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Abstract
The fact that mural painting is inevitably linked to the architecture is changing in the moment paintings are detached and placed in a museum. The objective of the present intervention was the stabilisation and uniformizing of the detached paintings, taking into account the aesthetic feature as an important factor. The work was performed at the Alberto Sampaio Museum in Guimarães, in the same room where the paintings were exhibited, aiming to give visitors the opportunity to follow the several stages accomplished by the conservators during the conservation treatment. Introduction This paper is focused on the conservation-restoration intervention performed on six mural paintings from several churches from northern Portugal. The paintings are part of a set detached by the General Direction of National Buildings and Monuments (Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, DGEMN) in the 1930’s and 1940’s. These detachments were the result of a particular philosophy of that time, with different concepts than those that are theorized and put in practice nowadays. The main reasons for the DGEMN intervention were the discovery of the existence of underlying paintings, the poor conservation state and the intention to “recover the original aspect of the building”. “From 1914 to 1918 the mural paintings from S. Martinho de Mouros, Barcos and Outeiro Seco were acknowledged and studied by Dr. Vergílio Correia [...] although they were all in regrettable conservation state, ruined and covered by lime or repainted”1. “The General Direction of National Buildings and Monuments has proceeded in the matter of frescos, guided by the same criteria as for other works. If, in advantage to the monument and paintings, the mural decoration can be conserved in-loco […], the better; but if their maintenance involves any risk of damage to the work or special conditions require the intervention of the specialist, do not hesitate to remove them (...)”2. At the same time the mural paintings in Spain, and especially in Catalonia, also suffered major alterations, being removed from their original location, transferred to new supports and placed again in churches or museums. This task was entrusted to Cecconi Principe, an Italian artist with renowned experience. It was in Spain that DGEMN contacted this artist to work in Portugal. According to reports of the Painting Division of the Institute José de Figueiredo (IJF), he performed the detachment of the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian and the Sacred Family, both from the Church of St. Salvador in Bravães. The other detachments were performed by José Ferreira da Costa and António Ferreira da Costa by the same method of Cecconi Principe (transfer to canvas). Some of the paintings were treated by Abel Moura who transferred them to a support of Masonite and later by Teresa S. Cabral who transferred them a support of glass fibber, honeycomb cardboard and Araldite. Finally in 2004 a room was inaugurated at the Museum Alberto Sampaio in Guimarães to accommodate 8 of the detached mural paintings. This was the first time in Portugal that a space for mural paintings was especially created in a museum. This event helped to resolve several problems: - The nomadism that these paintings have suffered for several years; - The material instability of the fragments; - The placement of the works near their original geographic location. However, the concept of mural painting is naturally associated with its architectural support which is radically altered in the moment that the paintings are detached and placed in a museum space. Thus, the main objectives of the intervention on these fragments were their stabilisation and aesthetic uniformizing. In our opinion, these conservation-restoration criteria are the most appropriate to follow for this particular type of intervention, being necessarily different from those applied to the intervention on the paintings in their original context. Table I presents the general course of the fragments from their detachment to our intervention in 2008.
Intervention The intervention performed in the 1970’s by IJF proved to be effective given the present good conservation state of the paintings. However, as expected, they suffered minor natural alterations, specific to the techniques used. The treatment that was usually performed some years ago, that of application of a very rough plaster layer left below the surface level, was substituted nowadays by the application of a less rough plaster, at the level of the colour layer. Among other reasons, we believe that decreasing the material roughness and levelling the layers will enhance the homogeneity and protection of the ensemble. The technical intervention was similar for the 6 paintings: photographic documentation, graphic documentation, removal of inadequate mortars, cleaning, removal of repaintings (when the technique, the aesthetics or the colours were dissonant), new graphic documentation, fixation, consolidation, application of new mortars and chromatic reintegration. The entire intervention was carried on at the museum, in the same room where the fragments are exposed. This was made with the aim to give the visitors the opportunity to follow the intervention. The intervention took 3 months to complete. During this time we offered support by talking with the public and providing orientation to the visitors, especially schools, by explaining the modus operandi of the intervention according to visitor’s age.
Upper: Martyrdom of St. Sebastian. From left to right: Before the detachment; After the detachment; Transfered to the new support; Last intervention.
Lower: The Holy Family. From left to right: Before the detachment; After the detachment; After transfer to a new support; Last intervention.
