Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

BANGANARTI

SUDAN

The transfer of the two paintings from
the blocking walls in Chapels 5 and 6 was
completed this season.14 The mounted
murals have been transferred to another
space.
Important restoration works were
carried out in the Upper and Lower church.
In Chapel 1, the portrait of a Nubian
dignitary on the south wall (mechanically
cleaned, restored and protected with acrylic
resin in previous seasons) was treated with
a 1% solution of Primal E-411 in ethanol.
The solution helped to remove the acrylic
resin applied earlier. The painting was
afterwards cleaned with cotton swabs
dipped in acetone. Finally, the painting was
sprayed with 2% solution of PARALOID in
toluene.
In Room 20, the image of a cross on the
east wall was first mechanically cleaned
with bristle brushes and fiber glass sticks.
The flakes that stuck out from the mural
face were made to adhere with a 10%
solution of Primal E-411 in ethanol. A small
standing figure to the right of the cross was
chemically cleaned with a 1% solution of
Primal E-411 in ethanol. The white ground
was washed with acetone. Finally, the whole
composition was sprayed with a 2% solu-
tion of PARALOID B72 in toluene.
The geometric pattern (on the robes?)
painted on the west wall of Room 17 was
covered with a thick coat of mud and dirt.
This was first cut off with a restorer's knife.
Then the dirt and leftover mud were cleaned
with bristle brushes. The painting edges
were stabilized with a protective band made
of putty composed of: 1 part local caolin
clay (djir) mixed with Nile silt and 1/5 part
of Primal AC-33 in factory solution. After
the painting edges and the ground were

thus strengthened, fragments of the
polychromy were cleaned with a 2%
solution of Primal E-411 in ethanol.
The binding medium of the mural of
a Nubian ruler under the protection of an
archangel in Room 22 was considerably
degraded. Consolidation of the painting
layer thus had to precede cleaning. A 2%
solution of Paraloid B-72 in toluene was
first sprayed and then applied repeatedly
with a brush. The background was cleaned
with acetone. The flaked-off fragments of
the painting layer were glued back with
injections of a 10% solution of Primal
E-411 in ethanol. The painting edges on
the west and south walls were strengthened
with putty bands (1 part sand, 1 part kaolin
mixed with Nile silt, 1/5 part PRIMAL
AC-33, and small addition of yellow
pigment applied in order to balance the
color difference between the putty and the
original ground.
In Room 21, the much defaced east and
west walls were treated chemically and
mechanically in previous seasons. However,
in 2005 the peeling off of the painting layer
was noticeable. The endangered fragments
were injected with adhesive (10% water
dispersion of PRIMAL AC-33). The robes of
the apostle Thomas (on the east wall) were
mechanically cleaned with fiber glass sticks.
Since the binding medium was also de-
graded, the painting layer was soaked with
a 2% solution of PARALOID B-72 in toluene.
A plaster paste was applied into the bigger
cracks and gaps.
No attempt had been made so far to
treat the most damaged painting on the
south wall of Room 21 where faint traces of
wings have identified it as depicting an
archangel. It was covered with a thick coat

14 For the work of the previous season, cf. C. Calaforra-Rzepka, "Banganarti 2004: Conservation Report", PAM XVI,
Reports 2004 (2005), 314-320.

320