passes through the
stories of the main illustrious citizens’ life,
which are all “inhabitants” of the Villetta.
The museum route narrates the lives and
the works of musicians, writers, architects,
artists and politicians. Therefore, the
cemetery looks like a family photo book of
the city, made in stone.
The last route leads the guests inside the
artistic richness of the Villetta cemetery.
The visitor can see and learn more about
architectural works, as chapels, arches,
sculptures, mosaics, paintings and bas-
reliefs made by important local artists.
Each visitor can draw and print his personal
map, in which he can bookmark his own
route with his relevant points of interest.
The memory of the city past becomes
readable through a system of virtual
routes interlaced with each other.
The ways of the city past weave
themselves with the routes of the
present visitors, resulting in new maps
of favourite paths of memory.
e_conservation
 La Villetta Cemetery

Documentation and Architecture Conservation:

La Villetta Cemetery in Parma, Italy

A project coordinated by MICHELA ROSSI

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, dell’Ambiente, del Territorio e

Architettura, Università degli Studi di Parma

web: www.unipr.it
email: michela.rossi@unipr.it

MARIA CARMEN NUZZO,

PhD student in Civil Engineering at the University of Parma, she

graduated in Architecture in Milan. She is interested in the study of

funerary architecure and symbols and collaborates in teaching

Architectural Drawing.

SILVIA OMBELLINI,

PhD student in Forms and Structures of Architecture at the University of

Parma, she obtained her architect degree in Florence. She is interested

in architecture and urban design and collaborates with the City Planning

Office of Parma

ELISA ADORNI,

PhD student in Forms and Structures of Architecture at the University of

Parma, she graduated in Architecture. She is interested in architecture

conservation and structural rehabilitation of historic architecture.

SIMONE RICCARDI,

PhD student in Forms and Structures of Architecture at University of

Parma, he graduated in Architecture at the University of Florence. His

main interests are digital applications and urban planning.

e_conservation 87
book revie LOST CITY, RESUMED ARCHITECTURES

The cemetery Octagon of Villetta and other

funeral architectures in Parma

By Michela Rossi
ETS Editions, Pisa, February 2007

Project: Cemeteries Planning of Parma
Planner: University of Parma, Department of
Civil engineering, Environment, Territory
and Architecture.
Place: Municipality of Parma
Period: 2005-2007
There are many ways to enter into a cemetery.
We could inquire it by reading stories of
ancient poets, looking at old paintings on
its surrounding walls, or searching for old
documents about its foundation. Alternatively,
we could walk all around the city, through
fields drawn by channels and trees, trying
to detect a network of buried structures.
There, a system of cemeteries seems to be
created for an unexpected escape. Probably
from life.
Then, there are several ways to bring a lost
architectural system back to its original
significance.
We could try to preserve these architectures
from the outside, by restoring them to their
ancient brightness and arresting their
evolution in a static time, or we could try to
transfer them outside, in the network of
cemeteries which represents a different city.
It’s the city of deaths: the place in which
our past is preserved from life.
Review by Federica Ottoni
Book Review
This book is the result of a two years-
long research, conducted by University of
Parma, under the guide of Architect
Michela Rossi, together with the
Municipality of the city, in order to set up
a strategy of valorisation and
conservation of the nine cemeteries
which constitute the city of Parma
funeral system. By defining architectural
and political features of the principal
cemetery of the city, called “the Villetta”,
the study has investigated the landscape
by focusing on its link to the other signs
on the territory, represented by the
smaller funeral structures all around it,
ancient strongholds of a power which
doesn’t care the passing time.
The result it’s a strange mixed book,
created by different authors, each one
with a story to tell and with a personal
way to do it.
Starting from the history of a cemetery,
we could read about its foundation,
finding out the way of construction of the
city of deaths, looking at its political and
architectural grown, in order to resume a
lived memory, as if we could recognize
all the inhabitants of this lost city.
Religion and communities are
investigated in their relationship with
death, also focusing on the original urban
connection between the city and the
cemetery, through an analysis in which
the boundaries between architecture and
social features are not so defined.
Ancient maps show the boulevard
planned at the time of the cemetery
89
Book Review
construction, which represents both a
physical and symbolic road from life to
death, and from present to past.
Sculptures and paintings, architectures
and plan, connections and cloisters,
become the elements of a great collective
wall painting, from which the characters
of our past continue to tell us their
stories, buried by soil and stones.
The original architectonic point of view
involves then other type of analysis,
extending itself on a urban scale. In this
way, the previous object of this study, the
main urban cemetery of the “Villetta”,
90
becomes a pretext to research a correct
way of managing a real system of several
separated structures, which could recover
their connection in an architectural
general plan.
The past seems to be a good point from
which start an investigation on the future.
So a statistical analysis of social and
political data represents the natural
evolution of a study which involved
structures and functions, aesthetic and
social relationships; it seems to give
fundamental hints for the following
planning of the burial-places of a city.
As if the architecture could
be the common place on
which all the problems
involved in a urban and
social organization would be
solved, the last pages of this
dense and interesting trip are
reserved to the new projects.
Three different ways of
thinking death are showed in
three designs of new
architects, concluding a
research always suspended
between life and death.
To recover a lost city to
present.
Contact:
web: www.unipr.it
email: michela.rossi@unipr.it
e_conservation
 Book Review

