WESEERN MEDIEVAL WALL PAINTINGS Studies and Conservation Experience Sighisoara, Romania 31 August 3 September 1995 ICCROM WESTERN MEDIEVAL WALL PAINTINGS: STUDIES AND CONSERVATION EXPERIENCE Sighisoara, Romania, 31 August-3 September 1995 ICCROM Rome 1997 Authors are responsible for the choice and the presen- tation of the facts contained in their articles and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of the editors, or of the organizations involved in , organizing the meeting and publishing the proceedings. With regard to the selection, applicability or efficacy of the products mentioned, no endorsement or recom- mendation is implied on behalf of ICCROM, and no criticism is implicit in the non-mention of any product. ISBN 92-9077-142-9 © ICCROM 1997 ICCROM — International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property Via di San Michele 13 1-00153 Rome RM, Italy Style editing/typesetting/layout Cynthia Rockwell Cover design by Studio PAGE CONTENTS FOREWORD THE SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS vi THE ROMANESQUE PAINTINGS OF SAINT-SAVIN-SUR-GARTEMPE AND THE RESTORATION OF THE CRYPT Isabelle DANGAS THE TECHNIQUE OF MEDIEVAL WALL PAINTING IN CATALONIA, SPAIN 13 Rosa GASOL WALL PAINTINGS: SIMPLE INVESTIGATIONS 17 Klaus HAFNER PRESERVATION OF WALL PAINTINGS AND OTHER ARCHITECTURAL SURFACES AFFECTED BY SALTS 29 No HAMMER SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF MEDIEVAL WALL PAINTINGS 43 Helen HOWARD CASE STUDIES IN CONSERVATION OF SECCO WALL PAINTINGS IN NORTHWESTERN ITALY 51 Stefano PULGA THE CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR IN POLOTSK IN A STRANGE LIGHT 59 Vladimir RAKITSKY THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ANALYSIS OF THE MURAL PAINTING ON THE NORTHERN WALL OF THE HOLY-GHOST HOSPITAL IN LUBECK 67 Jochen SEEBACH LIME-BASED MATERIALS USED IN THE CONSERVATION OF WALL PAINTINGS IN DENMARK 79 Kirsten TRAMPEDACH ' FOREWORD A conservation workshop on problems of "Western Medieval Wall Paintings" was organized in part- nership by ICCROM, the Romanian Ministry of Cul- ture and ICOMOS-Germany. The event took place in Sighisoara, a small, well-preserved historic town in the heart of Transylvania, Romania, in July-Sep- tember 1995.1 A group of 19 young conservator:restorers from different European countries attended, all with working experience on wall paintings of the Romanesque and Gothic periods, found in a broad historico-cultural region ranging from northern Spain and Italy to Scandinavia, and reaching as far Sighisoara, Romania. The Church on the Hill (Biserica east as Transylvania, on the borders of the din Deal), seen from the citadel. Byzantine empire. ICCROM's activities by accepting our invitation to Participants were involved in the Romania, partly at their own expense. Another examination and the development of suitable important contribution to the seminar was the conservation measures for the early 16th-century participation of the Conservation of Wall Painting paintings of the "Church on the Hill," which Department of the Courtauld Institute, London, dominates the fortified citadel of Sighisoara. which has a particular expertise in the field. Numerous experts from various disciplines The seminar papers cover a wide range of joined the course at different times, delivering case studies and a broad geographic distribution. lectures, presenting the results of relevant research They offer many contributions towards a better and stimulating the interchange of ideas and knowledge of historic painting techniques and experience. discuss a variety of issues related to the complex The course ended in a three-day seminar, task of preserving the few examples of medieval organized on site. This publication is intended to wall painting that still survive in Europe. make available the proceedings of this meeting, which was a highlight of the training programme. A specific feature of this publication is that Nine senior wall painting conservators, selected it gives a voice to wall painting conservators, the from a larger group of experts who responded professionals with the highest day-to-day positively to a call for papers, presented their responsibility for the correct preservation of the studies and personal conservation experience on values of this painted heritage. Despite their vast western medieval wall paintings. scientific and empirical experience, these hands-on practitioners are usually rather silent, and are Most of the speakers were former certainly under-represented at most expert participants of the international course on mural meetings. painting conservation, organized by ICCROM in Rome since the late 1960s. They demonstrated Werner Schmid their ongoing interest and idealism towards Coordinator, MPC Romania 95 1 In addition to funds from ICCROM and the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the project was financially supported by generous grants from the UNESCO World Heritage Fund, the Commission X of European Communities and the Messerschmitt Foundation, Germany. The Academy of Fine Arts, Bucharest, made available the staff of the