CRBMC Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia Catalogue of Activities 2011-2018

Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia Catalogue of Activities 2011-2018CRBMC

CRBMC

Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia Catalogue of Activities 2011-2018

CRBMC Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia

Catalogue of Activities 2011-2018

Management

Àngels Solé Gili

General coordination and documentation

Maria Ferreiro Loperena

Àngels Planell Badell

Mònica Salas Martí

Coordination by speciality Physicochemical analysis

Ricardo Suárez de la Vega

Ruth Sadurní Codina (October 2018 - October 2020)

Contemporary Art

Esther Gual Leiro Technical, Scientific and Industrial Heritage

Josep Paret Pey

Preventive Conservation

Maria Jose Gracia Tarragona

Document, Work on Paper and Photography

Maria Carme Balliu Badia Archaeological, Ethnological and Palaeontological sites and Materials

Pere Rovira Pons

Sílvia Llobet Font (March - September 2020)

Textile Material

Maite Toneu Puig

Furniture

Josep Paret Pey

Goldsmithing

Pere Rovira Pons

Sílvia Llobet Font (March - September 2020)

Painting and Sculpture on Wood

Josep Paret Pey

Mural Painting and Stone Sculpture

Pere Rovira Pons

Sílvia Llobet Font (March - September 2020)

Painting on Canvas

Maite Toneu Puig

Stained glass

Pere Rovira Pons

Sílvia Llobet Font (March - September 2020)

Documentation

Maria Ferreiro Loperena

Àngels Planell Badell

Mònica Salas Martí

Proofreading

Àngels Planell Badell (CRBMC)

Sounds & Words

Translation and proofreading

Sounds & Words

Pages 1 to 18 and page 342 Translations and corrections from Catalan and Spanish: Incyta Multilanguage

Pages 1 to 18 and page 342 Translations and corrections from other languages: STAR Language Services

©Texts

Their authors

© Photographs

Carles Aymerich Barba (CRBMC)

Ramon Maroto Genover (CRBMC) Collaborators

Joana Arribas Jaen; Meritxell Barra Marco; Clàudia Borràs Amoraga; Roser Casas Serra; Marga Cruz, photography; Ángela Gallego López; Enric Gracia Molina; Victor Illera Massana; Jenifer Sanchez Selga, and Laura Vinyals Jubany

Photographs of published conservators and restorers

Àbac Conservació-Restauració, SL; Arcovaleno Restauro, SL; Pau Arroyo Casals; Xisca Bernat Jaume; Berta Blasi Roig; Àngels Borrell Crehuet; Neus Casal Bosch; Pau Claramonte Villanueva; Javier Chillida Ameztoy; Charity of the Peña Galiano; Toni Esparó Torras; Anna Ferran Roig; Ariadna Garrigolas Ferrés; Albert Gaset Majà; Josep Giribet Torrelles; Elena Iglesias Guerra; Meritxell Izquierdo Munuera; Àngels Jorba Valls; Carolina Jorcano Picart; Kreit-restauro, SL; Marc Lurigados Bonan, Núria Lladó Moreno; Èlia López Reguant; David Mallorquí Garcia; Nieves Marí Ribas; Mercè Marquès Balaguer; Rosa Martínez Carrión; MorataMasdeu, SCP; Veronica Moragas Rovira; Beatriz Montobbio Martorell; Ares Pérez Llorca; Núria Piqué Font; Policromia, SL; Laia Roca Pi; Voravit Roonthiva; Maria Sala Casanovas; Natalia Sanchez Carretero; Alícia Santomà Vicens; Jordi Saplugas Deu; Teresa Schreibweis Torrents; David Silvestre Momeñe; Ramon Solé Urgellés; Idoia Tantull González; Cesca Tort Vila; Beatriz Urbano Murillo; Marta Vilà Rabella, and Montserrat Xirau Pena © Sant Andreu de Llavaneres Municipal Archive

© Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art - Mas Archive © Noguera Museum

© National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona © Northeast: Museum and Exhibit Services, SL Physico-chemical analysis and photo-analyses

Ricardo Suárez de la Vega (CRBMC)

Collaborators

Victoria Bertran Sanchidrian, Teresa Galera Ejarque, Inés Ordóñez Martínez and Ruth Sadurní Codina

Graphic design

Xavier Alamany Sesé

Photographs of the front cover and back cover

Detail of the Beatus de la Seu d'Urgell, 10th century, Diocesan Archive of Urgell, La Seu d'Urgell (Alt Urgell). Before restoration (front cover) and after restoration (back cover).

CRBMC Management

Àngels Solé Gili

Conservation and Restoration

Maria Carme Balliu Badia (since August 2018)

Aleix Barberà Giné (2018)

Anna Maria Claverol Carrera (until June 2011)

Maria Jose Gracia Tarragona (since December 2017)

Esther Gual Leiro

Maria Àngels Jorba Valls (until March 2018)

Josep Paret Pey

Pere Rovira Pons

Maite Toneu Puig

Economic and administrative management

Maria Duran Jordà (until October 2015)

Joana Vendrell Trullén

Documentation, Dissemination, Photographic Archive and Educational Service

Maria Ferreiro Loperena (since January 2014)

Àngels Planell Badell

Mònica Salas Martí

Marcel Soler Soler (until January 2014)

Guillem Vila Galceran (from September 2016 to February 2017)

Photography

Carles Aymerich Barba (until May 2014)

Ramon Maroto Genover Physicochemical analysis

Ricardo Suárez de la Vega X-rays

Esther Gual Leiro

Purchasing and logistics management

Josep Claverol Carrera (until June 2013)

Jordi Rua Torrens (since October 2012) Carpentry and maintenance Carmelo Ortega Serrato

Concierge

Conxa Márquez Balsells

Security

Mari Paz Cepeda Tabuyo Albert Gaspar Monné Jose Luis Manzano Duran Adoración Ortiz Güimil

Jose Roosli Campos

CRBMC

Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia

Arnau Cadell, 30 08197 Valldoreix

Tel. no.: 935 902 970

Fax: 935 902 971

crbmc.cultura@gencat.cat https://centrederestauracio.gencat.cat https://www.facebook.com/RestauraCat www.instagram.com/restaura.cat

The CRBMC is grateful for the work of all the people and companies who have worked with all these years with us and apologises if anyone is not included in this list for any cause beyond our control.

Forty years in the service of heritage conservation 8 2011-2018, a new impetus 10

Claims and restitutions of works of art: the cases of the art from La Franja and Sixena 14

1 Sculpture 18 2 Sculpture and painting on wood 56 3 Painting on canvas 100 4 Mural painting 134 5 Archaeological material 158 6 Documents, Works on Paper and Photography 188 7 Textile material 226 8 Goldsmithing 248 9 Stained glass 268 10 Contemporary art 276 11 Furniture 284 12 Technical, scientific and industrial heritage 300 13 Preventive conservation 308 14 Innovation and research 336 Credits 342

Forty years in the service of heritage conservation

Natàlia Garriga Ibáñez Minister of Culture

In 1981, the Department of Culture, taking forward the major legacy of the Republican-era Generalitat, carried out a national cultural facilities plan and launched the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC). It was a strategic decision, comparable with the most culturally advanced countries, which highlighted the importance of heritage conservation in preserving the collective identity of our country.

After 40 intense years, we can express with satisfaction that the result of that project has been enormously positive, with more than 30,000 actions across the country. The CRBMC has always had a clear territorial vocation and has supported town councils, county councils, bishoprics and parishes, museums and archives, foundations and cultural associations.

This is a clear example of the way in which the cultural community needs to be strengthened. Catalan culture excels when it is based on the joint commitment of the different public administrations; Catalan culture excels when institutions achieve a high degree of coordination in their cultural policy and promote the creation of hybrid projects that, as occurs in this case, place heritage and its recovery at the heart of public policy.

During these years, the Centre has also been a benchmark in determining the criteria for heritage-related intervention, in accordance with international standards, and has contributed, in a large way, to consolidating conservation as a scientific discipline, promoting innovation and research, training

and knowledge transfer. These have been years in which a group of highly qualified professionals have been trained in our country, who have carried out a great deal of work in the service of heritage and with whom the CRBMC has collaborated extensively.

The 2011-2018 catalogue shows us the path to follow, with the incorporation of new specialties into the Centre and the development of an ambitious innovation and research plan.

Because culture does not create itself; we all build it day after day, with every action we take. Culture is created by all the people who, in a different way, work on it with constancy and dedication. We live in a knowledge society that is highly diverse and transnational, and in view of this we need to act using the specificities of Catalan culture and aimed at the world.

The CRBMC is a good example of how a specificity projects us towards the world. For this reason, I would like to thank the entire team at the Centre for the work it has done over the years, as well as all the professionals in the country who have participated and the owners of the works, as well as all the institutions that have collaborated. It is the efforts made by all of them that ensure that everything is possible in Catalan culture.

In 2011, the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) fell under the auspices of the DirectorateGeneral of Cultural Heritage, through Decree 304/2011 on the Restructuring of the Catalan Ministry of Culture. Two years later, in 2013, it was incorporated as a cultural facility of the Catalan Cultural Heritage Agency.

At that time, the new CRBMC leadership undertook a process of reflection on the values, mission, strategic objectives and vision for the future of the CRBMC. After thirty years, the time had come to analyse the past and rethink the future, to address new challenges and provide the Centre with a new impetus.

The mission of the CRBMC is to promote the conservation and restoration of movable cultural heritage and the historical, archaeological and artistic elements that make up immovable heritage. The CRBMC is committed to the fundamental values of excellence, professional rigour, interdisciplinarity and territorial cooperation, and carries out its functions based on six strategic objectives: ensuring the correct conservation of cultural assets of national interest and of catalogued assets; ensuring the rigour and quality of heritage conservation and restoration processes; promoting innovation and research in conservation-restoration; training of and knowledge transfer to professionals in the sector, in addition to establishing collaborations with other training centres in the knowledge and practice of the discipline; highlighting and disseminating the importance of heritage conservation within the community, and implementing an efficient management model.

At that time there were significant challenges that needed addressing. It was important to recognize and promote the competence of the Centre in the conservation of historical, archaeological and artistic elements that constitute immovable heritage, since it had traditionally been known only for its work in the conservation of movable property. To this end, conservation and restoration needed to be positioned in line with other heritage professions as a scientific and academic discipline, to be taken into account when carrying out immovable heritage conservation and restoration projects. In these past few years, huge efforts have been made to vindicate the technical skills of conservators-restorers in relation to other heritage professionals. We have sought to put into practice the Charter of Krakow 2000, which states that architectural decoration, sculpture and artefacts that are an integrated part of the built heritage should be preserved through a specific project connected to the general project

The Charter of Krakow 2000 explicitly states that all pertinent disciplines have to participate in the restoration project and the co-ordination should be carried out by a person qualified and well trained in conservation and restoration.

In order to respond to these needs, the first important decision taken was by the Director General of Cultural Heritage, Joan Pluma, who issued the following directive to the territorial cultural heritage directorates: the CRBMC should inform about any projects intended for the territorial heritage committees (CTP) in advance, when dealing with the conservation or restoration of historical, archaeological or artistic elements involving immovable heritage protected as a cultural asset of national interest.

Another key measure was taken in 2017, when the Director General of Cultural Heritage, Jusép Boya, incorporated a conservator-restorer into the territorial cultural heritage committees. This marked a significant step forward, although this has yet to be carried out in the Territorial Committee for the city of Barcelona.

During these past few years, the Centre has carried out an indepth and documented analysis of the Cultural Heritage Act, with regard to conservation-restoration and its professionals. With this in mind, a working group was created with representatives of the Association of Conservators-Restorers of Catalonia (CRAC), the School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Assets of Catalonia (ESCRBCC) and the University of Barcelona (UB), and a report was delivered to the Director General of Cultural Heritage with the proposals it considered necessary to take into account in the face of a new law or the modification of the current one. The CRAC also addressed the need for a decree that would regulate all these jurisdictional issues, given that there was no possibility of an amendment to the Act in the short term.

In terms of specializations within the discipline, the Centre began working in 1980 with those it considered most suitable for the task to be carried out during that period. However, over time needs have changed, as has the discipline itself. Given the national scope and Centre’s drive for excellence, it was necessary to incorporate other important specializations such as the conservation and restoration of documentary and photographic heritage, contemporary art and preventive conservation. Eventually, the CRBMC was able to create these specializations and appoint their respective coordinators. It is also important to note that the supervisor of the CRBMC’s radiation facility became part of the Centre’s team.

In recent years, the Centre has carried out around 15,000 projects, including advisory services to the country's heritage owners, the supervision of projects subsidized by the Ministry of Culture, reports for the territorial heritage committees, preparatory studies and scientific analysis, the restoration of museum pieces and monuments under the auspices of the Catalan Agency for Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Culture, technical management of third party heritage

interventions, publications, courses, seminars, innovation and research projects, and the dissemination and documentation of all the interventions. In 2013, we implemented a new document management tool for all projects carried out at the Centre, allowing us to introduce different processes and documents linked to each project, perform detailed searches and to manage statistical data.

It is difficult to decide which are the most significant interventions of recent years, but it is worth the mentioning the following: the Beatus of the Diocesan Archive of Urgell; the portal of the Santa Maria de Ripoll monastery; Girona Cathedral’s Tapestry of Creation; Tarragona Cathedral’s organ doors; the portal of the church of Santa Maria d’Agramunt; the mausoleum of General Prim in the cemetery of Reus; the Virgin of Bellpuig de les Avellanes; the painting on canvas of the Barcelona Port Authority by Eliseu Meifrèn; the sculpture of Sant Jordi in the Palau de la Generalitat; the cross of the church of Sant Pau d’Anglesola; the conservation study of the paintings in the Sant Jordi room of the Palau de la Generalitat; the act of consecration of Sant Vicenç de Cardona; the glass plates of the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia; the main altarpiece of Santa Maria d’Arenys de Mar; the set of altarpieces in the church of the monastery of Santes Creus; the Christ of the Immaculate Conception of Tortosa; the wall paintings in situ of Sant Climent de Taüll; the Romanesque frontal of Llanars; the collections of historical furniture of the Design Museum of Barcelona; the wall paintings of the Els Dolors chapel in Santa Maria de Mataró, and the archaeological sites of Empúries, Ullastret and the Roman villa of Munts d’Altafulla.

In the case of the altarpieces and, in general, the majority of the artistic works, it should be noted that it was necessary to go back and review their state of conservation and to carry out curative conservation work on pieces that had already been restored by the CRBMC, more than twenty years before. This demonstrates, once again, the basic need for preventive conservation. In this regard, in recent years the Centre has performed the important task of advising and raising awareness among museums, archives and institutions that safeguard this cultural heritage, of the need to follow preventive conservation plans, in order to ensure the conservation of collections under the best possible conditions.

Thanks to the agreement signed by the Ministry of Culture with the “la Caixa” Foundation for the Romànic Obert programme, it has been possible in these past years to restore key Romanesque artefacts.

Another challenge faced by the Centre was to plan and promote an integrated innovation and research programme, which would place the CRBMC on a level with the most

advanced institutions at a national and international level, taking into consideration the most significant strategic lines related to the needs of the discipline: characterization of materials; study of pathologies and causes of deterioration; intervention methodologies and techniques, and techniques for documenting conservation-restoration. The dimension of these resources has led to some projects taking longer, but with the same objectives.

Over these past years, the CRBMC has tried to have a greater impact on training and the transfer of knowledge among professionals of this sector, promoting courses, training days and seminars and the Rescat newsletter, which enables the Centre to publicize its work and that of collaborating professionals, along with projects carried out by other institutions, as well as to disseminate expert professional knowledge on innovation and research taking place at an international level. Of particular note are the efforts made in training and raising awareness of the Wolbers-Cremonesi cleaning system among conservators-restorers, and the Centre’s internationalization through the digital publication and English translation of the Rescat newsletter.

To finish, I would like to highlight the effort that has been made over the years to publicize the work of the Centre and its most significant interventions in the social field. The Centre's presence on social networks, its website, as well as the educational programme for schools and guided tours for families, have all contributed to increasing awareness in society of the value of heritage conservation.

Regarding our management model, I would like to mention that we have made the scientific and technical services of the Centre accessible to professionals and companies in the sector, at a public price; in particular the anoxic chamber, the materials analysis laboratory, the scientific photography service and our x-ray facility.

All this has been possible thanks to a team which is highly qualified to perform their tasks, and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their unconditional dedication and commitment to carrying out the Centre’s projects over the years. Institutions are ultimately the people who represent them.

Technicians from Feltrero, specialised in transporting works of art, working on loading some of the works from the monastery of Sixena into the truck under the surveillance of the Civil Guard.

Photo: Museum of Lleida (Jordi V. Pou)

The images from the dawn of December 11, 2017, when the Civil Guard broke into the Museum of Lleida will remain very much alive, for years, in the memory of many. Outside, under the cold and insistent rain, citizens demonstrated and were beaten up by Mossos d'Esquadra. The violence involved in the police force incursion into a museum institution to confiscate works of art under court order had never occurred before, as far as we know, in the entire history of worldwide museology, at least under the same conditions in which the litigation for the works of the monastery of Sixena took place.

Less traumatic, but equally painful, was the departure from the same museum in Lleida, in March 2021, to the Diocesan Museum of Barbastro-Monzón, of a hundred works of art from the parishes of La Franja, many of which had been in Lleida for more than a century. This second patrimonial litigation is clearly related to the previous one and is part of a set of claim initiatives launched by the Community of Aragon that date back to the 1990s, after a series of parishes belonging to the Diocese of Lleida since medieval times were transferred to the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, with the intention of reportedly equating the ecclesiastical limits to the administrative limits.

Why does an autonomous community in the same state launch a patrimonial claim process that affects a neighbouring community today? We are used to seeing news in the media and on social media about claims and restitution processes that take place between states that are geographically and culturally very far apart, often from different continents, against the backdrop of colonialism, plunder or armed conflicts from the past, but it is not common to find ourselves in situations like the one we have described, within the same state. This peculiar situation has caused the works of art from La Franja to be moved from the Museum of Lleida to the Diocesan Museum of Barbastro-Monzón, located just sixty kilometres away. The same thing happened with the works from the monastery of Sixena, which is also at a similar distance from the capital of Lleida. Never before has such a short distance led to an accumulation of political, identity, linguistic (yes, language is also part of this), religious and historical connotations as part of a litigation that has pitted two neighbouring communities against each other over works of art.

Where should we place this patrimonial conflict within the global context of claims and restitutions of works of art and archaeological objects that has gained such force since the 1970s? It's no easy task. First of all, we have the main cause that must occur in these types of situations, the conflict, and, above all, that a community feels offended and formally opens the dispute. There are also two basic circumstances in these confrontations: that one party claims patrimonial objects that they consider to be symbols and material samples of their

national identity and that the other party, to whom history has given custody and ownership, has interests that they seek to defend and that the claimant questions.

However, at this point there is an issue that needs to be addressed. In the cases of the art from La Franja and Sixena, the Diocese of Lleida can allege certain historical rights and a legitimacy that, for example, European or American museums that keep objects from ancient Egypt or Greek and Roman cultures do not have. Because, indeed, the works of art from the parishes of La Franja, since their creation, have always been linked to the Diocese of Lleida, given that this was the diocese these churches belonged to since medieval times. Instead, they have now gone to the museum of a diocese with which they have never had any connection. It was the segregation of the Diocese of Lleida in 1995, that is, the transfer of a hundred parishes that belonged to it since medieval times to the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, which has given apparent legitimacy to the fact that those works of art are in that museum today. This issue is very relevant, given that one of the reasons for these processes is that the objects under dispute allow the claimant to establish a direct and unequivocal link with its past which, in this case, is hindered, from the one hand, because Catalonia and Aragon belonged to the same political entity for centuries and, on the other, because those works have not been linked to an Aragonese diocese until as recently as 1995. Therefore, in the context of the conflict, the works are ideologically attributed to a territory on the basis of contemporary geopolitical criteria. One of the conclusions reached is that the claimant community and the defendant, or at least the political and religious promoters of the claim, share a different view of identity than that of the defendant, as it would be highly unlikely that two communities with a completely common and shared identity clash over an issue like this. For example, if the works of art that have been the focus of these clashes were in the Diocesan Museum of Huesca, the Museum of Zaragoza or the Museum of Teruel, would a conflict like this have emerged?

The case of the works of art of the monastery of Sixena is a little different, since the judicial and police intervention led them to return, at least, to the building where they originated. However, this return was made by stripping a public museum, which belongs to everyone (Catalans, Aragonese and Spaniards, in general), of works of art that the Generalitat de Catalunya had legitimately acquired —the ruling of the Supreme Court has finally acknowledged that there was only a formal defect— to hand them over to a religious community, that is, to a private owner, who neither lives in the monastery nor can guarantee the appropriate preventive conservation measures to preserve them. Nor has the government of Aragon, which has covered the expenses and taken care of the installation of the works taken from the National Art

Claims and restitutions of works of art: the cases of the art from La Franja and Sixena

Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez University of Lleida

Museum of Catalonia and the Museum of Lleida, been able to guarantee them. Lest we forget how not all international standards for preventive conservation were met when the works arrived at the monastery on December 11, 2017 and, on the same day, they were taken out of their packaging so that Aragonese politicians could take complementary photographs. Otherwise, the arrival of works of art to Sixena has caused two unexpected and even unnatural reactions. Firstly, the community of nuns who lived in the monastery have left because the noise made by the public, journalists and onlookers disturbed their contemplative daily life. And, secondly, the monastery has been closed for quite some time due to management problems.

In the international context, in the face of claims and restitution processes, it is common to speak of compensation for old imperialist grievances, but this would not be applicable in the case of the confrontation between the communities of Aragon and Catalonia, since they belong to the same state. Other times, when claim processes are invoked, they are seen as a way for small states to settle scores with more powerful nations. In international restitution battles, we often find small countries raising their voices through archaeological objects and works of art to combat US political supremacy, or to challenge the colonial processes of European states. It is a common case study in these conflicts, in which there is always a weak, offended, claiming nation, and a powerful nation that sees a conflict emerging. Although the confrontation between the communities of Aragon and Catalonia does not correspond to this pattern, certain parallels can be established, given that the former is one of the poorest in Spain, while the later is one of the richest. This has always been a reason for distrust and conflicting neighbourliness that have led to clear anti-Catalanism promoted by certain civil society organisations, such as the Aragonese platform No hablamos catalán or the Federation of Cultural Associations of Eastern Aragon (FACAO). Oftentimes, ideological and political postulates by these associations have found necessary support in top political figures, such as Javier Lambán, President of the Government of Aragon, who in the midst of conflict has contributed to worsening the situation with statements and tweets of obvious antiCatalan nature that have sown controversy. He will also be remembered for his 2017 Christmas speech recorded in Sixena, surrounded by the works of art he had won in the legal battle against Catalonia, in a demonstration of the strength and instrumentalisation of heritage reminiscent of ancient and medieval rhetoric, displaying the trophies stolen from the enemy following his victory on the battlefield.

Another question that we must ask ourselves is why these struggles for objects and works of art from the past have proliferated so strongly in recent years. Conflicts between East

and West are very much alive and the battle for storytelling around identity and freedom is part of the widespread confrontation of cultures we experience. We are facing very different world-views and cultural perspectives. Some present themselves as the true liberators in the face of ancient invaders, who are the ones who brought about the plunder. They also show themselves as the guarantors of the identity of a given nation or culture, against oppressors who, through colonialism or systematic plunder, deprived them of national treasures that were symbols of their identity. This is why nations that saw their history taken away are struggling to recover some objects today, to reaffirm their identity and consolidate their national mythology.

What does this have to do with the art litigations of La Franja and Sixena? Regarding some issues, nothing, but others, a lot, especially those related to identities. This is where nationalism, another of the usual variables in these global processes, makes an appearance. As a result of the second Bourbon restoration, the Spanish state has suffered a severe shock following the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain. Litigations over the art from La Franja and Sixena began in the late 1990s, when the political upheaval in Catalonia had not yet erupted. However, the final phase of the judicial processes of both patrimonial conflicts has coincided with the height of the Catalonia-Spain political confrontation. We should not overlook that the incursion of the Civil Guard into the Museum of Lleida to confiscate the property of the monastery of Sixena occurred only two months after the referendum of October 1, 2017, and that the Spanish police force was able to access the museum thanks to the interlocutory order of a judge who invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution in the preamble, which was then in full application in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Never before had this article been applied and the situation was exceptional, with the government of the Generalitat deposed. The political turmoil had long contaminated both this litigation and the works of art from La Franja, but now the situation had become unbearable and one issue was inseparable from the other, no matter how much in certain sectors of public opinion and associations in Aragon people strove to defend that these were simple patrimonial claims and that there were no political connotations behind them. Meanwhile, all the political actors of Aragon, from the entire ideological spectrum, made obvious gestures of the opposite. In Catalonia the exact same thing happened and the issue was deeply politicised. All this should not surprise anyone, given that the nationalist and identity component was very present in the basis of the Aragonese claim, and also in the opposite side which argued that these works should remain in Catalan territory.

One of the differences in the claim processes of Aragonese heritage objects preserved in Catalan territory related to those

that are usually documented globally is that the works under dispute do not have an illicit origin as a result of plunder, looting or smuggling. Nor did they reach Catalan museums as a result of illegal export, since the goods never crossed Spanish borders. We know that the vast majority of works left their places of origin through sales transactions, while others were traded or donated. In the case of the objects from La Franja, these are transactions that took place more than a century ago, in a legal and patrimonial context very different from today's and with the creation of the Diocesan Museum of Lleida (1893) in the background. In this sense, the works were acquired by Bishop Josep Meseguer to create a museum that would help to teach seminarians regarding the protection of historical and artistic heritage, in accordance with the guidelines by Pope Leo XIII. Now, however, the court rulings of the Aragonese courts that have tried the case (the final ruling of the Supreme Court is pending) have challenged these sales and declared them illegal. This is a serious precedent for all Spanish historical and artistic heritage, given that the volume of sales of religious art throughout the state until the enactment of the Republican heritage law (1933) was huge, and if the Supreme Court finally accepts this argument, it will threaten the situation of thousands of real objects preserved in public museums and private collections, which could be affected by similar claim processes.

As for the Sixena case, for which there is a Supreme Court ruling (2021), the main argument has been different. Despite the legal construction by the Aragonese party, accepted in its entirety by the Aragonese courts that have tried the case, which said that the monastery's property could not be sold because it belonged to a national monument, the high court rejected this and has clung to a formal defect, as it considers the sales transactions carried out by the Sisters Hospitallers and Catalan institutions to be illegal. It has been ruled that the prioress of the monastery of Valldoreix who signed these operations in the 1980s and 1990s was not qualified to do so, because, although she had received the powers from the community of Sixena, which had merged years before with that of Valldoreix, two small formalities, one civil and the other ecclesiastical, which entailed the legal disappearance of the old Aragonese community, had not been carried out. Therefore, when the prioress of Valldoreix signed the transactions, the community of Sixena continued to exist and was its own legal entity. The conclusion drawn from all this is devastating: more than twenty years of civil conflict and political and judicial confrontation, including the Civil Guard's incursion into the Museum of Lleida and public beatings by the Mossos d'Esquadra, due to a formal defect.

Two Civil Guard agents inside the Museum of Lleida, taking a photograph in front of some of the original works from the monastery of Sixena that they came to confiscate.

Photo: Museum of Lleida (Laia Navarra)

¹

Sculpture

Generic classification

Sculpture

Object

Carving Material/Technique

Polychrome stone, egg tempera Description Mother of God with child

Author

Lleida School, Master of Albesa Date/Period

Second Half of the 14th Century Dimensions 122 × 45 × 29 cm

Origin Church of Sant Llorenç, Lleida (Segrià county)

Location Diocesan and Regional Museum of Lleida, Lleida (Segrià county)

CRBMC Register NO 1736

Restoration Ares Pérez Collaboration Lourdes Domedel Year of restoration 2013

The carving, made of limestone and polychrome in egg tempera, dates from the second half of the 14th century. Its structural characteristics, as well as its iconography, suggest that it is a work from the circle of Bartomeu de Robió and which Duran i Sanpere attributes to the Master of Albesa (Duran i Sanpere, Els retaules de pedra, 1932). In terms of its typology it is similar to the Virgin of Avellanes by the Master Robió, although the contrapposto in this case does not depict the straight shoulders of the latter. The Virgin wears a crown with lily flowers and a white cloak of golden leaves that covers her head, something which is common in statues of the Virgin from Lleida. Another element that is characteristic of these statues from the Lleida School is the bird in the hands of the child Jesus which is depicted biting his finger.

The work stands out for its balanced proportions, the quality of its carving and the good state of conservation of the polychrome. This sculpture, together with the Virgen of Avellanes, is one of the best examples of the Gothic sculpture collection belonging to the Museum of Lleida. Bought by the bishopric of Lleida from the rector of the parish of Saidí (Huesca) and donated to the museum around 1897, it is located in the church of Sant Llorenç in the same city, where it maintains its liturgical role.

The figure was restored in 1987 by this centre, an intervention which focused on recreating the hand and part of the left sleeve, lost during the Civil War.

State of conservation

In 2013, as a result of the Museum of Lleida’s exhibition Maria vers Maria: L’encís de l’Escola de Lleida, it was returned to the facilities of this centre. The carving had a widespread smoky black surface layer, most likely due to soot from the church candles, and the chromatic reintegrations made in the previous restoration had darkened more than the rest of the figure.

 Close-up of the reintegrations of the face of the child Jesus  Close-up of the child’s face after the conservationrestoration process

Intervention

In this second intervention, it was decided that the layer of low molecular weight varnish applied in 1987 would not be removed. It was cleaned with an aqueous buffer solution with gelled additive, in combination with the same non-gelled solution with a lower pH. Agar-agar poultices with the same solution were also applied to some areas. This was therefore a superficial clean on the front of the figure. On the back, paper pulp poultices with an ion exchange resin were used. The chromatic reintegrations that were darker than the original polychrome and that had changed with the passage of time were removed and the reintegration was carried out anew using watercolours.

— Ares Pérez

General view of the back after the intervention

General view of the front after the intervention

Conservation of the Santa Maria de Ripoll portal

The Romanesque portal of the church of the monastery of Ripoll is a large polychrome sculpture attached, at a later date, to the façade of the church and which, since the 12th century, has been exposed to the outside in a place with a harsh climate and located between two rivers. The key factor for its preservation was the construction of an atrium between 1280 and 1310, which has lasted until today and without which we could not have created an optimal space for climate control.

State of conservation

The deterioration of the portal’s stone was already conditioned by the weakness of the local sandstone from which it had been carved, showing a low degree of diagenesis, and which in some places the calcite had turned into dolomite, leading to a reduction in grain volume and subsequent broadening of its intergranular porosity, which in turn had led to a loss of mechanical properties and biological colonization. However, what had contributed most to its deterioration were the

Generic classification Sculpture

Object Portal

Material/Technique

Carving in sandstone, lime mortars and polychrome Description

Architectural and sculptural piece, with polychrome reliefs showing Biblical themes Date/Period 12th century (year 1150, approximately)

Dimensions 7.14 × 11.54 m, and 1.02 m wide at the ends and 1.93 m deep at the entrance opening. Visible sculpted surface of 80 m² and an approximate weight of 70 tonnes

Location Church of the monastery of Santa Maria, Ripoll (Ripollès county) CRBMC Register NO 3550

Coordination Pere Rovira

anthropogenic alterations and mutilations resulting from the social events experienced by the monastery from the 17th century onwards, as well as industrial pollution and a water canal which had been diverted towards the church.

After several vicissitudes, including the burning and abandonment of the monastery, the portal and the monastery were reborn during the restoration of Elies Rogent (1886-1892), which marked a milestone and a trend in restoration works in Spain. But despite the restoration of the monastery, the portal continued to deteriorate. Until the 1929 International Exposition, there was no scientific interest in its conservation or any notable documented intervention; only small interventions were likely carried out to maintain the space in which it was used. It was not until the 1961 ICOM (International Council of Museums) international conference, which took place in Barcelona and coincided with the great International Exhibition of Romanesque Art, that its poor state of conservation was brought to light.

 Night view from the outside of the main entrance of the monastery of Ripoll  The same level showing King David after the restoration. The first level can also be seen, depicting of the second apocalyptic vision of Daniel

Years of restoration 2016-2017 Explanatory video https://youtu.be/9l9dMzGKLYc

 Appearance of the Maiestas Domini that presides over the portal before the cleaning process

 The Maiestas Domini after the restoration showing the preserved original polychrome

Restoration Arcovaleno Restauro, SL. Rudi Ranesi (team leader), Patri Amat, Eva Bermejo, Violant Bonet, Silvia Bottaro, Maria Cardenal, Albert Gaset and Sònia Murcia Documentation Patri Amat and Rudi Ranesi (report). Patri Amat (maps)

This led to action, somewhat hurried and uncontrolled, involving studies, tests and analyses of the portal, which were unsystematic and invasive and which concluded with the major restoration of 1964, under the management of José M. Cabrera-Garrido, from the Instituto Nacional de Restauración (INR) in Madrid. One of the key stages of the project was determining which hardener would be most effective in consolidating the stone. This hardener has ended up being an inseparable component. However, since it continued to suffer from consolidation problems, the portal was the subject of two more interventions by the INR, in 1971 and 1973, when it received its first enclosure with glass windows to try to insulate it from the atmospheric humidity.

When its management was handed over to the new Government of Catalonia, the Regional Ministry of Culture took on the responsibility for its maintenance. Thus, based on new scientific studies, it was decided that, in order to stabilize it, the work needed to be hermetically sealed and air conditioned, which is how it stands currently, an action carried out in 1994 by the Architectural Restoration Service. Meanwhile, since the beginning, the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) had been carrying out conservationrestoration tasks until, with all the necessary studies having been carried out and after the conclusions of the 2014 symposium, it was decided that a new restoration should be undertaken.

Intervention

Prior to the restoration, the CRBMC had to conduct a new, up-to-date scientific study of the portal’s state of conservation, as well as an assessment of the current state of its constituent materials. Material analyses and restoration tests concluded that a restoration was required which in particular should focus on the removal of the resin added in the 1960 and 1970 restorations, and the recovery of polychromes, but also on the removal and the replacement of aged mortars used to fill in the joints.



Close-up of the second level before the restoration, with two musicians playing the horn and pan flute

 General view of the portal after the restoration



The same close-up of the two musicians after the restoration



Interior

The restoration processes carried out involved, broadly speaking, the removal of surface dust, the mechanical cleaning of the upper part of the portal, the cleaning of adhered dirt and various stains, the removal of altered mortars and lime slurry, the consolidation of sandstone areas and deep cracks, the attachment of loose or detached parts, the chromatic and volumetric reintegration of the base material, the cleaning of the resin and the recovery of the medieval polychrome (using a combination of laser, microblasting and chemical cleaning).

In the end, the portal was stabilized and its aesthetic unity was recovered, but its state of conservation is still exhaustively monitored by the CRBMC.

— Pere Rovira

view of the atrium with the portal. It shows the area with portal insulated from the outside by a glass enclosure

Main Romanesque portal of the church of Santa Maria of Agramunt

Object Portal

Material/Technique Stone, lime mortar and polychrome Title/Topic Sculptural piece with polychrome reliefs on the western portal Date/Period 13th century

Dimensions 7.20 m × 11 m

Location Church of Santa Maria, Agramunt (Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 10258

Restoration Arcovaleno Restauro, SL Years of restoration 2015-2016

The portal of the church of Santa Maria of Agramunt is the culmination of the most successful iconographic programme of the works grouped within the so-called Lleida School, making it one of the most significant pieces of Romanesque art in Catalonia. Its relevance explains the succession of restorations carried out throughout the 20th century to try to stop the slow disintegration process of the stone material. The current restoration has demonstrated the difficulty of working on pieces that have been previously restored following criteria far removed from the current lines of action and characterized by the use of materials incompatible with the originals.

