THE TRANSFORMATION OF AURA THROUGH RESTORATION: CASE STUDIES IN AND ITALY

by

ALEXANDRA DEBORAH SHARMA

A thesis submitted to the Department of Art in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada November, 1999

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This thesis applies Walter Benjamin's ideas on aura as outlined in his text, "The Work of Ait in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' to art restoration. In this study, I treat restoration as a form of what Benjamin calls "manual" reproduction. 1 examine how Benjamin's views on the decay of aura relate to specific restoration practices in Thailand and Italy. I argue that Benjamin's ideas on aura do not apply universally, but rather that social and cuitural factors corne into . To illustrate this point, I discuss two projects from the 1980s: the restoration of the vihan in the Buddhist temple Suthat in and the restoration of the Camera degli Sposi in the Castello San Giorgio in Mantua. I argue, with reference to social and cultural contexts, that Benjamin's ideas on aura seern more applicable to the project at the Camera degli Sposi than at Wat Suthaf in Thailand. Whereas in the Camera, restoration diffuses the aura of the original, at Wat Suihat, restoration takes on a form of ritualistic renewal, tied into th8 veiy mythologies and cultural foundations of . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis has been an adventurous and a rewarding enterprise in many ways. In the process of writing it, I confronted rny Gennan hentage through Benjamin. ventured into new territory with my discussion on the ethics of restoration, and widened my intellectual and spiritual horizons tremendously through my research in Buddhist Thailand. The diverse topics of my thesis made this joumey quite stimulating and I thank Dr. Cathleen Hoenigei for her bright suggestions. amicable conversations, and patience. I am indebted to Dr. Bhesham Shanna for his insurnountable support in discussing stumbling blocks along the way and for fighting with, editing, and clarifying my sornetimes confusing sentence structure. During my research in Thailand, I was ovemihelmed by the unseMish help I received. My thanks go to my aunt and uncle, Heidrun and Roland Schmid, Khun Jarunee, Curator of the National Gallery in Bangkok, Khun Yod, Restorer at the Fine Arts Department, the Gennan Ernbassy in Bangkok, and Chuo Khun Suntom, Deputy Abbot of , who provided me with extraordinary insights into Buddhist principles. Special thanks go to rny loyal friends, Stephie Beniveger and Claudi Koranda of Stuttgart as well as my colleagues and friends at Queen's, Hillary. Kiystina, Andrea and Annabel, and the very helpful librarians in the art library. Finally, I thank my wonderful parents, Horst Schmid and Ursula Schmid- Weigold. who encouraged my career change, and supported me in fulfilling my dream to study ait. To Bish, my 'Russian Coach" TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations...... v

Introduction...... -1

Chapter One Walter Benjamin and the concept of 'auran as outlined in his essay "The Worù of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproductionn.....-...... -.-5

Chapter Two The murals in the vihan of Wat Suthat, Bangkok, Thailand and their restorations...... A2

Chapter Three Andrea Mantegna's murals in the Camera de@ Sposi, Mantua, ltaly and their restorations...... 27

Conclusion...... -48

Bibliography...... -52

Appendices...... -58

Illustrations...... -63

Vita...... -92 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1: Wat Sufhat - vihan: Example of birdvs-eye-viewand painting style - Buddhavamsa (author)

Fig. 2: Wat Sufhat - vihan, detail of mural: Buddhavamsa - from the legend of the 10" Buddha Padumuttara (author)

Fig. 3: Wat Suthat - vihan, detail of mural: wonder of the fivefold apparition of the Buddha - example of mudras (taken from Wat Suthat - Ein Beispiel deutscher Kulturhilfe, title page)

Fig. 4: Major sites of attraction in Bangkok (taken from Visif Wat Suthat, lntelectual Services Ltd., Bangkok - no date, pp. 1-2) Fig. 5: Wat Suthat - vihan : Phra Sisakayamuni, the giant bronze Buddha (author)

Fig. 6: Plan of Wat Suthat (taken f rom Visit Wat Suthat, lntelectual Seivices Ltd., Bangkok - no date, pp. 11 -1 2) Fig. 7: Wat Suthat - vihan: exterior (author) Fig. 8: Wat Suthat - vihan: painted columns (author) Fig. 9: Wat Suthat - vihan: date inscriptions underneath the murals (author)

Fig. 10: Wat Suhat - vihan: protector deities on a door (author) Fig. 11 : Wat Suthat - vihan: framed murals atop a door (author) Fig. 12: Wat Suthat - viham bats hanging from the ceiling (before restoration) (taken f rom Wat Suthat - €in Beispiel deutscher Kultuhilfe, p. 168)

Fig. 13: - restoration project (June 1998); application of protective layer (author) Fig. 14: Wat Suthat - restoration project; fixation, cleaning, consolidation, and in-painting (taken from Wat Suthat - €in Beispiel deutscher KuItuhiIfe, pp. 156-1 57) Fig. 15: Wat Suthat - restoration project; reconstniction of missing pieces (taken from Wat Suthat - Ein Beispiel deutscher Kultumilfe, p. 152) Fig. 16: Wat Phu - restoration project (June 1998); reconstruction of missing pieces (author)

Fig. 17: Plan of the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua (taken from Giovanni Paccagnini, Mantegna, La Camera degli Sposi (Milan: Fratelli Fabri, 1968). p.4.

Fig. 18: Camera degli Sposk splay of northwest window: the date of commencement painted in mock graffita (taken from Cordaro, p.13)

Fig. 19: Camera degli Sposi view of the north and west walls (taken from Cordaro, p.70)

Fig. 20: Camera degli Sposk view of the east and south walls with rnock drapes (taken from Cordaro, p.15)

Fig. 21 : Camera degli Sposi, part of west wall: the painted tablet with the dedicatory inscription to Ludovico and Barbara, Mantegna's signature and the date 1474 (taken from Cordaro, p. l5O)

Fig. 22: Camera degli Sposi: view of the norîh and west walls and various elements of the ceiling (taken from Cordaro, p.14)

Fig. 23: Camera de@ Sposi. Octavian Augustus (taken from Cordaro, p. 60)

Fig. 24: Camera degli Sposi: Arion on the Dolphin (taken from Cordaro, p. 68) Fig. 25: Camera degli Sposi: the vault with the oculus (taken from Cordaro, P* 56)

Fig. 26: Camera degli Sposi. view of the north wall with the "court" scene (taken from Cordaro, p.73)

Fig. 27: Camera degli Sposi: view of the west wall with the "meeting" scene (taken from Camesasca, p.47)

Fig. 28: Camera degli Sposi: example of applied trateggio in the "meeting" scene (taken from Cordaro, p. 161)

Fig. 29 Camera degli Sposi "disappearingn Magi in the "meeting* scene (taken from Lightbown, p.89) INTRODUCTION Walter Benjamin's essay, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical

Reproduction," has been discussed extensively. His daim that reproduction withen away original artworks' aura has often been evaluated in political and literary studies as well as in art history.' No one, however, has yet explored how

Benjamin's views on reproduction might relate to art restoration.

In this thesis, I treat restoration as a fonn of what Benjamin calls "manual" * reproduction.' I examine how Benjamin's views on the decline of aura relate to specific restoration practices in Thailand and Italy. As I argue, Benjamin's ideas do not apply to these Eastern and Western contexts in the same manner because of diverse social and cultural factors.

In my paper, I focus on two mural restoration projects from the 1980s. the vihan (chape1 and Buddha's dwelling place) of the Buddhist temple Wat Suthat in

Bangkok, Thailand (restored in the years 1982-85), and Andrea Mantegna's

Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal Palace in Mantua, ltaly (restored in the years

1984-87). My thesis shows how differences of culture and function corne into play. In this study I agree with Benjamin-that mural restorations diffuse the original's aura. On the other hand, against Benjamin, I argue that "reproduction" in the form of restoration can also add other layen of aura.

1 See for example Susan Buck-Morss, "Aesthetics and Anaesthetics: Walter Benjamin's Artwork Essay Reconsidered," October, 62 (1992), 3-41 ;Wolfgang Kemp, "Fembilder - Benjamin und die Kunstwissenschaft," in Walter Benjamin im Kontexf, ed. Burkhardt Lindner, Konigstein: Athenaeum, 1985, pp.224-257. David Freedberg, The Power of Images (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), pp.230-235, applied Benjamin's ideas on reproduction and the decline of aura to wax works arguing that wax woiks have the same potentiality as photographs of living beings. Perhaps Benjamin's views anbe applied to other forms of art reproduction. The fimt chapter discusses Benjamin's concept of aura and explains his

unique use of ternis such as: manual reproduction, mechanical reproduction, authenticity, and authority. Benjamin's ideas are considered in relation to the mural restorations in the vihan of Wat Suthat in Chapter Two. I explain the murals' subject matter and the murals' use in a Buddhist environment, and in the process. I discuss Thai restoration practices, and how they relate to Buddhism, and to Benjamin's ideas on aura. The next chapter focuses on the latest

restoration of the Camera degli Sposi. IIt includes a discussion of the history of

restoration, as well as the ethical, cultural, and economic factors underlying the

restoration and thair relation to Benjamin's ideas on manual reproduction. The conclusion examines the applicability and value of Benjamin's thoughts with

regards to the contrasting restoration projects.

The amount of secondary literature on these topics varies. The literature on Benjamin is extensive and, at times, contradictory. This is certainly the case with Benjamin's notion of aura as presented in "The Worù of Art in the Age of

Mechanical Reproduction." As Howard Caygill and Alex Coles rightly daim: "'The

Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' is perhaps Benjamin's best-

known but often misunderstood ~ork."~

lan Knizik. for instance, accuses Benjamin of using blurred and unclear

~oncepts.~Yet, Benjamin's very intention in wnting as a whole was to reclairn the

- -- Howard Caygill, Alex Coles, and Andrzej Kiimowski, Walter Benjamin for Beginners (Duxford. UK: lcon Books. 1998), p.132. lan Knizik, Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproducibility of Art W ork Revisited." British Journal of Aesthetia, Vo1.33,4 (October 1993), 358. 3 subtleties of language and the opacity in nature that elude rational and empirical writing. As Benjamin States in The Ongin of the Geman Tragic :

Just as mosaics presewe their majesty despite their fragmentation into capricious particles, so philosophical contemplation is not lacking in momentum. Both are made up of the distinct and the disparate. and nothing could be more testirnony to the transcendent force of the sacred image of truth itseL . . . For by pursuing different levels of meaning in 1s examination of one single object, it receives . . . the incentive to begin again . . .. 5

There are other discrepancies. Caygill and Coles daim that Benjamin's ideas regarding aura are incorrect. They state that: "mass reproduced availability has in fact multiplied the aura of [the work of art's] cash-value and has redistanced it to the remote region of the uniquely price~ess."~Caygill and Coles fail to recognize that Benjamin makes a distinction between "false" aura and

'Yrue" aura. False aura is the attribution of greatness to a work of art that does not desewe it of its own merit. Sometimes woks can be charged up with the artist's name - like a brand name. The artist's name suffices in creating an aura.

A false aura is also created by concealing the handiwork of restoren under the guise of the original artist. ûften, a restored work is presented as authentic. True aura emerges from the knowledge of past restorations and also from the work itself. The name of its creator is of secondary importance.

5 Walter Benjamin, The Own of the Geman Tragic Drarna. trans. John Cummings (London: New Left Books, 1977), p.29. Fellow colleague of the Frankfurt School. Theodor W. Adomo, summarizes Benjamin's writing style: "His statements appealed not to revelation but to a type of experience that was distinguished from ordinary experience in failing to respect the restrictions and prohibitions to which ready-made consciousness norrnally submits.... Benjamin does not derive the relationship to the Absolute from concepts but instead s8eks it in bodily contact with the materials." T. W. Adomo, Notes to Literature, vo1.2, trans. Shieny Weber Nicholsen (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991), p.221. CaygiII, et. al., p.140. Dealing with translations is also problematic. I have relied on Benjamin's original Geman text, and I have retransfated the moût pertinent passages in order to clarify discrepancies. "Das Kunstwerk im Zeitaker seiner technischen

ReproduUerbarkel," will be the primary source from which I will define

Benjamin's ideas on aura. My discussion of Benjamin's concept of aura in

Chapter One will function as a point of departure for later discussions in Chapters

Two (Thai case study) and Three (Italian case study).

