DOI Heft:
No. 3
DOI Artikel:Jędrzejewska, Hanna: The conservation of wall-paintings from Faras
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17161#0097
2. The removing of mortar from the reverse
Before removal from the wali the paintings havc received a protecting layer of Japauese
tissue-paper and gauze glued on włth a mixture of wax and colophony, and then they have
been cut away. The sheet of paint, ground and remains of mortar sticking to the back, of a
thickness varying from less than a milimeter to a few centimeters, was laid face down on rigid
supports and, after a preliminary cleaning, packed for transport. On many occasions earlier
paintings were found underneath the first layer. These were removed separately.
Thus, the work in the Laboratory begins with ralher thin sheets, impregnated with wax
and colophony on one side, and with a variety of layers of differcnt thickness, adherence and
composition on the other side.
The treatment of the paintings
The work starts with the reverse, in three basie stages: the treatment of the original reverse,
the building up of a layer of substitute mortar, and the fixing to a rigid support. This is followed
with two basie stages of treatment on the painted side, consisting of the removal of protecting
layers and wax, and the covering of background and missing parts with a carefully chosen
artificial mortar. The seąuence of operations is briefly as follows:
1. On a transparent drawing paper all details of the actual state of the reverse are carefully
traced, with the painting transferred to a sheet of glass and a lamp underneath it to outline
all the damaged parts. Also, series of photographs are taken. The conservator begins his diary
and the gathering of samples of all basie and accidental materials and elements (mortars,
plasters, fibers, seed, insects, wood, fish scalę, crystals of salts, etc).
83
Before removal from the wali the paintings havc received a protecting layer of Japauese
tissue-paper and gauze glued on włth a mixture of wax and colophony, and then they have
been cut away. The sheet of paint, ground and remains of mortar sticking to the back, of a
thickness varying from less than a milimeter to a few centimeters, was laid face down on rigid
supports and, after a preliminary cleaning, packed for transport. On many occasions earlier
paintings were found underneath the first layer. These were removed separately.
Thus, the work in the Laboratory begins with ralher thin sheets, impregnated with wax
and colophony on one side, and with a variety of layers of differcnt thickness, adherence and
composition on the other side.
The treatment of the paintings
The work starts with the reverse, in three basie stages: the treatment of the original reverse,
the building up of a layer of substitute mortar, and the fixing to a rigid support. This is followed
with two basie stages of treatment on the painted side, consisting of the removal of protecting
layers and wax, and the covering of background and missing parts with a carefully chosen
artificial mortar. The seąuence of operations is briefly as follows:
1. On a transparent drawing paper all details of the actual state of the reverse are carefully
traced, with the painting transferred to a sheet of glass and a lamp underneath it to outline
all the damaged parts. Also, series of photographs are taken. The conservator begins his diary
and the gathering of samples of all basie and accidental materials and elements (mortars,
plasters, fibers, seed, insects, wood, fish scalę, crystals of salts, etc).
83