State of conservation

The portal was found to be in a poor, or perhaps even very poor, state of conservation, with the whole perimeter area, and therefore the most exposed part, in the most deteriorated state. Along with the effects of exposure to an extreme climate, marked by periods of large temperature variations, there were two major problems: the presence of birds and the consequences of some of the previous interventions. In terms of the former, a large colony of swallows had generated a serious aesthetic impact on the piece over the course of almost half a century until in 2012 when, in an agreement with the Ministry of the Environment, this protected migratory species was redirected. The intervention process revealed an irreversible darkening of the stone caused by the metabolic action of chromogenic fungi, associated with the presence of nests and the corrosive effect of nitric and phosphoric acids in the excrement, which had led to the chemical alteration of the stone support.

The second problem arose from the damage caused by three extremely invasive actions carried out during the 20th century. There was little scope for action in the face of the irreversible replacement of the base, the lower half of all the columns

Appearance of the portal with the archivolts full of swallows’ nests removed in 2012

that adorn the jambs and much of the original canopy, the latter carried out using Mineros® mortar in 1983. However, a lot of work was put into remedying the alterations caused by the poor ageing of up to three differentiated harderners. The entire surface of the archivolts and capitals showed serious chromatic alterations caused by the ageing of the cellulose nitrate applied in 1910, although the most significant damage was the abundant deformations and losses caused by the surface tension and lack of transpiration of an alkaline silicate (sodium or potassium) added in the early 1950s. Along the ashlar wall that extends above the canopy, an ethyl silicate, applied in too high a concentration, had resulted in a surface film with an equally non-breathable vitreous appearance.

Intervention

Faced with this situation, an intervention was started that was critical for restoring the aesthetic dimension of the work. The principle of minimum intervention became a primary objective because it was essential to add as few products as possible and, when necessary, to use materials that were more compatible with the original. The bulk of the intervention focused on a complex cleaning process, structured in a stratigraphic and selective way, in order to remove the different materials added and gradually recover the abundant remains of polychrome preserved across the surface of the work, and especially in the first five archivolts. In most cases, an initial mechanical cleaning, using synthetic brushes, a scalpel and in some parts a micro sandblaster, combined with the application of a hydroalcoholic solution, prepared the way for the removal of the hardeners through physical cleaning with laser technology. The consolidation process was mainly aimed at stabilizing the scaling and deformations that affected numerous sculptural elements through the injection of hydraulic mortar. A reintegration of the lost base material was carried out, but limiting the amount of added material to

Loss of a knight’s face due to surface tension caused by ageing of the potassium silicate

The portal after the intervention

Presence of polychrome under the layer of whitened hardener, the result of a process of alteration by hydrolysis

Process of removing cellulose nitrate accumulated on the surface through physical cleaning with a laser

what was strictly necessary, in line with the conservative and aesthetic needs of the piece.

The removal of hardeners revealed a large amount of polychrome, preserved in fragments and remains along the perimeter archivolts and to a more significant degree in the inner parts of the portal. The difficulty posed by the recovery process and the large amount of preserved paint forced the postponement of the removal of the hardener along the frieze of the capitals and the elimination of the modern oil painting, which distorted the original beauty of the sculptural ensemble. The presence of cinnabar, orpiment and indigo indicates the original existence of a pictorial programme of the same high level as the sculptural work and raises, at the same time, a question about the future conservation of this piece. An assessment is needed as to whether the conservation of these medieval polychromes, endowed with a historical-artistic significance of the highest order, can be guaranteed if they are exposed in this unfavourable environment.

— Albert Gaset

Detail of the volumetric reintegration of the canopy and the last archivolt decorated in a zigzag

Bottom of the throne of the Virgin Mary with the inscription that includes the year the sculptural work was installed: 1283

Polychrome decorations recovered from the reliefs and mouldings of the first two archivolts

Conservation-restoration intervention of the portal of the church of Santa Maria de Covet

Generic classification

Sculpture

Object

Portal of the main façade of the church

Material/Technique Stone carving Description

Religious figurative theme, with plant and geometric motifs

Date/Period

Second half of the 12th century Dimensions 8 × 5.40 × 0.96 m

Location Church of Santa Maria, Covet (Pallars Jussà county)

CRBMC Register NO 12373

Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Elena Iglesias (team leader), Diana Amade, Ares Pérez and Anna Valls Year of restoration 2015

The portal is made up of a set of sculptures described by many authors as exceptional and quite unique in Catalan Romanesque architecture, in which different stylistic movements and influences from all over converge. The morphology and sculptural detail could be attributed to different schools in the south of France (Toulouse) and in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (Navarre, Galicia and Portugal).

Located in a very remote place, it displays an iconographic programme with the themes of fall and redemption in which very varied and difficult-to-interpret resources were used.

State of conservation

It was in a very poor state of conservation, with the stone material in quite an advanced state of deterioration, due to the passage of time, inadequate restorations and, above all, the lack of maintenance.

General view of the portal before the 2015 restoration

Intervention

In general terms, the restoration consisted of stopping the active alteration processes that had deteriorated the base material of the work (the stone), improving its readability and presentation, and ensuring its future conservation, through very careful specialized restoration tasks. Some elements were treated by means of complex, non-systematized methodologies, due to their structural characteristics and uniqueness. Prior to the intervention, a number of research and analysis tasks were carried out, a key phase in deciding the intervention methodologies to be used. The intention was to compile all the technical and historical particularities, from the manufacture to possible later interventions; in this case, the tasks focused on characterizing the stone materials: petrographic and petrophysical studies, analysis of the altered material, distribution of deterioration indicators and performance of quality controls of the applied conservation products.

Close-up of the stone that showed signs of microflaking This is the first step towards detachment and loss of the affected parts

Thanks to analytical techniques such as pyrolysis–gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PIR-GC-MS), the composition and distribution of water-repellent material was detected whose origins lay in previous conservative consolidation and/or water-repellent treatments applied in the initial interventions carried out during the 1980s and 1990s, of which there were remains on the sculptures. These treatments had accelerated the deterioration of the stone as a result of an unfortunate material incompatibility.

One of the most widespread forms of alteration that had caused material losses was fracturing, gaps which did not involve the separation of the parts. This type of alteration constantly generates disintegrating substrates and is irreversible. Given the extent of this pathology, the conservation processes began with systematic reattachments and structural stabilization by means of injection mortars, using fine loads of calcium carbonate (lime nanoparticles). Samples were obtained from various areas in order to establish the most suitable cleaning systems according to the state of conservation: mechanical and chemical cleaning, and combinations of the different systems as needed. Subsequently, the missing parts of base stone material which were in a state of disintegration and advanced weathering were filled in with ethyl silicate; it was a continuous process, before and during the cleaning processes, as was the sealing

of missing, fractured and/or cracked areas. The joints that were in poor condition were cleaned up, preserving the original material, and eroded and fragmented areas were reintegrated and protected with lime mortars and sands of different colours, granularity and composition.

Finally, chromatic reintegrations were carried out where the readability of the element required it and where it was necessary to adjust reintegrations of mortar or seals on the original surfaces.

This cultural work is located far away and isolated from urban areas in very adverse environmental conditions, which makes the conservation and maintenance of materials difficult in the medium and long term. Regular monitoring and controls would be advisable, and conservation parameters and basic recommendations should be considered, such as increasing dissemination and educational programmes for the general public, raising awareness among different expert and nonexpert audiences to promote a sense of responsibility and appropriation of what is public heritage, and, above all, openly propounding the idea that cultural heritage has more meaning and value with all its context, enabling the implementation of the necessary measures to prevent vandalism and looting.

General view of the portal after the 2015 restoration

Various conservation-restoration processes; combinations of cleaning processes, structural stabilizations, consolidations of the base and material and pictorial reintegrations

— Elena Iglesias

Close-up of the of lefthand starting point of the archivolts after the intervention

Façades of the tabernacle of the Carthusian monastery of Escaladei

Generic classification

Sculpture Object

Façade

Material/Technique

Fresco painting, whitewash and cut stone

Description

Ashlar and architectural decoration of the main façade Date/Period 1696

Author Father Feliu Artigues, construction architect Dimensions 12 × 11.60 m

Location Chapel of the tabernacle of the church of Santa Maria of the Carthusian monastery of Escaladei, la Morera del Montsant (Priorat county)

The chapel of the tabernacle of the church of Santa Maria of the Carthusian monastery of Escaladei was built at the end of the 17th century, at a time when the Carthusian monastery had regained its prestige and influence. With a square layout and crowned with a spherical dome, its interior had been designed as a high-quality artistic jewel, now completely lost.

On the outside, the walls of the three façades rise up from a stone base, covered with a coating of lime and an overlay of up to two pictorial layers, visible in the lower-middle area of the main façade: the first, an ashlar about 60 cm wide painted on gypsum plaster, probably from the same era as the portal, and the second, superimposed on the former, a new ashlar with more ochre tones. The main façade is decorated with a walled-up portal in a Baroque style and flanked by two large stone pillars that border the other two façades. Small traces of an old pictorial covering have been detected on the inside of the portal, which would never have been used as an entrance door.

The entablature is topped by a continuous frieze of black marble supported by stone cornices, combined with three octagonal windows. The roof on four sides was made of flat tiles, of which evidence is preserved. The dome has not been preserved and today there is a metal roof.

State of conservation

The state of conservation of the paintings was very poor. The abandonment of the building, together with the action

of meteorological agents, had caused a loss of close to 50% and very significant deterioration (displacement, disintegration, etc.). Another of the main alterations was caused by the growth of vegetation, especially in the north façade which is covered. To top it all off, there was evidence of previous clumsy interventions, biogenic colonization and crusts from various sources that had altered the architectural piece.

Intervention

The intervention focused mainly on stopping the deterioration that affected the paintings. The pictorial layer was consolidated by applying hardeners made from lime nanoparticles. The preparatory layers were attached and consolidated through the injection of fluid mortars. Once stabilized, the previous interventions were removed. The filling in of gaps and bevels was carried out in accordance with the presentation system used in all the buildings that made up the Carthusian monastery. In this way, with lime mortars and aggregates of different colours, it was possible to give visual continuity to the preserved paintings.

In terms of the stone elements, the intervention focused on cleaning and closing joints, and it is worth noting the recovery of the black hue of the marble of the façades. The removal of existing vegetation, the cleaning up and consolidation of the original roof and the installation of an effective water collection system completed the intervention process.

— David Mallorquí

Graphic report of the alterations of the main façade

Close-up paintings on the main façade after the intervention

Coordination

Pere Rovira Restoration Signinum Restaura, SL; David Mallorquí (team leader), Nicola de la Aldea, María Borja and Marta Martin. Master builder and mason: Ramon Perona

Roof of the building after the intervention

The tabernacle building after the intervention

The conservation-restoration process of a Virgin and Child from the monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes

Generic classification

Sculpture Object

Carving Material/Technique Polychrome stone Title/Topic Virgin and Child

Author

Attributed to Bartomeu de Robió

Date/Period Final third of the 14th century Dimensions 108 × 43 × 26 cm

Procedència Charles Deering art collection,

acquired by the Government of Catalonia in 2011

Localització Diocesan and Regional Museum of Lleida, Lleida (Segrià county) CRBMC Register NO 11484

Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Teresa Novell and Ramon Solé Years of restoration 2011-2012

This Virgin, which is traditionally said to have come from the monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes, is a sculpture made of polychrome stone, the execution of which Dr F. Español has been attributed to the sculptor Bartomeu de Robió. The work was part of the art collection of the American millionaire Charles Deering and was acquired by the Government of Catalonia in 2011. After undergoing a conservation-restoration process at the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC), it was transferred to the Diocesan and Regional Museum of Lleida, where it is on display in one of the rooms of the permanent collection.

State of conservation

The sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary standing holding her son in her left arm, while in her right hand she was probably carrying a flower, now disappeared. It arrived at the CRBMC in a remarkable state of conservation, preserving in its entirety the various layers of polychrome accumulated over the centuries.

The scientific analysis of the sculpture, a necessary preliminary step for the execution of the conservation-restoration process, revealed never-before-seen polychrome aspects. The analysis of the polychrome was done in collaboration with the Department of Scientific Research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (the Met). The existence of common aspects between the polychrome of the tombs of the counts of Urgell preserved in The Cloisters Museum and that of the Virgin Mary of les Avellanes prompted this valuable collaboration. In both cases, a purple red shellac was used, obtained from an organic dye from the insect Laccifer lacca (R. Solé, R. Suárez and P. Rovira, Identification and comparative analysis of the red shellac used in the pictorial decoration of the tombs of the counts of Urgell and in that of the Virgin Mary of Bellpuig de les Avellanes, RESCAT, no. 25, p. 6-9, CRBMC, 2014).

The need to subject the sculpture to a conservationrestoration process was motivated by its shiny, and significantly darkened appearance, which, due to the accumulation of dirt, was covered in concretions of melted wax and remains of several old protein treatments applied to the Virgin Mary.

Intervention

During the cleaning test, this surface layer was found to be hard and resistant to the action of the aqueous buffer solutions. Due to its high effectiveness during the cleaning test, it was decided that a specific emulsion combined, in parts, with the mechanical action of a fibreglass pencil and scalpel would be applied. This helped remove the layers of surface dirt, and, at the same time, to preserve the underlying layers of polychrome.

The cleaning process resulted in the recovery of the vividness of the polychrome, which intensifies the magnificence of the attire of the Virgin Mary, reproduced by the sculptor and “painter” of the work in detail. It has been suggested that this sculptural work was the epitome of the splendour that characterized the court of the County of Urgell during the tenure of Pere d’Aragó and Margarida de Montferrat.

The work before the conservationrestoration process

Finished appearance of the work

During the cleaning treatment

Façade of Sant Pere de Galligants

Generic classification

Sculpture Object

Façade and portal Material/Technique Limestone (Girona stone) and lime mortar Title/Topic Plant, zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and mythical beast motifs

Date/Period 12th century, Romanesque period Dimensions 160 m² approximately Location Monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants, Girona (Gironès county) CRBMC Register NO 11502



The main façade of the church of the monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants (Girona headquarters of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia) consists of two superimposed rectangular bodies, in which the base is twice as wide as the crown. The façade is marked by the large rose window and a portal; both elements are considered Romanesque sculptural jewels. There are reliefs, archivolts and capitals, of great historical and artistic interest in an elegant synthesis of plant, zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and mythical beast motifs.

The work consists of stone blocks from Girona and lime mortar. Regarding the mortar, three types have been distinguished, two from previous restorations and one that we attribute to the initial period. This is an orange mortar of quicklime, heterometric aggregate and crushed brick.

Intervention

The cleaning process revealed the occasional presence of a black paint, located in the decoration of the archivolt. Using a pigment made from pyrolusite, these lines enhance the volume of the reliefs.

The façade suffered from the usual pathologies experienced by architectural elements exposed to the weather: lichens, plant growth, calcareous concretions in the shape of newly formed calcite, as a result of the dissolution of the limestone and its recarbonation. In the most protected areas, there were variable layers of black crusts and, occasionally, sulfation. Other damage included flaking and cracks, which were the main cause of the material losses of various kinds that were often star-shaped.

The remains of an orange patina, from various sources, were discovered, located mainly on the portal and in the rose window. This patina was, in part, artificially created after the construction of the façade, but also partly biological in the form of lichens and bacteria.

Our intervention focused on solving the problems related to the conservation of all the materials, including the patinas, with the aim of preserving the complexity of the monument in terms of its material and historical essence. The cleaning tasks, whether using chemical, mechanical or physical systems, guaranteed the integrity of the main elements that needed to be preserved, both the artificial and natural patinas and the black polychrome.

Meanwhile, the stone contained gaps, with a significant number of radial fractures, caused by the impact of bombs during the Napoleonic Wars. The testimony provided by the piece of this historical event advised against the replacement of the affected ashlars, even of the most deteriorated ones, so they were preserved by means of a meticulous task of micro-sealing of the fractures, in order to recover the solid

surface while maintaining the scars of war. For this laborious task of material reintegration, a mortar in the tone of Girona stone, a mixture of lime, sand and coloured marble dust, was used.

As a result, the architectural piece has regained its aesthetic unity, without losing the essence of the passage of history visible on its age-old material.

General view of the façade before the intervention

Close-up of the rose window during the laser cleaning process that ensured the preservation of the orange patina





General view of the façade after the intervention

Close-up of the decorations of the archivolts of the portal after the intervention; the preserved damage from bombing during the Spanish Civil War can be seen

Restoration Arcovaleno Restauro, SL. Rudi Ra nesi (team leader), Davide Belfiore, David Mallorquí and Albert Vila Documentation Kusi Colonna-Preti Year of restoration 2012

Renaissance

elements of the façade of the church of Santa Maria la Major of Prades

The construction of the church of Prades dates back to the Gothic period (13th century), made from two stones of local extraction: a red sandstone and specific areas of clear and soft limestone. The same elements were used in the 16th century to construct the architectural elements that decorated the main façade: the portal, the rose window and the crowning pediment. In a Renaissance style, these are included in the so-called Camp de Tarragona School.

State of conservation

Loss of material, rounding, honeycombing weathering, scaling, disintegration, cracks, broken ashlars and the general absence of joints were the result of the excessive exposure of the piece to the weather, to the deteriorating eroding effect of water, ice and wind and to biodeterioration.

Intervention

The intervention began with by eliminating plants and living organisms, located mostly on the cornices and upper parts of the pediments.

After some testing, an overall cleaning of the stone was carried out by microblasting it with fine aggregate at low pressure, in order to dry clean most of its superficial dust. A special laser for stone was used to maintain the yellowish natural patina and remove the existing black crust.

For the reintegration of the stone and the joints, different mortars were made by mixing white natural hydraulic

Generic classification

Sculpture

Object

Architectural elements: portal, rose window, crowning pediment and buttress

Material/Technique Limestone, carving Description

Elements of clear limestone from the main façade of the church; no intervention was carried out on the rest of the façade, made of red sandstone

Date/Period Between 1570 and 1578

Dimensions 17 × 15 m (façade pier, including buttress)

Location Church of Santa Maria la Major, Prades (Baix Camp county) CRBMC Register NO 11814

Restoration Chillida Conservació-Restauració Art, SLU: Javier Chillida (team leader), Diana Amade, Ana Cristina del Árbol, Albert Gaset and José Latorre

Collaboration

Joan Estradé (metalsmith), Àlex

lime with sands and marble dust of different granularity and colours. The honeycombed parts and the main cracks along the cornices and the pediments were filled in, including reinforcements of stainless steel where required.

Finally, two actions that had been considered in the initial plan were eventually deemed necessary: the inclusion of four new pieces of stone in the large cracks of the columns and the placement of a zinc protection on the cornice of the portal entablature. The missing parts of the columns were restored with the same local limestone, though not chromatically reintegrated.

One of the most damaged areas of the church façade was the central part of the entablature of the portal. To protect it, a zinc structure was designed and assembled, consisting of three pieces that fit together using a simple system of flaps. Only the centrepiece was fixed to the stone with stainless steel screws, using four small zinc lugs. One of the main objectives of the design of this structure was to facilitate its disassembly and reversibility.

The need for future maintenance of the work should be assessed in order to prolong the life of a monument that is exposed to very harsh environmental conditions.

— Javier Chillida

Entablature of the broken pediment

Laser cleaning of the black crust

Christ the Saviour of the Chapel of Irgo

Generic classification

Sculpture Object Carving

Material/Technique Stone with oil polychrome

Author Unknown Date/Period 15th century Dimensions 103 × 45 × 38 cm

Location Chapel of San Salvador, Irgo (Alta Ribagorça county)

CRBMC Register NO 11866

Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Anahí Meyer and Ares Pérez; collaboration: Sílvia Marín Year of restoration 2012

The Christ the Saviour is the central figure in the Baroque altarpiece of the chapel of Irgo, dating from 1708. It has, however, very little in common with the altarpiece, since its artistic quality is quite superior. Dr Francesca Español dates it back to the 15th century and attributes it to Jordi Safont’s workshop (F. Español, El gòtic català, Manresa, Angle, 2002, p. 288).

State of conservation

The figure has a lot of polychrome and one might think that at some point it was repainted, but a study carried out by (E. Aguado, A. M. Muñoz and J. Ibáñez, Transferts des techniques de taille et de polychromie de la sculpture en pierre bourguignonne à la Péninsule Ibérique. Apports pour leur conservation, restauration et entretien) determines that this is a technique that originated in Burgundy in 1406, which consisted of finishing the stone with a very small and fine serrated chisel on which a polychrome of drying oils was then applied. This technique was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by disciples of French architects such as Isambart and Pedro Jalopa, who worked in the Old Cathedral of Lleida and the Cathedral of Huesca, respectively.

The colour layers are simple, with no complex overlays. They use a mixture of basic lead carbonate with other pigments, such as red lead, copper green, and earth pigments. The orange primer is quite common in stone carvings. It acts as a chromatic background, as it brings light and naturalism to the cold hue of the stone, and also protects it from moisture and other external agents.

The carving had significant fractures caused by mishandling. Oral sources say that the Christ fell from a horse while it was being transported, for safety, during the Civil War. In previous interventions, these fractures had been repaired with cement, using a thick cement mortar, slate slabs and brick fragments in the space on the back.

Intervention

The restoration work consisted of removing the mortar from the back (a total of 25 kg of mortar was removed) in order to be able to release the eight fragments in which the piece was divided; the main fracture was at chest height and divided the sculpture into two blocks. As well as traces of cement in the joints, the figure had a surface layer of soot all over.

Subsequently, a dry mechanical cleaning process was carried out initially, followed by a chemical cleaning process on the front using a buffer solution, with a strong gelled chelating agent, ion exchange resin dressings with paper pulp in the areas with concretions and alcohol gel for the remains of cement. On the back, ammonium carbonate dressings were applied with paper pulp.

The fragments were adhered with a two-part epoxy resin. The junction of the thorax, as well as that of the left hand of the trunk, was reinforced with fibreglass bolts.

On the back, due to the disintegration of the stone, a hardener had to be applied all over with a flat brush. The volumetric reintegration of the cracks was done using a recessed mortar made of lime, sand and mineral pigments. As for the chromatic reintegration, this was carried out with limewater and pigments.

— Ares Pérez

Process of joining the fragments with resin

Close-up of the cleaning process

General view before and after the intervention

Gothic portal of the church of Sant Salvador de Vilanova de Meià

Generic classification Sculpture

Object

Gothic portal (“Porta Baix”) Material/Technique Sandstone, lime mortar and polychrome

Author Unknown workshop Date/Period 1327

Dimensions 9 × 7.60 m

On 24 June 2013, after ten months of intervention, the conservation-restoration process of the Gothic portal of the church of Sant Salvador in Vilanova de Meià was finally complete. This intervention, carried out under the technical supervision of the CRBMC, was subsidized through the Romànic Obert programme

This little gem of Gothic architecture has a set of unique features that sets it apart. One example is the plinth of the Virgin Mary that presides over the portal, which contains the inscription: “This image was created by Francesc Duluga in the year of our lord 1327”. Thanks to the date that appears on the inscription, and the information discovered so far, this is considered to be the first fully Gothic portal built in the province of Lleida.

The portal is framed in a rectangular structure that is supported on both sides by two buttresses. The opening is achieved using an ogival arch, which is amplified on the outside by sixteen moulded archivolts and two slanted jambs. Of the decoration crowning the portal, which will be detailed later, little has been preserved. Originally, it must have consisted of a central gable decorated with tracery, flanked by two gargoyles that drained the roof of the porch, and the corresponding pinnacles that culminated the decoration of the side buttresses. It preserves

Location Church of Sant Salvador de Vilanova de Meià (Noguera county)

CRBMC Register NO 12143

Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Ramon Solé (team leader), Mireia Canyadell, Rosaura Janó, Gemma Piqué, Jaime Salguero and Maite Serna

Years of restoration 2012-2013

important sculptural evidence distributed between the friezes of the jambs and the entrance arch.

State of conservation

The conservation-restoration process was long and complex due to the portal’s poor state of conservation. The origins of the pathologies it suffered lay in the nature of the stone that was used in its construction, on the one hand, and, on the other, in the damage that the church of San Salvador suffered during the civil wars of the 19th century. The conservationrestoration process that was carried out enabled the damage suffered by the stone to be stabilized, and helped to preserve the remains of polychrome that decorate the exquisite sculptural work that presides over the entrance arch.

Intervention

Of all the treatments applied as part of the conservationrestoration process, the treatment for gaps was essential to overcome one of the most important challenges posed by this action: how to display the missing or very deteriorated parts of the portal without resorting to reconstructing them or replacing them with newly made stone elements. Therefore, the deteriorated and missing parts of the Gothic portal of Sant Salvador de Vilanova de Meià underwent a treatment for gaps, which were reintegrated using lime mortar.

The treatment for gaps applied to the Gothic portal made it possible, on the one hand, to respect the identity of the work granted by its authors during the creative process and, on the other, to maintain all those contributions that, positively or negatively, have changed its appearance over time. It was important that the restoration process keep all these variants visible in the final presentation of the work, so that they could be recognized and understood for the readability of the portal.

— Ramon Solé

Central set of sculptures after the conservationrestoration treatment

Finished appearance of the portal

 Gothic portal of the church of Sant Salvador before the conservationrestoration process



Mapping of the portal showing the areas that were treated for gaps

Lavatorium of the cloister of the monastery of Santes Creus

Generic classification

Architectural element

Object

Lavatorium or washbasin Material/Technique Marble carving Date/Period 12th century Dimensions 3 × 1.2 m

Location Main cloister of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus, Aiguamúrcia (Alt Camp county)

CRBMC Register NO 12151

Coordination Pere Rovira

The main cloister of the Gothic monastery of Santes Creus was built in 1331 to replace the previous Romanesque one, of which only the hexagonal pavilion of the lavatorium remains. This lavatorium is found after entering the cloister through the front door of the south wing and is where the monks washed their hands before meals. This fountain is from around the same period as the fountain in the cloister of the monastery of Poblet.

Description

This lavatorium is fed by a water source that comes directly from the outside and is located in the centre of the pavilion. It consists of two quite different parts that correspond to two historical periods. From the ground, on a first step, rises the cylindrical basin, consisting of three rows of uniform stone ashlars topped by a curved row that outlines it. Centered inside this basin, a circular pile of marble with stylized shapes and geometric profiles rises like a cup. Around the perimeter of this cup, there are eighteen troughs through which the water flows to the basin. The exact shape is uncertain due to the state of conservation of the piece. It contains a calcareous crust produced by the dripping of water over a period of fifty years which completely blurs its aesthetic quality.

State of conservation

The main cause of the alteration is the hardness of this water, which contains a large amount of carbonates. These, over the years, have formed several crusts of calcareous concretion that in some parts are over 40 cm thick. These biomorphic concretions are mostly concentrated in the fountain of the upper body and in the cup, from where the water pours out poorly. Due to the obstruction of the drainage holes as a result

of calcification, the water overflows from the basin and spills out unevenly on all sides.

In addition, there is an extensive colonization of mosses and plants, as well as microorganisms located in the grouting of ashlars. The true condition of the stone can only be perceived after cleaning, since it is hidden by the concretions and vegetation. These alterations, the product of years of use, of the hardness of the water and of the outdoor location basically include superficial dirt, fine calcareous concretions and areas of black crust, as well physical issues with the stone itself, such as flaking, erosion, cracks and fissures. Some parts have disintegrated and contain soluble salts, the result of the repair mortars used to realign the elements that make up the basin.

Intervention

The intervention was basically mechanical, although a chemical cleaning for the black crusts, carbonation layers and biological colonization was required. The most complex part was the removal of the limestone concretion, which was completely uneven, using all possible mechanical methods. The most important thing was to find the point where the original stone emerged, since there was no visual reference, just a few old photos that depicted its shape. On the upper level, where it looked like there might be a second cup, there turned out to be nothing.

The fact is that the elements that comprise the basin are in direct contact with water, so constant maintenance will be required.

— Pere Rovira

Process of removing the accumulation of calcareous deposits

2012-2013

General view of the lavatorium towards the end of the intervention

Appearance of the stone surface covered in calcareous concretions, salts and biological elements

Restoration Nicola de la Aldea, Aleix Barberà, Marina Blanch, Oriol Bonjoch, Carla Enrique, Sílvia Marín, Marga Massanet and Ares Pérez Years of restoration

Intervention on the main façade of the church of Santa Maria de Guissona

Generic classification

Sculpture

Object Main façade

Material/Technique Sandstone, lime mortar and tempera paint

Title/Topic Architectural work with sculptural and pictorial ornamentation

Author

Marià Enric and Josep Burià (architects) Date/Period 1776-1800

Among the main factors that explain the poor state of conservation of the façade are the physical limitations of the stone used and the difficulties associated with maintaining a work of this size. The usual effects of rainwater on a sedimentary sandstone have been aggravated by the high content of clays, distributed heterogeneously in the form of seams and nodules, ranging in diameter from 1 to 25 mm. Repeated hydration and evaporation cycles have lead to their expansion and triggered a process of fragmentation and loss of stone material.

State of conservation

The advanced deteriorated state of some architectural elements was a very significant factor in establishing the guidelines that needed to be followed to properly homogenize the entire piece. Every part had to be stabilized and, at the same time, the limits of the restoration needed to be established to ensure the application only of what was necessary. Only by establishing these limits could the balance between the structural needs of such a work, characterized by the symmetry and sharpness of the architectural lines, and the conservation-restoration concepts embodied in international charters be ensured.

Intervention

Dimensions 20 × 29 m (approximately 560 m²)

Location

Church of Santa Maria, Guissona (Segarra county)

CRBMC Register NO 12356

Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration

Albert Gaset (project manager), Ricard Bernet, Mireia Canyadell, Elena Iglesias, Jose Latorre, Esteve Loire, Anna Marzemin and Conxita Piqué

Once the massive presence of foreign materials deposited on the succession of entablatures that adorn the façade had been removed, pneumatic tools were used to eliminate two different types of modern mortars: one of a synthetic nature that filled all the joints between the ashlars and, along the lower section of the building, the reintegrations using cement that masked the deterioration of the material caused by rising damp. The cleaning process involved both dry cleaning using a mini-gun along the wall and chemical cleaning using a hydroalcoholic solution combined with the occasional use of a micro sandblaster on the surface of the sculptural elements. The consolidation of the base material also combined two procedures: the impregnation with ethyl silicate of the weakened and disintegrated areas of the stone, and the injection of hydraulic mortar to stabilize of the areas with cracks, deformations and widespread scaling. This process involved the dismantling, cataloguing and relocation of numerous fragments of very variable sizes and weights, which is why different fastening systems were used. Following archeological criteria based on a policy of minimum intervention, a single type of mortar was used, both for large losses in the stone material and for losses in the mortar joins. This solution ensured a more ordered and interpretable result. The executed processes will only have been worthwhile in the medium and long term if the numerous preventive conservation measures proposed initially in the restoration plan are ultimately followed. Following the established guidelines, the last phase of the intervention focused on protecting the surface with repeated applications of limewater, the restoration of rainwater drainage systems, the protection of cornices with zinc sheets fitted with a gutter and the installation of anti-bird spikes.

— Albert Gaset

Close-up of the volumetric reintegration in one of the adjoined columns

 Example of the advanced process of disintegration and loss of base material suffered by all the architectural elements of the piece

 Right entablature during the last phase of the intervention

Collaboration

Year of restoration 2018

Enric Porta (sculptural reproductions), Joan Ribera (stone restorations)

Appearance of the façade after the restoration

Restoration of the Virgin of the Patronage of Cardona

Generic classification

Sculpture Object

Carving Material/Technique

Carved and polychrome stone. Oil and gilding Title/Topic Virgin of the Patronage

Author

Attributed to the Master of Rieux Date/Period 14th century

Dimensions 145 × 55 × 42 cm

Location Parish church of Sant Miquel and Sant Vicenç, Cardona (Bages county)

CRBMC Register NO 12374 Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Rosaura Janó and Ramon Solé

This magnificent Gothic Virgin and Child is worshiped in the parish church of Sant Miquel de Cardona, under the auspices of the Patronage. It is almost life size and is made of polychrome stone. Dr Francesca Español has attributed it to the Rieux workshop. It shows Mary standing, in a characteristic contrapposto, holding her son with her left arm, while her right hand holds an open book in which is written the first sentence of the Magnificat. This image has been repaired and modified several times throughout its history. The most traumatic was the destruction it suffered at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and its subsequent reconstruction in 1937, from those original fragments that could be recovered (R. Solé, Étude et restauration de la Vierge à l’Enfant de Cardona. Tolouse au XIVe siècle, Tolosa, Presses Universitaires du Midi, 2018, in print).

State of conservation

In November 2014, an organoleptic examination was performed on the Virgin of the Patronage, since parts of the base showed signs of damage and there were alterations in the polychrome that needed to be treated immediately. This resulted in a conservation-restoration process that took place at the CRBMC.

Once transferred to the Centre, a scientific analysis of the work was carried out, which consisted of taking x-rays and examining photographs taken with UV and IR light. Representative samples of stone and polychrome were also extracted to be analysed under stereo microscopy, optical microscopy (OM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GS-MS) and SEM DX.

Intervention

During the conservation-restoration process, the base was stabilized, the damage was repaired and the layers that obscured the surface of the Virgin Mary were removed. The scientific study revealed that the sculpture, apart from the accumulation of dirt on the surface, contained a varnish made   Control with ultraviolet light during cleaning treatment

of sandarac resin. The ageing of this gave the sculpture a shiny yellowish appearance that affected the appreciation of the original colours. The cleaning operation consisted, first, of removing with a vacuum cleaner and flat brush the dust sediments accumulated on the surface of the sculpture, and the remnants of wax using a scalpel. Subsequently, it was chemically cleaned using a pH 5.3 buffer solution to remove soot and smoke residue that had stuck to the surface. Finally, a gel containing ethyl lactate and Klucel ® G was used to remove the sandarac varnish. The gel ensured the action of the solvent was limited to the surface of the varnish without affecting the underlying layers. Previous studies have discovered that sandarac varnish emits a characteristic colour when exposed to UV radiation. Photographic monitoring of the cleaning process using the technique of visible fluorescence with UV radiation made it possible to control the effectiveness of the gel in removing it.

— Ramon Solé

Virgin of the Patronage before the conservationrestoration process

Appearance of the work after the conservationrestoration process

Portal of the church of the Assumption in Gandesa

The Romanesque portal of the church of the Assumption in Gandesa, located on the northern façade of the church of Romanesque origin, is a typical example of the socalled Lleida School; stylistically, it follows the principal exponents of the portals of the Old Cathedral and Santa Maria d’Agramunt. It has an eclectic style, due to a mix of Toulousian and Lombardian influences and Andalusianinspired ornamentation, which is explained by the involvement of Saracen artisans in the work.

The constituent material is a relatively crystalline limestone, similar to that used in the church of Vinaixa. It is carved in squared ashlars and arranged in uniform rows, or sculpted in bas-reliefs in geometric shapes, plant-inspired motifs and figurative motifs.

State of conservation

The stone was in quite good condition generally, though covered with a lot of dirt and deposits, including a thick biogenic layer. There were also signs of surface erosion, honeycomb weathering, gaps and displacements in the ashlars, as well as insufficient grouting and several added cements.

The most delicate issue derived from the discovery of various patinas found on the surface. The most visible was dark in colour, widespread and shiny, which significantly altered the

Generic classification Sculpture Object

Portal of the north façade Material/Technique

Local limestone and lime and sand mortar for the grouting of ashlars and voussoirs. Sculptural elements carved in bas-relief Title/Topic Intertwined plant and geometric decorations and figurative motifs of religious and symbolic themes (human figurations, mythical beasts

and other grotesque figures)

Author Lleida School Date/Period Mid or second quarter of the 13th century

Dimensions 8.42 × 8.97 × 0.60 m

Location Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Gandesa (Terra Alta county)

CRBMC Register NO 12379

aesthetics of the monument. A stratigraphic cross-section revealed several layers on top of the stone substrate. First, a widespread layer over the stone substrate, formed by calcite and small amounts of clay giving it an orange colour. This was a natural patina, formed over time and the result of the environmental conditions and the metabolic activity of certain organisms. Next, there was a black layer, which contained gypsum. It was potentially an incipient stage of black crust, but we could not exclude that possibility that it was an artificial patina. Finally, we discovered a third transparent layer, shiny and cracked, on top of the black patina. Calcium oxalate was also detected, as well as an organic-synthetic resin probably applied as a protective product.