Much has been wntten on Mantegna and his Camera degli Sposi. My primary source on the restoration of the Camera will be the 1993 Electa book, edited by Michele Cordaro, which documents the recent restoration and also outlines the history of restoration.

Unlike the Camera restoration, there is no authoritative work on Wat

Suthat. Perhaps the closest to such a text is Wat Suthat - Ein Beitrag zur

Kultufiilfe, published in 1985.* It documents the restoration but does not provide any historical or related insights necessary to satisfactorily evaluate Benjamin's ideas. Along with pamphlets gathered at the temple. I will rely on information obtained from "field work" done in Bangkok and at Wat Suthat. Chapter Two includes cornmentaries and sumrnaries from interviews conducted with several individuals whose knowledge of the murals exceeds mine. My intewiew with the deputy abbot of Wat Suthat regarding the murals provides an insider's view on the perception of the murals and their restoration. This forms the basis from which to evaluate Benjamin's ideas on aura.

'Michele Cordaro, ed. Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi (Milan: Electa. 1993). Wat Suthat - Ein Beispiel deutscher Kulhrmlfe (Bangkok: Thai Visuel Co. Ltd. 1985). CHAPTER ONE Walter Beniamin and the conceDt of "aura" as outiined in his essw "The Work of Art in the Aae of Mechanical Re~roduction"

In 1936. three years before the outbreak of World War II, the Gemian literary critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) published the essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical ~eproduction." This essay discusses historical, social, and aesthetic processes that are intertwined with the mechanical reproduction of artworks.

In the essay, Benjamin argues that fine art initially found its expression in the seMce of cult rituals - first in magic then in religious practices. Before the photograph, art maintained its authonty and authenticity. Each work of fine art existed as the original and authoritative woik in one specific place. The ritual of viewing this particular work added to its aura. The Aual of experiencing the ait object continued until the photograph.1°

Reproductions, like photos, dissolve the aura of the original. An original. however, can only exist with the presence of reproductions. To Benjamin. an original work is defined by the natural history it has endured, "its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be."" Should

9 The essay 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproductionnwas originally published in French in the Frankfurt lnstitute Journal (by then operating in exile in the United States), Zeitschrift für Sozhiforschung, vo1.5, 1 (New York: 1936). The English version is taken from Hannah Arendt (ed.), Walter Benjamin, Illuminations (London: 1973), pp.219-253. This version is slightly modified. The original Gerrnan version used in the footnotes is taken from Walter Benjamin. Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduaérbarkeit (Frankfurt/Main: Edition Suhrkarnp, 1977), pp.7-44. 'O Benjamin, Kunsiwerk im Zeitdter, p. 16. '' Ibid., p. 11: 'Noch bei der hbhstvollendeten Reproduktion fMt eines aus: das Hier und Jem des Kunstwarks - sein einmaliges Dasein an dem Orte, an dem es sich befindet." natural damages occur, the work is still an original, albeit in impeifect condition.

In contrast, reproductions diffuse the aura of the original through their availability.

According to Benjamin: "that which withers in the age of mechanical reproducibility is the aura of the work of artnt2 Although he focuses on photography and film, his discussion is meant to apply to two general types of art reproduction: manual and mechanical. Manual reproduction goes back to ancient ümes. Another could reproduce whatever one human made. As

Benjamin explains: "replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by rnasters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain."13 Mechanical reproduction also has its roots in the ancient world, specifically Ancient Greece with the mass production of coins and bronzes.

Later, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, artwoiks were reproduced in the form of woodcuts, engravings, and etchings.I4 In the lgm century, mechanical reproduction recurred with the invention of photography (ca. 1860s).

While mechanical reproduction involves technology or machines, manual reproduction requires handiwork. Therefore, in the figurative sense, the restoration of paintings is a fom of rnanual reproduction. In restoration, however, the reproduction of the original does not take place on a separate ground but on top of the original. In the following passage, Benjamin deems manual reproduction a "forgery": "The original usually branded manual reproduction as a forgery. While the original maintains its full authority, the

-- - l2 lbid., p.13: %as im Zeitalter der technischen Repmduzierbarkeit des Kunstwerks verkümmert, das ist seine Aura." l3Ibid., p.10: "Solche Nachbildung wurde auch ausgeübt von Schülem zur Übung in der Kunst. von Meistern zur Verbreitung der Werke, endlich von gewinnlüstemen Dritten." mechanical reproduction does n~t."'~But, in Benjarninian ternis, a restored work would be an original and a forgery in one. In short, a restored original would seem to be an oxyrnoron.

Mechanical reproduction differs from manual reproduction because it is done mechanically as in photography, or film. Benjamin highlights the difference between mechanical reproduction and manual reproduction in the following way.

Whereas the prerniere of Goethe's Faust in Weimar is the original, a performance in, for instance, a provincial theater is a manual reproduction, and the film Faust is the mechanical reproduction. Further, whereas the film has lost al1 tradition, the manual reproduction still cames some traditional substance?

The premiere has the original's aura. Tradition supplants the kaleidoscope of aura now diffused through repetition. As Benjamin explains: "The uniqueness of the work of art is identical with its being embedded in the context of tradition.""

A Shakespearean play, for instance, cardes some aura. The same, however. can not be said of a mechanical reproduction. Mechanical reproduction tums three-dimensional objects into two dimensions as in the photograph and the film.

It displaces choirs from the context of the church and places them in a

~ivingroom.'~60th manual and mechanical reproduction engender an alteration,

l4 Ibid. '' Ibid., p.12: Wahrend das Echte aber der manueflen Reproduktion gegenüber als Fiilschung abgestempelt wurde, seine volfe Autoritat bewahrt, ist das der technischen Reproduktion gegenüber nicht der Fall." l6 Ibid., p.13. 17 lbid., p.16: "Die Einzigartigkeit des Kunstwerks ist identisch mit seinem Eingebettetsein in den Zusammenhang der Tradition." '* Ibid., p.13. a decline of authority and authenticity, finally resulting in the diffusion of the original's aura. In Benjamin's concise phrase: "authenticity is not reproducib~e."'~

To understand Benjamin's meaning of aura, it is necessary to explore his use of the ternis authenticity and authority that define aura?' Authenticity is the original artwork's "most sensitive nuc~eus."~'It is the original artwork's genuineness and uniqueness. Benjamin further describes authenticity as "te essence of al1 that is transmissible from its origin. ranging from its material duration to its testimony to the history which it has e~~erienced."~~Even cracks in a painting tell something of its history. Were someone to paint over or repair an original, the work would not be genuine; it would no longer be authentic. Hence, in relation to the wall paintings, Benjamin's ideas seem to imply that restoration. i.e. cleaning, in-painting, displacement from its initial context, etc., alters the original and its aura for it is an intrusion onto the very sphere of the artwork's uniqueness.

Authority is another term often used by Benjamin to explain aura. Authority is the respect given to a work or artist. This respect for the artist can influence the reception of a work positively and negatively. A glance at an artwork's label in a museum might make the beholder stand in awe in front of a "masterpiece" by

l9Ibid., p. 12: "Gerade weil die Echtheit nicht reproduzierbar ist. ..." 20 Marleen Stoessel in her book Aura - das vergessene Menschliche (München: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1983. p.12). points out further definitions of aura. She notes that the Greek cal1 aura "air," the Romans "breath," mile in medicine aura is regarded as the harbinger of an epileptic ffi. The anthroposophist Rudotf Steiner (1861-1925) describes it as a gleam of light surrounding the human body. Conternporary PSI-researchers sometimes even successfully ban this phenornenon on celluloid. 21 Benjamin, "Kunstweik im Zeitalter," p.13: "eh empfindlichster Kem berührt, den so verletzbar kein natiirlicher hat. Das ist seine Echtheit." lbid. "Die Echtheit einer Sache ist der Inbegriff alles von Ursprung an ihr Tradierbaren. von ihrer materiellen Dauer bis ui ihrer geschichtlichen Zeugenschaft." Picasso, Renoir, or Matisse even if the painting itself is uninspired. Sometimes. the actual impact of the painting can be distorted by the artist's name.

If one overiooks the essence of a work, focusing instead on the name of a famous artist, there is the possibility of misconstniing mediocre art for great art.

As Benjamin explains: 'ln the viewer's imagination, the onginality of the work of art's appearance is increasingly forced out by the empirical originality of the artist or his or her artistic a~hievernent."~Even the word "masterpiece" refers back to the artist, not to the arhvork and its effect on the beholder. Sometimes, authority can be falsely attributed to artists through the canon and art museurns and galleries whose survival depend on reworked pieces of "great masters" by anonymous but highly skilled restorers. This attribution creates a 'Valsenaura.

In a 1930 essay entitled "Über Haschischn (About Hashish), Benjamin contrasts "conventional and banal" theosophical ideas with the concept of "true" aura. "Truen aura diffen from "similatedH or "false" aura in three ways. First,

"te" aura occurs in al1 objects. Second, ?ruen aura changes with every

[temporal or spatial] movement of the object. Third, ?rue" aura impacts on the individual in a unique way. It diffen from the spruced up spiritual magic of "light" often described and represented in vulgar and mystical books.24 Benjamin

Ibid., p.17: 'lmmer mehr wird die Einmaligkeit der irn Kultbilde waltenden Erscheinung von der empirischen Einmaligkeit des Bildners oder seiner bildenden Leistung in der Vorstellung des Aufnehmenden verdrangt." 24 An extract of Benjamin's essay "Über Haschischn is published in Stoessel. p.12: "Und ich stellte - wenn auch gewiss nicht schernatisch - in dreierfei Hinsicht die echte Aura in Gegensatz zu den konventionellen banalen Vorstellungen der Theosophen. Erstens encheint die echte Aura an allen Dingen. Nicht nur an bestimmten, wie die Leute sich einbilden. Zweitens andert sich die Aura durchaus und von Grund auf mit jeder Bewegung, die das Ding macht, dessen Aura sie ist. Drittens kann die echte Aura auf keine Weise als der geleckte spiritualistische Strahlenzauber gedacht werden, als den die vulgaren und mystischen Bücher sie abbilden und beschreiben." alludes here to popular foms of Western and Eastem mysticism such as horoscopes, faithhealen, and mystical societies, such as Madame Blavatsky's

Theosophists, as well as the Freemasons that had gained notoriety dunng the

1920s and 1930s.~

'Tnie" aura distinguishes itseif as an "ornament,' to use Benjamin's words,

"an omamental encirclement in which the object or being Iies fimly sunk as within a case.'26 To further highlight the concept of aura, Benjamin writes:

We define the aura of [natural objects] as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. If, while resting on a summer aftemoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch, which casts its shadow over the resting penon, you breathe the aura of those mountains, of that branch?

25 The Theosophist de Purucker. for instance, descnbes aura as an 'invisible essence or fluid that ernanates from and surrounds not only beings and beasts but also plants and minerals... Sensitives have frequently described it in more or less vague terms as a light f Iowing from the eyes or the heart.. ." Excerpt from G. de Purucker, Occult Glossary, http~/~~~.theosociety.orglpasadena/~~~los/ag-a.htm. 26 Benjamin as cited in Stoessel. p.12: Wielmehr ist das Auszeichnende der echten Aura: das Ornament, eine ornamentale Umzirkung in der das Ding oder Wesen fest wie in einem Futteral eingesenkt liegt." The idea of objectç' cases refers back to Charles Baudelaire who 'hurnanized' products by giving them a house in fom of a case. See Benjamin's theory of the enchantment of products cited in Reiner Dieckhoff, M'ho$ und Moderne - Über die verborgene Mystk in den Schriften Walter Benjamins, (K6ln: Janus Presse), p. 11 8. z7 Benjamin, "Kunstwerk im Zeitalter," p.15. "Es empfiehlt sich, den oben für geschichtliche Gegenstande vorgeschlagenen Begriff der Aura an dem Begriff einer Aura von natürlichen Gegenstanden tu illustrieren. Oiese letztere definieren wir als einmalige Erscheinung einer Feme, so nah sie sein mag. An einem Sommernachmittag ruhend einem Gebirgszug am Horizont oder einem Zweig folgen, der seinen Schatten auf den Ruhenden wirft - das heiBt die Aura dieser Berge, dieses Zweiges atmen." The dialectics of closeness and distance occur earlier in Benjamin's writing. In "EinbahnstraBe,' for example, he writes about a glance, so incomparably and so unregainably that distance resonates in its strictest bond with closeness. Cited in Dieckhoff, p.107. Dieckhoff ties this ethereal idea to the influence of Ludwig Klages "Vom kosmogonischen Erosw(1 922). PP. 105-1 09. " Benjamin, "Kunstwerk im Zeitalter," pp.18/19. True aura versus false aura, and manual reproduction versus mechanical reproduction become important polemics when we examine the Thai and ltalian restorations. As I will show, the Thai practice of restoration is part of a traditional ritual associated with Buddhism. Issues of authenticity and authority seem less applicable; the paintings and their creaton take a secondary role to the messages they present. The Italian restoration, although ritualistic in a very different sense, is based on the repairing and preservation of Mantegna's work for aesthetic and economic reasons. Audiences consider Mantegna, rightfully or wrongfully, as the authority. The work is presented as authentic. Restoration in this case superficially conserves traditional works for those who overiook or are led to believe in the authenticity and authority of the work.