LASERS IN THE
CONSERVATION OF ARTWORKS

LACONA VI Proceedings

Vienna, Austria,
Sept. 21-25, 2005

(Series: Springer Proceedings in Physics Vol. 116)

by Johann Nimmrichter; Wolfgang Kautek;
Manfred Schreiner (Eds.)
2007, 647 p. 419 figures.
ISBN: 978-3-540-72129-1
Hardcover
Price: $260 / €210

LACONA VI was held in Vienna in in Venice back in 1972, where he

September 2005 but the proceedings
were only recently published by Springer.
LACONA is the conference of reference to
all those interested in laser applications
to Cultural Heritage, from scanning to
cleaning and analysis of works of art.
The proceedings of LACONA VI present
74 articles organized in 6 parts: metal,
stone, inorganic materials, organic
materials, analytical techniques,
scanning techniques and safety and
miscellaneous.
The book opens with an independent
article by John Asmus, the scientist that
discovered the cleaning application of
laser when using holographic technology
describes in detail an unthinkable and
incredible series of events that started in
1942 and culminated with his discovery.
A must read.
Metal (part I) is an important material
but it is still far from being one of the
most studied. This section contains 5
articles about laser cleaning of corroded
steel, gildings, coins and the follow up of
the laser cleaning of Ghiberti's Porta del
Paradiso in Florence (page 29).
Besides being the first material where
laser cleaning was employed, stone
(part II) is the most studied material.
However, on the middle of so many case
studies and articles focused on the use of

e_conservation 91
Book Review
laser, it is interesting to read a reflection
about the demand of laser cleaning in
Austria. Pummer (page 143), based on
his 10 years and 40,000 man hours
experience, reveals that this technology
(Nd:YAG laser) “or equivalent” is
currently too often used in official service
agreements, mostly without awareness.
The author compared 2 usual techniques
– microblasting and Nd:YAG laser - and
concluded that, apart the high difference
of cost per hour between them, the
methods can not be referred to as
equivalent concerning the cleaning results.
Despite the fact that part III is dedicated
to inorganic materials, a very
comprehensive category, in this section
are included those materials which didn’t
fit the previous sections. Perhaps the
most uncommon material in this section
is the eggshell. Cornish et. al. (page
169), used a scanning electron
microscope (SEM) to assess Nd:YAG
laser cleaning on eggshell. Preliminary
results show that Nd:YAG has potential,
as no visible difference was identified by
SEM, but that other more sensitive
analytical techniques should be employed
in order to fully establish the usefulness
of this technology.
The second biggest section is the one
dedicated to organic materials (part IV).
Textiles, paper and resins use to belong
to this section, as well as Nd:YAG and
excimer laser. However, Er:YAG lasers
start to be often used and other
92
materials investigated, such as
polyurethane foam (page 295). On this
regard, Staal Dinesen and Westergaard
investigated the usefulness of using laser
cleaning instead of vacuum cleaning of
polyurethane foam (PU-foam), a normal
material used in Contemporary art. It
was proven that laser cleaning is more
effective than vacuum cleaning on dust
removal despite damaging some PU-
variants. However, laser cleaning on PU-F
was found recommended on the given
parameters.
Part V (analytical techniques) is devoted
to material characterisation. Many of the
materials characterised, either for their
study or identification, are pigments or
stone-based materials followed by paper,
ceramics and others. The analytical
techniques are mostly recurrent, such as
Raman spectroscopy, laser-induced
breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), laser-
induced plasma spectroscopy (LIF) and
laser-induced fluorescence (LIF).
Without disregarding the importance of
other materials in this section, I believe
that the characterisation study of
cinematographic film, by Oujja et. al.
(page 421), stands out by its unusual
subject. The study reflects the suitability
of LIBS to characterise silver-gelatine
photographic film, to identify different
gelatine types and to obtain information
on developers and hardeners used on
the film.
e_conservation
 Book Review

The scanning techniques section (part VI) (120 fs) lasers. Among other conclusions,
proves itself to be a highly considered it is stated that femtosecond lasers
field as it is the biggest section of the produce finer particles. Health
book. Its 18 articles confirm the huge recommendations are also suggested
range of this type of application to such as the use of a built-in fume
Cultural Heritage: from examination of extraction.
paintings (page 487) and its cleaning
(page 473) to damage assessment (page Concluding, I will be expecting the next
543) and diagnosis of historical proceedings of the recently finished
monuments (page 583). A good example LACONA VII which was held last
is given by Bajraszewski et. al. that used September in Madrid, Spain.
optical coherence tomography (OCT) to
Reviewed by Rui Bordalo
assess the environmental influence on
canvas paintings. Under laboratorial
controlled conditions, the sample was
submitted to humidity changes. OCT
analysis revealed a 170 µm translation of
the whole painting surface and quantified
the morphologic change of the sample
crack system, confirming the suitability
and sensibility of this technique.

Part VII (Safety and Miscellaneous) is the

last and the smallest part of the book,
with only 3 articles. Despite that laser
presents exceptional advantages on laser
cleaning, health safety assessment is a
current necessity. Ostrowski et. al. (page
624) verified, using a nanosecond laser
(15 ns), that at the highest laser fluence
78% of the particle matter is in the nano-
particle size range (30-100 nm).
Barcikowski et. al. (page 631),
collaborating with the previous author
within the same project, draws a similar
conclusion. However he compares
nanosecond (15 ns) with femtosecond

93
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