Intervention

The removal of both the added resin layer and the dark patina was considered appropriate. To achieve this, a physical clean was carried out using laser technology, applied at a controlled distance from the base material and regulating the frequency and energy density. This system allowed for selective cleaning, the removal of the dark patina and the resin, while protecting the natural patina of the stone.

For the cleaning of other areas of the façade, other procedures were used depending on the requirements, with the aim of standardizing the whole work and improving its aesthetic appearance.

The material reintegration of the stone gaps and grouting also played a key role in the recovery of the aesthetic unity of the work. All these restorations were carried out with lime mortar, sand and stone powder. In the area of the archivolts and columns, a stone-coloured mortar was used to restore the original unity of a sculptural work with no solution for its continuity.

— Rudi Ranesi

Planimetric study and mapping of the portal; reintegration mortars used:

 Mortar 1: Filler between ashlars  Mortar 2: Filler on portal  Mortar 3: Holes, fissures and cracks  Mortar 4: Reintegration of the cornice

Restoration

Documentation

Neus Casal and Caridad de la Peña. Photos: Verònica Moragas Year of restoration 2015

 Close-up of a sculptural element of the portal after the intervention

 General view of the portal after the intervention

Arcovaleno Restauro, SL: Rudi Ranesi (team leader), Eva Bermejo, Silvia Bottaro and José Luis Palomares

Portal of Saint Eulalia of Barcelona cathedral

The portal of Santa Eulàlia, located on the south-west façade of Barcelona Cathedral, offers access to the cloister of the cathedral complex. Built in 1410, it has Gothic architectural features; the use of an ogival arch, the exterior canopy in the shape of an ogee and the slender side pinnacles are examples of the late Gothic or Flamboyant style.

The archivolts and pointed arch rest on adjoined columns; these have capitals showing plant motifs and moulded bases, raised on an ashlar podium. The archivolts are also richly decorated, with plant motifs and animal, human and grotesque figurations.

Generic classification Sculpture

Object Portal

Material/Technique

Stone from Montjuïc cut in high and low reliefs, and grouted with lime and sand mortar. Remains of polychromes and artificial patina. Bronze halo and cross of Christ. Sculpture of Saint Eulalia in polychrome polyester resin, with wooden cross and wrought iron palm branch

Title/Topic

Façade of the south-east side of the cloister of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia

Description Reliefs with figurative motifs (animal, human and grotesque figures), plant elements and traceries. Figure of Christ with cherubs, figure of Santa Eulalia and heraldic motifs

Author Unknown Date/Period Early 15th century (ca. 1410)

The piece is presided over by the figure of a blessing Christ, accompanied by cherubs. On the tympanum there is a sculpture of Saint Eulalia ennobled by a Gothic-style dossal and flanked by two coats of arms of Bishop Sapera, while on the lintel there is an inscription of an article of the Spanish Constitution, added during the Liberal Triennium, in capital letters and half hidden by a brown pictorial coating applied at the end of the Liberal Triennium.

Finally, all around the portal there are remains of polychromes and patinas, original and added, which, despite their fragmentary state, provide clear evidence of what the monument should look like.

Planimetric study and mapping of the portal, which details the stone consolidation and reintegration processes and the attachment of the polychrome:

Adhesion of fragments

Reattachment of ashlars

Ethyl silicate

General view of the portal after the restoration

Dimensions 9.5 × 5.5 m (up to the crown of the façade)

Location

Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12978

Restoration

Arcovaleno Restauro, SL: Rudi Ranesi (team leader), Maria Borja, Jose Latorre, Gianpiero Lauriola, Jose Luis Palomares and David Quintela

Documentation

Neus Casal and Caridad de la Peña. Photographies and audiovi sual report: Verònica Moragas Years of restoration 2016-2017

Close-up of the sculptural work that crowns the outer archivolt; figure of a blessing Christ, accompanied by two cherubs. The halo of Christ and the cross of the globus cruciger he is holding with his left hand are both bronze pieces embedded in the stone sculpture

The stone used is from Montjuïc, carved into ashlars arranged in uniform rows, or cut to form mouldings and reliefs. The joints between the various elements were grouted with a lime and sand mortar, partially replaced by cement.

During the restoration process the presence of various decorative coatings was detected: artificial patinas, which depending on the area were preserved more or less evenly and were hidden by the darkened surfaces. Of note was an orange patina, made of gypsum stained with a mineral pigment, which seemed to have been applied with the intention of making the stone appear more uniform.

State of conservation

In general, the portal was in a poor state of conservation, to varying degrees depending on the area. Of particular note was the abundant amount of dirt, bird droppings and a black crust, which mainly affected the reliefs that crowned the work. It had also suffered physicomechanical alterations, some of which had resulted in losses of material.

Intervention

The intervention focused on cleaning the surfaces and stabilizing the constituent materials, by consolidating and

sealing the whole work, while reintegrating some loss of material that made the reading of the monument difficult, in order to restore its aesthetic unity.

Based on these objectives, the intervention followed the criteria of minimum intervention and focused on the preservation of both the artistic and historical aspect of the monument; a decision was taken to preserve all the added elements and materials that make up part of the portal’s history, such as the inscription and the patinas.

Of the different processes, the most complex was the cleaning, since it required leaving the patinas and polychromes intact. A mechanical and abrasive cleaning process was carried out, combined with physical cleaning using a laser.

Finally, it is worth noting that the damage caused by the bombings during the Spanish Civil War, considered a historically significant element, was preserved.

— Rudi Ranesi

These statues were part of the decoration of the scaenae frons of the Tarraco theatre, built in the time of Augustus. They were found during the archaeological excavations that took place in the early 20th century in that location.

In order to restore them in a space with the appropriate equipment, the pieces were transferred to the CRBMC wall painting and stone sculpture laboratory, where the necessary conservation and restoration treatments have been performed in order to improve their state of conservation and readability.

The figures represent members of the imperial family, two of them dressed in togas and the other wearing military attire. The larger than life-sized statues were carved in Carrara marble and were originally polychromed.

State of conservation

The sculptures had lost parts that, during their creation, had originally been carved from separate blocks, such as the heads, arms and hands. Where these joined with the limbs, some of the iron rods used to support the connections

Cleaning a fragment of one of the togas

Generic classification Sculpture

Object

Three statues

Material/Technique

Marble carving with remains of polychrome Description

Two figures with togas and one with a cuirass Date/Period 1st century

Dimensions

CRBMC 13386: togaed statue, possibly Augustus. 283 × 85 × 52 cm; CRBMC 13387: cuirassed statue 200 × 94 × 47 cm; CRBMC 13388: togaed statue, possibly Claudius. 200 × 76 × 40 cm

Origin Roman theatre. Tarragona (Tarragonès county)

Location National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT)

were preserved, though they were showing signs of rust. It is worth noting that the main structures had suffered material losses, cracks and fractures.

We found drip stains from synthetic resins used to join fragments, reintegration plaster work and on the surface there were widespread dirt deposits.

The state of conservation of the polychrome varied from statue to statue, although most of it had been lost, especially in one of the togaed figures and the one with the cuirass.

As for the material losses, one of the togaed figures and the one with a cuirass were missing part of their lower limbs, so they required supports to be exhibited upright.

Intervention

The process involved applying various treatments. A general cleaning of the surfaces of the works was carried out, first dry and then with a solution prepared with chelators. Depending on the case, the product was applied either using cotton swabs or using sheets of kitchen roll. It was also necessary to remove the elements of plaster reintegration and remains of glue (mostly in the form of a drip stains) used in an previous intervention to join the fragments of the cuirassed statue. The elements of plaster reintegration on one of the togaed statues was also eliminated.

These operations were done mechanically and, in the case of the glue, a solvent was first applied using a poultice, in order to soften it. The polychrome that remained on the toga of one of the pieces was cleaned with a rubber eraser and a vulcanized smoke sponge. In some parts, the polychrome was consolidated with an acrylic resin solution. The metallic elements were cleaned mechanically and an inhibitor and a layer of acrylic resin was subsequently applied to the surface. Several stone fragments were also stuck back together using synthetic resins. Some gaps cracks and joints of the fractured parts required reintegration. In this case, a mortar made of marble powder and a synthetic binder was used.

Support systems

It was necessary to design and build support elements adapted to the characteristics of two of the pieces, in order to keep them upright. In the case of the cuirassed sculpture, a metal structure was built that holds it up without the need for any bolts. Regarding the togaed statue, an element with high resistance resin was developed based on a 3D model, machined with a numerical milling machine.

— Pau Arroyo

Conservation-restoration of three Roman-era statues from the collection at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT)

Coordination

Pere Rovira Restoration Pau Arroyo (team leader), Adrià Arroyo, Francisco Justicia and Ares Pérez Year of restoration

The cuirassed sculpture installed on the support structure

Prosthesis adapted to the sculpture to stabilize it

2

Sculpture and painting on wood

High

altarpiece of the Assumption of the Virgin, from the parish church of Santa Maria d’Arenys de Mar

Generic classification

Wood sculpture and painting on canvas

Object Altarpiece Material/Technique Wood carving, oil, tempera and gold leaf

Description

High altarpiece dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Author

Pau Costa (1706-1710). Gilding: Erasme Vinyals and Fèlix Vinyals (1711-1712)

Date/Period 1706-1712 Dimensions 18 × 10.5 × 3 m

Location Parish church of Santa Maria. Are nys de Mar (Maresme county) CRBMC Register NO 3014

Coordination Natàlia Sánchez and Alícia Santomà

The parish church of Santa Maria, in Arenys de Mar, contains one of the most important altarpieces of the Catalan Baroque, declared a cultural asset of national interest (BCIN): the high altarpiece of the Assumption of the Virgin.

During the Spanish Civil War, the altarpiece suffered severe damage, and some of the original sculptures and decorations disappeared. During the years following the war, some of the lost elements were added and rebuilt, as were the side walls of the sculptural piece. Since 1982, the CRBMC has been responsible for any restoration and monitoring of the state of conservation of the altarpiece.

State of conservation

As a result of a now inactive termite attack, there were some specific areas of the base material that were extremely weak. Overall, there were decorative elements that were inappropriately anchored which endangered the stability of the piece.

The surface layer was the most problematic area. An accumulation of dust, dirt and animal excrement was a major source of rot, infestation and moisture. Beneath this surface

dirt was a layer of very rusty varnish, along with remnants of wax. All this meant that the altarpiece could not be appreciated in all its splendour.

Intervention

During October 2014, the first phase of action began, in which the polychrome was affixed using vinyl resin. An initial clean of the surface dust was then carried out with brushes and vacuum cleaners, and this was followed by a chemical clean. An aqueous solution with a pH of 5.5 was used along with an oil emulsion for the gilding. Subsequently, work was carried out to consolidate, fix and reinforce the base material.

During the cleaning process, varnish removal tests were performed, and samples of the polychrome and surface layers of the altarpiece were taken. The analysis detected the presence of alkyd resin, beeswax and acrylic resin, all three layers applied one on top of the other.

The most important discovery was that all the skin tones had been repainted so the original polychrome was covered. For this reason a second intervention was begun in the following months.

Close-up of one of the panels during cleaning

Cleaning process

Close-up of the estofado on the dresses of the Virgin Mary after the intervention

Lighting plans Intervento

General image of the altarpiece before the intervention

Restoration Maria Veronica Natoli, Natàlia Nogueras, Gemma Planas, Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull.

Interns: Marzia Projetto and Ana Ureta

CRBMC 2011-2018 / Sculpture and painting on wood

In the second phase, the intervention focused on cleaning the polychrome: removal of the varnish, the layers of dirt and wax in between, and the re-creating the polychrome of the skin tones.

The usual tests were performed following the CRBMC’s cleaning methodology, and a mixture of three solvents in equal proportions was applied using cotton poultices. In some cases, the oil layer of the repainting was so thick and hard that it had to be mechanically cleaned using a scalpel.

To remove the wax residue between the layers of varnish and the dirt, a hot air micro-blower was used, with a hydrocarbonsoaked swab.

As the cleaning progressed, it became clear that most of the original polychrome was in good condition, except for the main sculptures of the saints and angels, where it was heavily worn away and burned in places.

The fabric on the door that encloses the monstrance, in the predella of the altarpiece, was in very good condition in terms of base material and polychrome. The varnish was cleaned and a new layer applied with a low molecular weight product.

Once the whole process of cleaning the altarpiece was finished, it was decided that approach to the final presentation would respect the original as much as possible. First, the reliefs and sculptures were given a protective layer with a low-concentration acrylic resin, and a chromatic reintegration was carried out with watercolours. The principle of creating an illusion was combined with the use of neutral ink, depending on the type of loss of material in question. To finish, a final layer of protection was applied with a flat brush, using the same acrylic resin mentioned above, over the whole altarpiece.

As a complementary project to the restoration, it was decided that the entire lighting system of the altarpiece would be renovated with a system of LED lights. This now provides a uniform lighting and also avoids overheating of the altarpiece and reduces energy costs.

Close-up of The Presentation before the intervention

— Natàlia Sánchez and Alícia Santomà

Close-up of The Presentation after the intervention

Image of the altarpiece with scaffolding

The high altarpiece of the parish church of Sant Andreu de Llavaneres

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object

Altarpiece

Material/Technique

Carving and oil painting, tempera and gilding

Topic

Altarpiece of Sant Andreu

Author

Sculpture and architecture: Gaspar Huguet and Joan Aragall. Painting, gilding and polychrome: Joan Baptista Toscano, 1583-1612

Date 1583-1612

Dimensions 13.15 × 7.50 × 1 m

Location Parish church of Sant Andreu,

Sant Andreu de Llavaneres (Maresme county)

CRBMC Register NO 6357

CRBMC Coordination Josep Paret (management)

Restoration CRBMC workshops: Vicky Homedes and Glòria Flinch.

In situ: Jesús Zornoza (team leader), Cira Castells, Pau Claramonte, Pep Miret (wooden support), Oriol Mora, Gemma Planas, Natàlia Sánchez, Alícia Santomà and Montserrat Xirau.

Intern: Miquel Ribas Carpentry support CRBMC Carmelo Ortega Years of restoration 2009-2012

The Mannerism style Sant Andreu altarpiece is one of the most important of its time still preserved in Catalonia. Construction started in 1583 at the hands of Gaspar Huguet. When he died in 1585, he was replaced by Joan Aragall, who finished his work in 1594. The polychrome was later added the Milanese painter Joan Baptista Toscano, who completed it in 1612.

The piece comes from the old parish church of Sant Andreu de Llavaneres. During the Spanish Civil War, the altarpiece suffered damage, including the disappearance of some elements and carvings, and above all the loss of the entire

base. These alterations can be seen in photos from the archive. Later, and prior to 1944, a new marble base was created and the paintings of the four evangelists were commissioned to Lluís Masriera.

The altarpiece is made of poplar wood and is structured around a grid of entablatures and columns. This grid contains adjoined niches, with sculptures interspersed with panels.

The sculptures are made of cypress and poplar wood, and the skin tones are painted in oil. As for the polychrome, it contains decorative Mannerist motifs laden with decorations



Photograph from 1936. General view of the altarpiece before the Spanish Civil War

© Arxiu Fotogràfic Mas

 The altarpiece before the intervention

Close-up of an uplifted area Photograph with raking light

Photograph of the panel Martyrdom of Saint Andrew with UV light

Photograph of the panel Martyrdom of Saint Andrew with IR light

of grotesque reliefs, with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic elements, and metamorphosed beings. The whole altarpiece is gilded with fine burnished gold applied over red bole. The piece is also layered with sgraffiti, shellac and tempera decorations applied with a brush. The most delicate and exuberant decorations are found in the carvings, especially that of Saint Andrew, with estofado plant motifs on sgraffitoed shellac and a magnificent cloak with all kinds of miniature details, with fantastic animals, plant motifs, angels in relief moulding and enriched with a wide range of colours.

State of conservation

There was a lot of dirt and a lot of mouse droppings on the back of the altarpiece. It was full of holes made by xylophagous insects but only recent ones on the cornice of the upper entablature.

Due to some form of flame or high temperature, the polychrome was had blistered in places. Despite this, however, the different layers were well adhered to each other. The pictorial layer was covered in dust and dirt. The surface showed signs of wear all over, caused by very abrasive cleaning processes carried out with water and scourers, which had eroded the gold leaf and had even worn some sculptures down to the preparation layer. In general, the wear and tear was significant, resulting in the loss of glazes of the skin tones and details such as eyebrows and eyelashes.

Unlike the sculptural elements of the altarpiece, the panels were varnished. This yellowing varnish had been applied

unevenly and drips had formed. The predella had been completely repainted with purpurin, which had already oxidized, applied with the intention of hiding very worn areas.

Intervention

First, the dirt on the back of the altarpiece was vacuumed and a hydro-alcoholic cleaning of the wood was, carried out. The entire surface of the non-polychromed wood was disinfested by impregnation. A low concentration acrylic resin was then applied and all of the lighting material, wiring, and nails from the back were removed.

On the front, the dust was removed with paintbrushes and vacuum cleaners, and it was disinfested using a syringe in parts. The panels restored at the CRBMC underwent and anoxic disinfestation treatment. As for the pictorial layer, an aqueous cleaning system was first applied followed by another using gelled solvents, in order to remove the varnishes from the panels, as well as the purpurin from the predella. The entire surface of the altarpiece was cleaned with a W/O emulsion and the tempera was cleaned with a rubber eraser.

The chromatic reintegration was carried out using watercolours and a final protective layer was applied to the whole piece in the form of a low molecular weight varnish.

— Jesús Zornoza

 Back of a panel before the restoration  Close-up of the construction technique of the panels: reinforcement of the posts with crossbars with dovetail rabbet  The altarpiece after the intervention

Recovery of the altarpiece of Sant Sadurní de Malanyeu

The altarpiece of Sant Sadurní was created between 1714 and 1724, as can be seen in two inscriptions on the altarpiece. The authorship is attributed to Segimon Pujol, although there is no written reference from the period.

During the Spanish Civil War, the altarpiece was taken down from the church in Malanyeu. During this process, some parts were ripped up, many were lost and others were severely damaged, with mutilations. Later, Father Manuel Serra Cirera and the people of the village recovered all the pieces they could and reassembled it. In order to do so, they had to replace the missing parts, and the solution they used was to replace these with parts from other altarpieces and put all the pieces together, even if it was not in the proper place.

State of conservation

The first thing we noticed was how the element were haphazardly arranged. Original pieces had been placed in areas that did not correspond to them, such as the date of the gilding, located on the side of one of the niches and positioned vertically. But the most serious damage was not visible, it came to light during the disassembly. It was found to be in a very poor state of conservation. The base material showed serious damage from xylophagous insects that had caused the internal weakening of the wood. This was extreme in some parts, where only a superficial layer of polychrome was preserved; the inside was all dusty, so it hadn’t lost its supporting function.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process began with its transfer to the CRBMC. Once there, it was disinfested in the anoxic

Generic classification Wood sculpture

Object

Altarpiece

Material/Technique

Polychrome wood carving, oil, tempera and gilding

Description Altarpiece of Sant Sadurní

Author

Unknown. It is attributed to Segimon Pujol, although there is no written reference to it at the time Date/Period Sculpture: 1714. Gilding and polychrome: 1727

Dimensions 5.59 × 3.60 × 0.72 m

Location

High altar of the church of Sant Sadurní, Malanyeu (la Nou de Berguedà, Berguedà county)

CRBMC Register NO 10647

Coordination

Josep Paret Restoration

Koro Abalia, Imma Amorós, Eulàlia Aragonés, Claustre Augé and Rosaura Janó (Kreit-restauro, SL)

chamber. It was then consolidated and reconstructed volumetrically using various methods: glass microspheres, epoxy mastic resin, and cedarwood grafts.

One of the most complex parts of the intervention was working out the correct order for all the elements and determining those that did not belong to the altarpiece. The whole left side was a jumble of pieces. We had to disassemble all the elements and group them so they could be analysed. For the reconstruction, we had the right corner of the altarpiece as a starting point.

The lost or non-original structural elements, such as the tiers or niche panels, were reconstructed with cedarwood. However, to fit in the elements for the ornamental parts of the canopy and the left medallion, we needed a rigid and, at the same time, light base material. It was decided that two panels would be built with plywood, with the profile taken from the same symmetrical element of the right corner.

The chromatic reconstruction of the new panels was done with a digital image transfer technique. This consists of sticking on a vinyl print with a photographic reproduction taken from the symmetrical area of altarpiece itself. This involves a special solvent-free, neutral-pH PVC vinyl. The original elements recovered from the altarpiece are placed on top of these images. This system allows for a uniform reading of the whole piece, and at the same time helps easily identify nonoriginal parts, since it is a contemporary technique and also easily reversible.

— Kreit-restauro, SL

Carpentry-woodwork

Mireia

and Carmelo Ortega

Disassembly/Assembly

Left medallion after the intervention

Left medallion before the intervention

Campanyà

Oriol Mora, Carmelo Ortega, Josep

CRBMC 2011-2018 / Sculpture and painting on wood

Altarpiece of Sant Bartomeu from the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès

Generic classification

Wood carving, painting on wood and painting on canvas

Object

Altarpiece

Material/Technique

Altarpiece: polychrome wood carving in tempera, gilding, estofado and oil painting for the skin tones. Central scene: oil painting on canvas

Title/Topic Altarpiece of Sant Bartomeu

Author

Carving: attributed to Francesc Santacruz i Artigues (documented

between 1665 and 1721).

Canvas: Miquel March (València, 1633-1670)

Date/Period 1672: the central part of the entablature shows the date on which it was polychromed Dimensions

6.20 × 7.75 × 0.62 m. Central canvas: 2.50 × 1.60 m

Location

Chapel of Sant Bartomeu in the church of the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Vallès Occidental county)

The baroque altarpiece of Sant Bartomeu is of the type that was made from one body with a large central scene, in this case, a large canvas (2.50 × 1.60 m) depicting the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew. All the elements (canopy, panels and columns) are distributed symmetrically with the representations of the saints. The piece is preserved almost intact, only the small carving of Saint Hermenegild does not seem to belong to the altarpiece. There is no altar, and the entire lower part of the altarpiece was modified in a previous modern-day intervention, with new elements in the central and right part of the base, such as the angel which replaced the lost original.

State of conservation

A severe termite attack detected at the bottom meant that the piece had to be disassembled so the conservation-restoration intervention could be carried out in the CRBMC’s workshops. This was done in two phases: first, work was carried out on the support and the oil-painted canvas was restored; the second phase consisted of treating the altarpiece’s polychrome.

Intervention

The dismantling of the altarpiece made it possible to attribute the authorship of the central painting to Miquel March (1633-1670), a Valencian artist who belonged to the Ribalta workshop. This attribution was possible thanks to the inscription found on the back of the canvas, Miquel March me fecit, and the visible signature after the polychrome had been restored.

The canvas provides important information about the work and the period in which it was created, since it has never been

restored: the original frame, the nails that attach the canvas to the frame, the way they are nailed, the seams of the canvas, its inscriptions... The conservative restoration criteria that was followed focused on respecting these characteristics and improving their readability. The perimeter of the canvas was reinforced in the places where the nails were located, without taking them out. The tears were restitched thread by thread. Once the canvas had been reinforced, the pictorial layer was attached and cleaned. Directional hatching was used to reintegrate the faces, with the engraving by Josep de Ribera used as a reference, since Miquel March literally copied the scene.

The second phase of the intervention involved attaching, cleaning and reintegrating the polychrome of the sculptural elements. Of note was the discolouration of the gilding.

The polychrome was covered with a very dark surface layer caused by pollutants, and also by the presence of a very altered synthetic resin, applied during a previous intervention. After an initial aqueous cleaning process, it was then cleaned again using gelled solvents, allowing a longer application and, at the same time, decreasing the penetration of the product.

The varnish for the whole piece was made using a long-lasting low molecular weight resin, except for three of the elements of the altarpiece, which were varnished with an acrylic resin. Working at the CRBMC facilities enabled us to study how these two resins age within the same piece and environmental context.

— Kreit-restauro, SL

Close-up of Saint Luke before and after the restoration

Restoration of the polychrome Koro Abalia, Imma Amorós, Eulàlia Aragonés, Claustre Augé, Rosaura Janó and Eulàlia Soler

Restoration of the support Voravit Roonthiva (team leader), Pau Claramonte, Marta Estadella, and the collaboration of the interns Cira Castells, Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull Disassembly

Pep Paret (CRBMC) and Voravit Roonthiva (team leader). Koro Abalia, Imma Amorós, Claustre

Augé, Oriol Mora, Laia Roca, David Silvestre and Idoia Tantull (team) Assembly

Pep Paret (CRBMC team leader) with Oriol Mora and Idoia Tantull and Roser Bonfill, Sílvia Corona and Raul Gámiz (interns at the College of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Assets of Catalonia)

Carpentry-woodwork Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC) Years of restoration 2010-2012

Altarpiece once restored and assembled in situ

Altarpiece of Saint John the Evangelist of Santes Creus

Generic classification

Painting on wood and wood sculpture

Object Altarpiece Material/Technique Carved and polychromed wood. Oil, tempera and gilding Title/Topic Altarpiece of Sant John the Evangelist Author Unknown

Date/Period 1603 Dimensions 5.05 × 2.53 × 0.52 m Origin Church of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus, Aiguamúrcia (Alt Camp county) Location At the foot of the central nave, on the left side of the church

The layout of the altarpiece follows the principle of axial symmetry. In the upper body, a triangular pediment with the image of God the Father crowns the whole piece. Below is an entablature and the central body with a panel in which the eponymous saint is depicted, framed by pillars and columns, and ending in the middle of the predella; this is divided into three compartments by golden pillars showing various scenes from the life of Christ.

The altarpiece is decorated in a classical style, with a typically Renaissance repertoire which can be seen in the columns of fluted wood, Corinthian capitals and the entablature. This whole structure is adorned with a series of sculptural elements of pagan origin and decorative elements of classical origin, such as floral garlands and volutes.

State of conservation

The work had suffered several processes of deterioration that affected all layers: the support had problems of stability, weakening and significant loss of material, caused by the widespread attack of xylophagous insects. The preparation and painting layers were also damaged, which in this case was mainly due to high humidity and water leaks.

Intervention

The intervention began with the disassembly and transfer of the piece to the CRBMC facilities, so it could be disinfested. The work had significant accumulations of dirt on the back,

which, together with the poor environmental conditions, had favoured the proliferation of organisms that had damaged the wood and endangered the stability of the altarpiece.

After the photographic analysis carried out prior to the intervention, the conservation-restoration process began with a disinfestation treatment, which combined curative measures and preventive ones.

The next step was to consolidate the wood damaged by insects, especially that of the architectural structure of the entablature and of the bases of the altarpiece; in the latter case, the weakening of the support endangered the solidity of the piece. The intervention consisted of the cleaning up the material that no longer exercised any function and then consolidating the weakened parts; once it had regained some stability, it was reinforced with wooden grafts.

With regard to the painting, the intervention focused on fixing the uplifted parts —both in the preparation and pictorial layers— followed by a laborious phase of cleaning, using various methods following the CRBMC protocol.

Finally, for the presentation system, the painting was touched up using watercolours —following the principle of minimum intervention— in order to minimize the existing losses. Subsequently, a layer of varnish was applied, to saturate the colours.

Once the restoration work on the CRBMC was completed, the altarpiece was moved back to the monastery and mounted on the wall on an anodized aluminium structure. This keeps it separated from the wall and making it easier to monitor its state of conservation. In addition, to strengthen the protection, the back was protected with an inert non-woven fabric, to mitigate the effects of changes in temperature and protect it from pollutants.

— Lourdes Domedel and Núria Lladó

Central panel depicting Sant John the Evangelist before the intervention

Final

aspect of the altarpiece, in situ, after the intervention

Assembly Voravit Roonthiva Years of restoration 2010-2012

CRBMC 2011-2018 / Sculpture

Holy Christ

of the convent of the Immaculate Conception of Tortosa

Generic classification

Wood sculpture Object

Sculpture

Material/Technique

Wood carving with oil paint polychrome Title/Topic

Crucified Christ

Author

Father Umile da Petralia (Giovan Francesco Pitorno, Petralia Soprana, 1600 - Palermo, 1639)

Date/Period 1635

The crucified Christ of the convent of the Immaculate Conception of Tortosa is a devotional image from the Baroque period, of Italian origin, brought to Barcelona by the Bishop of Tortosa, Joan Bautista Veschi.

The sculptor of the carving was the Franciscan friar Umile da Petralia (Giovan Francesco Pitorno), who made the carving in 1635 in Palermo, as shown in the inscription found on the back of the perizoma.

The realism of the carving is surely one of the most characteristic features of this sculpture, made from poplar wood, with an anatomically naturalistic yet very dramatic figuration: the expression on the face is one of agony and the pictorial layer contains sensationalist elements such as torn

Dimensions Christ: 200 × 146 × 47 cm; cross 373 × 214 × 12.8 cm

Location Church of the convent of the Immaculate Conception of Tortosa (Baix Ebre county)

CRBMC Register NO 11684

Restoration Lourdes Domedel and Núria Lladó Year of restoration 2012

flesh, made from parchment, and a great deal of gushing blood, created using resin wax and molten glass.

State of conservation

The underlying wood had suffered the damage typical of this material including the attack of xylophagous insects, cracks and the separation of some joints, the result of expansion and contraction due to the variations of the environmental conditions. The preparation and polychrome layers contained some uplifting and small losses. The pictorial layer was conditioned by a coloured resin, not original, which obscured it and mitigated the deathly appearance.

Intervention

The intervention consisted of a complete study of the work using various analysis techniques that revealed the composition of the materials and the construction system of the piece. Complementary to the examination of the carving, the original appearance of the polychrome was discovered after opening a series of “windows” on the back.

Work continued with several processes aimed mainly at preserving the piece as a whole. First, the carving was subjected to a disinfestation treatment, which combined curative measures (anoxia) with preventive ones. Then the small fragments of disintegrated wood were consolidated, and, subsequently, volumetrically reconstructed. The treatment of the pictorial layer focused, on the one hand, on reattaching the uplifted parts of both the preparation and the polychrome, and, on the other, on removing the surface dirt from the image mechanically and by applying a buffered solution.

One of the most important results of the work was discovering what the polychrome would have originally looked like and its great historical and artistic value. The artist used a mixed painting technique, with a base of glue tempera, and later worked with pigments bound with an oil direr; this achieved a light-toned complexion, combined with purple spots to depict bruises and red drips of blood.

In summary, the intervention approach was distinctly conservative.

— Lourdes Domedel and Núria Lladó

Back of the sculpture with the windows open to reveal the original polychrome

Photograph of the final aspect after the intervention

High altarpiece of Sant Llorenç de Morunys

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object

Altarpiece

Material/Technique

Polychrome wood carving, oil, tempera and gilding, with estofado Title/Topic Altarpiece of Sant Llorenç

Author

Sculptor: Joan Francesc Morató (Vic, 1656-1714). Gilding: Miquel Pernau

Date/Period Manufacture and carving: 1713.

The altarpiece, with a linear layout, is structured on two levels raised on a wide base and three panels, with four large Solomonic columns three metres high.

The style of the altarpiece is distinctly baroque and it is richly decorated. It contains three scenes in relief from the life of the Virgin Mary which stand out for the high quality of the carving and the great pictorial technique.

State of conservation

The damage caused in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, affected the entire altarpiece. As a result, the second level, all the imagery of the saints, one of the medallions on the first level, which represented the flight into Egypt, as well as the altar table, the tiers and the interior of the three niches, had completely disappeared.

It is made using various pictorial techniques: oil, tempera, water gilding and estofado. The good technique used in its execution is obvious because there were no uplifted or lost parts of the pictorial layer.

The smoke from candles, the embedded dust, and the remains of wax had darkened and altered the chromatic appearance of the gilding and polychrome.

Intervention

First, the polychrome panels from the later period, nailed to the back of the altarpiece, were removed due to a severe infestation of xylophagous insects. These were restored and returned to the church separately from the baroque piece. The entire wooden surface of the back of the altarpiece was then disinfested and consolidated.

Polychrome and gilding: 1735-1740 Dimensions 5.42 × 6.10 × 0.80 m

Location High altar of the parish church of Sant Llorenç de Morunys (Solsonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 11880

Restoration Koro Abalia, Imma Amorós, Eulàlia Aragonés, Claustre Augé and Rosaura Janó (Kreit-restauro, SL)

For the cleaning, the different painting techniques were taken into account. The polychrome was quite clearly covered in overlapping layers of dirt and varnish from different periods. After several tests, it was decided that a polar solvent gel should be used. Using solvents in gel allows for a longer application and, at the same time, decreases their penetration.

Once the cleaning process was complete, the whole work was varnished using a low molecular weight resin, to ensure the stability, reversibility and durability of the product.

The small losses of polychrome all over the altarpiece, which left the preparation layer exposed, were painted over with a neutral ink made with watercolours. The largest gaps, found in the angels on the doors, were filled in with putty and reintegrated with the idea of creating an illusion.

Since the altarpiece had suffered significant structural losses, a volumetric reconstruction of the niches and tiers was proposed, simplifying the elements as much as possible. The new niches were attached to the existing parts, and the tiers were made with a single wooden panel, using simple mouldings to reflect the different steps. Pinewood was used, which was then dyed in a shade that enabled integration with the piece as a whole. The altar table was mimicked with a maroon domed fabric frontal, pulled tight on a frame and fastened with magnets to the altar structure. Finally, a local carpenter, using an old photo as reference, sculpted The Flight into Egypt scene on a block of Flemish pinewood.

— Kreit-restauro, SL

with the scene Nativity of the Virgin Mary before and after the intervention

Relief

Altarpiece in situ after the intervention

CRBMC 2011-2018 / Sculpture and painting on

wood

Romanesque altar frontal of the church of Sant Esteve de Llanars

Generic classification

Painting on wood Object

Altar frontal Material/Technique

Tempera paint, stucco reliefs and metal leaf with mecca gilding Title/Topic

Maiestas Domini and the life of Saint Stephen Author

Unknown Date/Period

Second half of the 12th century

Dimensions 105 × 165 × 4 cm

Location

Church of Sant Esteve, Llanars (Ripollès county)

CRBMC Register NO 11902

Coordination Josep Paret Restoration

Glòria Flinch and Victòria Homedes Assembly Josep Paret Year of restoration 2013

Altar frontal from the Ripoll workshop. Made with wild pinewood. The composition is based on an iconographic model of goldsmithing, which incorporates stucco reliefs and metal leaf, and incisions can be seen in its composition. In the centre is the Maiestas Domini surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists, and in the side compartments, scenes from the life of Saint Stephen.

The board consists of six posts, with the joints reinforced with glued fabric. The structure is attached to a wooden strainer or frame that contains a decorative strip with geometric motifs. Several inscriptions in Latin describe the legend of the saint.

State of conservation

It was in a poor state of conservation. The base and the pictorial layer showed damage from a biological attack, separation of the posts, a lifting of the lining and a loss of support along the entire length of the frame and board. The whole of the pictorial layer had darkened due to the ageing of the materials, and the metal leaf of the background coating had oxidized and been lost in parts. This layer showed alterations, losses, uplifts, oxidation, stains, concretions, wax and scratches, as well as burns and blisters due to the heat of the candles in the area of the mandorla. The surface layer was incrusted with dust and organic remains.

By examining the board with infrared reflectography, the underlying drawing could be seen with perfect sharpness and accuracy.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process began with an anoxic disinfestation treatment and with the consolidation of the base. The inorganic substrate that was stuck to the surface layer was then removed; the various uplifted areas of the pictorial layer, of the preparation layer and the lining were stuck back down; the organic concretions were removed, and the pictorial layer was cleaned, following the CRBMC’s cleaning protocol. A second mechanical cleaning with a scalpel was then carried out on the most hard-to-clean parts, and the wax was removed by applying heat.

For the final presentation, the gaps were filled in with traditional putty and coloured wax was applied in the holes produced by the xylophagous insects. Cracks and old keyholes were volumetrically reintegrated, and finally, with regard to the chromatic reintegration system, a general archaeological approach was followed, using watercolours.