Now that Benjamin's use of the terni aura has been highlighted, I will take a closer look at the two restoration projects. First, I will examine Buddhist murals at Wat Suthat, then Mantegna's murals in the Camera degli Sposi. ln each case,

I will use the restoration project to evaluate Benjamin's claims conceming aura. CHAPTER TWO The murals in the vihan of Wat Suthat. Banakok. Thailand and their restorations

This chapter htroduces restoration practices in Thailand and focuses on the restoration of the vihan's wall paintings at Wat Suthat. To understand the

Thai restorers' transformation of the murals in Wat Suthat as it relates to

Benjamin's ideas on authority and authenticity, it is necessary to outline the historical changes that affected the murals.

A national style of Thai Buddhist mural painting can be detected in the first

Thai kingdom of Sukhothai (13k1 5m centuty). The Ayutthaya period (14m-1 8m century) and the Rattanakosin or Bangkok period (lgm century to present) fo~lowed?~After 1925, however, there was vely little interest in creating traditional rnura~s.~' Arphorn Na Songkhla States that traditional Thai painting was "an idealistic art fom much [sic] derived from other styles of oriental painting.& Traditional Thai painting emerged from the influences of the arts of lndia, China, Buma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Persia. From about 1870 to

1925, Thai mural painting was influenced by Westem painting styles. This was largely the result of King Rama IV (1851-1868) who took a great interest in

Westem art. The temples he commissioned employed certain Western elements such as perspective, inclusion of Western buildings, and pigments enhanced by

28 See a list of art periods in Thaiknd in the appendix. p.58. *'sonia Krug, The Development of Thai Mural Painting," in The Altistic Heritage of Thailand (Bangkok: Craftsman Press, 1979), p. 184. 1925 marked the date of a new Thai niler. Rama VI1 ascended the thrown. See a ktof the dates of the in the appendix, p.57. Arphom Na Songkhla. nieStandard of Conservation of Mural Painting and Sculpture in Thailand," in final Report - SPAFA-ICCROMSeminar on Conservation Standards in Southeast Asia, Bangkok, Thailand. December 11 -1 6, 1989. pp.77-79. synthetic materials. Many of the paintings frorn the Bangkok and earlier periods have since vanished, Most of those that survive can be found on the walls of ordination halls, , palaces, and temples.

In the temples, wall paintings maintain their strong religious and educational function. Sombat Plainoi outlines six categories of murals' subject matter one can find in Thailand. '' Murals depict: - The Lord Buddha's or the lives of his 24 predecessors; - The Jataka, stories of the past lives of the Lord Buddha comprising 547 texts; - customs and ceremonies; - histoncal records; - stories, proverbs, and old sayings; - literary works, such as the ~amayana?~

K. 1. Matics points out that although not al1 the visual aids were Buddhist in nature, each story assisted the monks in explaining the Buddhist doctrine to the

The subjects portrayed tend to be easily identifiable due to the "simple" yet

"omaten style in which the paintings are executed. Matics assumes that this

"simplen style also enabled the layperson to recognize farniliar themes when a monk was not present? Perhaps as a retention of lndian art, one can find two- dimensionafity, the use of perspective without a single fixed vanishing point,

'' Sombat Plainloi, Mural Paintings (Bangkok: Office of the National Culture Commission, 1985), pp.1-9. The Ramayana is an epic of lndian origin written by Valmiki over 2000 years ago. In Thailand the Ramayana is called . The most complet8 Thai version is the one of King Rama 1 (1 782-1809) and is at the very cote of Thai culture. See one of the many written venions of the Ramayana, such as J. C. Shaw. The Ramayana Through Western Eyes (Bangkok: Craftsman Press Ltd., 1988). or others. " K. 1. Matics. Introduction to the Thai Mua1 (Bangkok: White Lotus, 1992). p.2. 34 Ibid. linear outlines, and an overall flatness in the Thai style. [fig. Il3' The images depicted also have a Ylar quality which anses from the omission of light and shadow as well as from a brownish linewoik that shapes the outlines of figures.

The Buddhas' and deities' garments and their horses and carts are skillfully and deftly decorated with gold and rich colorful omamentation. [fig. 21 The figures also include several mudras (gestures) which have different meanings such as rneditating and tea~hing.~[fig. 31

These images add to the overall sanctity and place of womhip at the temple. Within the confines of today's chaotic and polluted cities such as

Bangkok or Chiang Mai, temples are places of meditation and sanctity.

Bangkok is the city in which Wat Suthat is located. Commissioned by King

Rama 1 (1782-1809) in 1807, the groundbreaking for Wat Suthat began at a site called Sao Ching Cha in the center of the river slope Bangkok is built on. [fig. 41

As the temple's centerpiece, King had a 6.25 x 8 m bronze Buddha image (Phra Sisakayamuni) brought down from Sukothai, the former capital of

Thailand." It was the main Buddha of the old capital? The vihan or main sanctuary of Wat Suthat was built around the gigantic Buddha. [fig. 51 This image remains the most signlicant figure in the temple.

- " See, for example, J.C. Harle. The Art and Architecure of the lndian Subcontinent (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994), chapter 25. 'Matics, 95. 37 Sukothai -as mentioned earlier - was the first independent Thai kingdom. founded at the expense of the Angkorian power that had occupied the country since approximately the beginning of the tweifth century. Towards the late 13* century, Sukothai became independent and fonned a center of Buddhist culture and ah In 1438. the kingdom was incorporatecl into the kingdorn of Ayutthaya. See Jean Boisselier, Thai Painting, trans. Janet Seligman (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1976). p.244. The monastery covers an area of 44,980 square meten. [fig. 61 The temple grounds are divided into two main zones: the buddhavas (seats of

Buddha images) such as the vihan and the ubosot, and the monks' quarters?'

The vihan is a large structure of five sections, having an overall length of 126.25 m and a width of 25.84 m. [fig. 7] There are two levels of pediments and three doors each for both front and back entrantes for the main vihan with five windows on each side of the building. Sunounding the main chape1 are 32 outer and 8 inner columns supporting the chapel's roof. The inner columns are large and four-comered in forrn. Each face and wall are adomed with murals. [fig. 81

The second part of the temple grounds, the monks' quarters, consist of the kuti

(monks' dwelling places. beds, and seats), sermon hall, bel1 tower, monk's school, and libraries.

The vihan's murals were initially painted during the reign of King Rama III

(1824-1851). An exact date is not known and the murals' origin is not documented. The subject matter consists of the lives of 24 Buddhas, also called the ~uddhavarnsa? The Buddhavamsa contains the names and the legends of

38 lt is older and larger than any other bronze cast Buddha image in Thailand. According to the Dynastic Chronicles, the Buddha was created in 1361. Benton Pandito, Wat Suthat- Thepwaramm - The Palace of Indra (Bangkok: Liang Chiang Press, 1997), p. 18. 39 The ubosot is the sanctified area for fomal acts of the order of monks. It functions as the and is considered the most hallowed place in any wai (temple). 40 The Buddhavamsa mentions only 24 predecessors, other texts give larger numbers. See Boisselier, p. 198. The vihan's walls in Wat Suthat depict 27 Buddhas. This number is unique. Wat Suthat is the only temple in Bangkok that has this text in murals. Kongdej Praphathong even clairns that it is the only depiction of this kind in any Thai temple. "Wandmafereien im Wat Suthat," in Wat Suthet - €in BerSpel deulscher Ku/turhi/fe(Bangkok: Thai Visuel Co. Ltd, 1985), p.86. the Buddhas who preceded Buddha au ta ma.^' Their life-stories strongly resemble each other, since al1 attained Enlightenment through meditation, and later taught. Slate inscriptions installed beneath the scenes help to identify the

~uddhas.~~[fig. 91 These slates also include short descriptions of the paintings.

Early to mid-19m century Thai script is used?

Higher on the walls of the vihan are the various vimam or celestial mansions. In these rnurals, contemporaiy chamcten of the nineteenth century including Chinese or Malaysian marchants are depicted. The columns are adomed with scenes from TSPhum or Traibhumikatha (lhree Worlds - Heaven,

Earth, and Hells). an ancient Buddhist cosmology. The doors and window panels are painted with protector deities. [fig. 101 Above these doors, framed murals can be found which were popular from the early to the mid-lgmcentury. [fig. 111

Generally, monks used al1 the vihan's murals to outline history for the illiterate and to teach Buddhism. the Thai fonn of ~uddhisrn."

41 Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 563-483 BC), a native of southem Nepal, was the last of a long lineage of Buddhas. Following a pend of asceticism, penance, and meditation in the Indian jungle, Gautama claimed he had found peace in the tnith of Me's unreality and in the necessity of causing the cessation of the desire to Iive. Gautama asserted that he became the Buddha, the Fully Enlightened One. For 45 years he taught and preached as he traveled and developed an order of monks among his followers. See May Kyi Win and Harold E. Smith, HistonCal Dictionary of mailand (Lmham : Scarecrow Press, f 9%), p.18. 42 Praphathong, pp.84-85. " Kongkaew Veeraprachak. 'Die Steininschriften." in Wat Suthet, p.108. Theravada - the oldest school of Buddhism. which exists today - is a devotional. gentle form of Buddhism with emphasis on generosity. Its teachings are based upon tolerance, mindfulness, morality, and insight, which lead to ~isdorn.compassion, and libration from suffering. See Diana and Richard St. Ruth. Simple Guide to Theravada Buddhism (Folkstone, UK: Global Books, 1998), p.9. For the Thais, such murals were pnmarily a medium to gain knowledge about the life and the teachings of Buddha, a visual support to enhance the knowledge of the texts. Wenk writes about how in the past:

[Murals] were a substitut8 for the illiterate believer's study of the canonical scripts. In this respect, murals looked upon as an artwork were left out of consideration and a mural was not held in a higher regard than palm leaf rnanuscripts. Both were seen as Buddhist equipment, and replaceable."

Today, such wall murals in a temple context still function as a means to explain and reinforce Buddhist beliefs. Through illustrations, not only do Thais leam of

Buddha, but also of their ancestors' sacred and secular history. As Jean

Boisselier explains:

If we bear in mind, too, that religious inspiration is always paramount and that works designed to be educative and formative must be easily intelligible to anyone with an elementary knowledge of Buddhisrn and of the worfd as seen through Thaï eyes - then we have in a nutshell the main features we need to define the originality of Thai painting?

Although the murals are old, they continue to function as a means to inspire, guide, and instruct devotees by portraying scenes derived f rom religious history and well-known texts.

Thus, rather than being the central focus of the temple, they are but part of the setting. Rather than being revered as aitworks in themselves, the messages they convey are more important than the aesthetics. Unlike the Camera degli

Sposi, where the focus is on Mantegna's 'masterpiece," the wall paintings in the vihan are but part of the educational apparatus. The focus on the illustrations and the meaning in relation to the paintings imbue these objects with aura. The

'* Klaus Wenk, Wandmalerei in Thailand," in Wat Suthat, p.58. Translation by the author. 46 Boisselier, p.71. individuals who pahted these works - in Benjamin's text, the authorities - are of little importance. As Matics confins: 'ln general. the rnuralist was an anonymous monk or a dedicated layman with religious sentimentsd7

Thus, significantly, the first pahters of the murals in the vihan are not known. Later, anonymous artists simply painted over the murals, or they were left to deteriorate. Throughout time, some of the paintings in Wat Suthat were lost due to factors such as the rainy season (June through Septernber) which brings an enonnous amount of rain to the ground, dampness, and floods. In addition, humidity (which is high year round in Thailand), pollution, dust, srnoke from incense bumen, soot, greasy accretions, insect nests, human vandalism. and bats have destroyed parts of the paintings." Throughout the various periods, rnonks decided which paintings to conserve. Artists from various generations

"restorednthe paintings.

