Conservation, Restoration and Preservation in Classical Archaeology

C 1666 Conservation, Restoration, and Preservation in Classical Archaeology The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 33: and cultural sites and artifacts more effectively 137-48. than they were able to do previously by relying on MCCARTHY, M. 1989. The excavation continues...in the laboratory. Bulletin of the Australian Institute for the encyclopedias and dictionaries. Different Conservation of Cultural Materials 15: 21-26. cultures and languages – including the SEIFERT, B. 2000. The design of an archaeological conser- Anglo-Saxon languages and Latin in particular – vation laboratory: three case studies. Paper presented assigned different meanings to terms, which at the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation, Philadelphia, PA, June 8-13. created confusion and led to misunderstanding about how preservation should be carried out. Further Reading CONN, D. n.d. Project management for the construction of conservation laboratories. Available at: http://www. Definition ala.org/alcts/sites/ala.org.alcts/files/content/resources/ pubs/chapter1_free.pdf (accessed September 28 2012). The ICOM-CC terminology was developed CONSIDINE, B. 1998. The design of the decorative arts and during a decade of consultation among conserva- sculpture conservation laboratory at the Getty Center. tion and restoration specialists. Available at: http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/ Conservation – all measures and actions sg/wag/1998/WAG_98_considine.pdf (accessed 25 September 2012). aimed at safeguarding tangible cultural heritage FREEMAN, J.K. 1989. Rome wasn’t built in a day: design of while ensuring its accessibility to both present an archival conservation laboratory. Available at: and future generations. Conservation embraces http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/ preventive conservation, remedial conservation, annual/v08/bp08-03.html (accessed 25 September 2010). and restoration. All measures and actions should HENRY, W. 1992. Notes on conservation lab design. Avail- respect the significance and the physical able at: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byauth/henry/ properties of the cultural heritage item. labdesgn.html (accessed 26 September 2012). Preventive conservation – all measures and actions aimed at avoiding and minimizing future deterioration or loss. These are carried out within the context or on the surroundings of an item, but Conservation, Restoration, and more often a group of items, whatever their age and Preservation in Classical condition might be. These measures and actions Archaeology are indirect – they do not interfere with the materials and structures of the items. These methods do Roberto Nardi not modify their appearance. Examples of preven- Centro di Conservazione Archeologica – Roma tive conservation are appropriate measures and (CCA), Rome, Italy actions for registration, storage, handling, packing and transportation, security, environmental management (light, humidity and pollution, and pest Introduction control), emergency planning, education of staff, public awareness, and legal compliance. A common terminology developed for the con- Remedial conservation – all actions directly servation of cultural heritage, adopted at the 2008 applied to an item or a group of items aimed at ICOM-CC (International Council of Museum arresting current damaging processes or Committee for Conservation conference, New reinforcing their structure. These actions are Delhi), has removed ambiguity and helped con- only carried out when the items are in such servation and restoration specialists to communi- a fragile condition or deteriorating at such a rate cate more clearly and accurately. Museum that they could be lost in a relatively short time. managers, art historians, conservators, archaeol- These actions sometimes modify the appearance ogists, the public, and the media use the ICOM- of the items. Examples of remedial conservation CC definitions in order to preserve archaeological are disinfestation of textiles, desalination of Conservation, Restoration, and Preservation in Classical Archaeology 1667 C ceramics, deacidification of paper, dehydration of occurred by accident due to robberies, wars, or wet archaeological materials, stabilization of cor- by the prolonged use of objects and surfaces. We roded metals, consolidation of mural paintings, often encounter simple repairs such as those to and removing weeds from mosaics. damaged parts of mosaic floors, which were fixed Restoration – all actions directly applied to with new tesserae without paying attention to the a single and stable item aimed at facilitating its motifs, the welding of broken vases with bronze appreciation, understanding, and use. These staples, or the mimetic replacement of lost or C actions are only carried out when the item has broken marble elements to recover the function- lost part of its significance or function through ality and aesthetic of sculptures or monumental past alteration or deterioration. They are based on architecture also constitute examples of respect for the original material. Most often, such ancient repairs. actions modify the appearance of the item. The Roman town of Pompeii itself, for Examples of restoration are retouching example, was undergoing a series of restorations a painting, reassembling a broken sculpture, at the moment of the fatal eruption of Mt. reshaping a basket, and filling losses on a glass Vesuvius in 79 BCE. These repairs were part of vessel. a plan to recover from the earthquake of c. 62 BCE. Even ancient sources describe restoration as a habitual activity. Key Issues/Current Debates/Future In ancient literary sources, we can find names Directions/Examples of restorers and examples of restoration, such as the one mentioned by Pliny on the statue of Janus Conservation measures and actions can some- in the Roman Forum (Plin. HN 34.33). The hand times have more than one purpose. For instance, of Janus had been reconstructed; his fingers varnish removal, the application of protective indicated the number of days in a year after the coatings, and the reburial of mosaics can be calendar reform promulgated by Caesar in 46 both preventive and remedial conservation. Con- BCE (Pliny). All of these works were character- servation is complex and demands the collabora- ized by the will to restore either the function of tion of qualified professionals. In particular, any the artwork, its aesthetic appearance, or both, all project involving direct actions over cultural the while erasing the damage. heritage requires a conservator/ restorer. In ancient times, together with the activities The word “conservation” embraces in its defined as restoration, great care was taken to present definition three different disciplines that lengthen the durability of art work through indicate different activities linked by a common constant maintenance, an activity that today we aim represented by the preservation of tangible would call “remedial conservation.” As heritage and of the cultural message embedded in maintenance, the surfaces were cleaned and the archaeological assets. These disciplines have most appropriate kind of protective films were a very distinct history that, in some respects, applied according to the material of the artwork. goes back to ancient times; however, they can It is now taken for granted that lime was used on now be interpreted as a unified whole. Roman monuments with a protective function; Traces of restoration have been found on painted surfaces of marble sculptures were monuments and items brought to light by means periodically replaced and protected with waxes, of archaeological fieldwork. Such traces show us while oils and bituminous resins were applied to that people always have had an impulse to repair the damaged gilding of bronzes. During the materials that constitutes today’s cultural heri- Middle Ages, the attitude toward ancient art is tage (Cagiano De Azavedo 1952). Damage one of reutilization, recycling the materials in occurred during the execution of art works, for order to build modern artworks instead of restor- example, the breaking down of sculpted elements ing the lost function of the works of art (Rossi of the monumental funerary art. Damage also Pinelli 1986). This attitude was already present in C 1668 Conservation, Restoration, and Preservation in Classical Archaeology the ancient world; parts of sculptures and monu- to emerge when integrative restoration became ments were modified or replaced according to common in the seventeenth century; being ideological aims. For instance, the damnatio a restorer was previously considered not as memoriae led to the modification of the bronze important as artistic activity. Benvenuto Cellini statue from Cape Misenum in order to transform was a sixteenth century artist who restored the the face of Domitian into that of Nerva; the statue sculpture collection of Cosimo de Medici in is on exhibit at Naples’ Museo Nazionale today; Florence. He defined restoration as occupazione heads of heroic statues have been replaced to di artista mediocre, onde egli adattossi glorify the virtues of Roman emperors. a condurre un restauro solo per far cosa grata Sculptural elements have been reused or al suo Principe (“an occupation for a mediocre reprocessed to build monuments and artworks of artist, often done just to please his Prince”) high symbolic value. (Cellini 1985). The main archaeological discoveries during It was the century of the restoration of the the Italian Renaissance led to a series of activities collection of Ludovisi’s sculptures

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