In conclusion, it can be said that this process has recovered the readability in terms of the iconography of the board and the different layers of the work have been stabilized, always respecting the effects of the passage of time.

Photograph taken with infrared reflectography, showing the preliminary drawing

— Glòria Flinch and Victòria Homedes

The altar frontal before its intervention

The altar frontal after its intervention

Conservation-restoration process of the Virgin of Almatà

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood Object

Virgin and Child Material/Technique

Polychromed wood carving Title/Topic Virgin of Almatà

Author

Attributed to the Master of Anglesola Date/Period 1300 approximately

Dimensions 32.3 × 7.6 × 6.4 cm

Origin Church of the convent of the Order of Saint Clare of the sanctuary of Sant Crist de Balaguer (Noguera county)

Location Sanctuary of Sant Crist de Balaguer (Noguera county) CRBMC Register NO 12095

The Virgin of Almatà, revered since medieval times in the church of Santa Maria d’Almatà, today the sanctuary of Sant Crist de Balaguer, is a small polychrome wood carving. Its authorship has been attributed to the circle of the master of Anglesola. As for the origin of this image, a popular tradition claims that the count of Urgell would take it into battle. Bearing in mind this traditional belief, together with very specific physical aspects of the carving, such as its small format and the iron rod that protrudes from the base, it is possible that. originally, this Virgin may have been part of a portable chapel of devotion. This image has always been traditionally linked with the house of Urgell, and given the ascribed timeline, everything seems to indicate that it could have been a donation made by Ermengol x, Count of Urgell, to the church of Santa Maria d’Almatà

State of conservation

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process was divided into two phases differentiated by the types of treatment: the first, aimed at consolidating and stabilizing the base material, and the second, at consolidating and cleaning the polychrome. Several treatments were applied to the base material. It was first disinfested. Then it was consolidated by injecting acrylic resin into the passageways created by the xylophagous insects, and the existing holes and cracks were subsequently filled in with an epoxy-based putty.

In terms of polychrome, the cleaning treatment focused, first, on mechanically removing the wax residues stuck to the surface with the help of a scalpel. Subsequently, and after performing the CRBMC’s mandatory cleaning test, the most resistant dirt and repainted parts were removed with an emulsion. This intervention made it possible to recover the splendour and beauty of the original polychrome.

The image’s poor state of conservation meant that it had to undergo a conservation-restoration process. The base material had suffered severe damage from xylophagous insects, which would explain the loss of the right arm of the baby Jesus and the Virgin. The damage to the base material inherently affected the preservation of the polychrome. It is worth noting how much of the polychrome was actually preserved, although in some cases it had been repainted. The scientific study of polychrome allowed us to determine that, in all probability, the technique used was oil. 

Once the conservation-restoration process had been completed, the Virgin has returned for worship at the sanctuary of Sant Crist de Balaguer, protected by a specially created display case to guarantee its conservation and safety.

— Ramon Solé

X-ray of the sculpture

Mechanical cleaning of the base

Appearance

of the Virgin of Almatà once restored

The carving of the Virgin of Almatà before the conservationrestoration process

Our Lady of the Rosary of the baroque altarpiece of the parish church of Prades de la Molsosa

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object

Sculpture

Material/Technique

Carved and polychromed wood. Tempera, oil and gilding

Title/Topic

Our Lady of the Rosary from the Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece

Author

Attributed to Pau Sunyer (Manresa,? - 1694)

The Our Lady of the Rosary is part of the Our Lady of the Rosary baroque altarpiece located in the parish church of Prades de la Molsosa, which houses a set of three baroque altarpieces from the mid-17th century. The polychrome carving presides over the central niche of the altarpiece, complete with painted scenes of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. An intervention in modern times coated it with a flat polychrome, in shades of pink and blue, and a golden purpurin that gave it the appearance of an image from a more recent era.

The carving arrived at the CRBMC in June 2014 along with the Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece. The altarpiece was restored and reassembled in the church in April 2015, and in the same month the restoration of the Virgin Mary began.

State of conservation

The first step in this intervention involved an investigative study of the original polychrome. X-rays and analyses were carried out, and windows were opened at different points on the pictorial surface. This revealed the existence of a baroque polychrome that was preserved in good condition. Recent applications of putty were also detected, suggesting that we would also find losses of polychrome.

The X-ray showed that the painting was cracked, with some losses in the area of the Virgin Mary’s face. This information was significant in that it revealed the existence of an original skin tone that was worth recovering.

Date/Period

17th century Dimensions 77 × 32 × 20 cm

Location Church of Sant Ponç, Prades de la Molsosa (Solsonès county) CRBMC Register NO 12227.16 Coordination Pep Paret Restoration Kreit-restauro, SL

As a result of all the analyses, it was decided that the repainted areas would be removed.

The process confirmed that there were two repainted layers from different eras. Between the two, a putty was found that covered much of the original polychrome and in some areas even gave it a different volume.

Intervention

The conservation intervention consisted, first of all, in the disinfestation of the carving and in the reattachment of the polychrome.

Next, the restoration work consisted of removing the entire repainted layer. It is worth noting that the piece still contained 80% of its original polychrome. To remove the repainted layer, a gelled solvent was used, and to remove the putty that covered the original polychrome, it was softened with a gelled aqueous medium and removed mechanically with the scalpel.

This enabled the recovery of a baroque polychrome very different from the flat toned painting initially visible. The recovered polychrome is of a very different quality.

The final display of the image followed the principle of creating an illusion. It is a Virgin Mary used for worship, and for this reason we wanted to give continuity to its appearance, following the original model of polychrome.

— Kreit-restauro, SL

During the process of removing the repainting of the Virgin’s face

The Our Lady of the Rosary Virgin in its proper position inside the altarpiece, once restored

The Virgin Mary after the restoration

The carving before the conservationrestoration intervention

Tabernacle altarpiece of the church of Santa Maria de Cap d’Aran

Generic classification

Painting on wood Object

Altarpiece Material/Technique Tempera on wood Title/Topic Tabernacle altarpiece

Author Unknown Date/Period 14th century Dimensions 173 × 77 × 55 cm

This work was discovered in 2014 during the cleaning of the old granaries of the church of Santa Maria de Cap d’Aran.

State of conservation

Overall the work was in a very poor state of conservation. The preserved wooden elements showed damage from xylophagous insects, losses of the base material, cracks and fissures, and structural elements such as crossbars and panels were missing.

The preparation and pictorial layers were in a poor state of conservation, with uplifts and loss of cohesion with the wooden base, dust and a lot of dirt. There were traces of earth and organic elements.

The analyses carried out made it possible to identify the type of wood and some of the materials used in its construction. Two types of wood were identified: linden, for the ornamental elements, and pine, for the structural panels. The pictorial layer is a tempera with a protein-based binder and silver gilding on one of the panels.

Intervention

The restoration process, carried out in 2014 thanks to a grant from the Catalan Ministry of Culture, consisted of fixing, consolidating and cleaning the preserved fragments.

As the restoration progressed, the hypothesis that this was not a canopy started to gain weight. During December 2014, historians Elisa Ros and Albert Velasco travelled to the CRBMC to share their doubts, cross-check against other references, and try to establish a more solid hypothesis. By the end of the

Location church of Santa Maria, Cap d’Aran, Tredòs - Naut Aran (Aran)

CRBMC Register NO 12253

Restoration M. José Gracia and M. Àngels Marsé (TdART Heritage Curators SL) and Ana del Árbol Assembly

Mireia Campanyà, M. José Gracia (TdART), Pau Majó and Oriol Ribas (Norcan Hispánica)

Years of restoration 2014, 2016 and 2017

day, it had become clear that we were dealing with a larger work than initially thought, and that it was not a canopy. We discovered that we were possibly dealing with the exceptional remains of a type of altarpiece of which very few examples are preserved: a 14th century tabernacle altarpiece. This hypothesis was later confirmed by the Norwegian historian Elisabeth Andersen, a specialist in this type of altarpiece, who provided similar examples from northern Europe.

This led to a redesign of the entire presentation system for the remains. A photogrammetric survey was carried out of each piece and several scale models were created, and using an image processing programme, a 3D model of the altarpiece was obtained, combining the original pieces and an approximation of the missing pieces.

The task of rebuilding the altarpiece, from which Mireia Campanya was responsible, was long and complicated. So as not to end up with a false historical artefact it was decided that the new wood used would be left raw. No new holes were made in the original, taking advantage of the existing holes. To support the doors, a special support and hinges were made to measure. With the system designed by the conservators-restorers and the technicians of Norcan Hispánica, all the weight of support, the load and the distribution of stress is borne by the new metal structure.

Finally, after almost eight months of reassembly work and three years since the restoration work began, the altarpiece was able to return to the church, where it can be visited today.



The set of pieces as displayed after the intervention in 2014



The piece with the doors closed, after the latest restoration

— M. José Gracia and M. Àngels Marsé (TdART Heritage Curators SL)

General photo before the latest restoration, in 2017

The tabernacle altarpiece with the doors open, after the latest restoration

Altarpiece of La Pietat of the Seu d’Urgell

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object

Altarpiece Material/Technique Polychromed and gilded wood carving

Title/Topic Altarpiece of La Pietat

Author

Sculptor: Jeroni Xanxo (1548-1550). Polychrome and gild ing: Antoni Peitaví (1573-1574) Date/Period 1548-1574

The altarpiece of La Pietat represents a legacy of great cultural, artistic and historical value, as it is one of the few Renaissance sculpted altarpieces from the mid-16th century preserved in Catalonia. Located in the apse of the central nave of the church of La Pietat, it is part of the exhibition space of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell.

The altarpiece was entrusted to the Barcelona sculptor Jeroni Xanxo by the community of presbyters of La Pietat, for the chapel of the same name in the cathedral of Santa Maria d’Urgell. The pictorial decoration is the work of the painter Antoni Peitaví, from Toulouse. It is a Plateresque work, in which the exuberant decoration typical of this style stands out. It should be noted that parchment has been found in the wounds of the Christ of the Pity, which is significant because there are no other known cases of sculptures from the 16th century or earlier in which this has been preserved.

State of conservation

The whole altarpiece had damage typical of an object of worship that has received continuous use over time. Interventions from different eras were detected: nails, added elements, restoration of decorative elements and repainted areas.

The wood support did not show any serious structural problems, although decorative elements had been lost and there were pieces that had come loose, due to dried-out glues or poor attachment systems. In general, the wood contained some cracks typical of the material. No active xylophagous attack was detected, although some added elements had suffered this sort of damage in the past.

Close-up of the structure which shows its complexity

Dimensions 4.59 × 3.58 × 0.60 m

Origin

High altarpiece of the church of La Pietat, la Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

Location Diocesan Museum of Urgell, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 12486

Restoration Gemma Planas, Natàlia Sánchez and Alícia Santomà

Some parts of the preparation, polychrome and gilding layers had gaps, especially in the reliefs, and there was also some localized uplifting. There were also areas where the polychrome and/or gilding had worn away and eroded, possibly due to the abrasive cleaning of previous interventions.

The surface layer was covered in polymerized dirt, causing an overall blackening of the work which was very prominent in the case of the skin tones. This made it difficult to read the scenes and gave the altarpiece a dull and uniform appearance, which affected the aesthetic value of the work.

Intervention

In mid-July 2015, the altarpiece was disassembled for transport to the CRBMC.

Once at the CRBMC, the altarpiece was put inside the anoxic chamber for disinfestation as a curative measure.

Next, the uplifted parts of the preparation layer and the pictorial layer were affixed and a general mechanical cleaning was carried out with a flat brush and vacuum cleaner. As for the back of the altarpiece, it was chemically cleaned and the parts of the base and the steps were disinfested, by impregnating them with a curative and preventive product.

The consolidation and stabilization of the base material was done through two processes; first, with the adhesion of detached elements and the recovery of lost elements with a neutral pH adhesive and, in some cases, through a reinforcement using screws and brackets.

Close-up of the parchment in one of the wounds the carving of Christ

Disassembly

Pep Paret (CRBMC), Gemma Planas, Natàlia Sánchez, Alícia Santomà. Assistance in the disassembly: Laia Duran, Marta Estadella and Zoraida Pérez (interns specializing in Sculpture and Painting on wood at the CRBMC)

Assembly Pep Paret (CRBMC), Gemma Planas, Natàlia Sánchez, Alícia Santomà, Idoia Tantull and Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC carpentry)

Years of restoration 2015-2016

 General view of the altarpiece in the workshop during the restoration process

 Gilding cleaning process

CRBMC 2011-2018 / Sculpture and painting on wood

And second, following the criteria of minimum intervention, some structural losses were restored with wood grafts or a two-part epoxy resin.

Polychrome and gilding cleaning processes were carried out following the CRBMC cleaning protocols. The methodology combined the use of aqueous solutions and emulsions and, occasionally, a rubber eraser in powder form. For the repainted areas located on the panels of the base, gelled alcohol was used, and the marble areas uncovered on these panels were cleaned with an aqueous emulsion. Wax residue in the lower areas of the altarpiece was removed with a hot air blower and cotton impregnated with a hydrocarbon.

Once the cleaning was over, a chromatic reintegration process was undertaken based on the principle of minimal intervention. Localized gaps in gilding were unified with a neutral colour, while gaps in the skin tones were filled in with the idea of creating an illusion.

Finally, a protective layer was applied with a colourless and stable low molecular weight varnish.

In January 2016, the work was returned to its original location, where it was mounted on an anodized aluminium structure. This system allows the piece to be separated from the wall, so that there is a space for air to circulate between the wall and the altarpiece, which at the same time allows its state of conservation to be monitored.

— Gemma Planas, Natàlia Sánchez and Alícia Santomà

General photo of the gilding cleaning process

Cleaning the skin tones on the Christ

Close-up before and after the cleaning

General photograph of the altarpiece restored and once placed in its location

Ceiling of the Golden Chamber of the Palau de la Generalitat

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object

Ceiling and frieze Material/Technique

Carved wood, gilded with fine gold leaf, silver gilding and polychrome in oil Title/Topic

Polygonal coffered ceiling with central fleurons. Four reliefs of angels with the shield of Saint

George on the frieze

Author

Joan de Tours (Tours, ? - Calella, 1563)

Date/Period 1526-1527

Dimensions Ceiling: 4.90 × 9.90 m Reliefs: 60 × 120 × 15 cm

Location Golden Chamber of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Ceiling and frieze of high artistic quality, which belongs to the Renaissance extension of the old Gothic building of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, carried out during the sixteenth century, specifically during the years 1526-1527. At a structural level, the roof is organized and divided into 136 moulded, octagonal, square and triangular coffers —polychromed during the last century with dark-coloured synthetic paint. Each of these small structures houses a golden decorative carving —fleuron— covered entirely in purpurin.

Their typologies vary according to the size of the coffer in which they are set; those in the octagonal coffers are larger and more complex, while the rest are simpler and smaller. The fleurons are fastened to the ceiling with a long piece of wrought iron embedded in the centre of the coffer. Some of these, repaired already in the 20th century, are attached to the wood with a long, thick screw.

The union of the ceiling with the wall is finished off with a wide moulded frieze; in the centre of each section are the four sculptural groups. Each relief consists of two full-bodied winged angels with lower phylactery, which hold in the centre the quartered shield of Saint George —red cross in the middle on a silver background. The polychrome consists of gold leaf film for the tunics, wings, hair and frame of the shield, combined with red mecca gilding for the cross of the shield and sleeves, and oil for the skin tones.

State of conservation

In view of the poor overall state of conservation of the reliefs, the holes caused by xylophagous insects, the numerous broken

or half-detached pieces, and a layer of blackened and altered resin on the skin tones and gildings, in July 2018 it was decided that a conservation-restoration process would be carried out on the frieze in order to protect these sculptural pieces.

Intervention

In the course of this intervention, the wooden base was consolidated, glued and disinfested, and the layers superimposed on the gilding and the skin tones were removed. The cleaning processes were very successful, and much of the original colour was recovered. As usual, the intervention was completed with a chromatic reintegration in the skin tones that aimed at creating an illusion, and with a neutral tone in the rest of the work, plus the application of a final protective resin film.

During the work carried out on the reliefs, we had the opportunity to access the ceiling and carry out a series of examinations of the fleurons covered with purpurin. At the same time, a study of active xylophagous insects was carried out, using specialized techniques, with negative results. These tests revealed the existence, in all the pieces, of an underlying layer of gold leaf that should be recovered.

There were two types of fleurons: the new ones, restored during the 20th century and in excellent condition, and the original ones, in very poor condition. Since the internal disintegration of the wood was considerable, it was decided that the restoration of the fleurons would focus on two aspects: the consolidation of some of the pieces —gluing of fragments and reinforcement of the attachments— and the recovery of the original gilded polychrome —removal of the purpurin— with the restoration of the imposing appearance of the Renaissance ceiling at the time of its construction.

Close-up of one of the ceiling fleurons after being taken down for restoration

— Núria Lladó

One of the sculptural pieces before the intervention

Coordination Pep Paret (CRBMC)

Restoration Núria Lladó (management), Gemma Planas, Clara Prats and Natàlia Sánchez Year of restoration 2018

One of the sculptural pieces after the intervention

General image of the Golden Chamber after the intervention

The Gothic Christ in Sant Antoni Parish Church, Cervera

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood Object

Sculpture Material/Technique

Carved riparian wood with oil polychrome Title/Topic Crucifixus dolorosus Author Unknown

Date/Period 14th century Dimensions 244 × 154 × 47 cm (Christ) and 325.5 × 182.5 cm × 7 cm (cross) Location Apse of the church of Sant Antoni, Cervera (Segarra county) CRBMC Register NO 13492

The Christ of Sant Antoni de Cervera is a round-bodied polychrome wood sculpture, chronologically situated in the Gothic period (14th century). The image corresponds to the iconographic category of the crucifixus dolorosus and evokes his sacrifice, as a symbol of redemption and the salvation of the human race.

It is a fully carved and polychromed sculpture, even on the back. Analysis of the piece has revealed that it is made from a large block of tree, hollowed out then finished at the back with a cover. The head, arms, one of the legs and some of the folds in the perizoma are attached to the torso with rivets. Meanwhile, the cross and the hands are newly constructed.

State of conservation

This large sculpture, which is still used as a figure for devotion even today and is the protagonist of the Cervera’s main festival has undergone various restoration attempts over the years; the most obvious is, without a doubt, the widespread darkening of the pictorial surface, which gave it a very uniform brown finish, which did not correspond to the original image of the crucifixus dolorosus and which also served to hide major losses and repairs.

Intervention

The intervention began with an analysis of the work, to reveal the scope of the various interventions it had undergone, on both a pictorial and a structural level. With the results obtained from the extensive photographic examination (including X-rays) and the analyses, a series of tests were carried out which revealed the existence of two pictorial layers (the oldest shows a very flat complexion of pink tones, with small, very old streams of blood), and provided information on the construction elements that had been modified. The sculpture had clearly been structurally mutilated, with losses of various pieces including both hands, the back of the head and part of the rear cover, which corresponded to the back of the figure of Christ.

The most difficult part of the restoration was the removal of the various layers of varnish, repairs and repainting parts that covered the last pictorial decoration of the figure of Christ, due to both its compositional diversity and the difference between the skin tone revealed and that on display before the restoration. This was the reason behind the decision to recover the level found below the outer layer, painted in a realistic style, with a light skin tone and various wounds with drops of blood and skin details. This was agreed with the Bishopric of Solsona and the parish, who own the artefact.

As the restoration operation advanced and the sculpture recovered its original shape (thanks to the removal of a large amount of putty) and colour, the possibility of replacing the hands with new ones was discussed. This decision was made with the collaboration and expertise of Francesca Español, who suggested a model to follow, in harmony with the era in which the sculpture was created. The result was a pair of slightly closed hands sculpted then attached to the figure and polychromed with a tone that matches the original.

— Lourdes Domedel

Image of the sculpture after the processes of cleaning, removal and filling in of gaps

Pep Paret (CRBMC)

Restoration Lourdes Domedel (restoration); Núria Albalat (carving of the hands), and Carmelo Ortega (woodwork)

Years of restoration 2018-2019

Close-up of the back showing the test that was done to locate an underlying pictorial level, in which there are streams of blood that are older than those currently visible

Image of the Christ of Cervera after the restoration

Appearance of the sculpture before the intervention

Expectation of the Virgin Mary from the Montserrat Museum

According to Josep C. Laplana, this carving arrived at the monastery of Montserrat in 1989, as a donation from Mr Pere Sansat i Maristany, who along with his wife Francesca Sanaüja i Mates, had a very close relationship for many years with the community of Montserrat.

The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, dates back to 1490, and is an anonymous work probably made in northern Castile, at the end of the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. In it we see the influence of the Dutch naturalists along with the elements of the Italian Renaissance, a combination that at that time was common in northern Spain.

State of conservation

The Gothic carving of the Expectation of the Virgin Mary is a polychromed and gilded wooden carving. It was badly damaged, with significant losses of polychrome and gilding, as well as the base material. The sculpture had a thick, dense, widespread layer of protein-based binder and wax, which obscured the original polychrome, as well as various alterations that affected the correct aesthetic reading. This surface layer hid losses of up to 30%, both of the pictorial layer and the preparation layer.

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object Sculpture

Material/Technique

Carved, polychromed wood and gilding

Title/Topic Expectation of the Virgin Mary Author Unknown

Date/Period

15th century Dimensions 114 × 32 × 30 cm

Location Montserrat Museum, Monistrol de Montserrat (Bages county) CRBMC Register NO 13625

Restoration Olga Íñigo and M. Sagrario Usero Year of restoration 2019

The accumulation of dust, insects and other indeterminate materials in the nooks of the carving, together with the typical movements of a wooden base material, sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, had resulted in drying of the underlying layers and, consequently, uplifting in both the preparation and pictorial layers. In addition, the piece had suffered severe damage by xylophagous insects that caused the weakening and loss of parts of the base material.

Intervention

After undergoing the corresponding scientific and technical photographic examination —diffuse light, raking light, UV and IR—, the carving was subjected to an extensive study, based on physicochemical analyses, to determine the nature of the materials that comprise it. The results showed that it is a walnut wood carving. Regarding the polychrome and the gilding, the stratigraphical analysis revealed that, at the bottom of the cloak, an azurite blue pigment is located on a carbon black pigment, while for the dress and the cape there is a metal leaf applied on top the bole clay and a proteinbased binder. The following pigments were also identified: earth pigments (aluminosilicates), white lead and verdigris. These pigments are applied on two layers of protein-based binder preparation: the first consists of gypsum and the second, of gypsum hemihydrate.

Image before the intervention showing a thick layer of wax on the surface covering the polychrome and the losses of the sculpture

With regard to the carving, and following the criteria of reversibility, compatibility and maximum respect for the work, the intervention continued first, with the disinfection and disinfestation of the Virgin Mary. Next, the pictorial layer, the preparation layer and the metal leaf were affixed with an animal glue. The uplifted areas were then flattened by applying heat and then cleaned mechanically. The structural consolidation of the support of the base of the carving and of the holes caused by the xylophagous insects was done with cedarwood sawdust.

The next step involved cleaning the surface layer of the carving, controlling the conductivity and the pH of the surface, following the criteria of the CRMBC protocols. Once cleaned, a first coat of varnish was applied to protect the original gilding and polychrome, followed by a traditional putty to fill in holes and gaps. The chromatic reintegration was done with watercolours through a system of differentiating the different points, using different glazes of colour applied by brush.

Finally, and as a final finish, the carving was varnished, with a flat brush, for a second time, to equalize the gloss, protect the touch-ups, unify the polychrome and gilding on the surface and recover the correct aesthetic reading of the carving.

— Olga Íñigo and M. Sagrario Usero

General appearance of the Virgin Mary before the intervention

Final appearance of the carving of the Virgin Mary. The intervention has revealed the remains of the original polychrome and gilding

Three altarpieces from the church of Santa Maria de Colomers

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood Object

3 altarpieces

Material/Technique

Polychrome wood carving in tempera, gilding, estofado, shellac, mecca gilding and oil painting

Title/Topic

Three altarpieces of the church in Colomers: altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, altarpiece of the Sacred Heart and altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary (currently ded icated to the Our Lady of Fatima)

Author

Only the author of the gilding of the altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carme is known: Benet Colobran (18th century)

Date/Period

Altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: 1775; altarpiece of the Sacred Heart: 18th century; altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary: 1738-1769

Dimensions Altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: 6.25 × 4 × 1.40 m; altarpiece of the Sacred Heart: 4.01 × 5.25 ×

The church of Santa Maria de Colomers preserves three baroque altarpieces in three side chapels, which were restored between 2012 and 2017. The conservation-restoration intervention was necessary because in 2011 a serious termite problem was detected that affected all the works, resulting in a risk of collapse and a systematic loss of polychrome. The first step involved the town council and parish contracting a company specializing in the treatment and eradication of termites.

State of conservation

In addition to this pathology, the altarpieces suffered alterations, such as the attack of other xylophagous insects, cracks and detached and broken elements. The most obvious were the loss of the base material that affected various elements, both structural and decorative. As for the pictorial layer, some uplifts and losses were discovered in parts. At the surface level, there was a lot of dust that masked the overall look: splashes of bat urine on the polychrome, nests, droppings, and animal remains. Previous interventions included the repainting of the altarpiece of our Lady of the Rosary, the reconstruction of almost the entire base of the altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the use of a plywood sheet, MDF panels and fabrics to cover the holes caused by lost elements.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration intervention focused on ensuring the structural stability of the pieces, recovering the original aesthetics and improving the readability of the large loss of base material.

In the case of the altarpiece of the Sacred Heart, the loss of base material was so significant and so difficult to access that, in order to consolidate it properly, it had to be dismantled and moved to the CRBMC facilities.

New presentation of the altar and the predella of the altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This system allows easy access to the back to carry out preventive conservation controls

The Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece before the conservationrestoration work

0.54 m; altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary: 6.30 × 3.74 × 1.50 m

Origin

Church of Santa Maria, Colomers (Baix Empordà county), except for the altarpiece of the Sacred Heart, which comes from the chapel of Sant Llenç, in Colomers

Location

Church of Santa Maria de Colomers (Baix Empordà county)

CRBMC Register NO Altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: 11907; altarpiece of the

Sacred Heart: 12113; altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary: 13263

Restoration

Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull, with the collaboration of Oriol Mora in the altarpiece of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Assembly

Pep Paret (team leader), Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull

Carpentry

Carmelo Ortega

Years of restoration 2012-2017

Sculpture

The Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece after the conservationrestoration work

All three altarpieces underwent the usual conservationrestoration procedures: mechanical and chemical cleaning of the base material, curative and preventive disinfestation, consolidation of areas weakened by xylophagous insects, adhesion of fragments and moving elements, reattachment of the polychrome, chemical cleaning of the pictorial layer, protection of the surface of the altarpiece with a low molecular weight varnish and chromatic reintegration.

As a final presentation system, to address the large loss of base material of the lower parts of the altarpieces, some previous interventions were replaced with volumetric reintegrations using cedarwood. These solutions had to be discernible, integrated into the whole and guarantee access to the back, to carry out future controls. A frame with a cloth in the form of an altar frontal was added to the altarpiece of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which, thanks to a system of magnets, can be easily added and removed, allowing access to the back. To assemble the altarpiece of

the Sacred Heart, the piece was moved forward to distance it about 50 cm from the wall, making it easier to carry out checks, while preventing possible moisture from contact with the wall. In the case of the altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary, the steps were rebuilt, making them easily removable to ensure access to the back. In addition, to improve their presentation, the altars of the altarpieces of the Sacred Heart and of Our Lady of the Rosary were chromatically reintegrated to match them with the base that surrounds them.

Finally, various protection systems were installed to ensure their conservation. First, a microperforated fabric on some parts of the back, to block out animals and, at the same time, to prevent the accumulation of dust and moisture or water on the wooden support. Anti-termite plastics were also added on the floor at the back to prevent further attacks.

— Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull

The altarpiece of the Sacred Heart reassembled, separated from the wall, after the conservationrestoration process

All Saints altarpiece in Girona Cathedral

Generic classification

Wood carving and painting on wood

Object

Altarpiece

Material/Technique

Polychrome carved wood with oil paint, gilding and tempera estofado on white poplar and cypress wood

Title/Topic

All Saints altarpiece

Author

Esteve Bosch (altarpiece maker and sculptor) and Joan Baptista Toscano (painter) Date/Period 1594-1598

Dimensions 7.42 × 2.95 × 0.75 m. Central panel: 176 × 142 × 3 cm

Location

All Saints chapel, Girona Cathedral, Girona (Gironès county)

CRBMC Register NO 13495

Restoration Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull (restoration of structure and poly chrome)

Structural stabilisation Josep Paret and Idoia Tantull Years of restoration 2018-2019

In 1594, canon Baldiri Galí asked the Girona Cathedral Chapter if, in the All Saints chapel, a set of three elements could be installed: an altarpiece, the tomb itself and railings to close off the chapel.

That same year, the Girona sculptor Esteve Bosch was commissioned to create this structure. All his work was thought to have been burned until it was discovered that he created this altarpiece, for which he had followed the models by Palladio. Four years later, in 1598, Milanese painter Giovanni Battista Toscano was tasked with the polychrome for the piece, which he carried out following modern methods and in harmony with Late Mannerist tradition in 16th-century Italy. For the central panel, Toscano was inspired by images of the Risen Christ by Michelangelo in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.

The structure is organized as a frame for a large central scene, with the image of the risen Christ embracing the cross, surrounded by all the saints and the Virgin Mary. The scene is flanked by two canopies and four fluted columns, the lower third of which displays fretwork and precious gems. Above, there is an entablature and an attic with a split pediment. Underneath is a predella with the adoration of the shepherds scene. Either side of this scene, there are two high reliefs of allegorical women, representing the Church and Religion. The whole altarpiece rests on two wooden bases with fretwork that frames the Galís’ coat of arms.

State of conservation

In terms of state of conservation, on a structural level, the piece showed signs of xylophagous insect infestations cracks, fissures and had various pieces missing.

The main problem with polychrome and preparation layer was significant deterioration of the predella scene, which made its comprehension rather difficult. Meanwhile, old leaks from the vault had caused the preparation layer to turn to dust in places.

The surface was covered in thick dust, soot from candles and various layers of oxidated varnish, which made interpretation of the whole piece difficult. As usual in these situations, the lower part of the altarpiece was especially dirty and darkened.

Intervention

The altarpiece was restored in situ and although it was not dismantled, work was carried out to both the front and the back. Access to the back of the altarpiece was essential, so that the significant accumulation of dust and debris could be removed, elements that had fallen off and landed behind the structure could be recovered, the structure could be disinfested and strengthened, and the attic —which was clearly insecure and risked falling off— could be stabilized.

Process of cleaning the dirt underneath the varnish of the central panel

This movement was solved through the installation of an anodized aluminium bar that fastens the altarpiece to the wall. To ensure access to the back, the altar stone was moved temporarily.This revealed an inscription on the back which reads: ‘M[ossèn] Balth[asar] Alràs entra bene[fici]at en la p[rese]nt.’ This indicated who the beneficiary of this altar stone was at some point in its history.

Once the dust was removed, any loose fragments were fixed and holes and cracks were filled with wood filler. Subsequently, and after conducting analyses of the different polychromes, the piece was cleaned and varnishes were removed using different methods, depending on the area and the painting technique. Due to the thickness and hardening of some of the varnishes, gelled solutions had to be used.

As a final presentation system, an archaeological reintegration was carried out on the architectural elements, while on the painted scenes and skin, gaps were filled in by joining the remaining traces of colour. On the predella scene, where the gaps were larger, a neutral tint that imitates the surrounding colour was used to blend the holes in with the background.

Finally, as a conservation measure, microperforated fabric was installed on parts of the back of the altarpiece to block out pests and to avoid any accumulation of dust, moisture, or water in the wood.

This restoration exposed an altarpiece that had been darkened significantly, which has been studied in recent years by art historian Joan Bosch Vallbona. The conservation-restoration recovered the piece’s original colours, facilitated interpretation of the predella scene and revealed details that had been hidden by the aforementioned darkening. This restoration was also interesting because the installation of the scaffolding was also used to carry out the curative conservation of the polychrome stone elements of the chapel.

— Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull

Image of the result of the process of removing the varnish from the central panel using alcohol gel. Part of the sky and the Christ are no longer covered in varnish while in the remainder, the fluorescence of the areas where this is still preserved can still be seen

Inscription discovered on the back of the altarpiece when it was moved forward to access the back of it to work on

Close-up of the predella before and after restoration

General photo of the altarpiece after restoration

Painting on canvas 3

El port de Barcelona (the port of Barcelona), by Eliseu Meifrén

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil painting

Title/topic El port de Barcelona (the port of Barcelona)

Author Eliseu Meifrén i Roig (Barcelona, 1859-1940)

Date/Period 1887

The painting depicts a panoramic view of the port of Barcelona. The author, Eliseu Meifrén, lived through the age of Modernism, although his work is more influenced by French Impressionism.

State of conservation

The work suffered from two problems: the first was the deformations caused by a previous intervention, while the second had to do with the execution of the work.

The first was due to an incorrect process of restretching, carried out with an aqueous system and with a canvas that was too thick and hygroscopic, absorbing an excess of moisture over a long time period of time, while this operation was being carried out. The result was shrinkage in the support canvas, vertical deformations, the weakening of the preparation layer and the appearance of widespread losses in the pictorial layer.

The second problem was the existence of an underlying paint, which made the visible layer less cohesive with the preparation layer because there was another underneath. In addition, the examination under UV light revealed the widespread existence of retouching and repainting. Three types could be distinguished: in blue, others in brown, and some also in black. An oxidized varnish was also detected.

Intervention

The intervention of the work began by attaching areas of the pictorial and preparation layers with sturgeon glue, at a controlled temperature. Then the back was cleaned, with the

 Close-up of the deformations on the work before the intervention. Photograph with raking light

 Close-up of the state of the pictorial layer before the intervention

Dimensions 250 × 480 cm (frameless)

Origin and location

Barcelona Port Authority (APB), Barcelona (Barcelonès County)

CRBMC Register NO 11361

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Esther Gual, Maria Sala and David Silvestre Year of restoration 2011

General photo of the work after the intervention

removal of dust and surface dirt. On the front, the remains of the glue from the papered layer of the previous restoration, and the retouched parts, were removed using a gelled buffer solution of pH 8 and chelating agent. To remove the varnish and blue and brown repainted areas, a non polar mixture of gelled solvents was used, and for the black areas a much more polar, gelled mixture was chosen. To soften and remove the papers and putty that were hidden by the repainted parts, a base gel was again used.

Once the cleaning had been done, a decision was taken to remove the canvas from the restretching because it had a very thick seam that stood out along the entire pictorial layer. The remains of the adhesive left on the original canvas was removed mechanically, dry, and where the thickness of the glue layer was significant, a water-based gel was applied to soften it. The whole process was done vertically so the state of the painting could be checked at all times, except for the perimeter, which was worked on horizontally, since it couldn’t be accessed until the frame had been removed.

The consolidation of the support consisted of strengthening the edges. A perimeter strip was placed on the right side of the linen canvas, with an acrylic adhesive, applied with a screen and activated with a non polar solvent. The other three sides without a strip were reinforced with the adhesion of a thin polyester gauze impregnated with a thermoplastic vinyl adhesive.

The consolidation of the tears and the cuts was done by welding the threads, with the use of sturgeon glue and wheat starch, and it was reinforced with the same fine gauze used

on the three sides. Linen threads were attached to the most damaged areas in groups of three, impregnated with thermoplastic vinyl adhesive.

To reassemble the painting vertically, the wooden frame was replaced, since it had been deformed by the tension of the restretching, with an expandable wood and aluminum one with homogeneous and selective tensioning.

For the final presentation, a traditional putty, made of animal glue and filler, was used to level out the gaps. For the pictorial reintegration, with the aim of creating an illusion, an aqueous system was used first to tone the white putty, and then pigments with a resin of low molecular weight. Between the two reintegration systems, a varnish with a low molecular weight resin was applied over the whole painting.