At Wat Suthat, the murals of the vihan and the ubosot were first restored in the Fouith Reign (1851 -1 868). Most parts were painted over. In the Fifth Reign

(1868-1910) an extensive architectural restoration was needed to fix several

47 Matics, p.3. " Wannipa Na Songkhla, "Conservation of Mural Paintings," in Wall Paintings of lndia - A HistonCal Perspective, O.P.Agrawal, ed. (no place and date). a Ibid., p.120. At Wat Suthat, bats were responsible for most of the damage to the murals. Hundreds of sheath-tailed bats took up residence in the temple hall prior to restoration. Throughout the day, these bats hung from the ceiling, by night they moved to the walls. The act of hanging with their sharp claws damaged the paintings and gouged the walls. The bats' excreta also affected the paintings. As a result, the bats had to be removed without killing or harming them. Naphtalene, an odorous substance better known as moth powder, was sprayed in the early 1980's at the affected wall area. The bats vanished to avoid the srnell. Cracks and wall openings were insulated to block the re-entrance of the bats. [fig. 121 For a detailed description of bats and their removal in Wat Suthat, see Heinz Felten "Ü ber Fledennause,' in Wat Suthat, pp. 1 68-1 76. parts of the temple. The vihan's top omaments had deteriorated. Roof tiles, pieces of timber, as well as the ornaments on the edging and rafter had to be replaced. In the book, Wat Suthat Dhepwararam, No Na Paknam cites an old report on the status of the restoration, which recounts:

the roof has been tiled, but plaster work for the ridge has not yet begun.... Plastering for the intenor and exterior wall was completed. However, at the supporting post of the gallery, the rain has washed out the slaked lime and the plastering work will have to be executed again?

Combined with this architectural restoration, the murals were also repaired

(which involved overpainting), resulting in a fonof "manual" reproduction.

Because of Thailand's limited financial resources, support fram other countnes was often the means through which conservation was made possible.

At Wat Suthat, in light of Bangkok's 200-year celebration of the Chakri dynasty in

1982, the Geman govemment partially sponsored a restoration project for the murals in the vihan.'' This restoration took place in the yean 1983-85.

The relatively good exterior condition of the temple hall made such a difficult and large-scale project possible. During the course of the restoration, existing paintings were cleaned, damages were repaired, and the deteriorated parts were renewed. Initially, the flaking and loose paint layers had to be mended before cleaning. Small pieces of hand-made paper were fixed ont0 the surface with water and pressed with a brush or cotton wool. The papered sections were

''NO Na Paknam, 'Mural Paintings in the Ubosot of Wat Suthat Dhepwararam," in Wat Suthat Dhepwararam (Bangkok: Muang Boran Publishing House, 1996), pp.181-183. There is inconsistency among scholars conceming the documentation of this restoration. Winfried Schlote, for instance. daims that this first big restoration projed executed during the reign of Rama V (1868-1 91 0) was not documented at all. See "Kulturhilfeprajekt Wat Suthat," in Wat Suolat, p.24. then sponged with sponges soaked in solvents, usually aicohol or ammonia. in order to clean the murals through the paper. After the removal of the paper, a cotton swab was used to clean off the remaining diit. For the application of mortar on the lost parts, a mixture of slaked lime, glue, and sugarcane juice was used. Third, the lacunae were cleaned and filled with rnortar and a new ground layer (e.g. lime or white clay mixed with glue of tamarind seed) was applied.

Then, reintegration or in-painting was made only in the lacunae. The last step involved the application of a protective coating to stop further deterioration and to seal the restored area. A thin transparent film was applied to the surface of the painting. Effort was taken to chose a vamish which would not tum brownish or yellowish with time or alter the underlying pigments. It was also important that the process be revenible and, therefore, a removable vamish was chosen ." [figs.

Junior restorers, students of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design

Colleges in Bangkok, carried out the restoration. The Thai project leader,

Wannipa Na Songkhla, assigned 70-1 50 students to their task.

Conservaton and students could have used the unobtrusive trateggio method that would have allowed the reconstruction of the murals' lost partsu

Before restoration. however, the abbot and the monks of Wat Suthat requested

5 1 Recent Thai kings have had strong ties ta Germany. King Rama Vlll was, in fact, born in Heidelberg. '* W. Na Songhkla, "Conservation of Mural Paintings," p.122. a Using the trateggio method, the loss of original color is filled with thin parallel lines of a pure hue. Under the best of circumstances, the lines resolve at a distance into a neutral color or a color that blends in with the original. See Cathleen Hoeniger, Wall Painting, I. Survey of Techniques, II. Conservation," in The Dictionary of Arf (London: MacMillan, 1W6), vol. 32, pp.802-810. that the lost paintings be replaced. Without any previous photographic documentation, restorers reconstructed the losses following similar depictions in other parts of the decorative program that were still complete." [figs. 158161

The abbot's decision for full reconstruction was based on Buddhist principles.

They include the belief that everything is impermanent and replaceable. Although

in a Western context a decision like the abbot's may have proved highly controvetsial, in this instance the abbot's judgment was totally acceptable.

Furthemore, the decision to renovate the paintings reveals much about how these images are perceived.

Indeed, presetvation of the briginal" handiwork of the artist is of little concem in Thai devotional contexts. Among the legacy of artists and restorers the paintings are meaningful because of religious beliefs. The paintings crystallize their devotion to Buddhism. The distinction between artist and restorer becomes bluned. In this case, the painting and its educational value. not the creator, is of paramount importance. It is important to realize that unlike

European artists, the original Thai painters did not seek explicit recognition for their work. In the past, the Thai painter was called chang khien (a craftsman who paint~).'~The act of painting was an act of devotion and most painters dedicated their work to the service of ~uddhism." As Boisselier writes: "the Thai painter

54 W. Na Songkhla, "Konservieren, Restaurieren, Dokumentieren,"in Wat Suthat, p.154. Na Songhkla notes that many prefer to have their damaged paintings repainted. Although there is no need for consewators to do so, many owners will find painters to do the repainting in a non-professional rnanner. Therefore, to prevent the original frorn being destroyed or overpainted, most consewators do in-painting. "Conservation of Mural Paintings," p. 122. 55 Wenk, p.60. 56 Kmg, pp.171-184. was never concemed to assert his personality by resoiting to an original technique or even establishing a personal style."5T The original handiwork and the restorations of the murals at Wat Suthat took place collectively and over time.

Today, Buddhist principles continue to play a major role in the life of Thais.

Along with the monarchy and state. Buddhism foms one of the three official

"pillarsn of the nation. The major characteristic of Theravada Buddhism is its large body of rnonks (Sangha). AI1 Thai males generally assume the role of a monk for at least 14 days." Thus, because of fervent religious belief and education, one can assume that most. if not all, of the painters of the academy would have been familiar with the Buddhist stories depicted in the murals. As Boisselier contends:

"where a Western observer would see only the fruits of a strange imagination and fantasies inspired by a somewhat academic sunealism, every Thai, and more generally speaking, every Buddhist, would be able to identify scenes and characters at a g~ance."~'

Judging from the communal, devotional, and anonymous way in which such murals were painted, we can see that Benjamin's concept of authority is somewhat inapplicable in this context. Whereas at the Camera degli Sposi, authority is attributed to Mantegna, at Wat Suthat, authority is attributed to no one.

The anonyrnous approach to the authonhip of mural paintings in Thai temples such as Wat Suthat, together with the context of Buddhist beliefs, may also help to explain the evidentîy relaxed approach to preseivation. The

Boisselier, p.71. " Kyi Win and Smith, p.19. restorations that are performed are often loosely controlled and often preservation is neglected and murals left to deteriorate. Boisselier explains that:

"in a Buddhist context every thing is 'imperrnanent' and subject to destruction for the very reason that it is 'made' or 'put together,' and. since detachment is a virtue, there is really no reason to trouble about the preservation of works of art."60 What restoration work is done has the rational of keeping murals "alive" for their spintual and educaüonal purposes, rather than for aesthetic reasons, even though the exotic paintings tend to be attractive to Westem viewers.

In an interview with the deputy abbot of Wat Suthat, Phra

Pipitthammasuntom (Chuo Khun Suntom), I discussed Thai Buddhist restoration practice and its difference from Westem practice? Chuo Khun Suntom explained that although one loses the "original" through restoration, one nevertheless has a responsibility to the originally painted images. He regards the deteriorated paintings in Wat Suthat as sick family mernbers. One must help them to avoid death through repainting. In Chuo Khun Suntom's own words: "The wall painting is like a beloved person. You have to take care of them. We have to restore the wall painting and then we try everything to maintain the wall painting."62The abbot sees the conservator/painter who restores as a doctor who has a duty to cure the murals. The abbot insists, however, in not overpainting a lost face. The monk identifies the face as the one factor of the painting that

" Boisselier, p.139. Ibid.. p.217. The inte~ewwas conducted on June 30,1998 in Wat Suthat. Although Chuo Khun Suntom spoke English, he requested the support of twa school teachers from a nearby school who acted as translators. See the interview's unabridged version in the appendix, p.59. maintains the greatest authority. It is possible that the abbot desires to exhibit elements of the murals' age and history through a lost face.

The cote of the interview with Chuo Khun Suntom reveals how he feels about restoration. To hirn. and perhaps to other monks, restoration is a necessary part of the life of the mural. To Buddhist monks, the murals develop an aura through time and through their devotional meaning. They are for contemplation and becorne like parents or grandparents. As Chuo Khun Suntorn explains: "1 love the paintings in my temple like grandmother and grandfather." In

Thai society, parents are nurtured and respected for their wisdom. As Hema

Goonatilake states:

Looking after parents, particularîy during their old age continues to date and is considered an important duty of children in the Buddhist tradition. If a daughter or son fails to do so, it is considered a shame. Parents are considered to be Brahmas and are said to be first teached4

Therefore, the ritual of over-painting becomes an affirmation of caring, similar to the canng of children for their revered eldedy parents. The process of restoration is one of renewal, of taking on a new life. Restoration is an essential means to keep these paintings functional. and, thus, alive.

The Buddhist beholder, who contemplates the images of Buddha

Gautama and his predecessors is reminded of the Buddhas' stniggle for enlightenment, including their virtues, teachings, and ideals. The spiritual

See interview. p.60. a This stands in contradiction to the abbot of Wat Suthafs decision in 1983 to fully restore lost pieces including faces. It is possible that a flawless result was preferred in Iight of the restoration's publicity. quallies of the images help to stimulate in the viewer a %am heait" and a "pure mind? Additionally, the viewer perceives the power in the images. Thus, the subject matter of the paintings infuses the viewer with an internalized, deflected aura - to religion and not to a Yetish" over the mural or its painter. In other words, the images serve to rernind the viewer of their own religious and social beliefs. Tharavada Buddhists believe that the image of Buddha holds power.

Haivey explains that those images used in devotion for centuries are believed tu be "charged upn with spiritual ~ower.~From a Benjarninian perspective, the beliefs of the Thais provide the work with its magical power. it is almost inelevant whether the work is authoritative or authentic. Such elements are secondary. Of primary importance are the signs that elicit appropriate social and religious reactions among the Thais.

Although the restored murals in the vihan of Wat Suthat have not maintained their initial authenticity and onginality, they have preserved their initial purpose as a means to facilitate the Buddhist beholder to proceed one step closer to nimna. Several painten produced these murals. They are painted for the people by a collective and historical legacy of aitists. Wntten in the very ethos of these works is that they will always be repainted. Thus, they are never finished. Each restorer is a Buddhist and their handiwork is as valid as the previous.

64 Hema Goonatilake, Women and Family in Buddhism," in Buddhist Perception for Desirable Societies in the Fuiure, ed. Sulak Sivaraska (Bangkok: Thai I nter-Religious Community for Development. 1993), p.227. 65 Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism - Teachings,- Histoty and Practices, (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1993). pp. 179-180. Ibid., 179. Considering the crucial issue of spirituality taking precedence over physicality, and communality over individualisrn, one cannot apply Benjamin's principles to evaluate the works. It is not the woiks themselves that are the focus but rather the meaning of the subjects and the viewers' knowledge of Buddhism that fiIl the images with aura. Furthenore, it is almost certain, that a new aura emerges from the restored work. Restoration in the Buddhist world keeps the murals in a cycle of renewaî. Restorations of Buddhist murals help the faithful beholder in prayer and meditation. Restoration becomes in one sense a form of reincarnation.