The beheading of St. John the Baptist is an emblematic work which widely studied during the intervention, raised some pertinent issues. The decision of removing the repaintings was directly determined by the aesthetics and symbolism of the work. Although it was necessary to remove some altered and fissured plaster as well, most of it was preserved as removing it would significantly alter its appearance.
Beheading of St. John the Baptist. From left to right: Aspect of the painting before, during and after the intervention.
Once a fait accompli, we tried to minimise the problems that could arise from that decision. For this, before the intervention we had to be fully aware of the processes the fragments went through. Although the paintings were already seriously damaged, we tried to minimise the problems due to the extensive lacunas. Special consideration was given to the aesthetics without neglecting the ethics of the intervention. If, on the one hand, to perform total chromatic reintegration is out of the question due to the ethical concerns, on the other hand, lacunas alters the reading of the image. This duality obliges to search a middle solution that would respect the authenticity of the original painting and at the same time would allow to reintegrate the image just enough to provide continuity of the reading of the ensemble. The plaster should be compatible in particle size and colour shade with the surrounding painting. It should be not forgotten that being in a museum, the connection between the painting and the wall no longer exists. In order to alleviate this problem, it would be ideal to create an environment close to that of the original location. The lightening is a crucial matter. The existence of windows to provide natural light in churches was an important factor for the mural paintings, the light being used to enhance a scene or a specific image. When the painting was transferred and moved to another space, a museum in this case, a similar illumination to the one from the original location should be provided. Among others concerns, a major problem of the mural paintings from the Alberto Sampaio Museum is that the paintings were detached from different locations. Thus, given the available space, it was not possible to provide the lighting of the common space to each of the paintings according to their original context. Also, the exhibit space was designed in such a manner as to give coherence to the group of paintings in order to avoid the impression of isolated “objects”, and rather offer examples of northern mural paintings from Portugal. Notes 1 In Frescos, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, nº 10, Dezembro, 1937, pp. 14 -15. Original text: “De 1914 a 1918 foram reconhecidas e estudadas pelo Dr. Vergílio Correia, as pinturas murais de S. Martinho de Mouros, Barcos e Outeiro Seco [...] mas todas em lamentável estado de conservação, arruinadas e cobertas de cal ou repintadas”. 2 Op. Cit., pp. 23. Original text: “[...] a Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais tem procedido, no assunto dos frescos, com critério idêntico àquele que a norteia nos restantes trabalhos. Se se pode, com vantagem para o monumento e para as próprias pinturas, conservar in-loco a decoração parietal, ainda que esta seja posterior, tanto melhor; mas se a manutenção envolve risco de dano para a obra, ou circunstâncias especiais indicam a intervenção do especialista, não se hesita em remove-las [...]”. Photographic credits No. 1; 2; 5; 6; 9; 18 and 19 - Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais No. 10, December 1937; No. 12 to 15 - Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais No. 106, December 1961; All others from Mural da História. Bibliography Frescos, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, Nº 10, Dezembro 1937 Igreja de Bravães Ponte da Barca, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, Nº 49, Setembro 1947 Conservação de Frescos, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, Nº 106, Dezembro 1961 Igreja de Nª Sr.ª da Azinheira do Outeiro Seco, Boletim da Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais, Nº 112, Junho 1963 D. Rodrigues, "A pintura mural na região Norte. Exemplares dos séculos XV e XVI," A Colecção de pintura do Museu de Alberto Sampaio - Séculos XVI-XVIII, Instituto Português de Museus, Lisboa, 1996 J. I. Caetano, “A pintura a fresco e as suas técnicas. O caso dos exemplares dos séculos XV e XVI no Norte de Portugal e a sua conservação”, X Encontro de História Local, Museu de Alberto Sampaio, Guimarães, 2002 Catarina V. Gonçalves and J. I. Caetano, “Um olhar sobre a pintura mural na região de Guimarães no século XVI”, X Encontro de História Local, Museu de Alberto Sampaio, Guimarães, 2002 C. Brandi, Teoria do restauro, Edições Orion, 2006 P. Mora, L. Mora and P. Philippot, La conservazione delle pitture murali, Editrice Compositori, Bologna, 1999
About the author
Alice Cotovio
Conservator-restorer
Alice Cotovio is a conservator-restorer of mural paintings. She started working in 1983 in the Institute José de Figueiredo after which she attended the Higher Course of Conservation and Restoration and its specialisation of mural painting. In 1991, she was a founder partner of Mural da História, a company specialised in conservation-restoration of mural paintings where she is the co-responsable of the technical and research work. She was also a founding member of the Professional Association of Conservator-Restorers of Portugal (ARP).
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