Finally, the back of the work was protected by placing a breathable, high-density polyethylene fabric to protect it from dust and dirt, and at the same time to mitigate any variations in relative humidity.

It should be noted that strict conditions for the conservation and monitoring of the work have been established, as the vicissitudes suffered by this painting, especially the aggressive and unjustified restretching, have made it very sensitive to environmental variations.

In the future it will require very controlled and stable preventive conservation conditions.

— Maria Sala

Process of removing the old relining

Close-up of the seams on the back before the intervention

Unstitching from the seam of the relining fabric

State of the back before the intervention.

You can see the fabric used for relining, with a seam in the middle that bisects the piece and various glue marks of glue

Close-up of the back after the intervention

Protection of the back after the intervention

Conservation-restoration of Tarragona Cathedral’s organ doors,

by Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo

Generic classification

Painting on canvas Object

Doors of the Renaissance organ. Two door leaves with paintings on canvas, one on each side of the organ’s door leaf Material/Technique Glue tempera Title/Topic Depiction of three scenes: Annun ciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, visible when the doors are closed and hiding the organ pipes, Nativity of Jesus and annunciation to the shepherds

and Resurrection, visible when the doors are open

Author

Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo (Fornelli del Monferrato, 1520?Barcelona, 1588)

Date/Period Second half of the 16th century (1562-1565)

Dimensions 7 × 4.63 m

Location Central nave, left side, over the heart of Tarragona cathedral (Tarragonès county)

One of the unique features of the Renaissance organ of the Tarragona Cathedral are the monumental doors that enclose it at the height of the pipes, which still work thanks to the conservation-restoration intervention.

The doors are made up of two leaves, each covered with two canvasses painted using the tempera technique. The four large paintings on canvas are by the painter Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo, one of the greatest exponents of the 16th century. The scenes depicted are: the Annunciation, visible when the doors are closed, and the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, visible when the doors are open.

State of conservation

One of the main factors affecting the project was the fact that the two door leaves had previously been removed from the hinges and were stored away, leaning against each other in an upright position, and there was no documentation of the operation.

Each of the leaves consists of a fixed frame of linden wood, with top rails, stiles and diagonal bars. Each leaf has 5 large iron hinges to attach the doors to the organ. The entire wooden structure was severely weakened due to an attack by xylophagous insects, to the point that it did not function as a support structure.

The four supporting canvasses of the paintings are made up of five pieces of linen cloth with taffeta weave, joined with vertical seams. They had several tears; deformations due to the problems of the rigid support; holes made by the common furniture beetle, and rust in the area of the nails used to attach them to the wood of the frame at the front.

Close-up of the condition of the stretcher on the right door leaf. The wood was in very poor condition due to an invasion of xylophagous insects 

The organ with the doors installed and open, after the intervention. The interior scenes are visible: on the left, the Nativity of Jesus and the annunciation to the shepherds, and on the right, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Technical management and conservation-restoration plans

Maite Toneu (CRBMC) i Maria Sala and David Silvestre, conservator-restorers

Conservator-restorers

David Silvestre (team leader), Lourdes Domedel, Irene Panadés, Voravit Roonthiva, Maria Sala and Teresa Schreibweis

Support conservator-restorers

Cira Castells, Mireia Cerrada, Pau

Claramonte, Tània Grevolosa, Esther Gual, Maite Toneu, Guillem Massalles, Maria Mayo, Daniel Morales, Glòria Palomares, Laura Ruggieri and Xavier Serra

Structural study and design of new door leaves

Jordi Payola, architect and structural consultant

Construction and installation of new door leaves

Tomás Duaso, carpenter specializing in cultural heritage

Logistics and movement of works

Joan Ramon Aromí (Nordest Museum and Exhibit Services, SL)

Physico-chemical analysis

Ricardo Suárez and Ruth Sadurní (CRBMC)

Scientific photography

Ramon Maroto (CRBMC) and Jenny Sánchez

Ortothophotography

Daniel Santos (Octocam-maps)

Drone, photos and time lapse recording

Voravit Roonthiva, conservator-restorer of cultural artefacts

Restoration of door opening mechanism

Xavier Mercader, watchmaker, and Tomàs Querol

Structural reinforcement and anchorage

Serralleria Brunet

Carpentry support and logistics Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC) and Marc Serrano

Instrument advice and supervision

Jordi Vergés, head organist at the cathedral, and Oscar Laguna, organ builder

Preventive conservation

Maria José Gracia (CRBMC)

Documentation Maria Ferreiro, Àngels Planell and Mònica Salas (CRBMC), and Roser Martín (technician from the Heritage Delegation of the Chapter of Tarragona Cathedral)

Historical study

Dr Joaquim Garriga (†) and Antonio Pedro Martínez

Years of restoration plans (2012) and conservation-restoration (January 2017–August 2018)

The thin pictorial layer, using tempera, was worn away in parts and contained gaps in others. There were also the remains of an old restoration, an uneven varnish which had aged and darkened. All this, along with the accumulated dirt, distorted the quality of the work.

Intervention

The door restoration project adopted a strategic and ambitious approach. The aim was to gain a deep understanding of the work, to provide maximum stability and improve its readability, and finally to return the doors to their place of origin, one on each side of the organ, at the height of the pipes, and fix the opening and closing mechanism. Achieving the objectives required the coordination of a multidisciplinary team of professionals, who worked together and exchanged knowledge and experiences.

The work was done in situ. First, the pictorial surface was cleaned, with the leaf standing upright, initially with an aqueous gel and then in a second phase using solvents. The process continued with the consolidation of the canvas

support: this was detached from the frame, rolled up, and moved to where it could be worked on horizontally. The back was cleaned, the deformations were reduced, and the tears were sewn up while the holes were covered by applying fabric grafts. Also, the perimeter was reinforced with strips of linen cloth.

The presentation system consisted of applying a low molecular weight varnish and a hatching technique was used for the visible chromatic reintegration.

New Canadian red cedar wood strainers were designed and built and the original hinges were adapted.

Orthophotos were taken to obtain the precise sizes of the hinges and to adapt them to the geometry of the area where they would be anchored to the organ. A prototype was used to test the functioning of the opening and closing mechanism, and the sizes and distribution of the hinges were adjusted.

— Maite Toneu and David Silvestre

Close-up of the opening and closing mechanism: articulated arms



The organ

The doors removed from the organ, as they were before the intervention began

UV-light observation of the cleaning process on the Nativity scene, with the conservator-restorers studying the piece

Geometry of the stretchers. The right door leaf with the exterior cloth installed on the new stretcher with vertical, horizontal and three diagonal crossbars

with the doors closed after the intervention, with the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary scene

L’Arbre del Roser (the Rosary Tree)

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil painting Author Unknown Date/Period 17th century Dimensions 234 × 350 cm

Location Manresa County Museum, Manresa (Bages county)

CRBMC Register NO 12109

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Ruth Bagán, Irene Panadés and David Silvestre Years of restoration 2013-2014

The painting depicts the most important monks and exponents in general of the rosary, under a tree that symbolizes the expansion of this prayer and the protection it affords to people of all walks of life. In the middle is a tree with large branches from which rosaries sprout.

State of conservation

The work arrived at the Centre (CRBMC) from the Manresa County Museum, rolled up in a large cylinder, and underwent several preliminary examinations. The analyses carried out using ultraviolet light showed a type of fluorescence that ruled out the existence of a terpene varnish. The laboratory work revealed that the canvas was made up of bast fibres.

Intervention

The work was in a poor state of conservation. It had no frame, but the museum had documentary evidence that ther had been a rather unique one, with hinges, which bent the canvas at an angle. Most of the deterioration of the canvas had been caused by these hinges and their rust.

There were rips and tears, most of them caused by manmade accidents, except in the case of a large U-shaped cut, located in the middle of the canvas, which seemed to have been made on purpose. The canvas suffered from malformations all over. It looked like it had been folded over. This seemed to be the cause of most of the losses of the preparation and polychrome layers.

The laboratory concluded that the technique used was oil painting, applied on a preparation layer, using an organic protein glue and a filler of calcium carbonate. This layer was poorly adhered to the canvas, leading to the loss of large areas of the preparation and polychrome layers.

The pictorial layer was covered in inorganic dirt, in many areas, mixed with a superimposed layer of protein origin. The combination of this protein layer and the absence of an underlying varnish had caused the dust to stuck to the pigments. Meanwhile, the porosity of the pictorial layer made it difficult to remove the dirt.

The restoration process consisted of the following phases:

a) Cleaning: On the back, this was limited to a superficial removal by controlled indirect vacuuming. The CRBMC’s protocol tests were performed on the front. The aqueous test gave positive results, both for the removal of inorganic dirt and for the removal of the added glues. Following these results, it was cleaned with a buffer solution of pH 8.5 with chelating agent, applied by means of a gel system.

b) Adherence of the polychrome: The best form of adhesion in this case was using methyl cellulose in distilled water, which

was applied to the parts where the paint had lifted using a fine brush or by injection.

c) Consolidation of the canvas: With regard to the perimeter of the canvas, strips of linen with a fringe of separate threads were applied to prevent the spread of the adhesive. An acrylic emulsion applied cold and reactivated with isopropanol was chosen as the adhesive.

To fix the tears, cuts and holes, the fabrics of the grafts were dyed, to achieve a tone similar to that of the original base. The tears, rips and grafts were welded using sturgeon glue and wheat starch.

In some treated areas, the welds were reinforced with a thin high-strength polyester gauze, impregnated with acrylic thermoplastic resin diluted in cyclohexane and reactivated at a controlled temperature.

In the case of the large U-shaped tear of the larger grafts, it was necessary to apply a final reinforcement of vertical linen threads impregnated with the same adhesive. A new hybrid aluminium and wood frame with a selective tensioning system was chosen to avoid the strong vibrations of traditional tensioning systems.

The final display system, chosen in agreement with the museum, was archaeological. The existing gaps did not affect the readability of the work and, since the accompanying painting had also been restored according to this criterion, this ensured consistency in the way they were displayed.

The work required a final layer of varnish using a very stable low molecular weight resin. As a final element of protection for the back, a high density polyethylene non-woven fabric was chosen.

— David Silvestre

Close-up of the treatment of the support fabric of the perimeter area

Process of disassembling the canvas from the frame for transport to the museum once restored

Close-up of the poor state of conservation of the support fabric

The four pieces are part of a set of seven figures from a novena for souls that is preserved in the Manresa County Museum (MCM). It is liturgical scene that was set up in churches for seven or nine days from November 2, for worshipping the dead. The painted images of the souls of different social classes, burning in purgatory and accompanied by Death were placed on the high altar. Due to their temporary nature, and often due to the fragility of the materials they were comprised of, many of these sets have disappeared; fortunately, this is not the case for this group, possibly from the church of Sant Pere, in Santpedor (Bages county).

These are tempera-painted canvases mounted on wooden supports. Chronologically and structurally, there are two groups: Beauty and Wealth, painted in the 18th century, on linen canvases and mounted on frames, and Science and The King Accompanied by Death, painted in the 19th century, on cotton cloth, nailed and attached to wooden posts. The latter contain instructive captions below each one. In all the paintings the profiles of the support follow the shapes of the representations and they all have crossbars on the back.

State of conservation

Regarding the state of conservation, the wood displayed certain alterations, including cracks, breaks, loss of material, holes created by xylophagous insects, as well as some deformations and separations between posts. Some reinforcements had been added subsequently. Despite this, they were not in a poor state of conservation. The canvases of Beauty and Wealth were considerably thicker than the other two, made of thin cotton thread. All of them had tensioning issues, deformations, wrinkles, loose stitches, some losses, as well as numerous tears due to bumps and knocks. In the case of Science and The King Accompanied by Death, water stains were also visible. The canvas supports also showed signs of previous restorations, including studs which had used to nail parts of the torn canvas that hung loose. These, and the other metal elements used in the works, were rusted.

As for the preparation and pictorial layers, there were parts that had lifted and losses with respect to the canvas support. The pictorial layer had cracks, worn areas and water stains. However, adherence to the preparation layer was generally

Generic classification Painting on canvas Object

Four figures from a novena Material/Technique

Tempera paintings on canvas, mounted on wooden supports Title/Topic

Novena for souls: figure 1: The king accompanied by death; figure 2: Science; figure 3: Beauty, and figure 4: Wealth Author Unknown

Date/Period 18th-19th centuries

Dimensions

The king accompanied by death: 255 × 110 × 5 cm Science; 265 × 98 × 5 cm Beauty: 205 × 100 × 4.5 cm, and Wealth 203 × 105 × 5 cm

Origin Probably from the church of Sant Pere, Santpedor (Bages county)

Location Manresa County Museum, Manresa (Bages county)

good. On the surface, there was dirt and stains of various kinds, and none of the works had a coat of varnish.

Intervention

The intervention included an anoxia disinfection treatment. The wooden supports were stabilized through the adhesion of the broken parts and the incorporation of grafts where the material had been lost. The metal elements were treated to prevent further rust. The canvases were mechanically cleaned and consolidated: sewing of the seams, application of grafts and reinforcements to tears and gaps. The deformations were also reduced. The pictorial and preparation layers were attached with organic glue. The cleaning of the polychrome was carried out mainly dry, with the exception of skin-coloured areas, which were cleaned using an aqueous system. Finally, the reintegration of the gaps was carried out in such a way as to create an illusion.

— Irene Panadés

Back of the painting Beauty before the restoration

Restoration Rosa Martínez, Irene Panadés and Laia Roca; interns: Clara Bailach, Carla Enrique, Marta Estadella and Carol Folch Year of restoration 2014

Back of the paintings after the restoration

Pentecosta (Pentecost) by Antoni Viladomat

Generic classification Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil painting

Author Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (Barcelona, 1678-1755)

Date/Period 18th century Dimensions 96 × 90.5 cm

Pentecost is a common theme in Christian art, based on the Jewish holiday that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. Antoni Viladomat captures this scene in a painting inserted in an altarpiece. We know the existence of three more paintings that make up the set: Presentació al temple (Presentation at the temple), Flagel·lació (Flagellation) and Ascensió (Ascension), which are preserved in the museum itself.

This painting has survived to the present day without traces of previous restorations, so it is offers a good insight into the material characteristics of the painter’s work.

State of conservation

The painting is on a canvas made of bast fibres, woven in simple plain weave cloth, with irregular Z-twist threads (8.5 threads/cm² × 10 threads/cm²). It had rips tears and holes, one of which was covered with a piece of fabric from an old restoration.

The fabric had been nailed to its original fixed frame with half lap joints and tenons at the angles. The wood was in a very deteriorated state of conservation, having suffered a severe attack by xylophagous insects, which had weakened it, and there was a great deal of surface dirt.

The preparation layer was a traditional ochre clay and was quite thick and, in general, was well adhered to the canvas and the pictorial layer. The work contained gaps in the preparation layer that coincided with the two tears in the lower central area.

The pictorial layer is oil painted with a brush, applied with different thicknesses, with a clear predominance of earthy

Origin Unknown Location

Diocesan Museum of Barcelona, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12236

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Beatriz Montobbio and Núria Piqué Year of restoration 2014

tones, on which the light skin tone stands out, on which material elements were applied to brighten it. The pictorial layer was well adhered to the preparation layer, but in some areas there was uplifting and losses, due to poor handling and moisture.

It had abundant surface dirt, mainly due to airborne dust from the environment, air pollution, smoke and candle soot, which had adhered to the pictorial layer and altered its readability.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process of the painting followed the criteria of minimum intervention and maximum respect for the integrity of the work, in order to achieve maximum stability and allow a uniform reading of the painting.

After the anoxia disinfection treatment, the pictorial layer was fixed to the suction table, using controlled heat and the application of organic glue. The frame was cleaned and reinforced to give it more stability, while maintaining any historical additions.

The deformed parts of the fabric were reduced and the rips and holes were fixed through micro-stitching, reinforced with bridge threads. Tension points were added using synthetic fabric, adhered with hot-melt adhesive applied in thin layers.

The cleaning of the pictorial layer was done after a cleaning test carried out by the CRBMC, with a pH 7 solution. Following the criteria of minimum intervention and respect for the original it was decided that the painting should not be varnished.

The gaps were filled in with a traditional putty applied with a brush. The chromatic reintegration was designed to create an illusion, using low molecular weight pigments and varnishes.

As a preventive conservation measure, the back of the work was protected, with a non-woven high density polyethylene fabric, chemically neutral and breathable, to prevent the accumulation of dust and other particles, and as a barrier to reduce the effects of thermo-hygrometric fluctuations and biological attacks.

— Beatriz Montobbio and Núria Piqué

Taking samples in order to carry out pigment analyses

Close-up of the upper part of the painting before the intervention

Close-up of the upper part of the painting after the intervention

Levelling the pictorial layer with putty

The Assumption of Mary

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil on canvas

Title/Topic The Assumption of Mary

Author

Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (Barcelona, 1678-1755)

Date/Period 1728-1750 Dimensions 3.5 × 2 m (frameless)

The painting was part of the altarpiece located in what was the chapel of the Brotherhood of All Saints, now the chapel of the Holy Christ of the Manresa Cathedral, which was burned during the Spanish Civil War. At the time of the restoration, the painting was hanging in the chapel in front of the baptistery. It is a very interesting work by the author, both due to its exceptionally rich use of colour and its complex composition, which includes an earthly part, depicting the open tomb and the apostles, and a heavenly part, showing the angels raising the Virgin up and the Trinity, with its court.

State of conservation

When the work arrived at the CRBMC, a series of studies were carried out to analyse the materials and the state of conservation.

The support consists of two pieces of canvas measuring 120 × 350 cm and 80 × 350 cm, respectively, which are joined by a single vertical seam. The fabric is made from plain weave cloth. It has a density of approximately 9 × 10 threads/cm, and the analysed fibre is bast.

The canvas is attached, using studs, to a fixed coniferous wood frame, which is made up of three battens and two upper pieces of wood, cut in the shape of a semicircle and with two concave ends.

An examination with ultraviolet light revealed a semitransparent green fluorescence, typical of terpene resins. GS-MS chromatography indicates that the resin is triterpene.

An examination with IR light revealed the existence of a correction by the painter, located on the right hand of the Mother of God, where modifications to some of the fingers are visible. A stratigraphy of the sky area reveals two differentiated layers of paint on the reddish preparation, in different areas of the painting.

A Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) detected Prussian blue and white lead. Organic shellac was also found on Mary’s red dress.

The preparation layer is quite thick compared to the painting and has a bright red colour due to the presence of red ochre mixed with calcium carbonate. The analysis found there to be oil in the composition. These types of oily layers were common in Baroque primers, and the results of the analyses confirmed that Viladomat had also used them.

Several pieces of cloth were found on the back. Of note in terms of the deterioration of the base were some vertical cuts in the canvas, especially the one located in the lower

Origin Church of Santa Maria de l’Alba. La Seu, Manresa (Bages county)

Location

Temporarily on display at the Manresa County Museum (Bages county) CRBMC Register NO 12495

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration

Irene Panadés, Maria Sala and David Silvestre Year of restoration 2015

area, where the tomb of the Mother of God is depicted The perimeters of the canvas were also badly damaged and torn.

The varnish was in an advanced state of oxidation and acidification which distorted the original colours and yellowed the whole painting. The entire surface of the varnish was covered in a very encrusted layer of dirt.

Intervention

The first decision we took was to keep the original frame, after determining that it could still perform its function of providing a rigid support. The entire stabilization, disinfestation and consolidation process, both of the wood and of the canvas, was carried out without detaching the painting, in order to preserve the original tension and not add any more any stress.

The consolidation of the canvas consisted in removing old pieces using a gel polar solvent, stitching up all the tears thread by thread, using sturgeon glue and wheat starch, and applying reinforcements with a gauze made of polyester or linen threads and thermoplastic adhesive. The holes were grafted with fabric similar to the original.

In the parts which had become slack, small strips of elongated sailcloth fabric were added, which when stuck to the original canvas using thermoplastic provided selective tensioning.

The surface of the painting was cleaned in two phases, following the CRBMC’s current protocols. The first, in which the surface dirt was removed, involved a buffer solution with a pH of 7, applied by means of a gel system.

For the second phase, the removal of varnish and repainted areas, a non polar mixture of solvents was used, applied in a gel to prevent penetration.

The final presentation of the painting followed the principle of creating an illusion, with losses filled in using traditional putty and the chromatic reintegration involving pure pigments bound with a highly reversible resin. A very stable low molecular weight aliphatic resin was selected as a final layer of varnish.

As a preventive measure, the canvas was insulated from the wooden frame by placing a non-woven fabric of high density polyethylene in between the two. Finally, to protect the back from dust and temperature variations, a second outer layer of the same polyethylene fabric was placed in between.

— David Silvestre

Removal of oxidized varnish

Back of the painting; application of the protective fabric inside the frame

Photograph after the restoration

Fishermen and still life of fish, by Antoni Viladomat

Generic classification Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil painting

Title/Topic Fishermen and still life of fish

Author

Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (Barcelo na, 1678-1755)

Date/Period 18th century

This painting by Viladomat, one of the most productive Catalan Baroque painters, was found in 2016 by the historian Francesc Miralpeix, in the house of the Rocamora Private Cultural Foundation, the residence of Manuel Rocamora i Vidal in the Putxet district of Barcelona where his collections are preserved.

The painting depicts a fishing scene, in which the two characters are dressed in tunics reminiscent of the time of Jesus and the apostles, with a still life, comprised of fish common to the Mediterranean, in the foreground.

The painting has a very varied colour palette, unlike the artist’s paintings of saints, which are very dark. Particularly striking is the painter’s characteristic use of bright white, as well as the reddish preparation that can be glimpsed where there are losses.

State of conservation

The painting had been relined during an old restoration and had a deformation as a result of a knock. The pictorial layer had undergone a very invasive cleaning, varnishing and repainting process with very little respect for the work. The varnish layer was altered and prevented appreciation of the nuances of the colours of the paint. As for the frame, which appeared not to be the original, it was made up of four simple battens of gilded wood, nailed to the edges of the painting.

Intervention

The treatment of the support involved preserving the relining. The cleaning process began with the removal of dry surface dust. Aqueous cleaning was then carried out, using a

Process of removing and reducing the putty and the paper that were found on the original

Dimensions 60 × 100 cm

Location Rocamora Private Cultural Founda tion, Barcelona (Barcelonès county) CRBMC Register NO 13128

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Maria Sala (team leader) and Olga Íñigo

gelled buffer solution with a pH of 8 and chelating agent. For the removal of the varnish and previous touch-ups, a polar mixture of gelled solvents was used, which was left to act for three minutes and removed using dry swabs, in combination with a more non polar mixture. To eliminate the putty and paper, which encroached on the original paint, a gelled aqueous system was used to soften and mechanically remove the excess. The cleaning of the frame also started out dry; then using an emulsion, any insect droppings found were removed mechanically.

The old putty was replaced with a traditional one, made from animal glue and a filler. The presentation system involved a pictorial reintegration with the idea of creating an illusion. First, an aqueous system was used to tone the white filler putty with the characteristic reddish colour of the artist, and then using pigments with a low molecular weight resin. Between the two reintegration systems, a varnish with a low molecular weight was applied.

The painting was assembled with a new framing system. The wooden wedges were fixed and a high-density breathable polyethylene fabric was placed over the whole of the back, in order to protect the work from dust and dirt and to mitigate somewhat any variations in relative humidity.

After the preliminary study of the work and this intervention, we can confirm that the previous restoration was so invasive that it distorted the work and cast doubt on its authorship.

— Maria Sala

Retouching process

Photograph after the intervention

Photograph before the intervention

The Lamentation of Mary, by Antoni Viladomat

The work, which is attributed to Antoni Viladomat, was painted during his Tarragona period and ended up in the collection of the Diocesan Museum of Tarragona (MDT) during the 1980s. Over the years, it has undergone several interventions, some of them regrettable, severely damaging the painting’s great artistic quality.

State of conservation

The base is a linen canvas mounted on a strainer that, like the frame, may not be the originals. Although no significant deterioration was observed, the original canvas had been relined, a typical intervention method used at the time. This practice, however, had damaged the work, because as a result of the pressure and heat traditionally involved in these processes, the pictorial layer had been affected: the weave of the underlying fabrics was marked and the layers and daubs of paint were at risk. A traditional preparation layer had been used with a reddish hue, characteristic of the period and of the painter.

The pictorial layer, in oil, was worn down all over the upper area, possibly due to a previous cleaning process, and a very yellowed and darkened layer of varnish was visible, also the result of a restoration, as well as some repainting.

Generic classification

Painting

on canvas Object

Painting with frame

Material/Technique Oil painting

Title/Topic The Lamentation of Mary Author

Attributed to Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (Barcelona, 1678-1755) Date/Period Baroque period

Dimensions 79 × 101.5 cm (with frame) and 57.5 × 78 cm (painting)

Location Diocesan Museum of Tarragona, Tarragona (Tarragonès county) CRBMC Register NO 12939

Restoration Irene Panadés and Maria Sala Year of restoration 2016

The frame, made of wood with gilded and polychrome mouldings, had been heavily restored: it showed a great deal of repainting work, a very thick varnish, a lot of gloss and volumetric reintegrations made with epoxy resin and applied unevenly covering original parts. Beneath these layers was an older intervention consisting of alternate gilding and white paint in the mouldings. This layer covered a mecca gilding, whose scope and degree of losses we could not determine. On top of this there was a widespread loss of gilding and numerous holes caused by xylophagous insects.

Intervention

The intervention began with the disinfestation of the frame in the anoxic chamber. The painting and the frame then went through a cleaning process. A preliminary vacuuming of the back and the front was performed to remove the inorganic surface dirt. The wooden support was cleaned with water and ethanol. As for the pictorial surface of the painting, a watercontrolled, pH-controlled cleaning process was initially carried out. The varnish and the repainted areas were removed, after a prior test, using a mixture of polar solvents. In the case of the front of the frame, a mixture of gelled solvents and liquids was used to remove the varnish and repainted areas, and also to soften the epoxy resin, which was subsequently reduced or removed mechanically with a scalpel.

The presentation system, following the principle of creating an illusion, involved filling in gaps with traditional putty, and a chromatic reintegration using watercolours. In the case of the frame, the areas with loss of support were filled in with industrial putty; the chromatic reintegration was also performed using watercolours, with vertical hatching in the gilded areas and a retouching of the rest to create an illusion. Finally, the frame and painting were varnished with a low molecular weight resin, and the back was protected with a non-woven polyethylene fabric.

— Maria Sala

Photograph of the front. The painting after the intervention

Collection of patriarchs and prophets of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object

Sixteen paintings

Material/Technique

Glue tempera

Title/Topic

Set of sixteen paintings depicting patriarchs and prophets

Author

Unknown Date/Period

Final third of the 16th century Dimensions 190 × 85 cm approximately (each one)

Origin Cathedral of Santa Maria, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

Location Diocesan Museum of Urgell, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 11690, 12290, 12491, 13056 to 13058, 13247 to 13253 and 13452 to 13454

Restoration Pau Claramonte, Lourdes Dome del, M. José Gràcia, Núria Lladó, Maria Sala, Teresa Schreibweis and David Silvestre

Years of restoration 2014 -2018

The collection of patriarchs and prophets is a set of sixteen paintings on canvas from the 16th century preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Urgell. The paintings are among the few figurative representations of Jacob and his twelve sons preserved in Europe, along with the series depicting the tribes of Israel by Zurbarán (c. 1640), preserved since the mid18th century in two English collections (Auckland Castle and Grimsthorpe Castle).

In this context, the Urgell series, dating from the last third of the 16th century, stands out for being the oldest of the preserved pictorial series, not only on canvas but in any pictorial discipline. Thematically, it is original: it is not based solely on Genesis, but also on the book The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, which was very popular in Central Europe and Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The author is unknown. A previous school of thought attributed them to Antoni Peitaví but this restoration has cast doubt on this, while a study by Joan Bosch and Adrià Vázquez points to a Central European or French master, active in Catalonia or Aragon.

State of conservation

The paintings were in a poor state of conservation. Over the centuries, the works have undergone several interventions. It is documented that, at the end of the 19th century, all of them were repainted invasively by the local painter Oromí.

The painting technique used is glue tempera, on a very thin preparation layer. The canvas base is made of plain weave bast fibres. The paintings are framed with battens, also painted in tempera. The assembly, traditional at the time, is fixed, with the canvas nailed directly to the frame.

The pictorial layer showed scattered losses, which generally coincided with the losses of the support. The pictorial surface had a light layer of dust and dirt. The original canvasses of the set were in a very varied state, with the canvas intact in some paintings and only slightly deformed, while in others the losses, tears and deformations were abundant. As a common feature, they were all rusty, stiff, and brittle. In addition, all the works had been relined, which in some cases caused stresses and bubbling of varying degrees. There was evidence of very old interventions in the form of bits of paint, either original or from a very old second layer. These were not removed in case they were actually repairs carried out by the author himself. In any case, they indicate the need for further study of the works.

Intervention

The intervention was carried out following the protocols of the CRBMC, intervening as little as possible in order to stabilize the works as much as possible and recover their readability.



Back of the canvas of the painting of the patriarch Gad, without a frame and during the restoration process



Back of the canvas during the process of consolidation of the support with localized treatment, through grafts and sewing, of the losses of fabric

Frameless painting of the patriarch Zebulun, before the restoration

Before deciding the appropriate course of action, a technicalscientific study was performed with X-rays, diffuse light, transmitted light, UV and IR. The extracted samples were used to analyse and identify the binding medium used in the pictorial layer, the pigments, the preparation and the canvas fibres.

A preventive anoxic disinfestation was performed. The support battens were then disassembled and the back of both the canvas and the frame were cleaned dry (with a vacuum cleaner and flat brush) to remove surface dust. The frame also underwent an aqueous cleaning process.

As for the pictorial layers of the painting, a water-controlled, pHcontrolled cleaning process was carried out, taking into account the fragility of some of the pigments. The repainted parts were removed in a controlled manner using a gelled solvent.

In some areas, the original canvasses were detached from the relined canvasses, so they had to be stuck back using suitable adhesives.

Painting of the patriarch Zebulun, after the intervention and with frame

Where parts of the canvas had been lost, linen grafts were stuck on with an organic glue and all the tears were sewn up. In the case of the patriarch Naphtali, the canvas was very loose and reinforcement strips were applied. The old relining was maintained, except in the patriarchs Issachar, Gad, and Judah, since it was not stable enough and was very loose. The first two were relined, while in the painting of Judah no new relining fabric had to be added because the original fabric was stable enough.

The final presentation consisted of a subtle reintegration using watercolours and with pigments and varnish. The area repainted with purpurin on the frames was removed, using a gelled solvent, the small losses were consolidated volumetrically and chromatically, and all the works were reassembled on their respective frames.

As a preventive conservation measure, the collection of paintings will be protected on both the front and the back when they are displayed.

— Teresa Schreibweis and David Silvestre

Painting of the Patriarch Benjamin before and after the restoration

Process of eliminating repainted layers

Chemical cleaning using gelled solvents

Five paintings on canvas from the 16th century depicting Amazons

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object

Five frameless paintings Material/Technique Oil painting on canvas Title/Topic Amazons. Portraits of Delphina, Phoenecia, Hippolyta, Leandra, Penthesilea, Thalestris and Zenobia

Author Unknown Date/Period 16th century Dimensions 116 × 82.5 cm each one approximately

The five paintings are part of a set of seven paintings that have been preserved so far in their original location and that, according to bibliographic evidence, were part of a set of sixteen portraits of Amazons. The author is still unknown and they were painted, according to experts, at the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century, making them some of the oldest preserved oil paintings on canvas in Catalonia. They are listed as a cultural asset of national interest (BCIN).

The Amazons, powerful women warriors, are part of a long mythical tradition, with an influence on various cultures. These paintings are three-quarter-length portraits, in a Renaissance style, which include the name of each Amazon depicted.

State of conservation

The canvasses, made up of several pieces of cloth joined with seams, are painted in oil, although, due to their matte appearance, they look more tempera paintings.

Their state of conservation was poor, with their stability compromised by several factors: the ageing of the materials; the effect of moisture, both direct and indirect, to which they were exposed at some point in the past, and, more significantly, old restoration interventions that basically affected the back of the canvasses. It should be stressed that the pictorial layer, despite showing signs of deterioration, had not been altered by repaintings nor layers of materials other than the original paint.

Consolidating one of the backs of the canvases, using less intrusive systems compared to the traditional ones

Location Private collection

CRBMC Register NO 13209 to 13215

Coordination Maite Toneu

Restoration

Pau Claramonte, Núria Lladó, Bea Montobbio, Núria Piqué, Teresa Schreibweis and Marta Vilà. Interns: Tania Grevolosa and Laura Ruggieri

Carpentry

Carmelo Ortega

Year of restoration 2017

Intervention

The intervention criterion was based on taking the minimum necessary action to recover the material and structural integrity of the works, to stop their deterioration and improve their readability.

The consolidation of the support was complex and was carried out using modern and less intrusive techniques than the traditional ones: after removing the old pieces from the back and flattening the canvasses, the tears and holes were treated, respectively, with microsurgery and linen cloth grafts adhered with sturgeon glue and wheat starch. These and other similar procedures used to consolidate the backs of the canvasses, such as strengthening the weaker seams, were strengthened with reinforcement thread attached using a thermoplastic adhesive. It was also necessary to apply perimeter strips, which were stuck on with acrylic adhesive.

The cleaning of the pictorial layer was carried out with a buffer solution system with a controlled pH, given the fragility of some pigments.

As for the reintegration of the losses of the preparation layer, this was done with a traditional putty. The gaps in the pictorial layer were filled in with a preliminary layer of watercolour, which was touched up with pigments and varnish.

A final protection layer was applied with a low concentration of a low molecular weight resin, in order to preserve the original appearance. The backs were protected with a non-woven polyethylene fabric as a precautionary conservation measure.

— Marta Vilà

Close-up of a tear being sewn up

Photograph with raking light of the painting of the Amazon Delphina, as it had arrived at the CRBMC. The adhered Japanese paper fragments protect the pictorial layer areas in danger of coming loose

The Amazon Delfina after the intervention

Portrait of Marta Casals Istomin

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil and mixed technique on canvas

Title/Topic Portrait of Marta Casals Istomin, wife of Pau Casals

Author Federico Álvarez Des (Masllorenç, Baix Penedès county 1909 - ? 1971)

Date/Period 20th century Dimensions 203 × 119.2 × 2 cm (painting) and 223.5 × 128 × 5 cm (frame)

The work, which is part of a set of two portraits (Pau Casals and Marta Casals), is a full-length portrait of Marta Casals Istomin, born Marta Montañez Martínez. Marta Casals is a Puerto Rican cellist and wife of Pau Casals. She is currently vice-president of the Pau Casals Foundation. The author of the painting is Federico Álvarez Des. Very little is known about him; it seems that he was born in Catalonia and went to live in Puerto Rico, where he painted the portraits of Pau and Marta Casals.

According to the analysis, the work is painted on a canvas made of bast fibres. It is made from plain weave cloth with a very regular weave because it is a commercial fabric. The preparation layer is white and thin. The painting technique used in the work is oil and mixed. The artist's brushstroke is dynamic and uses impasto. A surface layer of varnish based on natural resin has been detected. The frame, made of linden wood, is the original and has a bevelled edge with plant-type reliefs.

State of conservation

Prior to the intervention, the work contained deformations, a tear in the fabric and losses in the preparation layer and the pictorial layer, and was suffering from a biological attack caused by fungi due to the environmental conditions of its location. The frame was in a very poor state of conservation, having suffered a major biological attack from xylophagous insects and termites.

The aim of the conservation-restoration intervention was to stabilize the painting and the frame in order to stop its deterioration and, at the same time, improve its readability.

Origin Private home of Pau Casals in Puerto Rico

Location

Vil·la Casals-Museu Pau Casals, el Vendrell (Baix Penedès county)

CRBMC Register NO 13430

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Teresa Schreibweis Year of restoration 2018

The restoration was carried out according to the criteria of minimum intervention and maximum respect for all the elements that make up the history of the work.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process began with the attachment of the peeling parts of the preparation and pictorial layers using a synthetic adhesive.