Thus, the process of manual reproduction is not considered a "violation" of the original but rather a necessary ethos in the space within the temple. Painting over a "masterpiece" never comes into question. The essence of a work is renewed by the handiwork of devotees through time. New artistic input is a part of the process of renewal.

Thus, aura cornes from the authority of a different source, a religion that is highly personal. Art becomes a means through which the essence of Buddhisrn is relayed. Authority comes from the monk's teachings. Paintings, despite their respect, act as illustrations of the Buddhist Me, not as symbols of greatness or artistic mastery in themselves. Authenticity comes from the legacy of the religion, the setting within the temple and its décor, and the knowledge and affirmation of personal beliefs that the murals provide.

But while Benjamin's ideas seem largely inapplicable in the case of the murals in Wat Suthat, they seem more appropriate for the Camera degli Sposi. CHAPTER THREE Andrea Manteana's murais in the Camera dedi SDOS~.Mantua. ltalv and their restorations

This chapter will focus on the history of the restoration of Mantegna's

Camera degli Sposi in Mantua's Palazzo San ~iorgio.~~TO provide context. I will also briefly discuss the Camera's history and its subject matter. As in the case of the previous chapter on mural paintings in Thailand and their restoration, these examinations of restoration history and approach will serve as a basis from which to evaluate the applicability of Benjamin's ideas on aura. Although Benjamin's thcughts do not seem to work well with the restoration of anonymous sacred wall paintings in a Thai Wat, they may prove more convincing in the case of attributed secular murals in an ltalian Palauo. Indeed, sociat context and purpose markedly influence the aura and reception of this famous room.

Many art historians including Ronald Lightbown and Ettore Camesasca regard the mural paintings in the Camera degli Sposi as Mantegna's masterpiece? Fritz Knapp aven claims that it is the most monumental achievement of quattrocento fresco painting?' And yet, because of the long restoration history of the murals - including extensive repainting by a sequence of restorers supposedly to "preserven the frescoes - how much remains of Andrea Mantegna's onginals is subject to debate.

- - " The name of the famous painted chamber varies. According to Ronald Lightbown. the room's earliest name was Camera Picta or Camera Depinta. Only in the 17 century the more specific name of Camera degli Sposi, due to one of its functions as a wedding cham ber, was established. Ronald Lightbown. Mantegna (Oxford: Phaidon - Christie's. 1986). p.99. * Ettore Camesasca, Mantegna, (Firenze: Harper and Row, 1981)' p.33; and Lightbown. p.117. The originals were executed in a combination of fresco and secco techniques?' Mantegna was well versed in both. In previous woiks, for example the frescoes in the Ovetari Chapel in the church of the Erernitani in Padua (1448-

1457), Mantegna already demonstrated the use of both techniques. Thus, he was well prepared for the task in Mantua, where he was commissioned by Ludovico

Gonzaga to decorate the Camera degli Sposi. Mantegna painted al1 the

Camerab walls and the ceiling a fmsco except the 'court" scene on the north wall, which was executed entirely a secco. For the frescoed areas, finishing touches were also added on the dry p~aster.~'Using these skillfully executed painting techniques, Mantegna succeeded in creating a symbol of the Gonzagas' sovereignity. To evaluate the elements in Mantegna's painting through

Benjamin's ideas, it is first necessary to provide a brief history of the characters depicted in the paintings.

69 Fritz Knapp, Andrea Mantegna - Des Meisters Gemalde und Kupferstiche (Stuttgart: Deutsche Veriags-Anstalt, n.d.), p.X. 'O The technique of buon fresco requires wet plaster. First, the wall is brushed and dampened; then, a layer of coarse plaster (arkcio) is spread on; next, the composition is sketched in charcoal on the anfccio and then gone over in sinopia (red pigment) with a brush; next, fresh, wet lime plaster (intonam) is applied in pieces of a size which the artist can finish before night (giomate);finally, pigments are dissolved in water and applied ont0 the wet intonaco. The paint penetrates the surface and solidifies while drying. The result is a fine and transparent surface layer. Conversely, the a secco technique requires dry plaster. First, the surface of a wall is covered with hard plaster; then, the wall is rubbed and smwthed down until it loses almost al1 its porousness; finally, colors are applied ont0 the dry surface. Unlike buon fresco, the pigments do not submerge into the plaster but adhere to it as a separate layer. For a more detailled description of the execution of fresw paintings. see Gianluigi Colalucci, "Fresco." in The Dictionary of AH, ed. Jane Turner, v.11, pp.761-764; and Cathleen Hoeniger, Wall Painting, 1. Survey of Techniques. II. Consenration,' v.32, .802-81O. "Michele Cordaro, "The Most Beautiful Roam in the Worfd: in Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi91 6. From the eariy 14~century, the House of Gonzaga had mled successfully in Mantua? Besides establishing their political strength, Guido Gonzaga (niled

1360-69) had started the Gonzagas' promotion of scholamhip and art. As a lover of poetry and literature, he founded the extensive family library. Furthemore, he welcomed scholars including Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374). Advised by the poet, Guido's son Ludovico I (ruled 1370-82) extended the libraiy. From then on, the literary treasure chamber attracted many scholars and humanists. Because

Mantua had no university at that time, the court functioned as the cultural enter.'^

Marchese Ludovico II, who niled from 1444-1478, followed in the legacy of his predecessors. Perhaps kindled by his tutor, the famous humanist educator

Vittorino da Feltre, the marchese's interests were diverse. Ludovico Il's success as both politician and wamor complernented his humanist achievementd4 David

Chambers descnbes him as a model patron "whose profound respect for humanist values led him to collect books, employ scribes and scholars as well as architects and artist~.'~~Indeed, Ludovico sponsored several artists of paramount importance. In the years 144748, Pisanello was commissioned to decorate the main reception hall of the Castello di San Giorgio for ~udovico.'~

" For a detailled description of the Gonzaga family see Kate Simon. A Renaissance Tapestry - The Gonzaga of Mantua (New York: Harper 8 Row, 1988). 73 David Chambers, Jane Martineau, and Rodolfo Signorini, "Mantegna and the Men of

Letters," in Andrea Mantegna,- ed. Jane Martineau (London: Tharnes and Hudson, 1992), ~15. Ludovico's marriage to Barbara of Brandenburg established politically beneficial links to the Geman Empire. 75 Chambers, et. al., p.16. 76 For an extensive discussion of Pisanello's paintings see Joanna Woods-Marsden, The Gonzaga of Mantua and Pisanello3 ARhudan Frescoes, ((Princeton, NJ: Princeton ~niversityPress, 1988). After Pisanello's death in 1455, the marchese sought a substitute as court painter and decided upon Mantegna. Ludovico II also employed Leon Battista Alberti as his architectural consultant and designer for his most important commissions."

A close tie to a flourishing court guaranteed Mantegna's financial stability. From

May 1460, Mantegna was a permanent resident of Mantua working exclusively for the Gonzaga court?

In the second half of the 15'" centuiy. the Gonzaga's Castello di San

Giorgio, onginally a fortified castle used for military purposes, was restructured and convertad into a city residence. [fig. 17 The remodeling included architectural alterations to an existing chamber, which was later to be painted by

Mantegna.79 While the Camera, located on the first floor or piano nobile of the north-east tower of the Castello, was kept in its cubic fonn (ca. 8.05 x 8.05 m), its ceiling was raised (to 6.93 m) and its windows relocated. In 1459, the Gonzagas moved into their new palace."

The restructured and unpainted Camera was then used to store govemment and farnily documents. In 1462, it acted as the cerernonial place for the wedding of Ludovico's eldest son Federico to Margherita of avaria.'' Later,

77 Jack M. Greenstein, Mantegna and Painting as Historical Narrative (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1992), p.60. '' Giovanni Rodella, "Notes on the Castello di San Giorgio and the Architecture of the Camera Picta," in Mantegna's Camera degli Spsi, p.224. 79 The decoration of rooms and spaces in public buildings or noble residences was a common enterprise in ftaly from the 14~century on. Cordaro also mentions two other exarnples of courtly murals around that time: the Camera picta in the Ducal Palace of Urbino painted by Boccati around 1458-60 and the Salone dei Mesi in the Palazzo di Schifanoia in Fenara, painted between 1469 and 1470. Cordaro, "Beautiful Room," .23-24. biodella, p.224. 8 1 Ludovico and Barbara of Brandenburg had 10 children: Federico (1441 -84), Francesca (144-4-83}, Gianf rancesco (1446-96). Susanna (1447-61 ), Dorotea (1449-67). after being painted, the chamber functioned as Ludovico's bedroom, sitting room, storage room. and audience-charnber simultaneously. Cordaro assumes that the room was also equipped with a headboard, carpets, chairs, and a chandelier?'

Completely furnished, therefore, the decorated room assumed a dual role as both a pnvate and 'public" space: a resting place as well as a ruling place.*

Mantegna cornmenced his mural decoration in the Camera in 1465.~It is almost certain that Ludovico LI and other rnernbers of the court chose the decorative scheme, leaving sorne room for Mantegna's artistic creativity and freedom. Lightbown believes that Mantegna had to "invent scenes" according to thernes suggested by Ludovico 11. Opinions on the iconographical programme, as a whole, Vary. Claudia Cien Via sees the unifying theme in the architectural structure of the room. In her view, the Camera resembles a Roman atrium. The atrium combines intimate, domestic functions of the house, with ceremonial and social ones. Cieri Via claims that Mantegna applied this classical concept - with Alberti's help - to the ~arnera? According to Camesasca, other unifying themes include friendship between the Sfonas and the Gonzagas as well as a general celebration of domestic peacd7 Similarly, Lightbown claims that the

Cecilia (1451 -78), Rodolfo (1452-QS), Barbara (1 455-1 SOS), Ludovico (1 460-1 51 1) and Paofa (1463-97). See a Gonzaga family tree in the appendix, p.61. " Cordaro, 'Beautiful Roorn," pp.1 û-19. 83 Ibid., p.19. 84 This date is substantiated by Ludovico II's request for a consignment of "lime in flakes, that should be fresh and good... as we wish to use it to paint our chamber in the castle" and Mantegna's completion of the CastelIo's chape1 in the same year. A scratched date in a windowcomer saying '1465, d. 16. /unir which Lightbown and Camesasca believe to be by the artist, acts as the most convincing argument for this date. Lightbown, p.100; and Camesasca, p.37. [fig. 181 85 Lightbown, p.111. 86 Claudia Cieri Via as stated in Cordaro, 'Beautiful Room," p.21. 87 Camesasca, p.42. iconographical programme focuses on the depiction of the Gonzaga family with their intimate household perse.88 Daniel Arasse, on the other hand. advocates a matrimonial therne:

By consecrating the room to the Gonzaga husband and wife, it [the dedicatory tablet] makes clear the matrimonial theme that underlies the decoration ... From the keystone of the decorative structure to the painter's signature, Ludovico's mamage with Barbara is proclaimed as one of the cycle's main themes, as one of the wonden of the political glory of the Gonzaga farni~y.'~

All themes, however, refer back to the Gonzaga and their unique position in

Mantua. Ludovico's commission aimed to immortalize himself and his family. It took nine years to transfomi a simple, unadomed square room into a breathtakingly decorated charnber. In 1474, Mantegna completed the adomment of the Camera degli Sposi, a magnificent symbol of the Gonzagas' status. [fig.