wall painting conservation department and equipment for setting up a field laboratory. vi THE SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS Isabelle Dangas Stefano Pulga 3 rue E. Quinet CO.RE. s.n.c. F-92240 Malakoff Via Gran Tournazin 9 FRANCE 11100 Aosta Rosa Gasol ITALY Casp, 61 2.1 Vladimir Rakitsky 08010 Barcelona 220117 St. Bialetskaha SPAIN 18-152 Minsk Klaus Hafner BELARUS Riehler Giirtel, 52 Jochen Seebach D-50735 Cologne Schloss GERMANY D-24802 Emkendorf Ivo Hammer GERMANY Bundesdenkmalamt, Arsenal Kirsten Trampedach Objekt 15, Tor 4 National Museets Bev.AFD A-1030 Vienna Postboks 260 AUSTRIA Brede Helen Howard DK-2800 Lyngby Dept. of Wall Painting Conservation DENMARK Courtauld Institute Somerset House, Strand London WC2R ORN U.K. THE ROMANESQUE PAINTINGS OF SAINT-SAVIN-SUR-GARTEMPE AND THE RESTORATION OF THE CRYPT Isabelle DANGAS ABSTRACT The four major cycles of Romanesque paintings in the abbey church of Saint-Savin (France) — those of the porch, the tribune, the nave and the crypt — are herein invoked historically, iconographically but most especially in terms of their execution or proper conservation. This commentary is the result of an interdisciplinary effort. It was elaborated both prior to treatment of the works themselves and in the course of their restoration. The crypt, which has just been fully restored, receives particular attention. Keywords: composition, cycle, disinfection, maintenance, micro-organism, mortar, mural. painting, ornament, pigment, Romanesque, technique of execution, treatment. Saint-Savin, 40 km west of Poitiers, is a small town such as during the Hundred Years War, religious situated on the river Gartempe. Its abbey, an archi- strife and periods of occupation when the church tectural, sculptural and pictorial landmark of the was desecrated. These times led to the damaging of Romanesque period, was classified as a World the church and the destruction of its dependencies. Heritage site by UNESCO in 1984. In the 17th century, thanks to King Louis For the past ten years, I have been entrusted XIII, the abbey flourished again. The Congregation by the Ministry of Culture with examining and of Saint Maur could then re-establish its monastic restoring several of St Savin's pictorial cycles.1 discipline and restore the historic fabric. With the French Revolution, severe material HISTORICAL SOURCES damage ensued. Because of the destruction of St Savin's charter In the 19th century, Prosper Merimee room in the 16th century, there is a good deal of protected and restored both the monument and its uncertainty about the foundation and development paintings. of this prestigious monument. A series of restorations was carried out, the The abbey's origin dates from the 9th most recent of which done by myself in 1995.2 century. It soon came under the protection of Charlemagne and his son, King Louis-le-Pieux. THE PAINTINGS The latter charged Saint Benedict of Aniane with St Savin's paintings are considered both the most reformation of the community. beautiful and the most comprehensive Roman- The construction of the current abbey church esque pictorial sequence in France. and its decoration was undertaken in the 11th The different iconographic cycles which century. adorn large parts of the church are dated towards The monument's complex and fluctuating the end of the 1 lth century. They are divided into history cannot be covered in this paper, but the four main groups: the porch, the tribune, the nave salient facts can at least be outlined. Periods of and the crypt. These decorations, judging from their great glory were followed by ones of obscurity, stylistic unity, seem to have been executed in a Western Medieval Wall Paintings: Studies and Conservation Experience. Sighisoara, Romania, 31 August-3 September 1995 ©ICCROM 1997 ISBN 92-9077-142-9 2 I. Dangas relatively short time (a few decades?), soon after Covenant (Rev 11: 19) and, on his right, a the construction and possibly by the same woman in childbirth being attacked by a workshop. dragon, while, at the same moment, the child At first glance, one might detect disparities. is rescued by an angel (Rev 12: 1-5, 15-16). One must, however, consider each pictorial • The lower register illustrates the New Jeru- situation according to the light and scale imposed salem; the founders of the abbey can be seen by the given architectural context. In the porch and in the audience. crypt, the dimensions call for tiny figures (0.75 m to 1 m), while in the nave or the tribune they allow The ornaments for farm ones (2 m and 3 m). • Chromatic bands (yellow and red) frame the From an iconographic point of view, it is scenes. They are adorned with white bars, curious that the programme starts at the end: in beads and small parallel lines. effect, upon entering, the visitor is confronted by • Friezes of different orders follow the line of tumultuous episodes from the Apocalypse and the arches; marble imitations, fret motifs, faced by a Christ in glory, while the Passion and trails of foliage or checker-boards adorn the Resurrection (fundamental to dogma) are isolated mid barrel vault.