Once the pictorial layer was stabilized, the canvas support and its frame were mechanically cleaned, while the tear on the canvas was fixed by performing microsurgery which involved resewing the fabric using threads extracted from its edges and adhering them with sturgeon glue and wheat starch. The deformations of the fabric were also removed at this stage.

After stabilizing the support, the pictorial layer was mechanically treated with a flat brush to remove fungal spores and surface dirt. The surface of the polychrome was then cleaned using an aqueous system, controlling the pH and ionic concentration.

A traditional putty was used to fill in the gaps. It was given structure to facilitate the pictorial reintegration, which was carried out using an illusion technique, with powder pigments and low molecular weight varnish.

Finally, the frame was strengthened and fixed, and the gaps in it were filled it and levelled off. As a protective measure, a nonwoven polyethylene fabric was placed on the back.

— Teresa Schreibweis

Protection of the tear area with Tetex®

Close-up of the face during the cleaning

Attaching the pictorial layer around the area of the tear

Textile microsurgery: sewing thread by thread

The painting is a copy of the original painted by Juan Luna Novicio in 1887. Both works are currently preserved at the Víctor Balaguer Library Museum (BMVB), in Vilanova i la Geltrú

In 1887, Víctor Balaguer met Juan Luna during the National Exhibition of the Philippine Islands, in the Retiro Park in Madrid. In gratitude for the support for his artistic career, Juan Luna donated several works to the incipient project of the Library Museum of Vilanova. Of all the paintings donated, this one in particular stands out.

Three years later, a young Hermen Anglada Camarasa, who was beginning his artistic career outside the Barcelona academic circuit, made an exceptional copy of this work.

In private hands until 2016, it then became part of the Balaguer collection. This oil painting, almost identical in size to the original, had been repainted.

State of conservation

An initial visual analysis of work showed that it had undergone at least one prior restoration. This was evident from the repainted parts on the back of the work, located in the upper left corner, where the signature is.

Generic classification Painting on canvas

Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil painting Title/Topic La mestissa

Author

Hermen Anglada Camarasa (Bar celona, 1871 - el Port de Pollença, 1959)

Date/Period 1890 Dimensions 110 × 74 cm

Intervention

Origin Private collection, Barcelona Location

Storage rooms of the Víctor Balaguer Library Museum, Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf county)

CRBMC Register NO 13507

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Mia Marsé i Sandra Piris (TdArt Heritage Curators, SLU) Year of restoration 2018

The following were the most significant processes carried out:

— Taking of photographs prior to the process. UV and IR images were also taken. Photos taken with UV (ultraviolet) light clearly revealed the repainted areas. repintades són molt evidents.

— Removal of the bits.

— Consolidation of the support.

— Aqueous and chemical cleaning. An aqueous cleaning process was carried out with a pH 8.5 buffer solution. The chemical cleaning to remove the oxidized varnish was done using a mixture of solvents.

— Elimination of repainted parts.

— Application of a varnish to protect the pictorial layer.

— Application of putty to fill in the gaps of the pictorial layer.

— Pictorial reintegration.

— Frame: cleaning of the gilded polychrome.

— Protection of the back of the work.

— Final photographs of the work.

The conservation-restoration work followed the criterion of minimum intervention to provide maximum stabilization. However, since the repainted parts were very visible, a more thorough restoration was required to remove some added elements.

The brightness of the colours was restored to the give the work back its original appearance. An inscription hidden under the repainting surrounding the signature was also uncovered.

Current conservation-restoration techniques were applied, using stable materials which were compatible with the work and with each other, in order to guarantee maximum durability, reversibility and readability.

— Mia Marsé (conservator-restorer)

— Mireia Rosich (director of the BMVB)

Back of the painting after the intervention

General image of the painting after the intervention

Appearance of the work under UV light

Restoring the collection of the Anchovy and Salt Museum of L’Escala

Generic classification

Painting on canvas Object

24 paintings

Material/Technique Oil painting

Title/Topic Various Author

Caterina Albert i Paradís, known by her pseudonym, Víctor Català (l’Escala, 1869-1966); Joaquim Folch i Torres (Barcelona, 1886 -Badalona, 1963); Y. Riera (?)

and Manel Rocamora (Barcelona, 1892-1976)

Date/Period 1880-1890

Dimensions Various Origin

Alfolí de la Sal-Museum of l’Escala and Espai Víctor Català-Clos del Pastor, l’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

CRBMC Register NO 13591 to 13604 and 13607 to 13616

The collection of twenty-four pictorial works belongs to the collection of the Anchovy and Salt Museum (MASLE) of L’Escala, taken from the Clos del Pastor house, former workshop of the writer Caterina Albert (whose pseudonym is Víctor Català). The series, painted in oil on canvas, depicts family members, still lifes and landscapes related to her work Solitude

State of conservation

The state of conservation of the pieces varied from regular to deficient, although most shared the same alterations. In general, the wooden strainers had suffered attacks from xylophagous insects, there were deformations in the fabric, loss of support of the pictorial layer, gaps, dirt, tears, cracks, etc. One of the most notable alterations was the whitening of certain areas of the pictorial layer, due to the presence of lead soaps.

Intervention

Once transferred to the CRBMC, the works went through the anoxic chamber to be disinfested. The restoration process carried out was quite similar across most of the paintings. The pictorial and preparation layers were reattached in places using a synthetic adhesive. After carrying out the corresponding tests, the pictorial layer underwent aqueous cleaning processes, and only in some cases were solvents used to remove varnishes.

As for the consolidation of the support, the rips in the fabric were sewn up, and grafts and strips were applied where necessary. The deformations of the canvas were reduced, by applying small amounts of moisture and pressure. The pictorial gaps were filled in with traditional putty, and

chromatic reintegrations were performed using watercolours or binders with low molecular weight resin, with the aim of creating an illusion.

The most significant treatment was carried out on the carboxylates or lead soaps. This deterioration is caused by the reaction of the white lead present in the preparation layer with the oil, which binds the pictorial layer. It was probably the result of continued exposure to high humidity and sudden changes in temperature during storage.

Thanks to the analyses carried out, it was possible to determine the extent of the alteration and establish the treatment that should be followed after numerous tests. The aim was to reduce the whitening through the application of EDTA as a chelating agent in a gelled buffer solution. The time it was allowed to act was controlled and adapted to the different affected areas and the different pigments, with an average of two minutes of action. Finally, the remaining carboxylates were homogenized with a layer of low molecular weight varnish.

As a preventive preservation process, the backs of the paintings were covered with a breathable synthetic fabric and adherent strip, and some of the pieces were framed with methacrylate, with a UV filter.

Deterioration caused by lead carboxylates and its suitable treatment was a fairly unknown issue until recently. Our analysis of the agents that cause it shows just how important proper storage and display is for the stability of works.

— Maria Brossa and Irene Panadés

Close-up of the painting Housemaid putting on jewellery, before and after the intervention

Close-up of the portrait Bust of a man, before and after the intervention

Maria Brossa and Irene Panadés

Collection of portraits by the painter Filippo Ariosto

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object

16 paintings

Material/Technique Oil painting

Title/Topic Gallery of portraits of the counts and counts-kings of Catal onia-Aragon

Author

Filippo Ariosto (Bolonya, 1560 - ?, 1640)

Date/Period 1587-1588

This collection of forty-three paintings of the portraits of counts and count-kings of Catalonia-Aragon, the work of the painter Filippo Ariosto, is one of the oldest royal galleries in Europe preserved almost entirely.

In 1587, the Diputació del General commissioned this Italian painter to make the portraits to decorate the Sala Gran del Consistori of the Palau de la Generalitat. With the Nueva Planta decrees, the set of paintings was moved to the Palau de Justícia, and in 1963 it was relocated to the Military Museum, where it remained until this closed in 2009.

Since 2018, twelve portraits have been installed in the Sala dels Tarongers of the Palau de la Generalitat; and two more portraits are on display in the permanent room of the Museum of the History of Catalonia. The conservation-restoration project of the rest of the collection is currently ongoing.

State of conservation

This is a series of oil-paintings on a layer of coloured primer/ preparation layer and a bast fibre canvas base, with a taffetatype weave. They are mounted on a fixed frame.

All were restored during historical interventions that were too invasive. They contained large repainted areas and thick layers of irregularly applied resins, in most cases to disguise losses and areas with erosion of the pictorial layer, caused by overly aggressive cleaning. All the original backs had been relined traditionally with flour paste or animal glue. These paintings may have originally been larger, as evidenced by the way in which certain elements are cut-off abruptly, such as many of the hands or arms.

Intervention

Following a principle of minimal intervention, it was decided that only the relinings that were in poor condition or that caused damage to the original fabric would be removed; the rest were preserved with the application of consolidation treatments in places, where necessary. The consolidation consisted of a set of processes to minimize deformations, sutures, grafts and, in some cases, the addition of perimeter reinforcements to re-tension the fabrics properly.

All the original strainers were preserved, but the structure was repaired where they were broken or weakened in parts.

The pictorial surface of the portraits was treated by removing, where necessary, the oxidized and thick resins and all the invasive repainted areas that hid original information. The evolution of the CRBMC’s criteria, with an ongoing search for treatments in line with the latest advances in the field of cleaning, is reflected in this collection: the first paintings we pioneered the use of the pH-controlled solutions test and

Dimensions 132.3 × 96 cm (frameless) each and 117.6 × 81.2 cm (with frame) each, approximately Origin

Art collection of the Ministry of the Presidency, Palau de la General itat (Barcelona); Montjuïc Castle Military Museum (Barcelona), and National Art Museum of Catalonia (Barcelona) Location

12 portraits in the Sala dels Tarongers of the Palau de la Gener alitat (Barcelona), 2 portraits in the Museum of the History of Catalonia

the solvent test with different polarities, while in the last four paintings a new protocol was followed in which the pH and conductivity of the pictorial surface is measured first to then determine the most appropriate cleaning system.

For the presentation system, a protective layer was applied, based on a low molecular weight resin, and a volumetric and chromatic reintegration of the losses and gaps was carried out, with the idea of creating an illusion.

The frames, although not original, were restored and preserved for their useful function of protecting the paintings against environmental dust. The entire back was protected with a non-woven fabric to prevent dust accumulation and consequent moisture condensation, and to cushion the effects of environmental fluctuations in humidity and temperature.

— David Silvestre

Back of the painting after the restoration

(Barcelona) and 2 portraits in the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (Valldoreix)

CRBMC Register NO 11089, 11091 to 11095, 11099, 11102 to 11104, 11106, 11112, 11124, 11135 to 11137

Coordination

Maite Toneu

Restoration

Clara Bailach, Lourdes Domedel, Carla Enrique, Iris Garcia, Núria Lladó, Maria Mayo, Ana Ordóñez, Irene Panadés, Maria Sala, Teresa Schreibweis and David Silvestre Years of restoration 2010-2019

Back of the painting after the restoration with the corresponding protection

Close-up of the painting with raking light, before the restoration

General photo after the restoration of the Ermessenda painting

Mural painting 4

Church of Santa Maria de Barberà del Vallès: fragments of Romanesque murals of the central absidal basin

Generic classification

Mural painting Object

Four fragments of transferred Romanesque mural painting (1949)

Material/Technique Fresco

Title/Topic fragments of painted mural decoration (Maiestas Domini and tetramorph)

Date/Period Late 12th century - early 13th century

Dimensions 140 × 150 cm; 165 × 85 cm; 100 × 125 cm and 105 × 75 cm

Location Church of Santa Maria (la Romà nica), Barberà del Vallès (Vallès Occidental county)

CRBMC Register NO 2850

Coordination Pere Rovira

Director of restoration Javier Chillida (Chillida Conser vación Restauración Art, SL)

The chevet of the church of Santa Maria de Barberà (la Romànica) is formed of a central apse and two side apses decorated with Romanesque mural paintings.

The apses were painted with lime in the last quarter of the 12th century and this work is attributed to an artist in the circle of the ‘Master of Cardona’ (the name given to the artist who painted murals in several churches), while the central apse was painted al fresco shortly afterwards by the ‘Master of Barberà del Vallès’. The only area in the church that still preserves the painted decoration on its original support is on the three registers of the main apse, as the rest of the paintings were detached by Ramon Gudiol in 1949. The detached paintings were transferred to canvas and mounted on wooden frames, apart from four fragments that were adhered directly to the central absidal basin.

State of conservation

The fact that the paintings were directly in contact with the wall compromised the conservation of these fragments, due to water leaks from the roofs and open, structural cracks throughout the thickness of the wall. The main damage included lifting of the paint film, losses of the pictorial layer, and detachment from the canvases. Therefore, they needed to be removed so that an intervention layer could be placed between the canvases and the wall: an insulating material that would protect them from future damage.

Intervention

The detached fragments were transferred to the CRBMC workshops, where tests were carried out to decide which material to use for the intervention layer, the best adhesive for fixing the layer to the basin wall, and which adhesive to use for fixing the transfer canvases to the surface of the intervention layer.

The material chosen for the intervention layer was expanded polystyrene (Porexpan®), 4 mm thick. This a hydrophobic material that is resistant to biological degradation and which has been used for some years as an intervention layer for detached mural paintings. In this case, it was valued among other materials for its optimal adaptation to the irregular form of the plaster support, its light weight, and because it would allow the canvases to be mechanically dismounted in the future, without the need for solvents. To adhere the Porexpan® sheets to the wall, it was decided to use Plextol® B 500, since it allowed the sheets to be quickly glued together and to be able to adjust their arrangement.

To adhere the transferred mural to the Porexpan®, the adhesive had to function as a contact adhesive and to also prevent excessive impregnation of the transfer canvases. Different adhesives were tested and, finally, it was decided to use Lascaux® Acrylic Adhesive 498-20X, due to the good adhesion of the resin and minimal impregnation of the canvases owing to its density. If future dismounting is required, the adhesive on the back of the canvases can be removed with acetone.

— Javier Chillida

Damage to the pierced fabrics

Layout of the intervention layer

Completed restoration

Restoration Ana Cristina de Árbol, Marta Corberó, Ainara Díaz and Pau Ramírez Year of restoration 2014

Restoration of the mural paintings of the church of Sant Quirze de Pedret located in the Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona

Generic classification

Mural painting Object

Mural paintings detached from the front of the apse and side walls of the nave

Material/Technique Fresco, transferred to canvas Title/Topic Decorative paintings of the church of Sant Quirze de Pedret Date/Period 11th century Dimensions Various

Origin Church of Sant Quirze de Pedret, Cercs (Berguedà county)

Location Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona, Solsona (Solsonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 3001 to 3007

Restoration Restauracions Policromia, SL: Cristina Martí, Pau Ramírez and Gemma Rodríguez Year of restoration 2018

The decorative mural paintings, the object of the study and restoration carried out, are part of the detachment campaign launched in 1919 by the Junta de Museus (Board of Museums), led by Joaquim Folch i Torres, for their preservation. The campaign was called “Salvament del patrimoni artístic de Catalunya” (Saving the artistic heritage of Catalonia), with Emili Gandia the archaeologist entrusted to supervise the work.

In 1937, the first detachments of 11th-century paintings took place in the church of Sant Quirze de Pedret. During the process, 10th century paintings were discovered on the lower level.

After the mural paintings were detached, they were transferred to Barcelona, and later to the Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona, where they were to be exhibited. Their first location in the Episcopal Palace building did not allow them to be exhibited in their actual size, and in the 1990s it was decided to move them to one of the rooms on the first floor, where they can still be seen today.

State of conservation

The intervened murals were those located at the front of the church’s apse and on the side walls of the nave.

Several issues were found which, together, could have caused or accelerated the deterioration of the pictorial layer. The support, or structure, of the apse is located in a room in the Episcopal Palace that is not accessible to the public and which has old doors and a temperature and humidity level different to that of the room in which the pictorial surface of the ensemble is on exhibition. In addition, in the exhibition room, there was evidently an air current created as a result of its location along the route.

In our opinion, these variations in temperature and dryness of the environment led to the lifting of the adhesive residue during the detachments.

Therefore, as much as possible of this residue had to be removed, and the environmental conditions balanced.

Intervention

Thus, the restoration intervention focused on removing as much of the adhesive residue as possible, while also fixing the lifted areas of the polychrome surface. Controlling the humidity control at high temperatures facilitated the cleaning process, and the residue was gradually removed. At the same time, the pictorial surface was fixed with the same traditional adhesive, taking care to avoid its excessive use.

Prior to the intervention, complete photographic documentation was carried out using infrared imaging, raking light, ultraviolet light, and diffuse light. The result showed what was already starting to become visible to the naked eye: widespread lifting on the polychrome surface. Therefore, the first step was to determine the cause of this problem that endangered the conservation of the paintings.  Remains of colletta at the time of the detachment 

In this intervention, the old putty could not be removed until the entire work had been be assessed, which remains to be determined in the next phase of action.

— Cristina Martí

Sample of the peeling polychrome layer

Museum

 Process of reattaching the peeled pictorial layer

room where the paintings are located

Restoration of the mural paintings of the Chapel of Sorrows of the Basilica of Santa Maria de Mataró

Generic classification

Mural painting Object

Mural painting

Material/Technique

Tempera

Title/Topic Religious figurative painting of Our Lady of Sorrows

Author

Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (16781755)

Date/Period 18th century

The church of Santa Maria de Mataró is documented in a deed dated 1053, located in the archives of the Cathedral of Barcelona. In 1694, the Venerable Congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows was authorised by the Town Council to buy the land adjacent to the church to build its chapel. In 1698, the land was blessed and the first was stone was laid.

The Chapel of Sorrows of the Basilica of Santa Maria consists of an anteroom that gives access to the chapel. At the end of the chapel is the sacristy, which leads to the crypt by means of a stairs on the right and to the meeting room from stairs on the left.

It is one of the most magnificent and well-preserved complexes in Catalonia and is considered by many historians to be a heritage gem of the Catalan Baroque period.

State of conservation

Documentation relating to the chapel and the Congregation itself is missing between 1739 and 1779, as no record books have been found. It is difficult, therefore, to know about the extensions and alterations that took place during these years. The invoices kept in the archive, as well as inscriptions and writings on the jambs of the two upper windows and on the lunettes in the ceiling, provide evidence of the transformations that took place in the 1990s.

Throughout its history, the mural paintings of the chapel underwent a series of interventions, including the wall protective at the main entrance in 1938, when the church served as a marketplace during the war.

 State of conservation of the polychrome of the vault before the intervention

Dimensions 460 m2

Location Chapel of Sorrows, Basilica of San ta Maria, Mataró (Maresme county) CRBMC Register NO 3780

Restoration Restauracions Policromia, SL: Cristina Martí (team manager), Marta Corberó, Ainara Díaz, Laia Duran, Valèria Mamszynsky, Natàlia Nogueras, Sandra Piris, Núria Prat, Pau Ramírez and Cecília Sabadell

Appearance of the chapel after the restoration

Despite the same technique being used, the state of conservation of the tempera painting on the vault and that on the facings was different because, in the case of the latter, a layer of polyvinyl acetate was applied in the 1960s as a ‘protective’ layer. This altered its characteristics and left a shine on the pictorial surface that is atypical of this technique. The vault suffered a different problem, since the alterations were caused by humidity and water leaking through the roof. This resulted in a loss of polychrome in the pendentive areas, which were repaired at various times throughout the history of the chapel and much of it was left without the original polychromy. The rest of the wall decoration was in a powdery condition due to binder loss. Prior to the intervention, a study

Close-up of one of the walls with an already clean area, seen with ultraviolet light. The bluish area corresponds to the part that still maintains the aged varnish

of the murals was carried out with laboratory tests, mainly to determine the film applied over the tempera painting on the facings, using a digital microscope to obtain enlarged images of details and photographic documentation using ultraviolet light and diffuse light.

Intervention

As the problem was different with the tempera painting on the facings and that on the vaults, the intervention procedures carried out were those appropriate for each case.

Facings

Various tests were performed on the facings to remove the polyvinyl acetate layer, including mechanical procedures, application of heat, mixtures with various solvents or emulsions, and gels applied to soften the film they wished to remove.

Finally, a pure polar solvent was applied with a brush, which had a drying effect on the varnish layer, allowing it to be easily removed. This, when it contracted, lost its adhesion to the pictorial layer and could be easily separated from it. The reaction was different in the repainted areas, which accounted for a significant percentage of the surface, in which the acetate layer was removed along with the repainted parts.

Vault

Dry cleaning was not carried out on the tempera painting on the vault due to the wear caused to the surface of the paintings. After empirical and bibliographic research, the tests led us to consider the use of a rigid gel made from agaragar algae as the most optimal cleaning procedure. With the application of sheets with the necessary controlled conditions, wet cleaning was carried out on the polychrome. The finishing of the large areas was done in neutral tones to highlight the importance of the paintings of Antoni Viladomat.

— Cristina Martí

The same area with diffused light

Process of removing the layer of polyvinyl acetate from the surface of the walls

Cleaning the polychrome of the vault

Appearance of polychrome after cleaning

Mural paintings of Son

The church of Sants Just i Pastor in the town of Son consists of a single nave with a semicircular apse, a bell tower, and Lombard decoration on the outer walls, following the model of the Romanesque mountain churches built between the 11th and 12th centuries. It belonged to a walled enclosure, of which the defence tower from the same period is preserved and, together with the clock tower of the ‘comunidor’ (a small, open-sided shelter separate to the church), the cemetery and a porch, forms part of the same complex that is listed as a Cultural Asset of National Interest (BCIN).

Transformations of the interior with rib vaults, side chapels, the pictorial discourse and the polychromed wooden altarpiece of Pere Espallargues presiding over the apse took place in the 15th century.

An intervention was carried out on the roof in the1990s, the altarpiece was restored in 1991, and between 1992 and 1994 the mural paintings on of the triumphal arches were restored.

Twenty years later, due to leaks from the roof, the state of conservation of the paintings was critical. In 2014, as part

Generic classification

Mural painting Object

Mural painting

Material/Technique Distemper

Title/Topic Religious mural painting, figurative painting, decorative geometric and plant borders

Date/Period 16th-17th century Dimensions 60 m2 approximately

Location Church of Sants Just i Pastor, Son (Alt Àneu county)

CRBMC Register NO 4079

Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Conservació de Patrimoni 4Restaura, SL: Imma Brull and Nuri de Toro; with the collaboration of Nicola de la Aldea, Cristina Macho and Ares Pérez

of a comprehensive intervention that included maintenance work on the interior and exterior of the building, a conservation-restoration intervention was also scheduled to stabilise the paintings on the triumphal arches and to carry out tests on the other facings.

State of conservation

The alterations were mainly surface dirt, layer decohesion, gypsum reintegrations, surface salts, chromatic reinterpretations, PVA coating layers and obsolete and oxidised metallic elements that aggravated the stability of the wall decoration.

Intervention

For these paintings, the new intervention proposal prioritised the establishment of criteria for preventive conservation, cleaning processes, and consolidation.

Remains of the paintings discovered, located below the choir, with the representation of Genesis, after the restoration. We

can see Adam and Eve in paradise and the Trinity, as well as the inscription in principio creavit caelum et terram

 After restoration, the remains discovered in the choir, borders and various characters

 General view of the paintings of the presbytery

During the cleaning process, for reasons of conservation, the reintegrations of altered gypsum were replaced by new reintegrations of lime mortar, prioritising the consolidation.

Exploratory tests revealed previously undiscovered paintings in the side chapel, the upper choir and the lower choir, with complementary themes that indicate that the entire interior of the church had been painted with scenes from the Old and New Testaments.

With regard to the mural painting uncovered with a scalpel, after consolidating the layers with a gradual injection of lime mortar, bevelling the edges and filling the voids to provide a unified reading of all areas, the intervention consisted of dry surface cleaning and undertone chromatic retouching with watercolours.

Finally, we also wanted to highlight the set of five granite and marble fonts —the baptismal font, two oil fonts, a Romanesque baptismal font and two holy water fonts—, prioritising the cleaning processes to improve interpretation.

Remains discovered in the nave; angel with slanted torso and an angel with bow and arrows. Behind the south wall of the chapel, the Virgin Nursing the Child sitting with the child in her arms. After the restoration

Presbytery: the Cardinal Virtues after the restoration

— Imma Brull and Nuri de Toro

Murals of the church of Sant Pere de Sorpe

The Romanesque mural paintings of the church of Sant Pere de Sorpe were detached in 1929 and 1964 by Josep Gudiol and deposited in the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) and the Diocesan Museum of La Seu d’Urgell. In their place, as a result of detachment using the strappo technique, the Intonaco mortars were left with quite significant polychrome remains.

The paintings were located in the area closest to the former presbytery of the Romanesque church. However, we can consider that they were originally intended to decorate almost the entire three-naved building, in a complete iconographic cycle of which only a part remains, largely due to the profound architectural and decorative transformations that the Lombardstyle building has undergone throughout history.

Following the collapse of the apse and the south apsidiole due to the earthquakes in the 15th century, the direction of the nave was reversed, resulting in the preserved Romanesque paintings being located in the entrance area of the church. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, other reforms gave the interior space of the church a morphology more typical of the Baroque period; noteworthy are the new flat chevet presided over by a Renaissance altarpiece, the addition of groin vaults, the division of the side naves into chapels, the installation of altars and a wooden choir, repeated whitewashing of the walls, and the addition of mural paintings from later periods (16th-19th centuries).

Generic classification

Mural painting Object

Mural paintings and vestiges remaining after detachment

Material/Technique

Fresco painting with whitewash finish

Description

religious figurative painting. Scenes from the Old and New Testament (central nave); allegorical scenes (Gospel passages), figures of saints, the Holy Spirit and the Cross with emblems of the Passion (triumphal arches); figures of saints and archangels with zodiac symbols (side arches). The rich man’s feast (bell tower). Scene with Saint Sadurní? (southeast chapel)

Author Masters of Sorpe

Date/Period MID-12th century

Dimensions 120 m2 approximately

Location Church of Sant Pere, Sorpe (Pallars Sobirà county)

CRBMC Register NO 10014 and 10015

Coordination Pere Rovira

Restoration Artec. Conservació i Restauració, SL: Isabel Balaguer, Maria Cardenal, Neus Casal, Ana Guillén, José Latorre, Caridad de la Peña and Carles Ribó

Year of restoration 2012

This transfiguration of the original Romanesque space made it difficult to understand the paintings as a whole. The restoration was aimed primarily at recovering the Romanesque vestiges remaining on the walls after the paintings had been detached, but it was also necessary to delimit and distinguish the wall decorations from other periods so as to create order in the presentation of the walls.

The mural vestiges of the triumphal arches, currently located in the area of the choir; general view and close-up of the cross with the emblems of the Passion, after the intervention

Furthermore, during the course of the intervention, several fragments of Romanesque painting that had not been detached were also discovered. These had been concealed by the layers of whitewash and later additions, and represent the continuation of the known paintings conserved in the MNAC.

On the south wall of the southeast chapel, hidden by the altar and a layer of whitewash, appeared a pictorial fragment with a double compositional register, depicting the figure of a saint (Sadurní?). In the lower part of the northeast pillar of the central nave appeared a fragment of the Crucifixion.

On the walls of the central nave, above the Baroque groin vaults, the continuation of the scenes of the central nave and the triumphal arches was discovered (work carried out in this area was limited to preventive consolidation, awaiting a possible future intervention that would allow the restoration of the attic space).

State of conservation

The church fell into a progressive state of abandonment particularly after the paintings were detached, and the interior spaces began to seriously deteriorate due to the humidity caused by leaking roofs and the capillary action of the soil in the adjacent cemetery.

The wall coverings were unstable and posed a risk of detachment, due to the disintegration of the mortars, their lack of cohesion to the wall support, and the presence of a large number of holes, cracks, and fissures.

The pictorial layers presented a generalised powdery state, with occasional lifting. Other significant alterating factors included the materials added in previous interventions, such as the various whitewashes, the many repairs to the walls, and the presence of plasterwork and use of modern plastic paints.

Mapping of the alterations to the paintings discovered on the south wall of the south-east chapel

Paints and mortars. In situ

 Edge of the mortar layer no. 1: romanesque pointing  Mortar 1. Romanesque pointing layer no. 3: romanesque mural cycle  Mortar 3. Romanesque (2nd contractor)

Paint 5. Romanesque original (2nd contractor)

Alterations. In situ fractures and deformations

Crack separation and detachment Decohesion. Mortar Disintegration. Mortar Pulverulence. Paint

surface alterations Incisions

Close-up of the mural vestiges of the Annunciation scene, currently located on the first section of the north wall of the central nave. After the restoration

 

Before the restoration. Close-up of the paintings discovered in the attic space, above the baroque ridge vaults; highlights include border in the shape of a greca, mythical beasts and a triple strip with inscriptions

north wall, between the Annunciation and the Visitation and some bare feet which, in relation to the lower scene (Original Sin), could be part of the Expulsion from Paradise

After the restoration. Close-up of the painting that appeared on the south wall of the south-east chapel, which presents two compositional sections; in the lower section we find a scene with the figure of a saint (Sadurní), an

This all gave the building, the mural paintings, and other movable goods in the building an overall ruinous appearance. The restoration of the paintings was therefore accompanied by a comprehensive rehabilitation project to address the humidity problems and to reorder and arrange the spaces.

Intervention

Once the delimitation of the paintings of different periods was complete and the superposition of layers understood, the specific conservation-restoration work began on the vestiges and the Romanesque paintings.

Firstly, the dust and dirt deposits were removed mechanically, and cleaning was carried out on the coatings and added materials that surrounded and covered most of the surfaces to be restored. At the same time, it was necessary to ensure the stabilisation of the wall paintings as a whole. The loose areas were consolidated by injecting hydraulic mortars free of soluble salts, while the disintegrated mortars were consolidated using a silica-ester consolidant. The powdered pictorial layer was fixed with Japanese paper and methyl cellulose adhesive, and the lifted paint was fixed with

animal and an architectural structure. In the upper section, much more deteriorated, there is a leg stepping on a snake (the archangel Saint Michael killing the dragon?)

precise injections of acrylic resin in low-concentration aqueous dispersion.

An archaeological criterion was followed for the finishing system, limiting the addition of material to that strictly necessary for facilitating the reading of the whole set. The Intonaco surfaces were closed using perimeter bevels and by sealing the holes, fissures, and cracks. In the voids and perimeter losses, non-reintegration was chosen, leaving the Romanesque stone walls visible, suitably grouted, and with the original chamfered edges intact. Only in the area of the intrados of the triumphal arches was a low-level, neutraltoned finishing mortar incorporated, to promote stability and to visually unify the fragments preserved in this area. All the restoration work was carried out using lime mortar (hydraulic and/or aerial) and various aggregates, in specific compositions to adapt the mortars to the different uses and to the aesthetic characteristics of each area.

— Isabel Balaguer, Neus Casal and Caridad de la Peña

Mural paintings of the apse of the church of Sant Climent de Taüll

Generic classification

Mural painting Object Mural painting of apse Material/Technique Fresco Title/Topic Christ in Majesty, tetramorph and apostolate Date/Period 1123

Dimensions 7.55 m high (unfolded) × 5.97 m wide (unfolded). 28.06 m2 of vertical wall and 13.27 m2 of absidal basin

Location

Church of Sant Climent, Taüll (Alta Ribagorça county)

CRBMC Register NO 10767

There are no known old documentary sources regarding the church of Sant Climent de Taüll, except for the painted cartouche on the first column of the central nave that documents the consecration of the church in 1123 by the Bishop of Roda. However, documentation exists (although with gaps) that records some of the events that have taken place in the church since the beginning of the 20th century.

Below is a summary of the most noteworthy events regarding the paintings preserved in the church:

— 1904 Lluís Domènech i Montaner made the first recognition of the importance of Romanesque wall paintings.

— 1920 The purchase, detachment, and transfer of several sets of mural paintings in the Pyrenean territory was initiated, accounting for some 400 m2 of pictorial surface. As part of this important operation, during the summer of 1920 restorer Franco Steffanoni carried out the detachment of the Romanesque decoration on the main apse of the church, which was later transferred.

— 1922 The second detachment campaign was carried out, during which other scenes from the central apse and the decoration of the north apse were removed.

— 1960 Restorer Ramon Gudiol, together with Andreu Asturiol, began the detachment of the decoration from the lower part of the central apse and a small window.

— 1968 Alejandro Ferrant, of the Directorate-General for Fine Arts, commissioned the reproduction of the paintings in the apse to Ramon Millet. On completion of the detachment process, it was discovered that there were remains of paintings in the apse. Fortunately, the reproduction was not carried out directly on the walls. A false apse was built with a wooden structure covered with plasterboard on which the reproduction was made. A gap was left between the original wall and the false apse.

— 2000 The Architectural Heritage Restoration Service of the Generalitat de Catalunya commissioned the company



Photographic montage. Appearance of the vertical wall of the apse after the restoration. Area of the apostolic college



Appearance of the vertical wall of the apse after the restoration. Lower area in which three windows with pictorial decoration of the primitive church were recovered

Renoval of the reproduction

Pere Rovira (team manager), Oriol Bonjoch, Carolina Jorcano, Ramon Maroto, Mercè Marquès and Ares Pérez

Restoration Krom Restauració, SL: Mercè Marquès (team manager), Nicola de la Aldea, Marta Escoda, Raquel García, Noemí Jiménez and Anna Perich. Collaboration: Ares Pérez

Appearance of the church after the intervention

Arcor Restauració Pintura, S.L. to restore the wall paintings that had not been detached. The work was carried out in two phases during 2000 and 2001. Interventions were made on the frontispiece and the north apse: scenes of dogs, peacocks, figures of Saint Cornelius, Saint Clement, and Saint Peter.

It was discovered that parts of the original decoration were concealed below the whitewash layers, and several complete scenes were recovered from the decoration in the front of the central apse and the triumphal arches: an angel-soldier musician, several decorative borders, and Cain killing Abel, among other figures.

— 2012 and 2013 An intervention project was established for a new presentation of the pictorial ensemble of the main apse, directed collegially by the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC), with funding from Obra Social “la Caixa” and with the collaboration of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC).

— March 2013 The reproduction of the mural paintings was removed. The previous year, an endoscopy was performed to determine the system used to fix the reproduction to the wall, and to check for the existence of preserved original paintings following the pictorial detachments. Curator/restorer Pere Rovira, manager of the CRBMC’s Mural Paintings and Sculpture on Stone department, coordinated these prior works and supervised the subsequent restoration work.

Intervention

Both the coatings and the mural painting were badly damaged after the detachment process and anchoring of the reproduction. The aim of the restoration was to recover, consolidate and safeguard the decorated areas discovered in the lower parts of the apse and on some of the walled windows, as well as to restore the deep layers still preserved on the walls of the main apse.

2001 Revaluation began on the deep layers of the mural paintings that were still attached to the walls after the detachment process, and the remains of the following scenes were restored: Clipeus with Agnus Dei and the supporting angels, the Hand of God, Lazarus at the Rich Man’s Door, Abel’s Offering, and the scene of the Seated Man. The intervention in 2013 furthered this objective and also brought other advantages. It allowed a study of the materials and of the technique and work methodology of the painters who were involved in it. It allowed us to discover the existence of three successive decorative stages in the main apse and, above all, to recover and restore the deep layers of the absidal basin depicting the figures of Christ in Majesty, the Evangelists, and Mary and the Apostles. Today, thanks to the restoration of the remains preserved in situ, it is possible to capture the impact through the image that is perceived from the pictorial ensemble in its original architectural context, in the Romanesque church of Taüll.

— Mercè Marquès

Stratigraphy of a fresco after a detachment using the strappo technique

Close-up after the restoration. Recovery of the decoration of the ashlar joints and the painted oculus. This decoration is in a layer below the pictorial decoration of the apse

Photographic montage. Aspect of the apse after the restoration

Saint Luke the evangelist. Close-up, after restoration, of the surface seen with raking light, in which the preliminary drawing and the superposition of the coloured layers can be seen

Gothic mural paintings in Sant Domènec Church in Puigcerdà

Sant Domènec Church was built between 1292 and 1310.

It is a large building, which shows the demographic significance of the area during this period and the wealth of its Dominican community.

The paintings could date from the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and are part of the French tradition of linear Gothic art.