The murals on the north and west walls of the Camera degli Sposi depict scenes of the Gonzaga family. Painted architectural components such as pillars. vault, and oculus accompany these scenes. The remaining walls to the east and south are elaborately decorated with patterns rendering a heavy velvet wall- hanging. Those walls were restored prior to the eariy 2om century. then left to

Lightbown. p.102. Daniel Arasse as stated in Cordaro. "Beautiful Rwm," p.23. The Latin text on the plate held by puni reads as follows: "ILL(USTRISSiM0) LODOViCO II MM PRINCIPI OPnMO AC FIDE INVECTlSSIMO ET ILL(USTRIMAE) BARBA RAE €JUS COhVUOl MULlERUM GLOR(I0SAE) INCOMPARABILI SUUS ANDREAS MANTUVIA PATAVUS OPUS HOC TENUE AD EORUM DECUS ABSOLVIT ANNO MCCCC~IIII."See Knapp, p.XXVI. For the English translation see Lightbown. p.104: "For the most illustrious Lodovico, second Marquis of Mantua, a prince most excellent and of a faith most unbroken, and for the most illustrioos Barbara, his spouse, glory beyond compare of women, their Andrea Mantegna of Padua completed this poor work to do thern honour in the year 1474." flig. 211 deteriorate. [fig. 201 The ceiling consists of painted ribs simulating a vautlike structure. [fig. 221 In the lacunars, one can identify bust portraits of the fint eight

Roman ernperor~.~'[fig. 231 Twelve vault cells between the emperors' heads contain mythological scenes. They depict the glonous deeds of Orpheus, Arion. and Hercules. [fig. 241 The chosen scenes act as subtle reminders of the

Gonzaga's viitues. The oculus fakes a trompe l'oeil opening into the blue sky, depicting putti and women wha gaze dom on the beholder. [fig. 251

The two family portraits, the "court" and the "meeting," are. however. clearly the most important. The "court" scene features Ludovico Gonzaga and his wife Barbara surrounded by several of their children, servants. messengen. and other court members. [fig. 261 Painted on the north wall, the picture skiflfully integrates the fireplace, one of the room's dominant immovable architectural features. As portrayed, the Gonzaga seem to sit on an elevated and gaze down on the beholder. The viewer's personal reality blends with the simulated and idealized l~~centuiyGonzaga reality. This effect is achieved by a virtual experience of the beholder standing in the room, almost like an "intruder." While the beholder looks at the Gonzaga, she is simultaneously viewed by the putfi and women painted on the ceiling's oculus.

Tracing the "court" scene back to historical events is difficult and scholars' interpretations Vary. Whereas Lightbown suggests that the "court" "portrays the everyday life that flowed through the marchese's chambef including "the arriva1

9 1 The diagonal ribs across the surface of the ceiling divide the vault into irregular lacunars. In the rhomboid-shaped lacunars we find representations of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, Tiberius. Caligula. Claudius, Nero, Galba, and Otho. See Cordaro. ed., Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi, p.57. and despatch of messengers," Camesasca daims that no event painted in 15& century ltaly was "ever without ~i~nificance."~It is likely that the compositions display a hybn'd mixture of idealized, artificial scenes cornbined with glimpses of actual historical occurrences.

The 'meeting" scene, located at the west wall of the chamber, best reveals such a combination of myth and historical tmth. The scene is set outdoon in an enchanthg landscape. [fig. 271 Ludovico LI greets his son Francesco who is dressed in a cardinal's robe. Francesco is surrounded by three children:

Ludovico III (the Marchese's youngest son), Sigismondo, and the younger

Francesco (the two sons of Ludovico Il's eldest son Federico). Some scholars daim that this scene is associated with a historical meeting between the marchese and Francesco at Bonolo in 1462. At that time, however, Sigismondo and Francesco were not yet bom, and the young Ludovico III was only two years old. These historical inconsistencies, as Cordaro explains, may have been

"intended to represent the political succession of the Gonzaga family and the continuity of the positions that it held in the chur~h."~~Al1 the children represented were destined for a church career. In 1483, young Ludovico became

Bishop of Mantua. Later, in 1506, Sigismondo assurned the position of cardinal.

Another incongruity is shown in the "meeting." The presence of Frederick

III is anachronistic. The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III, never visited

Mantua. Therefore, it seems obvious that the murals in the Camera degli Sposi

92 Lightbown, pp.107-108; and Camesasca. p.36. 93 Cordaro, ed., Mantegna 3 Camera degli Sposi, p.128. were primarily created to illustrate both the political and the clerical power of the

Gonzaga family. Certainly, they were meant to impact upon the beholder.

The primary concem was not the accurate portrayal of historical events.

As Jack M. Graenstein explains:

Renaissance historians were conœmed with the personal as well as the public dimensions of political and cultural events. Consequently, they often placed the same event within several different temporally ordered or durationally defined sequen~es.~

Depicting multiple time frames within one painting, however, can lead to the mythologization of history. But despite their historical distortions, the murals recal! the past for some. Maud Cnitwell, for instance, imagined romantically:

Seated in the rush-bottomed chair, amidst the dust and cobwebs of today, the frescoed walls so play on the imagination that the past reconstructs itself without effort, and we are back among these grave lords. hearing the rustle of their gold brocade and the murmur of their voices?=

Subsequent scholars have agreed with this phenornenon of a visual

"resunection" of a glorious past. Camesasca, for instance, daims that the viewer emerges into the painting and thus into the Gonzagas' reality. In his view, the events shown are "not recalled or evoked but lived through in the very instant of its taking p~ace."~We should not forget, however, that this fusion between subject and object may not represent exactly the original artist's intentions. The paintings have been restored numerous times over the centuries. Indeed.

Camesasca and CnmNell overiook and underestimate the input of artists and restorers that have intemiittently retouched the woik for the past 500 years.

Greenstein, p.70. 95 Maud Cnrtwell, Andrea Mantegna (London: George Bell and Sons, 1908), p.72. 96 Camesasca, p.@. From research into the present condition of the Camera, one can gather that originally Mantegna's work dispfayed a refined painting style and superb illusionistic techniques. Mantegna used perspective and foreshortening, and he simulated both architecture and textiles, but also individual portrait-like features in order to portray the Gonzaga family in an illuminating manner. Initially, a balanced color scheme and skillful use of light and shadow complemented his work." However, after so many restorations there is the difficult question of how much remains of Mantegna's original paint layers. Doubtlessly, both the passage of time with its deteriorating factors such as vandalism, humidity, and pollution as well as the impact of many restorations have together altered the Koriginal" frescoes. To tum to Benjamin's conceptual ideas, over the centuries, manual reproductions in fonn of restorations have undermined several aspects of the painting, including its authenticity, its history, and its authority. Thus, the following section of the thesis examines the historical restorations executed in the Camera degli Sposi in relation to Benjamin's thoughts on aura.

By the mid-1970s' the deterioration of Mantegna's frescoes in the

Camera had begun to cause much concem. In the vault, tiny fragments of paint were flaking off. After centuries, the plaster had lost its cohesion and areas of whitish efflorescence were becoming visible. Consequently, during the 1980s the most recent conseivation project was undertaken, coordinated by Michele

Cordaro of the lstituto Centrale del Resfauro with the guidance of the very

. - . - - - - 97 Cordaro States that not only did Mantegna paint light to infuse and enhance the colors but also used natural light coming from the windows. Cordaro, "Beautiful Room," p.26. experienced wall-painting restorers Paolo and Laura ~ora?~But before

ernbarking on the project, Cordaro and his team camed out a detailed ultraviolet

and inf rared photogrephic investigation. In addition, Vasco Fassina conducted a

thorough climatic examination. The present state of the paintings had to be

precisely and carefully documented to establish fked reference points for

evaluating the deterioration's progress or stabilization in the future. Then. the

cause of decay had to be investigated. Cordaro's conservation tearn had to

assess the presence of polluting agents on the painted surfaces as well as

moisture cauçed by condensation of water vapor. Another important task before

actual work was camed out involved the research and study of al1 available

documents that dealt with the Camera 's past restorations. Archival documents

from Mantua and Milan facilitated the tracing back of restoration work undertaken

in the last 500 years and helped to reconstruct the histoiy of restoration of

Mantegna's frescoes.

Cordaro and Fassina fint documented their findings in 1986." Among their conclusions was that from 1877 on, restoration work had been carried out

regulariy because of the susceptibility of the murals to environmental factors.

However, restoration had already been camed out centuries eadier.'" In 1506.

Mantegna's son, Francesco, executed the first restoration at the request of

lsabella d'Este. This renovation was rnotivated by a visit of Pope Julius II who

- -- 98 Cordaro's team also included about 15 students. 99 Michele Cordaro and Vasco Fassina, "Rie Wall Paintings by Andrea Mantegna in the 'Camera degli Spwl: First Results of the Cleaning and the Preliminary Scientific Investigation." in Case Studies in the Conservation of Stone and Wall Paintings (Preprints of the Contributions to the Bologna Congress. Sept. 1986)' pp.80-85. stayed in the ~amera.''' Throughout the 16~century, the Camera often accornrnodated illustrious guests.lm For this reason, restoration work continued in order to maintain the chamber's unique glorification of the Gonzaga family.

In 1630, Mantua was occupied by Gennan mercenary soldiers whose vandalism severely damaged the Camera pinta. According to Camesasca, a

"clumsy" restoration followed this major damage? Graffiti and damages caused by gunshots were overpainted and repaired* Cordaro chirns that this moment marked the beginning of a period of decline and neglect from which the Camera suffered continuo~sly.'~Whife the chamber was used as a storehouse and repository for public records during the 17* and 18m century, the paintings remained unto~ched.'~~Cordaro quotes an eyewitness, Cadioli, who describes the vault as in very bad shape and tremendously disfigured in 1763. In addition, the condition of the paintings is documented in two drawings from 1787, both of which, however, lack detail? For the late 18m and early lgm century. information on restorations remains sparse. Giovan Battista lntra, a Mantuan historian, claims that the Austnan painter Martino Knoller restored the paintings around 1790. In contrast, Cordaro assigns a later date - 25-30 years Iîter - to this major restoration. Cordaro claims the restoration work was done either by

'* See also a J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Paniting in North ltaly (London: John Murray, 1ail), p.391. 'O' Unfortunately, although documents surrounding the nature of this restoration exist. they do not indicate the extent of the repairs. Cordaro, "History of the Conservation of the MuralslU in Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi, 232. lM In 1574. for example, Henry III, King of France, dined in the chamber. Ibid. lm Camesasca, p.33. '04 Cordaro, "History of Consetvation," p. 232. 'O5 Ibid. , p.233. '" Guiseppe Bongiovanni and Luigi Gamba both drew the 'meeting' for a cornpetition held by the Accademia di Belle Arti in Mantua in 1787. Ibid. Luigi Sabatelli or by Guiseppe Knoller, Martino's son.'07 In 1819, Giovanni Viviani engraved the oculus without refemng to the Roman portraits and the vaulting cells perse. This suggests that !hey were either still in a vefy poor condition or that some parts were whitewashed.lm

During the 19" century, documentation of the Camera's restorations increased. In 1875, for example, Giovan Battista Cavalcaselle, then inspecter general of the ltalian Ministry of Education, and Giovanni Morelli initiated a restoration featuring Luigi Cavenaghi as the chief restorer. Morelli lamented that previous restorers had painted over Mantegna's work and expressed the desire to free them "from the disagreeable mask that prevents them [the 'originals'] from being ~een."'~~Nevertheless, opposing opinions conceming the restoration's ethos aggravated the work. Whereas Cavalcaselle was almost excfusively concerned with matters of preservation such as stabilization and prevention of further damage, Morelli was predominantly interested in "unmasking" the paintings to reveal the uonginal" Mantegna once again. Cavenaghi started on the project in 1876, and Antonio Bertolli completed the work in 18;r7.110

An article of 1 March 1877 in the Gazzetta di Mantova describes what had been done dunng Bertolli's restoration:

... secunng the plaster to the walls, that by chance had become detached. Detaching and reattaching those pieces on the ceiling and the walls of the room that threatened to fall, filling the cracks in the walls with new cernent.

'O7 Ibid., p.234. 'O8 Ibid. 'O9 As cited in Cordaro. 'History of Conservation. p.235. 110 For a detailled description of the complicated nature of this restoration at the end of the 1gm century. see "History of Conservation," pp.234-238. fixing the colors and cleaning the paintings of dust and grime, and giving a neutral tint to the white parts so that the pictures can be seen better."'

