DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Godlewski, Włodzimierz; Parandowska, Ewa: Naqlun: excavations 1996
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41241#0098
Aphroditopolis visited the church in 1033 and left a Coptic
commemorative inscription in the apse which was already covered
with murals at the time.'1
It is highly probable that the artist who created these
compositions left his mark to the right of the cross with velum on
the western wall.12 So, the Naqlun paintings can be attributed to
Deacon loannes from Heracleopolis Magna.
PAINTING CONSERVATION
The conservation program, which has been implemented
since 1991 on successively discovered wall paintings, included:
removing superimposed layers of secondary plastering, structural
reinforcement of the ground, replacing putties and progressive
surface cleaning. In 1996, detailed examinations were made of the
current state of preservation of particular murals with special focus
on final treatment involving an aesthetic color integration program.
West wall
Current works completed the conservation of two
compositions started in 1993: Maiestas Domini on the Cosmic
Cross and the warrior saint Claudius on horseback. The dirty and
sooty lower sections of the murals were cleaned chemically (using
a water solution of ammonium carbonate and vinegar), revealing
additional elements of the composition. The minutely cracked and
blistering plaster has been reinforced with a 30% solution of Primal
AC-33, the voids being filled with lime mortar (slaked lime chalk,
sifted sand and Vinavil). The same mortar has been used as a putty
to fill in small surface losses and as a final layer of the earlier
fillings. Pigments mixed with Primal were brushed over this
smooth white and level plaster. The kind of color integration
11 The text of this inscription has been preliminarily discussed in:
W. Godlewski, Naqlun 1993-1996, JCS III (in press).
12 K. Urbaniak-Walczak, Drei Inschriften aus der Kirche des Erzengels
Gabriel in Der an-Naqlun im Fajum, BSAC 32, 1993, 161-163.
96
commemorative inscription in the apse which was already covered
with murals at the time.'1
It is highly probable that the artist who created these
compositions left his mark to the right of the cross with velum on
the western wall.12 So, the Naqlun paintings can be attributed to
Deacon loannes from Heracleopolis Magna.
PAINTING CONSERVATION
The conservation program, which has been implemented
since 1991 on successively discovered wall paintings, included:
removing superimposed layers of secondary plastering, structural
reinforcement of the ground, replacing putties and progressive
surface cleaning. In 1996, detailed examinations were made of the
current state of preservation of particular murals with special focus
on final treatment involving an aesthetic color integration program.
West wall
Current works completed the conservation of two
compositions started in 1993: Maiestas Domini on the Cosmic
Cross and the warrior saint Claudius on horseback. The dirty and
sooty lower sections of the murals were cleaned chemically (using
a water solution of ammonium carbonate and vinegar), revealing
additional elements of the composition. The minutely cracked and
blistering plaster has been reinforced with a 30% solution of Primal
AC-33, the voids being filled with lime mortar (slaked lime chalk,
sifted sand and Vinavil). The same mortar has been used as a putty
to fill in small surface losses and as a final layer of the earlier
fillings. Pigments mixed with Primal were brushed over this
smooth white and level plaster. The kind of color integration
11 The text of this inscription has been preliminarily discussed in:
W. Godlewski, Naqlun 1993-1996, JCS III (in press).
12 K. Urbaniak-Walczak, Drei Inschriften aus der Kirche des Erzengels
Gabriel in Der an-Naqlun im Fajum, BSAC 32, 1993, 161-163.
96