The paintings’ state of conservation was conditioned by a series of prior interventions and modifications. The church was damaged both by natural causes, like the earthquakes of the fifteenth century, and by human activity, during the War of the Pyrenees (1792–1795) and the Peninsular War (1808–1814), when it was turned into a military base. What’s more, from 1835 onwards, it was used as a prison and warehouse.

Generic classification

Mural painting Object

Interior walls in the choir area

Material/Technique

Fresco mural painting Title/Topic Geometric decoration – imitation ashlar with red ochre decorative cross inside

Author Unknown Date/Period 14th and 15th century

Dimensions 42 m2 approx.

Location

Sant Domènec Church, Puigcerdà (Cerdanya county)

CRBMC Register NO 12482

Restoration Meritxell Izquierdo (team leader) and Sara Sagastegui Years of restoration 2015-2018

Discovery of Gothic wall paintings in the area of the choir

State of conservation

Due to these events, the state of conservation presented various alterations and deteriorations: layers of mortar applied on top of the painting; a thin layer of lime stuck directly to the mural painting; areas with hollows, cracks and holes, some filled in with cement, others with gypsum; disintegration of the preparatory base in several areas, some of which with warping; and finally, areas where the pictorial layer had fallen away or been worn.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process ended up being quite arduous, due to the large dimensions of the painting and its state of conservation. First, the cracks were filled in with injections of a lime and sand mortar. Then, the various layers of mortar applied on top of the Gothic mural painting were removed with picks and rubber hammers.

The most delicate part of the work was the extraction of the last layer of lime with a scalpel, as it was stuck fast directly on the mural painting. To do this, we softened the lime area by area with warm, wet sponges, then removed the lime quickly with the scalpel and wooden sticks. Next, the most disintegrated areas and the warped parts of the preparatory layer were consolidated.

Following this, cement and gypsum from prior interventions that were not originally part of the mural painting were extracted and removed. The mechanical and chemical cleaning of the pictorial layer was carried out with a deionised water and neutral soap solution, depending on the level of dirt, as cold and/or tepid water and soft brushes were enough to clean most of the surface (the resistance of the pigment was checked first).

Once dry after cleaning, the pictorial layer was fixed with acrylic resin, then the material reintegration of the hollows and anchoring holes was carried out with lime mortar.

Finally, the chromatic reintegration of the hollows was carried out, following entirely archaeological criteria.

— Meritxell Izquierdo

Front view of the choir

Decoration of the central part of the mural after the restoration

Mural paintings in Sant Serni de Meranges Church

Generic classification Mural painting Object

The building’s interior walls Material/Technique

Tempera paint on gypsum plaster and lime and sand mortar

Title/Topic

Religious figurative painting and decorative paintings

Author Unknown Date/Period 1728

In the context of the architectural rehabilitation work on the Romanesque Sant Serni de Meranges Church (twelfth century), and through surveys carried out in October 2015, preserved Baroque mural paintings were detected on the building’s interior walls.

These paintings had been concealed by successive layers of whitening and other later paintings, most of which were relatively modern, which had been applied on top according to the tastes of the period and in relation to the various transformations the building underwent over the course of its history.

Once the existence of the mural decorations was confirmed, in order to guarantee their conservation and maximise the possibilities of recovering them in the future, in December of the same year, an exhaustive surveying and consolidation process was carried out on the Baroque coatings.

At the same time, the opportunity was taken to uncover some of the painted areas to examine the characteristics of the pictorial cycle and leave visible proof of it, in the hope that the paintings might be fully uncovered and restored in the future. The rest of the wall surfaces, where there were no preserved Baroque coatings, were scraped, plastered and repainted, in order to bring the building’s interior walls up to scratch.

It seems that all the paintings found are part of the same decorative programme, painted in 1728 and commissioned by the rector (according to the inscription uncovered on the frontispiece of the triumphal arch), and respond formally to the stylistic and decorative canons of the Baroque period.

The paintings are generally preserved on the upper part of the walls, above the impost line. In the sanctuary area (triumphal arches), we find God the Father with a globe, surrounded by a cloudscape with putti, and flanked by the figures of two

Dimensions 138,40 m2 (surface area of Baroque coatings)

Location Sant Serni de Meranges Parish Church, Meranges (Cerdanya county)

CRBMC Register NO 12617 Coordination Pere Rovira Restoration Neus Casal and Caridad de la Peña (team leaders), Maria Borja and Marina Prats Year of restoration 2015

bishops, who, in turn, are surrounded by a decorative border. Along the central nave (pointed barrel vault, transverse ribs and western wall), there are various plant-inspired motifs (volutes, leaves and fleurons in varying colours). In the south-east chapel (around the entrance arch), there are pieces of fabric, probably corresponding to a church official’s vestments or some curtains.

State of conservation

The wall coatings’ state of conservation was rather uncertain, due to their fragmented state (areas of loss) and the number of cracks and loose areas (separated from the wall), many of which posed an active risk of material falling away. Another noteworthy feature was the rather generalised powdery nature of the pictorial layer. All of this was mainly down to water leaks from the roof and the rising damp the building had suffered for years, which had mainly affected the north and west sides of the nave.

Intervention

Based on these detected alterations, the intervention consisted of all the processes needed to stabilise the piece successfully. The loose mortar was consolidated through the filling-in of the air bubbles and separations with an injection of a hydraulic mortar without soluble salts, after a hydroalcoholic solution was injected to encourage penetration of the mortar. In the uncovered areas, occasional parts of some of the perimeter areas of the gypsum plaster were attached through the injection of a 3% acrylic resin in deionised water.

Then, to make sure the building was sealed, any holes or open edges were filled in with a natural hydraulic white lime mortar and washed sand. The interior cracks and holes that would be left visible were filled, yet left recessed, with a hydraulic lime mortar and white marble dust.

Finally, the pictorial layers (both those that would be left uncovered and those that would later be repainted with hydrated lime to tidy up the walls) were fixed and protected with an acrylic resin applied through a spray.

The areas of painting left uncovered as visible, meaningful proof of the paintings that decorated the inside of the church in the Baroque period are located on the south wall, on the vault and on the frontispiece of the triumphal arch, on the west wall, which closes off the end of the nave, and the east wall of the south-east chapel.

— Neus Casal and Caridad de la Peña

Consolidation of detached parts of the coating

Close-up of the inscription «Rector Escobayro, 1728» on the frontispiece of the triumphal arch, after the intervention

Close-up of the figure of a bishop surrounded by a decorative border (south wall of the paintings of the triumphal arch) after the intervention

Archaeological material

Cryptoportico in the Els Munts Roman villa

This article will describe the conservation-restoration intervention on the preserved coatings on the cryptoportico in the Els Munts Roman villa, as well as the murals on its side walls and the mosaic floor.

The Els Munts Roman villa is from the time of the height of the Roman Empire and displays great architectural and decorative wealth. The cryptoportico is found in the residential part, built on the south side of a hill facing the sea. It is a semi-underground corridor, in the shape of an L opening out towards the west, and provided access to the private rooms of the domus In situ, the decorative elements are preserved, and they are the object of this restoration. The fresco murals and opus tessellatum flooring are the most significant decorative remains from the Els Munts site.

State of conservation

Overall, before restoration, the cryptoportico presented a poor or very poor state of conservation, which varied depending on the area. The preserved remains were affected by various pathologies, which altered the site in terms of conservation and aesthetics.

The main alterations were down to environmental conditions, proximity to the sea and damp, saline surroundings. Meanwhile, exposure to the outdoors led to a generalised presence of dust, dirt and sediment deposits, as well as animal debris, such as excrement and insect nests.

Generic classification

Archaeology and mural painting Object

Murals and mosaic in the north-eastern arm of the cryp toportico in the Els Munts Roman villa Material/Technique fresco mural paintings on intonaco made from lime and sand (side walls) and opus tessellatum mosaic (flooring) Title/Topic Decorative coatings, painted

architecture on decorative panels (murals) and geometric decorations (mosaic)

Date/Period

Mid-1st century–early 2nd century. Peak of the Roman empire Dimensions North-eastern arm of the cryp toportico: 27.50 × 3.50 m

Location

Side walls (murals) and floor (mosaic) of the cryptoportico in the south-eastern section of the Els Munts Roman villa site in Altafulla

But above all, water was the main cause of alteration to the site, through both direct physical action and rising damp. The fibre cement panels on the roof broke repeatedly over the years, though they have been repaired again during this intervention.

This failure affected the flooring and the tops of the walls, which were eroded by water leaks. The presence of water was accompanied by the formation of hardened, carbonated deposits and the emergence of significant saline efflorescences. There was also some biological growth, which caused various alterations, like the growth of roots of nonseed plants, the production of acids, the formation of oxalates, and chromatic changes.

Intervention

The intervention aimed to improve the site’s state of conservation by stabilising and consolidating the alterations. The other objective was to improve its aesthetic dimension. In this area, special attention was paid to cleaning operations and final presentation systems, which varied depending on the area and the elements, but always with overall consistency and unity in mind.

The intervention processes were carried out alternately or simultaneously, depending on each area’s needs, and with different treatments for different elements and materials, such as the fresco murals and the stone and ceramic mosaic.

(Tarragona, Tarragonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 10028.1 (murals) and 10027 (mosaic)

Restoration

Arcovaleno Restauro, SL: Rudi Ranesi (coordinator), Davide Belfio re, Sílvia Bottaro, Maria Cardenal, Neus Casal, Lorenzo Masi and Tina Núñez. Neus Casal and Cari dad de la Peña (documentation)

Audiovisual report Verònica Moragas

Years of restoration 2015-2016

 Close-up of the Solomon’s knot that makes up the geometric design on the flooring mosaic  General view of the cryptoportico after the conservationrestoration intervention

  Partial view of the mural paintings on the southern wall of the cryptoportico before and after the intervention. We can see the recovery of the painted architecture, which consists of a marbled base and rectangular decorative panels in alternating horizontal and vertical orientation

The operations began with mechanical cleaning to remove any dust and loose deposits. This process also removed part of the acrylic resin from the murals. Next came a chemical cleaning process, with acetone applied through impregnation with a paintbrush and Japanese paper. Moderately hardened deposits were removed using a scalpel, a glass fibre pencil and Wishab® sponges.

Then, a biocide product was applied to reduce the biological attacks, and as many of the plant roots present inside the intonaco mortars were removed as possible. To remove the soluble salts, efflorescences were removed mechanically and the occasional deionised water swab was applied to the areas with carbonated salts.

Any loose mortar was consolidated through the injection of hydraulic mortars. In the case of the paintings, meanwhile, we repaired material losses by bevelling the perimeter, sealing

cracks and fissures, and plastering any hollows that altered the visual continuity of the decorated surfaces. Chromatic integrations were carried out with watercolours, through glazes or tratteggio, depending on the case. As for the mosaic, any loose tesserae were secured. To reintegrate any areas with losses, other tesserae were used from the same mosaic, having been preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT).

The intervention described has led to great results for the cryptoportico site, but it is clear that constant maintenance is required to avoid any more deterioration of the materials that make up the site.

— Neus Casal and Rudi Ranesi

Planimetric study and mapping of a section of the mural paintings on the southern wall

Alterations

surface alterations

 Calcareous concretions

 Calcareous concretions previous interventions  Added mortars fractures and deformations

 Fissures/cracks separation and detachment

 Decohesion. Air pockets  Disintegration of mortars

 Disintegration of paint (pulverulence/peeling) loss of material  Loss (polychrome/mortar) Intervention removal of added mortars  Removal of mortars (bevelling/filler) consolidation  Injection of PLM into hollow areas  Adhesion of fragments with PLM reintegration

 Material. Lime mortar  Chromatic. Retouching with watercolour

Planimetric study and mapping of a section of the flooring mosaic

Alterations

surface alterations

 Saline efflorescences

 Carbonated deposits

 Calcination / blackening separation and detachment

 Disintegrated or worn tesserae  Loose tesserae  Loss/mortars

Intervention cleaning

 Removal of deposits and added mortars consolidation  Ethyl silicate

 Lime and sand mortar and loose tesserae reintegration  Lime and sand mortar and loose tesserae

Mosaic of Theseus and Ariadne

Generic classification

Archaeology material

Object Mosaic

Material/Technique Opus tessellatum

Title/Topic Mosaic of Paris and Aphrodite or of Theseus and Ariadne

Date/Period

3rd century CE Dimensions 3.12 × 2.39 m

Origin

Roman village of Can Pau Birol, Bell-lloc del Pla, Girona (Gironès county)

Location Archaeology Museum of Catalonia

(MAC), Girona (Gironès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12431

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba (CRBMC), Laura Lara (MAC-Girona) and Sílvia Llobet (Àbac Conservació-Restau ració, SL)

Restoration M. Àngels Jorba (CRBMC) and Sílvia Llobet (Àbac Conser vació-Restauració, SL); Pol Camps and Nieves Marí (CRBMC interns and collaborators); and Laia Codi na, Laura Gómez, Lídia Pérez and Mireia Sabaté (intern students) Years of restoration 2015-2016

In 1876, the remains of the Roman village of Can Pau Birol were discovered, of which we now know three mosaics: the Mosaic of the Circus, the Mosaic of Bellerophon and the Chimera and the Mosaic of Theseus and Ariadne

The Mosaic of Theseus and Ariadne is preserved in the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia in Girona. In 2016, the museum organised the temporary exhibition «3 mosaics, 3 museums: 140 years of the Roman mosaics of Bell-lloc (Girona)», which involved a new study of the flooring, as well as the restoration of the mosaic.

This mosaic is preserved in four fragments, because it was extracted, restored and placed on a new reinforced concrete support in 1941. For this reason, we have received little information about its construction technique; only part of the mortar bed for the limestone tiles remains, in twelve different hues.

The decorative motif shows a geometric field that begins on one side, in which we find a border of fractional meanders, followed by an orthogonal design of intersecting circles with an inner flower. The emblem –possibly set in the upper central part of

the room –has a white background on which the mythological scene unfolds.

State of conservation

As for its structure, it showed a varied pathology. The most serious alterations were located in the cement backing, as the iron mesh suffered advanced stages of oxidation that generated cracks, fissures and detachments. At the same time, sunken areas were identified due to previous extraction works and the placement of the piece on the new backing.

The gaps were reintegrated with cement, although rows reintegrated with original tiles on a plaster bed were documented among the fragments.

The entire tile surface featured several layers that masked the original colours and design of the mosaic. A first layer of carbonates —not completely removed during the previous

Close-up of the final cleaning work with microblasting

intervention— was identified, as well as several yellowed layers of waxes or resins.

Intervention

The intervention was carried out in two phases. The first one focused on removing the reinforced concrete backing, so it was necessary to apply gauze to the front first in order to keep the tiles in place. Each fragment was then turned around, and the cement was gradually reduced and the metal mesh removed using a grinder or other pneumatic tools.

Once the cement had been removed from the back of the tiles, the new backing was applied using two layers of hydraulic lime mortar and light aggregates. Besides that, a fibreglass mesh was inserted between the two layers.

When the mortars had dried, the fragments of the mosaic were turned around again, and the gauze was removed. The tiles were cleaned by chemical and mechanical means, and, lastly, some microblasting took place.

For the final assembly, the various fragments were placed on rigid honeycomb-shaped panels, to give rigidity to the whole piece and allow for it to be displayed in a museum. At the same time, the tiles were grouted and the gaps were filled using a hydraulic lime mortar and selected aggregates, in order to achieve a granularity and tone in harmony with all the decorative motifs.

— Sílvia Llobet

Close-up of the emblem representing Theseus and Ariadne before and after cleaning

Final state of the mosaic displayed in the MAC-Girona museum

Close-up of one of the fragments now placed on the new honeycomb backing

Southern baths in the Els Munts Roman villa

This article will look at the conservation-restoration intervention on the wall coatings and flooring preserved in various areas of the southern baths in the Els Munts Roman villa. Work was done on a total of eleven areas that make up the southern baths, and the intervention is being viewed as part of the full restoration of all of the baths, planned for future phases.

The southern baths are located at the far south-west of the Els Munts Roman villa site. This is one of the most significant bath complexes surviving from the height of the Roman Empire. The main access to the building was from the porticoed ambulacrum, which joined the lower baths to the domus and was surrounded by the villa’s residential area.

The spaces retain a number of architectural structures, including the walls of the rooms and pools that made up the baths area, which was split into a hot and a cold zone. There are also remains of elements that held up the roof, as well as stairs, pipes, fountains, sewers, ovens and hypocausts.

The coatings that covered the wall surfaces and the flooring preserved in situ, though in fragments, indicate the sumptuous nature and rich decoration of the complex. Highlights include the fresco murals, Alcover stone claddings and slabs, marble claddings of various colours, tiled coatings, ceramic flooring and some remains of polychrome opus tessellatum mosaics.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration tasks focused on cleaning up the spaces, stabilising the materials’ deterioration process and

Generic classification Archaeology

Object

Baths: walls, flooring, various coatings, murals, mosaics and claddings

Material/Technique

Wall structures made from local limestone, similar to the stone from El Mèdol; opus caementicium, opus vittatum, opus incertum and opus quadratum. Coatings: fresco mural paintings, cladding made from marble and Alcover stone, and opus signinum and opus tessellatum mosaics.

Marble, bricks and ceramic tiles, lime mortars, and sand and/or ceramic aggregate

Title/Topic Decorative coatings

Date/Period Roman period (late 1st century - mid-2nd century until the 4th century)

Dimensions Walls: 1.256 m²; flooring: 1.860 m² Location South-western side of the Els Munts Roman villa, Altafulla (Tarragonès county)

improving interpretation of the archaeological remains. Above all, work was carried out on the different kinds of coatings preserved on the walls and floors, and occasionally on the wall structures themselves.

Though the basic activities were similar in many ways, broadly, different treatments were carried out on ashlar and/or brick walls and on different types of coatings (opus signinum, marble claddings, mosaic tesserae, stone slabs and murals).

The most important phases of the intervention can be summarised as cleaning, consolidation and material reintegration. In all cases, materials compatible with and similar to the originals were used. The application procedures and methodologies, as well as the exact composition of the materials, were determined by the results of the preliminary studies carried out before the restoration began.

The interventions carried out must be accompanied by constant maintenance of the whole area, so that the effects of the complex’s exposure to atmospheric and environmental conditions can be counteracted.

— Neus Casal and Rudi Ranesi

The mural paintings preserved in the far south-west of the ambulacrum (entrance area to the baths) after the intervention

Restoration

Photographs

Verònica Moragas Year of restoration 2016

Process of cleaning, reorganising and rearranging the ceramic floor of the caldarium

Coordinator: Rudi Ranesi (Arco valeno Restauro, SL), Neus Casal (documentation), Carlos Alías, Maria Cardenal, Gianpiero Lauriola, Lorenzo Masi and Melitón Sánchez

General view of the natatorium pool and the frigidarium pool after the intervention

Recomposition process of the canal that carried water from the north of the site to the bath area

intervention

The sacred area of the settlement is located at the highest point of Puig de Sant Andreu, where the remains of temples A and C are preserved. The temples date from the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, and they are among the few buildings of this nature in Iberian culture. Archaeological interventions in this area started in 1955 and finished in 1960 with a restoration of the remains.

The aim of the restoration was to study and document the alteration factors and indicators that contributed to the deterioration of the walls and the preserved coatings, as well as to know the state of the remains at the time of their excavation, before the restoration intervention of 1960. It was also necessary to stop the active alteration processes in order to minimise future deterioration and to work on the project to improve the system of presentation of the whole.

State of conservation

The remains are located outdoors; therefore, they are continuously exposed to climatic agents and thermal and humidity contrasts, which triggered much of the detected pathologies. It should also be noted that the temples are located in the middle of a an area with significant visitor traffic, so they had also suffered anthropogenic damage.

The documented alterations in walls and coatings were broadly as follows: widespread presence of biogenic deterioration; disintegration; total or partial losses; cracks and fissures; cavities; detachment of wall coatings; remains of old cements; and misplacement or displacement of most of the ashlars at the top of the walls of temple A.

Intervention

The conservation processes included, first of all, exhaustive photographic and cartographic documentation, and the

Generic classification Archaeology

Object

Sacred area of Puig de Sant Andreu

Material/Technique

Walls made of different-sized local sandstone ashlars, which form a polygonal surface. A wall coating made of chamotte is preserved in temple C

Date/Period 4th and 3rd centuries BCE

Dimensions Approximate surface area: temple A 40 m² and temple C 96 m²

CRBMC Register NO 12719.1

Location

Iberian settlement of Puig de Sant Andreu, Ullastret (Baix Empordà county). Archaeology Museum of Catalonia-Ullastret Coordination

Maria Molinas (Àbac Conser vació-Restauració, SL)

Restoration

Sílvia Llobet and Maria Molinas (Àbac Conservació-Restauració, SL) and Gemma Piqué Year of restoration 2016

elaboration of individualised files integrated into a database, in order to bring together all the data on each structure. An interdisciplinary collaboration was also carried out to study the original materials.

As stated above, most of the ashlars at the top of the walls of temple A were misplaced or displaced. With the help of both the archaeologist team and old photographs, we could verify which ashlars were part of the original walls and which were away from their original location, bound with cement. We decided to dismantle the non-original parts, while the original elements of both temples underwent processes of cleaning and removal of cements, as well as biocide treatments. Cracks, flaking and air pockets were consolidated using lime mortars. The structural consolidation of the top of the walls was also achieved with lime mortar, while taking the circulation of rainwater into account.

The chamotte coatings of temple C were cleaned and underwent biocide treatments and removal of all reintegrated cements, before being secured with hydraulic mortar injections. All damaged edges were bevelled with hydraulic mortar.

The intervention and the examination of the original materials have enabled us to recover relevant data, which has generated a new architectural understanding of the temples. What is more, we have been able to compare with and finetune the chronology previously put forward and to identify the construction technique of the temples. An important fact to mention is that the use of lime mortar as a binding material for the original stone ashlars was documented, which is rare in the context of the archaeological site and the Iberian architecture of that time.

— Maria Molinas

Conservation-restoration

on the temples in the sacred area of the archaeological site in Puig de Sant Andreu, Ullastret

State of the temples after the conservation intervention



Close-up of the mechanical cleaning work and biocide treatment on the ashlars in the walls

 Bevelling of the chamotte coatings with hydraulic mortars

Initial state of the temples

The bronze deposit of Llavorsí dates from the 8th and 7th centuries BCE and it is the most important collection made of this material (148 pieces) ever found in a deposit in Catalonia.

Josep Gallart, archaeologist for the Territorial Services of Lleida, who studied said place and its objects, explains in his study «The bronze deposit of Llavorsí. Pallars Sobirà1» that the discovery of the deposit was accidental. It was found in 1985 by a collector of weapons from the Spanish Civil War who was looking for pieces using a metal detector. The hiding place was located on a slope at an altitude of 1,600 m, near the peak of Urdosa, 4 km away from Llavorsí

The metals were piled up in no particular order and were surrounded by slabs, without any wrapping or container. The collection was made up of personal and horse adornment items and weaponry elements: a two-part fragment of a sword blade, a greave, nine flanged axes, four belt buckles, seventyseven bracelets, fifty-two circular buttons with a ring, two badges with a ring, a fragment of circular plate and a piece of bronze smelting remains.

Most of the objects come from central-eastern France. In view of the typology of the pieces, and taking into account the fact that many of them are fragmented and the piece of smelting remains found, it is believed that all these objects were the raw material used by a travelling metallurgist, who had hidden the pieces to re-smelt them.

Due to its singularity, the collection is held at the Museum of the History of Catalonia and can be seen in the permanent exhibition. This collection of bronze items has been restored twice since its discovery in 1985. In 1991, it was mechanically

Generic classification Archaeological material Object

Set of personal and horse adornment items and weapon ry elements. One hundred and forty-eight objects: two parts of a sword blade fragment, a greave, nine flanged axes, four belt buck les, seventy-seven bracelets, fif ty-two circular buttons with a ring, two badges with a ring, a fragment of circular plate and a piece of bronze smelting remains

Material/Technique

Bronze/smelting. The pieces were finished with thermal (annealing and tempering), mechanical (hammering and forging) and or namental (use of a marking gauge, fretwork, engraving with a burin or chisel) treatments

Title/Topic Llavorsí trove. Bronze deposit of Llavorsí Date/Period 8th to 7th centuries BCE

cleaned, mainly to remove its archaeological sediment in order to allow the pieces to be studied. Later, in 2011, a second conservation-restoration intervention is documented, where the collection was chemically cleaned. In 2015, due to the change of display case that housed the set of bronze items, the Museum of the History of Catalonia —with guidance from the CRBMC— examined the 148 objects exhaustively. Some of the objects were fractured and, even though it could be appreciated that the support structurally retained a good metal core and very homogeneous layers of carbonates, it had been affected by corrosion between the metal core and the surface. It was decided to carry out a curative conservation intervention, with the aim of guaranteeing the preservation of each of the objects for display.

Action was systematically taken on all pieces. It consisted of removing purified wax from the surface (which was detected during the analyses) and then performing a test for the presence of active corrosion. Lastly, a mechanical cleaning to remove sediment residues and corrosive products was executed. The cleaned pieces were immersed in a hydroalcoholic solution with two inhibitors in order to slow down the corrosive process. A protective layer of acrylic resin, with the addition of an inhibitor, was also applied to insulate the pieces from the environment.

— Carolina Jorcano

1 / Excavacions arqueològiques a Catalunya, núm. 10. DGPC, Archaeology Service of the Diputació de Lleida, Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, pp 11–13 and 192–198

Close-up of the original incised decoration on one of the planoconcave bracelets after the conservationrestoration intervention

Origin

Llavorsí (Pallars Sobirà county)

Location Archaeology Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO

From 12553.1 to 12553.148

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba

Restoration Carolina Jorcano Years of restoration 2016-2017

Fragment of an ornamental circular plate with incised decoration before and after the conservationrestoration intervention

Image of the set of 148 objects that make up the bronze collection from Llavorsí after the conservationrestoration intervention

Curved belt plate split into three parts before and after the conservationrestoration intervention

Eight bronze objects from the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT)

Generic classification

Archaeological material Object

A ceremonial dish, three zoomorphic supports, a wall sconce, a ring and two jugs Material/Technique Bronze/smelting, hammering, welding, casting in mould Title/Topic

Objects for ceremonial and daily use, furniture decoration and per sonal adornment

The renovation of the building of the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT) and the consequent dismantling of the permanent exhibition rooms, as well as the transfer of all the exhibited heritage to the new temporary museum or storage spaces during the works, led to a thorough examination of every piece.

It was necessary to study and determine the state of conservation of each object and to establish priorities in terms of conservation-restoration interventions. In this context, the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia received eight bronze metal objects with alterations that were typical of the corrosion of metal, which needed intervention. This way, their future conservation would be guaranteed, and the pieces could be integrated into the new design of the MNAT.

All the pieces come from archaeological excavations carried out in different parts of the Roman city of Tarraco (13081: Forum of the Colony area; 13082: Convent of Santa Clara; 130823: Plaça de Prim; 13084: unknown origin; 13085: Camí de l’Arrabassada) and at different historical moments.

In 1864, the two jugs and the dish for ceremonial use were recovered while an old well, 30 m deep, was being filled in, on Carrer de Gasòmetre in Tarragona. They were discovered along with other similar objects (eleven other jugs, an amphora, three buckets and a dish) and sacrificial utensils (knife, axe and shovel to burn incense). Some of the pieces from this find were restored at the CRBMC by M. Àngels Jorba in 1990.

State of conservation

The state of conservation differed from one piece to another: the two jugs had the worst state of preservation, as they showed significant losses of metal support and there was evidence of a large degree of corrosion.

In general, all the pieces had remnants of hardened sediment on the surface as well as metal corrosion with more or less

Date/Period

2nd and 3rd centuries CE (dish),1st to 3rd centuries CE (three zoomorphic supports, wall sconce and jugs) and 3rd to 5th centuries CE (ring)

Dimensions Dish (height 4.2 cm, max Ø of the rim 17.6 cm and max Ø of the base 16 cm); leg in the shape of a bird of prey’s foot (5.5 × 4.2 × 6.5 cm); leg in the shape of a feline paw (2.5 × 2.5 × 2.8 cm); lion head-shaped wall sconce (4 × 5.7 × 5.7 cm and max Ø 5.5 cm);

dispersed focuses of chlorides. They also showed a relatively thick homogeneous patina of a greenish blue hue, typical of carbonation mechanisms, and a reddish one below, which is typical of the oxidation of metal. The pieces showed mechanical alterations due to metal corrosion: surface deformations and losses of material.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration criterion was to respect the patinas produced by the passage of time. Action began on each artefact with a mechanical, dry removal of the hardened sediment and of the loosest corrosion products using a brush, scalpel and dental lathe. Microblasting and chemical cleaning with swabs were also used as cleaning methods for the ceremonial dish.

The pieces that were confirmed to have active corrosion in a previous test were stabilised with the most appropriate traditional procedures (Organ method and Rosenberg method), depending on the type of corrosion: if it was more widespread on the piece’s surface or if it had occasional scattered corrosion focuses.

Resin and/or epoxy putty was used to adhere fragments and reintegrate material on the vases. Some fragments had to be reinforced with fibreglass inside the piece.

In order to stop or delay the chemical reactions that could occur in the pieces due to interaction with the environment, a hydroalcoholic mixture of two inhibitors and, later, a protective layer, were applied to the objects. This procedure was done by immersion or with a brush, depending on the piece, using a very diluted acrylic resin to insulate the metal surface of the pieces from harmful environmental agents.

— Laia Contreras and Carolina Jorcano

Image of the lion head ornament before and after the conservationrestoration intervention

leg in the shape of a lion’s paw (2.5 × 2.7 × 3.2 cm); jug with handle (height 22 cm, max Ø of the opening 8 cm, max Ø of the base 6.4 cm, max Ø of the body 11.8 cm); vase with a channelled spout (height 17.3 cm, max Ø of the base 7.4 cm, max Ø of the body 13.4 cm) and ring (max Ø 2.2 cm and max interior Ø 1.9 cm)

Origin Various, from the Roman city of Tarraco, Tarragona (Tarragonès county)

Location National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT), Tarragona (Tarragonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 3667, 3669 and from 13080 to 13085

Restoration Directed by: M. Àngels Jorba; restoration: Laia Contreras and Carolina Jorcano Year of restoration 2017

Photograph of the three zoomorphic supports after the conservationrestoration intervention

Close-up of where the handle of the jug once was, with a medallion depicting a head, after cleaning, corrosion inhibition and the application of a protective layer

Image of the two jugs after the conservation-restoration intervention

Bronze deposit of Colomina de Bor

In mid-August 2016, a compact mass, made up of a conglomerate of bronzes and very hardened earth, was accidentally recovered from the interior of a ceramic vessel buried in a meadow in Colomina de Bor. Other bronze elements that were part of the same deposit were also recovered around it.

First of all, an emergency archaeological intervention was carried out to document and recover the ceramic vessel, which was still preserved in its original position. The intervention was led by the Archaeological and Palaeontological Service (SAP) of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat.

The metal materials were then transferred to the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC), so that they could be treated and restored.

The

conservation-restoration process

First of all, the micro-excavation of the compact mass of metals and earth was carried out. The mass had been extracted from the interior of the ceramic vessel at the time of its discovery. It should be noted that the intervention was extremely laborious and delicate, because the conglomerate was very solid and hardened.

Once the objects were released, the ceramic vessel was restored, which involved: manual cleaning of the limestone crust; consolidation of the fragments, especially the cracks, in order to stick them together with nitrocellulose adhesive; gypsum-plaster reintegration; and finally, pictorial reintegration.

Great care had to be taken during the restoration of the metal objects: the texture of the mass was so firm that the pieces contained in the vessel could not be appreciated on the X-rays that were carried out. At first, a dry and mechanical disintegration of the earth was attempted, but seeing that the

Generic classification

Archaeological material

Object

Bronze deposit: decorated pins, necklaces, chains and buttons Material/Technique

Bronze Title/Topic

Women’s personal adornments and fragments of bronze vessels Date/Period

Between the beginning of the Early Iron Age and the Iron Age. Between the 7th and 6th centuries BCE

Dimensions Various Origin

Colomina de Bor, Bellver de Cer danya (Cerdanya county)

Location Territorial Services of Lleida (Segrià county)

CRBMC Register NO 13092

Archaeological coordination Josep Gallart (Territorial Services of Lleida)

earth was too hard, we decided to wet it in order to soften it. Palettes and syringes with water and alcohol were used, and the mud was removed using a scalpel and punches. At that time, the composition of the bronze conglomerate could begin to be appreciated. The thickest part of the conglomerate was made up of small chains that were highly intertwined and compressed, as well as compacted and fused together.

The ultrasonic cleaner was a very useful addition to the excavation and cleaning process. Its vibration offered a smooth movement that acted inside the mass. The treatment and the use of a punch helped to release the objects. The process was carried out very slowly to avoid any breakage, especially in the chains, which were very thin and weak. The ones that did break, however, were kept in place and were threaded with fishing line to maintain the position of each one.

Once the conglomerate had been disassembled and the pieces had been removed, we saw that there were no problems in terms of state of conservation. The patinas had not been able to develop due to the lack of air during all those years that the object had been buried.

The restoration process continued with brushing with the metal lathe and fibreglass. Finally, consolidation was achieved by immersion with a synthetic acrylic resin, which provides stability in terms of conservation of the pieces.

— CRBMC

This article was prepared by the writers at CRBMC based on the intervention report written by the conservation-restoration coordinator, M. Àngels Jorba (CRBMC), and the article by the territorial archaeologist for the Generalitat de Catalunya, Josep Gallart, in: Tribuna d’Arqueologia (blog of the Archaeological and Palaeontological Service of the Department of Culture) in the lecture «The bronze deposit of Colomina de Bor (Bellver de Cerdanya, la Cerdanya)» given on on 30 May 2018.

Compacted earth extracted from inside the ceramic vessel

M. Àngels Jorba

Restoracion

Marta Fàbregas (Àtics, SL) and M. Àngels Jorba

Years of restoration 2016-2017

Chest pin with chains and rings after the conservation-restoration intervention

Close-up of the chest pin with chains after the conservationrestoration intervention

Conservation-restoration intervention on the Greco-Roman archaeological site of Empúries. Archaeology Museum of Catalonia-Empúries

Generic classification

Archaeology

Object

Structures and decorative elements related to them

Material/Technique Various Date/Period 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE

Dimensions

Neapolis: 4 ha; Roman city: 22 ha (only 20% of which has been excavated)

Origin Archaeology Museum of Catal

onia-Empúries (MAC-Empúries), Empúries, L’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

Location Archaeological site of Empúries, L’Escala (Alt Empordà county) CRBMC Register NO 13222

Coordination

Sílvia Llobet (Àbac Conser vació-Restauració, SL) and Pere Rovira (CRBMC)

Restoration Sílvia Llobet and Maria Molinas (Àbac Conservació-Restauració, SL); Laia Abelló, Gemma Piqué,

Since 2015, a protocol of conservation-restoration works has been established at the Greco-Roman site of Empúries. The aim of the protocol is to guarantee the safeguarding of the preserved structures of both the Roman city and the Greek city or Neapolis.

Of the different urban phases, structures of both private and public spaces are preserved. They are made with various construction techniques and have decorative features such as pavements, mosaics, murals and sculptural elements. These are subject to numerous risks, e.g. exposure to climatic agents, biodeterioration or the large annual number of visitors.

The works we present are included in the Conservation Plan of the Archaeological Site of Empúries, which is promoted by the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) and the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia-Empúries.

State of conservation

The most serious problems that affect the large number of preserved structures are those that cause structural weakening. These problems can occur for different reasons: a) removal of the lime in the walls produced by the continuous washing of rainwater when the rooms are not refilled to the level of circulation.

b) detachment of construction elements, such as ashlars, caused by anthropogenic action or by loss of the joint mortar. c) disintegration of the building materials used to make the rammed-earth walls.

Furthermore, biodeterioration is an important factor of deterioration, whether it is caused by the growth of trees and plants, the presence of dens of small mammals, or the nests or colonies of insects and isopods.