The article further states that Bertolli found a new system of restoration, applying watercolors to the white parts, 'leaving the pictures untouched, without even a brush stroke of paint. In this way, as if by the wave of a magic wand, he made the whole of Mantegna's composition appear clear, sharp, and distinct.ml12 1, actuality, however, Bertolli's new 'system" caused tremendous damages to the paintings. Cordaro cites from another Mantuan document stating that the paintings had been cleaned badly and treated with a vamish that tumed them yellow. In retrospect, the restoration was deemed disastrous: "[bothl the lunettes and the vault lost their previous very fine tone as a result of improvident alkaline washings, and in the former especially [sic] many parts have totally vanished. ml13

Bertolli's changes were irremovable, having already penetrated the plaster. In a letter, Morelli commented on Bertolli's "system," "imbecile as you are [!] is it a matter of system or of an art when it cornes to restoring and cleaning a work by

~antegna?"'l4

Even though the murais sutvived the First World War, steps taken to protect the paintings from further damage tumed out to be even more damaging.

Seaweed that had been placed on the floor above the Camera rotted and seeped into the vault below. Hoping to thwart fuither hanand cracking, the walls of the room above the Camera were demolished. In 1929, storm windows were

111 As cited in Cordaro, "History of Conservation." p.236. l2 lbid. Ibid., p.237. l4 Ibid. installed for it was clear by then that the main cause of damage was the excessive fluctuation in levels of humidity.' l5

In 1933, a report was published documenting the rnurals' restoration

history. The report also proposed that Mure restorers should stabilize the

environment, and that they should use the most suitable intervention techniques.

In addition, the document suggested a reconstruction of the rnurals in

trateggio? In 193841, the restoration was canied out by the restorer Mauro

Pelliccioli. The restoration followed some of the suggestions set forth in the 1933

report: Unsuitable materials used by restorers in the past, such as fixatives and

bnghteners were removed. Missing pieces were newly integrated using minerai

and vegetable paint. Holes, abrasions, and chips were fixed using trateggio.

Larger gaps filled in by old restorations were also removed and replaced with

neutral tints. Most of these tasks, however. were not carried out as precisely and thoroughly as had been planned in the report."7

Due to a major exhibition of Mantegna's paintings in Mantua in 1961, yet

another intervention took place, this time camed out by Aldo and Nerina Angelini

of the Istituto Centrale del Restaura The restorers reinforced both plaster and

paint by injecting caseinate of lime. A new pictorial integration was carned out in

some parts but following closely the previous restoration. l l Nevertheless. because controlling humidity remahed a major concem, an environmental survey was planned and then camed out in 1973-75.

'15 Ibid., p.238. 'l6 lbid. 'l7 Ibid., pp.239-240. Md., p.240. Through chemical tests used to determine the binding medium, Cordaro's

restoration team concluded in the 1980s that past repairs were often executed with inappropriate materials including gesso.' l9 Moreover, niappropriate

reintegration methods, such as the previously described "systemn of Bertolli, were used in reworking missing pieces. Cordaro's team also conducted an analysis of the surface to distinguish between the matenals used by Mantegna and those used by later respective restorers. And they found that restorers used different pigments and binding media from those of ~antegna.'~'

In addition, Cordaro's team investigated the extent of the deterioration and its cause. They reestablished that environmental factors. moisture. dampness, and temperature differences greatly affected the paintings. The nomerous visitors to the room also influenced the exchange of heat and water vapor between the indoor atmosphere and the walls. Visitors exhale carbon dioxide which contributes to the deterioration of the paintings. When Cordaro's team examined the emissions in 1981-82, they found a concentration of carbon dioxide on average about four or five times higher than that of a normal environment.

Another factor had to be taken into consideration to ensure the appropriate conservation of Mantegna's "original." Restoration work could not be camed out in the same fashion throughout the whole painting for there were parts executed in both buon fresco and secco. The pigments in buon fresco penetrate the plaster deeply whereas the pigments in a secco adhere to the wall

l l9 Cordaro and Fassina. p.80. ''O By using different matenals. restorers often strive to differentiate their work from the original and previous repairs. Present-&y restorers typically use materÏals that can be removed without damaging the original. surface in a separate layer. Therefore, the buon fresco parts were cleaned with ammonium carbonate and the parts done in secm were cleaned with a mixture of solvents such as ethyl alcohol, water, ammonia, and acetone.'" Wlh the support of the Olivetti Corporation, the Istituto Centrale del Restauro started the restoration in 1984 and completed it in 1987. The restoren cleaned the paintings in the described fashion and integrated the losses in trateggio. [fig. 281

After completion of Cordaro's project, two articles were published on the finished restoration. In some respects, they represent polemical views sunounding restoration. Whereas Patricia Collins examines the issue of authenticity, Patricia Corbett ignores it. Corbett focuses strongly on traditional art historical views. lPCorbett highlights iconography, biographical incidents and

Mantegna's character traits. Although she daims that Cordaro himself saw the

Camera degli Sposi as a "conservation victim," she fails to discuss the history of restoration executed in previous centuries, which shaped and altered the frescoes and, thus, tumed them into hybrid artworks. She neglects the art conservation and art historical dialedics involved in such an undertaking.

Moreover, Corbett does not question the decision of retouching the work per se:

"The prime consideration was to enhance the unity and overall visual effect of the frescoes; thus cracks and color loss were camouflaged whenever this was po~sible."'~~Patricia Collins's article, on the other hand, seems somewhat more

12' Ibid. '" "The World According to Andrea," Connaisseur, 21 7 (Dec. 1987). 1 10-1 15. Ibid., p.110. cognizant of issues of authenticity and its experien~e.'~~She claims that the

cleaning was successful because the affect of three-dimensionality was

increased and the paintings' outlines were strenghtened. In her view, this added

more depth and brightened the colors, and in a sense. made the works more

"authentic" and eye-catching. Yet, according to Benjamin, restorations do not

have the power to create an increased authenticity. In fact, they result in the

contrary.

Collins further claims that conservation and restoration are not solely

connected with the physical condition or appearance of the paintings, but can

also affect our reading of the work's meaning and context. She argues that the

"Magi," who appear on the Camera's west wall, were clearly visible before the

restoration, but are now almost invisib~e.'~~[fig. 291 Each piece of "evidence."

such as the "Magi," helps to unravel the mysteries sunoundhg the work. The

presence of the "Magin in the "meetingn scene, for instance, helps to substantiate

the date of 1 January 1462, when Ludovico II met his son Francesco at Bouolo.

Removing the alleged 'Magin would obscure this event. In this particular instance,

restoration alters the contents and thus, the meaning of the painting.

Collins also questions the means suggested to maintain the frescoes in a

stable condition. To solve this problern it has been recornrnended that certain

visitors, especially schoolchildren, be shown only a full-size photographic

reproduction of the Mantegna f~escoes.'*~ Showing a reproduction to

'" "Problems of Consenhg Mantua's Artistic Heritage," Apollo, l26/3O8 (Oct. 1987). 267-269. lZ5 Collins, p.268. Ibid. schoolchildren would, indeed, minimite the number of visitors and hence reduce deterioration effectively. However, as Collins herseif realizes, it also 'raises ethical points regarding the children's ngMs to see their artistic heritage in al1 its glory, not just as a reproduction. ni27

Reproducing the original (if it is the original at all) leads us back to

Benjamin's concept of aura. While mechanical reproduction destroys an original artwork's aura. manual reproduction such as restoraüon arguably hams or alters it. In the case of the Camera deg/i Sposi, the aura's aiteration has been caused by a long sequence of restorations. According to Benjamin, intervention of any kind affects the aitwork's authonty. For instance, the in-painting of missing pieces impacts on the artwork's authority. Mantegna's original has, of course, been overpainted and therefore altered by many restorers' hands. Thus. the original artist's essence and his individual creativity - the core of the amok - has been tampered with by repainting. After so rnany alterations, it would indeed be difficult to argue that the Camera is ruthentic" and a Mantegna "original."

Authenticity does not encompass retouching. Being an "originaln means being created by an authority at a given point in time, in other words, "pristine." In the case of the Camera degli Sposi, one cannot daim that it hast any longer, the full

"authority" or "authenticity" of Mantegna's hand. Today, the aura of the Camera degli Sposi emerges from the combined efforts of centuries of restoren, rather than from the artist himseif. Indeed, even the original technical flourishes. such as brush strokes, as well as the yean of deterioration add to the aura of the

'27 lbid. work. Benjamin argued that the authenticity stems from the history the artwork

has e~perienced.'~'

In contrast to the Thai murals, the Camera's wall paintings do not serve

an educational purpose. At the time of their creation, Ludovico Gonzaga

commissioned the paintings to show off his power. One may clah that today one

can leam from these paintings and understand ltalian Renaissance histoiy more thoroughly. The initial purpose, however, was pnmarily propaganda, a means to

exhibl the power of a rich man.

The recent project in Mantua also raised issues of restoration made

possible through corporate advertising. Sponsored by the Olivetti corporation, the restoration of the Camera degli Sposi increased the company's image and

boosted its corporate identity. In most cases, restorations cannot take place without corporate support. Fuilher, corporate sponsors tend to support works that will attract the largest audiences. This in tum has a reciprocal effect on what works are presenred. In her article, "Mass TourÏsm and the Conservators," Anna

Somers Cocks claims that mass tourism makes conservation noticeable to those

in charge of famous monuments and bui~dings.'~~Marty people in ltaly live off the income generated by the rnany visitors that over-run the country's galleries. churches and historical buildings each year. Recently restored, 'rejuvenated" artworks typically attract a large audience.

Yet despite the financial gain, restoration in ltaly remains controversial.

Paul Phillippot's famous comment is worth reiterating: 'No restoration could ever

'" Benjamin. "Kunstwerk im Zeitalter," p.13. la Apollo, 126/31 O (Dec. 1987). 390-391 . hope to reestablish the original state of a painting.n130 Hence, a restorer today can only perfonn tasks such as cleaning, removing layers of other restoren, and canying out in-painting in lost parts. They can never recapture the very essence or aura of Mantegna's original work.

'" Paul Phillippot, "The ldea of Patina and the Cleaning of Paintings," in Histotiml and Philosophical Issues in the Conservabon of Cultural Hentege, Nicholas Stanley Price. M. Kirby Talley Jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro, eds. (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute. 1996), p.373. CONCLUSION

In this thesis, I have tried to dernonstrate that Benjamin's thoughts on aura do not apply in the same rnanner to the two previous case studies. Benjamin claimed that reproductions wlher away or dissolve the aura of the original. The case of a manual reproduction such as restoration, however. diffen. The examination of the two case studies showed that the restored murals are still empowered with aura. This aura, however, is altered through restoration. Against

Benjamin. I believe that restoration creates a new, hyôrid aura, one that captures the combined efforts of the original artist and the restorers. At Wat Suthat, 1 is primarily the audiences' intemafized religious and historical beliefs, which infuse the worùs with aura. In the case of Mantegna's Camera, the new aura stems from restorers revitalking and repairing Mantegna's original.

At Wat Suthat, the murals function as a means to explain and reinforce

Buddhist beliefs. They are also a means to inspire, guide, and instruct devotees in order to gain spiritual growth. The stories depicted are part of an educational apparatus. The murals in the Camera degli Sposi, on the other hand, functioned mostly as a glorification of the Gonzaga family's power. Their initial purpose was to impress high-profile guests, such as popes and kings, and to celebrate

Ludovico's refined taste in art. Today, the murals in the Camera rnay be seen as part of an educational aid, part of Italy's cultural herïtage, and as a tourist attraction.

The importance of the rnurals within their given settings helps us in understanding their aura. While the paintings at Wat Suthat are set in a sacred space, a temple, the paintings in the Camera are located in a secular palace.

Wat Suthafs paintings have never been the central focus of the temple but a mere part of the setting. Worshippers do not Rock to the temple to see the paintings; they corne for spintual growth and solace. The paintings in the

Camera degli Sposi, however, seem to have becorne the focal point of the

Palazzo San Giorgio in Mantua. In Gonzagas' time, the palazzo and even its residents were the symôols of power and wealth. Today, most visit the Castello for its main attraction, the little painted room. The wall paintings are admired as masterpieces of superb quattrocento fresco painting. If in the past, the figures in the paintings were the subjects of interest, today, no longer do they gamer such attention. Arguably, Andrea Mantegna remains the greatest feature of the work, not the subjects portrayed. The contrary occurs at Wat Suthat. Here, the murals' messages are far more important than aesthetics. The murals are not revered as amivorks in themselves or because they were painted by particular artists.

When one compares the two woiks in terrns of their authority, authenticity, restoration, and aura, several polernics emerge. For instance, the respect given to a work or aitist, what Benjamin calls the authority, differs greatly in the two case studies. In Thailand, there is little distinction between painters and restorers. 60th are anonymous, hence the issue of authority and originality becomes unimportant. The historical and religious messages conveyed take on primary significance.

In contrast, many have worked on the Camera although it is attributed solely to Mantegna. As early as 1506, Francesca Mantegna renovated the Camera. Throughout the 16* century it is believed that restorations were camed out by anonyrnous restorers. in the 176 and 18h century, the Camera was left to deteriorate. In the earîy lgmcenhiry, either Luigi Sabatelli or Guiseppe Knoller restored the murals. In 1876, Luigi Cavenaghi started a thorough restoration. completed in 1877 by Antonio Bertolli. In l93&4l, Mauro Pelliccioli camed out a major repair. Twenty years later, in 1961, Aldo and Nerina Angelini of the lstituto

Centrale dei Restauro restored the murals yet again. ln 1987, Paolo and Laura

Mora cornpleted a three-year restoration. which Cordaro coordinated.

After so many restorations, it is indeed, questionable how much is left of the original Mantegna. Certainly, one may argue that Mantegna's initial ideas of composition and design are still visible and therefore kuthentic." But to claim that the present Camera belongs to Mantegna alone rernains problematic. The list of restorers shows that this is simply untnie.

From a Benjarninian perspective then, those that seIl Mantegna's work as an original create a 'Valsen aura; fmm an ethical perspective, one cannot attribute the Camera degli Sposi to Mantegna alone. It is also the work of restorers that audiences enjoy, not only the work of the master himself. Its shadowy layer was over-painted several times, and replaced by the vibrant handiwork of restorers.

Issues of attribution are less complex in the murals of Wat Suthat. The authority cannot be said to have been lost because anonymous painters created and restored the works. The subjects that they portray are of paramount importance and not the artists that created the worlts. Because the paintings are in a constant state of renewal, like reincarnation itself, the notion of an original woric's aura as an untouched, historical piece in itself becomes inelevant. Even if it does, the layen of the various paintings are but testaments of reincarnation. Such is not the case with the Camera. For despite their careful efforts, restorers run the risk of contributing to the Yalse" aura that Benjamin questioned.

It seems to me that the names of restorers shouId be placed on works such as "Mantegna'sn Camera degli Sposi so that the restorers would deserve their share of the works praise. This approach to an increased level of honesty would also serve the viewing and interested public to gain new insights into so- called masterpieces: Audiences would no longer be deceived into thinking that a restored work is an untouched original. This would, ideally, help the viewer to experience the ?me" aura of today's Camera degli Sposi. Chapter One -Walter Beniamin

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The Chakri Dvnasw

Rama I Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulalok

Rama II Loetla Naphalay

Rama III Nang Klao

Rama IV Mongkut

Rama V Chulafongkom

Rama VI Vajiravudh

Rama VI1 Prajadhipok

Rama Vlll Anandha Mahidoi

Rama IX Bhumipol Adulysdej APPENDIX II

Art ~eriodsin Thailand

Dvaravati Period (6mor 7mcentury - 1lm AD) Central Thailand Sn Vijaya Period (em- 19'century) Southern Thailand

Lopburi Penod (1 1 - 13m century) Central Thailand Chiengsan Period (1 1 - 18n century) Northern Thailand U-Thong Period (1Zrn - 1 century) Central Thailand Sukhothai Penod (13* - 1 5mcentury) Northern Thailand Ayutthaya Period (1 4m- 1ern century) Central Thailand Rattanakosin or Bangkok Period (1 9@'century - present) Present Thailand APPENDIX III

Interview with Chuo Khun Suntom. denutv abbot of Wat Shaton June 30.1998

Alexandra Sharma: How do monks feel about restoration? A painting ages through tirne. the paint flakes off, it dies. When you do conservation you add something to the original, you put something on top of the original. This means the original aura is lost. It is not the original anymore. lt's a mixture of different hands.

Chuo Khun Suntorn: I agree that the original is lost when restoration work is done.

S: Do you care about that? Personally?

CKS: The paintings in my temple, I love them. Like grandrnother and grandfather. But now they are old, very old. And then they are sick. And some part of the body doesn't work. What do you do? If your grandfather is sick? A part of him does not work. What do you do?

S: You try to cure him. But on the other hand you know that your grandfather will die. He is not here for etemity.

CKS: The doctor told you he must change his heart. And this heart is of another person. HOWdo you feel? How do you feel? What would you do first?

S: I would try everything to let him stay alive.

CKS: And after the doctor cured him and changed his heart. He is strong. How do you feel?

S: I would feel better.

CKS: Why? This is a false thing. It is not true. This is not your grandfather. Because it is not his heart. How do you feel?

S: I would still love him.

CKS: You are glad to see him strong and happy. Even though he has another heart. The wall painting is Iike a beloved person. You have to take care of them. We have to restore the wall painting and then we try everything to maintain the wall painting. What we do should be accepted by another person. S: The public?

CKS: Yes. As if you love somebody and you cut off his head and you put it on to another one. Change the body. This is dead. this is living. Your grandfather's face put on another one. How do you bel? Can you respect them? Can you love them? No! This is a ghost. When we restore the mural you mu& be careful and the artist is feeling like this. Therefore if some parts of the mural are sick; the artist is like a doctor, he must cure like a doctor.

S: But what do you do you when the face is lost. And you don't know how it looked. Do you put a face in?

CKS: No.

S: Or do you leave it out?

CKS: In my temple, no.

S: You will leave it out.

CKS: Yes.

S: Because then it would be a ghost.

CKS: Yes.

S: The body you would repaint, but never the face.

CKS: Yes.

S: And hands?

CKS: You can. It's easy to change and repair. It's easy. And the body. But not the face.

S: Because the head is very important.

CKS: Very important for mural. LUICI (c. 126&13(i0)1" Caphano 13111 I

CUIDO (c llk.1369) lndcap I LUDOVIC0 (133442) Cap. m, Alda d'bir (133341). I FRANCESCO (1366-1401) 4Ih Cap. m. hiyMu MJbimtr (d. 1309)

LUDOVIC0 (14 Wl8J1"' Mu. CALUI MARCHERiTA CIANLUCIDO CECILM ALESSANDRO m. Bubn of Bdenburg (l4214lI) (141746) (1418.39) (141346) (1426.51) (1417.66) I

dl Monidrliro. Lord of Pauo . I

FRA~CLP (l53340) ~sAIÈLLA LUDOVICO (ISSU mUKX) an hhe (1537.70) DridNwm,~rnt.lf!tthd mi, Cbid~d Auurl. m. UIonwr d Auurlr (I534.N) m. Hmkru d Ckm (i~wa) I 1 Lx

MPICE~~I~I~I~~ FERDINANM MARGHUI~(IRI.IUI) VINC&ZO II U~O~OM ( i507. i626) ni. Hcnrl Duhe of lomlne (15p 1627) (1591.1655) in. Mu~twttirai Swuy 6' Duhe 7' Duba m. ünp Cud, 1600.15 Cd. 1615.16 I m, lubdh Go- Fadhud Il f di Novdlui MALU ~wmq LUW~CO Mmui tdctiwA m. Culo Couni of Keihcl (161 1.11) (l6l2) (mabarc*) ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1: Wat Suthat - vihan: Examp!e of bird's-eye-view and painting style - Buddhavamsa (author) Fig. 2: Wat Suthat - vihan, detail of mural: Buddhavamsa - from the legend of the 10'" Buddha Padumuttara (author) Fig. 4: Major sles of attraction in Bangkok (taken from Visit Wat Suthat, lntelectual Services Ltd., Bangkok - no date. pp. 1-2)

Major sites of attraction in Bangkok

Wat Suthat Thepwararam

1. Phra Sumen Fort 2- Wat Chanasongkhram 3- The Monument of the First Worfd War Volunteer Force 4. 5- Wat Bowomniwet 6- The monu urne nt of Democracy 7. Phra Kan Fort 8. Golden Mount ( ) 9. Wat Ratchanatdaram IO. 13. Great Swing 12- Wat Mahannopphararn 13. Wat Buranisiri 14. Sanarnluang 15. Wat Mahathat 16. The Royal 17. Wat Ratchapradit 18. 19. Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho) 20- Wat Amn Ratchawararam - (Temple of the Dawn) - i: ... .l '. 21. Vichai PrasitFort ...... I . Fig. 5: Wat Suthat - vihan :Phra Sisakayamuni. the giant bronze Buddha (author) Fig. 6: Plan of Wat Suthat (taken from Visit Wat Sulhat, lntelectual Services Ltd., Bangkok - no date. pp. 1 1-1 2)

- - 1. Suchada H& 13. Bodhi Hall " 24. TOM 2- Sunanta Hd 14- Arhapab Chetiya 25. Thong'HaU - 3. Suthamma Hali 15- Mucalinda Chetiya 26. WonHall - 4. Suchittra Hall 16- Rachayatana Chetiya 27- Chantasin' Lii 5. Minor Chape1 17. Ratana Chongkom Chetiya 28, ReachingHall 6. King Anand 18. Rahvrakara Chetiya 29- Bell Ti ( Rama VIiI ) Statue 19. Bunnithi Phra Krïng Phra9hammapitaka Hal. 30. Li 7. Véchayan Rasat 20. Phra Kruig Hall 31- AbbotCeIl 8. Chitlada Garden 21- Koei Than t 32. &istant Abbot Ce1 - 9- hkin Chape1 \l,'w&q ( Donation kktaior phiianthropist's Rdsstrl 33- Mditation HaU ( housing Phra Si fimwhere money or g,x& are widely nttered 34. Tiipitaka iibrary Sakayamuni Buddha Image ) -b ) 35- Sorndet Ceii 10. Mount Meru 22. Sema Stone 36. Row Houses 1 1. Animmis Che tiya 23. Chdination Haü ~8oSo~ 37. Wat Suthat Municipal School 12. Sn Maha Bodhi Chetiya ( houshg Phra E3uddha Tri iakachet ) 38. Monks' School Fig. 7: Wat Suthat - vihan: exterior (author) Wat SuMat - vihan: painted columns (author) Fig. 9: Wat Sufhat - vihan: date inscriptions undemeath the murals (author) Fig. 10: Wat Suthat - vihan: protector deities on a door (author) Fig. 11: Wat Suthat - vihan: framed murals atop a door (author) Fig. 12: Wat Sufhat - vihan: bats hanging from the ceiling (before restoration) (taken from Wat Sualat - Ein Beispiel deutscher Ku#urhiIfe, p. 168) Fig. 13: Wat Pho - restoration project (June 1998); application of protect ive layer (author) Fig. 15: Wat Suthat - restoration project; reconstruction of missing pieces (taken from Wat Suthat - Ein BeispieI deutscher Kultumife, pp.152) Fig. 16: Wat Phu - restoration project (June 1998); reconstruction of missing pieces (author) Fig. 17: Plan of the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua (taken fmm Giovanni Paccagnini, Mantegna, La Camera degli Sposi (Milan: Fratelli Fabri. 1968), p-4.

- PALAZZO DUCALE DI hFANTOVA

La stanza contrassegrrata con Fig. 18: Camera degli Sposi splay of northwest window: the date of commencement painted in mock graffito (taken from Cordaro, p.13) Fig. 19: Camera deglispost view of the north and West walls (taken from Cordaro, p.70) Fig. 20: Camera deglisposi view of the east and south walls with mock drapes (taken frorn Codaro, p. 15) Fig. 21 : Camera degli Spost part of west wall: the painted tablet with the dedicatory inscription to Ludovico and Barbara. Mantegna's signature and the date 1474 (taken from Cordaro. p.150) Fig. 22: Camera degli Sposk view of the north and west walls and vanous elements of the ceiling (taken from Cordaro. p.14) Fig. 23: Camera degli Sposk Octavian Augustus (taken from Cordaro, p. 60) Camera degli S'OS~Arion on the Dolphin (taken from Cordaro. p. 68) Fig. 25: Camera degli Sposi the vauk with the oculus (taken from Cordaro. P- 56) Fig. 26: Camera degli Sposi view of the north wall with the 'court' scene (taken frorn Cordaro, p-73) Fig. 28: Camera degli Sposk example of applied trateggio in the 'meeting' scene (taken from Cordaro, p.161) Fig. 29 Camera degli Sposk 'disappearing' Magi in the 'meeting' scene (taken from Lightbown, p.89)