In addition, there are problems related to the materials used in previous interventions. For example, decorative elements preserved in situ have been restored on several occasions during the 20th century, usually using inappropriate materials such as cement, and they are currently very damaged. We have also found applications of consolidating products, mainly acrylic resins, which generate yellowing and considerable superficial losses of matter.

As for the flooring and mosaics, the most serious pathology is the proliferation of microorganisms, which has caused serious problems with warping, separation of layers and disintegration of both mortars and stone elements. In the case of the murals, the most serious problem besides biocolonisation has been the interventions carried out with cement, which have weakened the original mortars and caused detachment, disintegration and separation of layers.

Documentary work on the state of conservation of one of the preserved bichrome mosaics in the Roman city

Emergency conservation and cleaning work on a bichrome mosaic from house 1 in the Roman city

Jaime Salguero and Gemma Torra

State of conservation study on decorated mortar flooring in the Neapolis

Intervention

In order to manage such a complex archaeological site —which is large and includes many preserved structures— first it was necessary to make a general diagnosis of its state of conservation and the most serious risks that needed to be addressed.

At the same time, a maintenance protocol was established, which divides the site into five zones —forum, house 1, house 2, public baths of the Roman city and structures of the Neapolis— and action is taken three times a year in each of those areas. Cleaning is done to prevent the accumulation of dirt; stagnant water is removed after heavy rains; biocide treatments are carried out, if necessary; and a checks on the state of conservation using forms, photographs and maps are made. It is essential to perform these actions in order to ensure annual monitoring of the evolution of the ruins, and to act quickly in case an emergency intervention is required.

Preventive conservation activities are also carried out to ensure the good condition of the paving and murals. These activities focus on studying and developing control strategies for the impact of microorganisms; providing covering during the colder seasons; and monitoring areas that are sensitive to changes in temperature and relative humidity. In the case of structures, earth is added around undermined walls and pools of water and plant growth are controlled.

Every year, in addition to the aforementioned work, restorations of structures are also carried out. The structures are selected according to their state of conservation, be it for the removal of old restorations, for new archaeology campaigns or for the museumisation of new spaces within the itinerary. For example, in 2015, mortar paving with tile decoration and the walls of the baths of house 2B were treated. In 2016, two white-background mosaics with black borders and decorated mortar paving in house 1 were restored. In 2017, action was taken in a room containing a mural and two-tone mosaic and on two two-tone mosaics of house 1. In 2018, work was performed on all the paving intact in the house of the Tuscan atrium and in what is known as the house of Agathos Daimon, in the Neapolis. Finally, in 2019, action was taken on the paving and coverings in the Late Antique basilica of the Neapolis.







Restoration work carried out in 2015 on the walls and coverings of the baths in house 2B in the Roman city

Restoration work carried out in 2016 on flooring in house 1 in the Roman city

Restoration work carried out in 2018 on the house with the tetrastyle atrium in the Neapolis

Restoration work carried out in 2018 on the decorated mortar flooring in the house with the Agathos Daimon inscription in the Neapolis

Restoration work carried out in 2019 on the marble chip flooring in the Neapolis basilica

Various everyday objects from Montsoriu Castle, in Arbúcies

Montsoriu Castle is known as the most important Gothic castle in Catalonia. It is located in Montseny Natural Park, at an altitude of 633 m, between the towns of Arbúcies and Sant Feliu de Buixalleu in the county of Selva, and overlooks much of the area.

Research, examination and restoration tasks have been going on continuously for over twenty years, following archaeological excavations in 1993, with work, collaboration and participation from public and social organisations, the professionals at the Ethnological Museum of Montseny – La Gabella, archaeology students and the young people on the Youth Department’s work stays. This has led to the reconstruction of the castle’s history, as well as the recovery of its architecture and of material remains – of manufactured objects, flora and fauna – to achieve better, more in-depth overall knowledge of life in the castle. Over the years, it evolved from a rock castle in the tenth and eleventh centuries, to an impenetrable fortress in the thirteenth century and to a residential Gothic palace in the fourteen century occupied by the viscounts of Cabrera, until it went into decline and was abandoned in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

There was a key point in this process of getting to know the castle: at the end of the excavation campaign in 2007, a cistern was taken down in the bailey, and a deposit of everyday equipment from the castle was found. These approximately four hundred objects included tableware, kitchen utensils, storage recipients and objects like flabiols, dice, coral beads, lanterns, thimbles, buckles and knives, as well as a great amount of animal remains. Some old documents refer to this deposit and indicate that, in 1570, the procurator of Viscount Luis Enríquez of Cabrera ordered the castle guard to empty it and take out all the goods inside, before the imminent takeover of the new owner, the count of Aitona.

Generic classification

Archaeology Object

Tableware, kitchen utensils, storage recipients, leisure objects and everyday objects Material

Ceramic, glass, metal (iron and bronze) and bone Technique

Wheel, glazing, casting, forging, blowing, sculpting, lustring Title/Topic Everyday objects from Montsoriu Castle

Date/Period

15th and 16th centuries

Dimensions Various Origin

Montsoriu Castle, Arbúcies (Selva county)

Location Ethnological Museum of Mont seny – La Gabella, Arbúcies (Selva county)

CRBMC Register NO 10704 to 10742; 10817 to 10854; 11144 to 11174; 11367 to 11383, and 11948 to 11976

Intervention

To make this material exhibitable and visitable, the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia took charge of conserving and restoring around one hundred and seventy pieces between 2008 and 2015. Most of the materials were ceramic, but there was also metal, glass and bone.

In the case of the pottery (most of which arrived assembled), the intervention consisted of dismantling them, removing chlorides, adhering fragments, and volumetric and chromatic reintegration. The glass pieces were also cleaned and adhered and underwent volumetric reintegration. Meanwhile, remains of archaeological sediment and layers of corrosion were removed mechanically from the metals, and an inhibitor and a protective layer were applied.

The intervention on the bone objects consisted of removing sediment and dirt. In general, the pieces presented a good state of conservation, and many were practically whole, in large fragments. This is down to the fact that there may still have been water in the cistern, which would have cushioned the objects’ fall.

Nonetheless, the lustreware was in a surprisingly poor state of deterioration. Therefore, in parallel to the restoration, a study was carried out with Dr. Trinitat Pradell (UPC), which revealed an alteration caused by the wet, possibly acidic environment in the cistern and the phosphoric acid from the bone remains.

Close-up of the carved head on a bone pin from the fifteenth–sixteenth century CE, after the conservationrestoration intervention

From the restoration of the objects found in the cistern, around fifty tableware services have been recorded, including plates, bowls, serving dishes, pitchers, jugs, jars, cruets and glasses that were likely used for celebrations, due to their sumptuous nature. Some pieces were imported, including earthenware decorated in blue (workshops in Barcelona), lustreware (producers in Valencia), and polychromed earthenware, which was highly appreciated at the time (workshops in Montelupo and Tuscany, Italy). The kitchen utensils and storage recipients (pots, lids, roasting tins, basins, jars, washing-up bowls, etc.) were reduction-fired (black) or oxidation-fired (red, honeycoloured tones, similar to those still produced in the pottery workshops of Breda). They were used to cook and store fish bought and used for everyday food in the castle (northern pike, tuna, European conger, gilt-head bream, mackerel, cod, etc.), pork, lamb, goat, birds (pigeon, chicken, goose, partridge), fruit (especially grapes) and nouveau wine. The restored pieces are currently on display in a room dedicated to Montsoriu Castle in the Ethnological Museum of Montseny – La Gabella, and they constitute the most significant archaeological collection of Catalan pottery in Catalonia, dating from the last quarter of the fifteenth century and the first third of the sixteenth century.

Restoration

Directed and coordinated by: M. Àngels Jorba; restoration: Carolina Jorcano (team leader) and Carolina Bernal, Mireia Borgoñoz and M. Àngels Jorba; interns: Xisca Ber nat, Anna Bertral, M. Magdalena Escalas and Bernat Font

Years of restoration 2008-2015

Image of the first set of pieces from Montsoriu Castle restored at the CRBMC, made up of various ceramic pieces from the table service, kitchen utensils and storage containers,

everyday metal objects (a lamp, a knife, a thimble, a sheath and sixteen coins), two glasses, and the base of a glass

North African, green, wheel-thrown pottery from the fifteenth–sixteenth century CE, made up of a multitude of fragments, before and after the conservation-restoration intervention

Glass cup with two handles before and after the conservation-restoration intervention

Pelike and krater from Empúries

Generic classification

Archaeology

Object

Pelike and krater

Material/Technique

Attic red-figure pottery

Title/Topic Red-figure painted pelike/red-figure painted bell krater Date/Period 5th and 4th centuries BCE

Dimensions Pelike: 64.2 × 23 (Ø base) × 42 (max. Ø) and 33.5 cm (Ø mouth); krater: 32 × 13.3 (Ø base) × 32.8 cm (Ø mouth)

Origin Greco-Roman site of Empúries, Empúries (Alt Empordà county)

Location Archaeology Museum of Catalonia, Empúries, L’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

To coincide with the renovation of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia (MAC-Empúries), it was decided that we would update the intervention criteria for an Attic red-figure ceramic pelike, restored in 1906, and an Attic red-figure ceramic krater, which had already undergone a restoration intervention but needed updating.

Object description: pelike and krater

A pelike is a large recipient with a base that was used to contain liquids, especially wine.

On one side, this artefact is decorated with a winning chorus in a dithyramb competition at the Thargelia in honour of Apollo, which took place in Athens. The other side portrays a fight between Centaurs and Lapiths at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia. The characters can be identified by the inscriptions with their names next to the depiction.

The bell krater is a recipient in the shape of an inverted bell with two handles pointing upwards, supposed to contain a mixture of water and wine. It was placed on the ground or on a platform at meal times, and the cupbearer (pincerna or pocillator) would serve the guests from it.

On one side, there is a woman dressed in a peplos sitting and playing an aulos, two men lying on a klinē and a woman carrying a tray. The other shows three men dressed in himations standing and talking.

Pelike. Close-up of an inscription of the name of the person depicted

State of conservation

Although it appears fully intact, only 45% of the original pelike is preserved. The rest is from the previous intervention.

This laborious intervention was not entirely successful for the following reasons:

• it increased the artefact’s weight considerably;

• it led to some fragments being slightly uneven;

• the material reintegration overlapped the original at some parts, while at others, it was recessed and irregular;

• the pictorial reintegration of the restored area overlapped the ceramic at several points, and made it difficult to see the scenes and the overall object;

• the beeswax, which was applied as protection and had darkened over the years, concealed the original appearance of the piece.

As for the bell krater, the following alterations were detected:

• though it respected the shape, the previous intervention led to fragments being slightly overlapping or having little contact between them (open);

• the material reintegration (done with white gypsum) overlapped the original at several points, while at others, it was recessed and irregular;

• the colour applied made it hard to see the object properly, and a protective layer made the scenes slightly glossy, which was not the case in the original (the black varnish was glossy, but the red figures were matte).

Intervention

Following the preliminary studies on both artefacts, the new intervention consisted of taking the pieces apart completely, cleaning the fragments, removing the protective layer from the surface, putting them back together again by adhering the different fragments, and reintegrating the various hollows.

In the case of the pelike, the volumetric reintegration was carried out with gypsum, then it was painted, while coloured gypsum was used on the bell krater.

On the krater, some hollows were not filled in, so that an analysis could be carried out on the clay one day, if necessary.

All in all, the historical, artistic and aesthetic value of these artefacts has been restored and they are ready for exhibition.

— Laia Contreras and M. Nieves Marí

Restoration

Laia Contreras and M. Nieves Marí

Years of restoration 2014-2015

Pelike. After the conservationrestoration intervention

Krater. After the conservationrestoration intervention

Krater. Close-up of the previous intervention, when the CRBMC arrived

Two opus vermiculatum Roman emblems of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia-Empúries: The Mosaic of the Partridge and

Generic classification

Archaeology Object

Opus vermiculatum emblem mosaic

Material/Technique stone

Title/Topic Mosaic of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice: mythological figurative artwork;

Mosaic of the Partridge: naturalist figurative artwork Date/Period 1st century BCE Dimensions Mosaic of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice: 56,6 × 59,8 cm (mosaic) and 64,1 × 61 cm (stone base); Mosaic of the Partridge: 32 × 32,5 × 0,65 cm

In 2014, the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia-Empúries proposed the restoration of several pieces of great importance from its collection. The pieces were discovered in excavations carried out more than a hundred years ago and they had been restored during the first half of the 20th century, following the criteria of the time. The objects presented precarious and aged restorations that needed to be renewed.

Two of those pieces were two vermiculatum: Roman emblems: The Mosaic of the Partridge and the Mosaic of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice. The emblems formed the main part of a mosaic and were located in the centre of the composition. They were made separately from the rest of the pavement, in the workshop. They were shaped like a small tapestry and were made of tiles (small cubes made of materials such as marble or other stones, ceramic, glass or glass paste, all of them in various shades). It was attached to a ceramic or marble plate, on which the tiles were fixed with lime mortar. It had a figurative theme. It was later inserted in situ in the rest of the pavement, which had larger tiles and a generally geometric decoration. The opus vermiculatum emblems were characterized by the use of very small tiles, of about 4 mm on each side. The tiles were arranged following the lines of the figurative motifs (musculature, folds in clothes, leaves of the trees...) as if they were worms (from the Greek vermis, «worm»), which made the details, the incidence of light and the volumes be very well defined. They were a

perfect image of the represented object. They were probably inspired by murals, and they had Hellenistic influences. The repeated use of some of them in later pavements indicates that they were highly valued artworks.

The Mosaic of the Partridge probably comes from Roman house number 1 of the archaeological site. It was bought and deposited in the Archaeological Museum of Empúries in 1913.

State of conservation

The naturalistic-themed emblem shows a partridge pulling a necklace from a jeweller. It is preserved on the original stonesupport. Its state of conservation at the time of the restoration intervention was good, although only 75% of the piece was preserved.

In a previous restoration intervention, the gaps of the tiles and the stone of the support had been reinstated with gypsum, and the remaining fragments had been adhered to them.

Intervention

The proposal for the current intervention included the removal of gypsum —which was not on the original piece— and its replacement with lime mortar. However, while the gypsum was being removed, it was observed that remains of the original mortar that fixed the tiles to the stone support were

the Mosaic of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice

Opus vermiculatum emblemata known as the partridge mosaic, before and after the conservationrestoration intervention

(mosaic in stone base)

Origin

Greco-Roman archaeological site of Empúries, l’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

Location Archaeology Museum of Catalonia-Empúries, l’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

CRBMC Register NO 12297 and 12298

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba

Restoration Carolina Jorcano Years of restoration Mosaic of the Partridge: 2015; Mo saic of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice 2017

Mosaic depicting the sacrifice of Iphigenia after the conservationrestoration intervention

Cleaning of the tiled surface of the mosaic depicting the sacrifice of Iphigenia in order to remove the layer of wax and dirt, through the application of an emulsion

preserved. After that, the option of leaving them visible was considered.

To prevent the tiles from coming loose, they were consolidated with a lime mortar bevel. Lastly, the surface of the tiles and the stone slab were cleaned, which made them regain their original hue. The base fragments were attached to it using a more reversible adhesive.

In 1848, the Mosaic of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice was found inside an unexcavated house in the archaeological site of Empúries. It was discovered by some residents of l’Escala who owned the house. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, after having been on sale without any interested buyers, the mosaic was removed and taken to the Archaeological Museum of Barcelona to avoid the risk of losing it. Three years later, in 1940, the mosaic was restored there.

A secondary reinforced concrete support was made for it, and the tile losses were restored with plaster, reproducing their shape and colour. The mosaic dates from the 1st century

BCE and depicts a theatrical scene of Iphigenia’s sacrifice. It possibly represents Euripides’ play.

The general condition of the mosaic was quite good, except for the green, black and brown tiles, which were very degraded. Previous studies performed with UV and X-ray photography, as well as the analyses that were carried out, ruled out that the alteration of the tiles was caused by the degradation of the cement or the metal mesh of the secondary support. This made it possible to determine what needed to be done for their conservation (also taking into account the risk involved in removing them) as well as for the conservation of the polychrome gypsum reintegrations, since removing them would supose the loss of information of the figurative scene. The intervention consisted mainly of cleaning the surface of the tiles, reducing and chromatically retouching the small gypsum reintegrations, replacing the gypsum with lime mortar in the large gaps and adhering and reintegrating the fragments of the preserved stone slab, to be able to insert the mosaic and return it to its original appearance.

— Carolina Jorcano

UV photograph of the mosaic depicting the sacrifice of Iphigenia, showing the reintegrations of polychrome gypsum carried out in a previous intervention (in greenish tones), in the areas where the original mosaic tesserae were not preserved

Close-up image of the smaller tesserae and the preserved remains of the layers of original mortar where they are attached

Archaeological material from the Santa Creu site and the church of Santa Helena de Rodes

Generic classification

Archaeological material

Object Various

Material/Technique

Iron, bronze, lead and glass

Date/Period 11th to 16th centuries CE Medieval period

The village of Santa Creu de Rodes (11th-16th centuries) is located in the municipality of Port de la Selva (Alt Empordà county), one kilometre away from the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes and next to the church of Santa Helena, which currently is the only building in the settlement still standing.

The village was crossed by a cobbled path that connected two towers. These were located at the entrances to the village, to the north and south of the centre. Both quadrangular-based towers acted as the main entrance to the village.

When the village was left completely uninhabited, the church became the sanctuary of Santa Helena. Its last gathering was held on 3 May 1880.

Recent archaeological interventions have confirmed the existence of a settlement dated between the 11th and 16th centuries, and a necropolis dated between the 8th and 9th centuries. Inside one of the rooms of the village’s houses, a medieval tombstone made of slabs and a silo excavated in the rock were discovered, and are still visible.

In the 2007 excavations, five anthropomorphic tombs were documented. They were in poor condition and held few bones. It can be assumed that the construction of the village’s houses was the reason why the tombs were damaged. Utensils for everyday life, such as a hoe, a belt buckle and fragments of pottery, were also found in that same building.

State of conservation

The restoration has been executed in different phases and batches, depending on when the excavated material arrived at the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC). Work has been carried out on more than one hundred and fifty-five pieces.

These are metal objects, mostly made of iron (nails, field tools,

Location Village of Santa Creu and church of Santa Helena de Rodes, Port de la Selva (Alt Empordà county)

CRBMC Register NO Various Restoration Pol Camps and M. Magdalena Gómez

Years of restoration 2008-2011 and 2016

locks and keys) or bronze (nails, studs, coins, decorative sconces and plates), and to a lesser extent, lead and silver. Work was also carried out on a few glass and bone objects.

In general, all the material was covered with earth, dust and other deposits. Some of the iron objects were fragmented but complete, while others were incomplete. They all had some degree of oxidation, which worsened the fragility of the metal and made it brittle.

Alteration was observed in some of the bronze objects, in the form of superficial stains or green spots (chlorides), which were sometimes dusty. This alteration could weaken the metal until disintegrating it in the most extreme cases. Most were whole, but some, in addition to being fragmented, were incomplete.

Intervention

The restoration and the plan of action depended on the fragility of the object. The first step was drying to extract the moisture, followed by a surface mechanical cleaning, neutralisation, joining the fragments, reintegration of the support, and consolidation, or application of a final layer of protection.

In 2016, a new protocol for the stabilisation of archaeological irons was developed in the Archaeology Laboratory of the CRBMC. Extracting the chlorides from inside the iron objects until they were left at very low chloride levels was considered essential, as these are the main destabilisers of these kind of pieces.

The most historically valuable iron objects from the 2012 and 2014 excavation campaigns were treated using this system. Over the course of four weeks, the objects were subjected to successive electrolyte immersion baths, until the concentration of chlorides in solution was equal to or less than 25 mg/l.

— Pol Camps and Magda Gómez

Iron objects before and after restoration

Documents, works on paper and photography

Papal bull from Pope Sylvester II to Bishop Sal·la

The document is a papal privilege in which Sylvester II confirms to Bishop Sal·la all the possessions that then belonged to the church of Urgell, and is considered the founding document of the Principality of Andorra, based on the unification of several Catalan counties.

It was restored in 1926 in Rome, in the Vatican laboratory, along with the rest of the Catalan papal bulls, and later, in 1976, it was restored at the National Centre for the Restoration of Books and Documents in Madrid.

State of conservation

The papyrus base was stuck to a piece of cardboard that gave it consistency. This prevented the papyrus from adapting to changes in temperature and humidity, and caused the ink and the areas with creases and wrinkles to flake. A lot of fibres were broken and frayed, and it contained holes and cracks caused by xylophagous insects. A lot of the base material was missing. A piece of the bottom part of the ball was missing, precisely in the area of the signature and date. The seal is not preserved. There were also glue stains, from where it had been stuck to the cardboard as part of a prior restoration, and on the strips of glued paper that held several separate fragments of the base together.

The charcoal-based ink had changed colour, as a result of its exposure to light and environmental changes. It currently looks brown. When the frame was opened, dead insects were found inside, and although there appeared to no longer be any biological activity, some could still exist between the fibres that wasn’t visible to the naked eye.

Object

Papal bull

Material/Technique

Papyrus and charcoal ink

Title/ Topic

Papal privilege from Sylvester II to Bishop Sal·la. Manuscript in ancient curial with Carolingian minuscule influence

Author

Pope Sylvester II (946, Auvergne, France - 12 May 1003, Rome, Italy)

Date/Period Any 1001

Dimensions 268 × 0.72 cm

Location

Diocesan Museum of Urgell, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county) CRBMC Register NO 11775

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba Restoration Carme Bello and Àngels Borrell (EstudiB2)

Year of restoration 2012

Intervention

When the bull arrived at the CRBMC, after documenting it, the frame was removed: glass, methacrylate, metal sheet, stretcher and frame. It was then photographed and its registering completed. As a precautionary measure, and in the belief that there might be insect larvae among the papyrus fibres, it was disinfested for one month, inside the anoxic chamber at the CRBMC.

Samples were taken to perform the analysis of the metal plate, fibres, papyrus and inks, and with the results the intervention began. The first step was to carry out a dry clean to remove surface dirt and the remains of dead insects. Blowers, brushes and a micro vacuum cleaner were used. The grey cardboard was then deacidified with magnesium oxide, which was sprayed onto the back of the cardboard support.

In order to reduce the hue of the stains and minimize their visual impact, a controlled treatment was performed by applying moisture and heat (hot spatula) at the affected points. The wrinkled areas were then flattened using moisture and controlled weight in certain parts. The anchoring points of the bull were also checked and reinforced where necessary with 12 g strips of Japanese paper impregnated with gum arabic.

In some areas, the points where the bull was attached to the cardboard support were reinforced with 20 g Japanese paper hinges, stuck on with PVA M218® from J. Hewit & Sons, Ltd. In both cases, it was left to dry with weights on top.

Finally, the wooden stretcher was restored and a new frame was made with a 2+2 glass sheet with UVA filter, beech wood frame, corrugated preservation cardboard and a 0.3 mm Dibond® plate.

— Carme Bello and Àngels Borrell

Close-up of the new framing system

Close-up of the bull being flattened

 Framing of the bull in the original wooden structure, after the intervention

Consolidation process

Book of the Customs, Privileges and Immunities of the City of Urgell

Object Book

Material/Technique Wood and leather cover with metal ornamentations and parchment block with different handwritten inks

Title/Topic Book of the Customs, Privileges and Immunities of the City of Urgell Author

Unknown Date/Period 1470

The Book of the Customs, Privileges and Immunities of the City of Urgell is a transcription from the year 1470 of the arbitral decision of Pere de Foix, which dates from the year 1430. The document, which governed municipal life until the Nueva Planta decrees, in the 18th century, regulated the judicial and institutional power of the city and the power between the lord and the citizens following the conflicts between the bishop of Urgell, jurisdictional lord of the city, and the Consulate, an institution that encompassed the artisan, commercial and bourgeois class during the late Middle Ages.

The binding, made of leather and beech wood core, has metal ornamentations on the corners and the city’s coat of arms on the front and back cover (inverted). The block of the Book, made of parchment, consists of three different groups of notebooks. Five notebooks making up a first block, with another five added later the last two with cut margins and a different shape from the rest.

State of conservation

The tome had undergone prior interventions and was structurally fragile due to the loss of the original stitching and the lack of cohesion between the block and the binding. There was evidence of a loss of leather material and of the upper structure of the spine, as well evidence of attacks by xylophagous insects, which affected the covers and, in places, the parchment inside the block. The parchment block was covered in dirt, dried out and deformed, with cuts around the edges and tears, and small losses also caused by the attack of silverfish (Lepisma Saccharina). The different handwritten inks had in places worn away or spread.

Intervention

The intervention began with the macroscopic observation, microscopic observation and prior study of the constituent materials using physicochemical tests, such as contact sampling, to assess the potential microbiological impact, the stability and solubility of the handwritten inks and the identification of the wooden support. The covers and the block were worked on in different ways but at the same time.

General image of the book cover before the intervention

Dimensions 30.5 × 20.5 × 5 5.5 cm

Location

Alt Urgell County Archive, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 12096

Restoration M. Carme Balliu

Presentation system

Conservation box, made of Premier® compact cardboard Year of restoration 2013

The treatment of the covers involved a preventive disinfestation using inert gases (anoxic chamber), a cleaning of the wood and the leather, a cleaning of the metallic elements and the physical reintegration of the loss of the leather base material.

The intervention on the block began with a preventive disinfection of the base material, a mechanical cleaning and a vacuum cleaning with a regulation of intensity and HEPA® filter, the hydration and wet cleaning of the parchment base through ultrasonic spraying, which helped to stabilize its dimensions.

The physical consolidation and reintegration of the base material respected the work of the prior interventions (involving sowing) that did not distort the original. Subsequently, the reinforcement of the original raised bands allowed the block to be sewn and assembled together with the binding that had been restored, following the original structure.

The Book of the Customs, Privileges and Immunities of the City of Urgell is preserved at the Alt Urgell County Archive.

— M. Carme Balliu

Photo of the first page of the book after the intervention

Photograph using raking light of the first page of the book before the intervention

In 1313, James ıı granted the Val d’Aran the special administration regime that still sets this territory apart today. Unfortunately, the original document has not survived to the present day, but we do have a document that reproduces the original and was signed in 1328 by Alfonso ııı. The document, the Querimonia, is written on parchment and is documented in 1753 in the archive of the Armari de les 6 Claus and, later, in the Museum of the Val d’Aran. Today it is preserved in the General Archive of Aran, in Arròs. In 2013, the document, considered the Magna Carta of the Val d’Aran, celebrated its 700th anniversary, and upon review it was decided that an intervention was required.

State of conservation

Based on the pathology identified after organoleptic examination, macroscopic observation of the document and prior physicochemical tests, a restoration was proposed that would involve a minimal intervention, reversibility of the material used and readability with respect to the original.

The project began with the photographic documentation of the piece using diffused, raking and ultraviolet light. In this case, the ultraviolet light spectrum gave us the necessary graphic information to work without risking the supported layer of handwritten ink, which was very faded, had lost its intensity and had almost disappeared on the back of the document.

Intervention

Once the mechanical cleaning was done, accentuated in the margins of the document, the solubility and stability tests of the

Object Document

Material/Technique

Parchment and handwritten inks

Title/Topic

Querimonia. Collection of custom ary rights accepted or modified by King James II in 1313

Author Signed by Alfonso III Date/Period 1328

Dimensions 800 × 610 mm

Location Aran General Historical Archive, Arròs (Aran county)

CRBMC Register NO 12169

Restoration M. Carme Balliu Year of restoration 2014

supported layer gave way to the hydration of the hygroscopic parchment, by applying ultrasonically sprayed cold water inside the suction table. This hydration of the base material made it possible to remove the previous unstable interventions and the remains of the synthetic adhesive that had been applied, as well as to carry out the wet cleaning and the treatment of the ring marks that existed in certain parts of the document.

Next, the base material was dimensionally stabilized, with respect to the historical instance of the Querimonia and its adaptation to different display formats over the years, including being folded over into sixteen quadrants.

The project continued with the consolidation of the perimeter tears and the physical reintegration of the parchment base, where the losses posed the risk of leading to rips or a widening of the holes. Given the state of these losses in the area of the folds, Japanese paper weighing less than the original support material was stuck on with wheat starch applied with a brush.

The preventive conservation of the document, on a parchment base, involves controlling the climatic and light parameters, and its placement in a presentation system created specifically with preservation material, in order to favour the physicochemical stability of the document.

Today, the Querimonia is preserved in the General Historical Archive of Aran

— M. Carme Balliu



Photograph with raking light. General image of the parchment before the intervention

 Photograph using ultraviolet light of the parchment flower, showing faded handwritten ink

General image of the parchment after the intervention

Beatus of the Seu d’Urgell

Object Codex

Material/Technique

Parchment, handwritten inks and pigments; binding: hard cover in cardboard and parchment; block: parchment, and supported layer: handwritten inks and pigments

Title/Topic Beatus of the Seu d’Urgell

Author Unknown

Date/Period

11th century (source: Diocesan Archive of Urgell)

Dimensions 410 × 285 × 120 mm

Location Diocesan Archive of Urgell, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 12228

Coordination Maite Toneu

The author of one of the most well-known, copied, read and prized books of the Middle Ages containing the Apocalypse, divided into 12 sections, with the commentary of the text and its illustrated miniature.

The importance of this codex required that a review, stabilization and scientific and technical study of it be carried out.

State of conservation

The organoleptic examination helped identify the old interventions that had been carried out on the base material and the binding, which sources from the Archive date at around 1800, along with other undocumented ones. Some of these interventions had caused tensions and deformations of the original parchment, while the theft of the Beatus, in 1996, had left some miniatures with perimeter cuts and sheets cut and separated from the block, attached again to the tome with self-adhesive tape. Other alterations also affected the base material and binding of the Beatus: deformation and folding of the parchment, affecting text and miniatures; widespread surface dirt and concretions; stains from use and handling, ring marks derived from contact with moisture, fading in places of the supported layer, oxidation in places of pigments and small losses of the base material and technique.

The physicochemical analyses of the constituent materials, as well as the identification of the pathology and its causes,

Close-up before and after cleaning of concretions deposited on the parchment base

led to an intervention plan based on the premise of minimum intervention, maximum readability of the materials used and their reversibility, as the basis of all the conservation-restoration processes.

Intervention

After determining that there was no impact from microbiological activity, the work was documented photographically under diffuse light, raking light, and near-ultraviolet and near-infrared fluorescence, to record the original state of conservation. Then, in order to remove the surface dirt, the base material was vacuumed with a specific device for archive materials, with adjustable suction intensity and with a HEPA® filter. Dry mechanical cleaning allowed us to remove grease residues, localized dirt, concretions and material deposits on the surface, always respecting the codological data of the base material. During this process, different samples of traces and residues found on the spine of the block were collected, which corresponded to particles of ink and other accumulated materials. At the same time, and after the impact assessment on the original base material, the prior intervention work was removed along with the self-adhesive tapes that created tension or covered the text in excess.

Although the Beatus had achieved dimensional stability, all the parchments contained undulations and deformations that affected the entire block, the result of its adaptation as a hygroscopic base material to the current binding. The treatment of deformations and undulations of the parchment was limited to the areas in which the old interventions and the adhesion of other base materials had altered this stability, which was

Presentation system

Conservation box, made of Premier® compact cardboard Years of restoration 2014-2015

 General image of the front of the first sheet of the Beatus before restoration. Photograph using raking light in which the different undulations, tears and old interventions that affected the base material can be seen

 General image of the obverse of the first sheet of the Beatus after restoration, with the stabilized parchment base

Close-up before and after removing the self-adhesive tapes that affected the parchment base

Restoration M. Carme Balliu and Victòria Bel trán, Lourdes Domedel, Èlia López, Maria Sala and Ricardo Suárez (collaborators)

 Image of a miniature with its edges consolidate, in order to restore its original layout

 Close-up of the restoration of old stitching on the back of page 139

restored through the controlled application of moisture by means of an ultrasonic humidifier and by drying through the tensioning of the parchment.

With the codex clean and stabilized, the consolidation and physical stabilization was carried out by reintegrating the base material, according to the specific need in each case, whether it be a cut, tear or gap, through the application of Japanese paper or linen thread in the lost stitching from old interventions.

Finally, to prevent the continuous deterioration of the miniatures and handwritten text through friction between the bifolios of the block, protective sheets of barrier paper were introduced in certain places.

The Beatus of the Seu d’Urgell is currently preserved in the Diocesan Archive of Urgell and is displayed in a cardboard conservation box. The recommended parameters for preventive conservation are maintained, essential for its future conservation.

Book for apprentices of the Honourable Brotherhood of Master Carpenters of Barcelona

Object

Large book, 222 sheets

Material/Technique

Paper, graphite pencil, ink and watercolour Title/Topic Book for apprentices of the Honourable Brotherhood of Master Carpenters of Barcelona

Author

Several authors Date/Period 1778 - ca. 1820

Dimensions 63 × 49 × 12 cm

The Book for apprentices of the Honourable Brotherhood of Master Carpenters of Barcelona includes the original drawings of the master’s tests, exams to become a master carpenter in the city of Barcelona, from 1778 to approximately 1820. It is the first known book to show the work of carpenters and the various branches of the trade, such as architecture and construction, geometry, machinery, tools, furniture, weapons and clocks from the time.

It was kept at the headquarters of the Woodworking and Furniture Guild of Barcelona (formerly the Guild of Carpenters, Cabinet-makers and the Like in Barcelona) until the bombings that Barcelona suffered in 1938, when it was moved for safekeeping.

In 2014 it was found inside a drawer of the sacristy of the chapel of Saint Joseph and Saint John which the brotherhood has in Barcelona cathedral. Of huge heritage,

Image of sheet no. 196 before and after intervention. The image below (before) shows the total fragmentation of the paper, with loss of the design layer, due to microbiological activity

with chromatic alteration. On the right (after), the sheet is attached to a guard, following the original presentation.

Origin Honourable Brotherhood of Master Carpenters of Barcelona. Woodworking and Furniture Guild, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12474

Restoration

Clara Alibés, Elisabet Carvajal, Marta Dot, Toni Esparó and Bárbara Viana Years of restoration

Started in 2015 and is currently still in the process of restoration

historical, cultural and artistic value, the Book for apprentices, unpublished, represents a key work of the Barcelona of the 18th and early 19th centuries, which is why it has been declared a cultural asset of national interest (BCIN).

State of conservation

The parchment covers, with a handwritten title and cardboard core, still preserve the leather ties, and the block consists of 221 pages/sheets, of various sizes and attached to sewing guards. This set up allowed the exams of future master carpenters to be inserted, and is one of the characteristic features that makes this work unique. The drawings, some of which are of great technical quality and artistic value, are handmade with graphite pencil or ink and coloured.

Its state of conservation, despite older occasional reinforcement interventions, was poor, and the pathology that affected the work put its durability at risk. Structurally, the

stitching of the block with the binding had completely lost its strength and it was partially fragmented. Moisture had severely affected the right side of the block (fore edge) and binding, and there was evidence of microbiological activity, which had resulted in the weakening and loss of the base material, as well as chromatic alteration and numerous ring marks.

Meanwhile, a serious alteration was evident in the last booklet, with a loss of base material, complete fragmentation and loss of the supported technique on some pages, as a result of attacks by rodents and book eating insects. Surface deposits, surface dirt, deformations, wrinkles and stresses, as well as large gaps, tears and fragmentation of the base material, had weakened it and left it in a critical state.

Intervention

First, a sample of the original base material was taken, using a sterile cotton swab, to determine whether the base materials had suffered from any microbiological activity. Despite the low values obtained, the work was treated in an anoxic chamber with inert gases.

After documenting it photographically, it was initially disinfected, mechanically dry cleaned and vacuum cleaned with a device with adjustable intensity and HEPA® filter, a process that was repeated numerous times as the intervention progressed. In parallel, and in order to determine the viability of the proposed conservation-restoration treatments, a constituent component and physicochemical study was

carried out on the different base materials (pH, conductivity, identification of fibres and adhesives) and the supported elements (stability and solubility).

After this, work began on the pagination and documentation of the original sewing and assembly, so the block could then be disassembled allowing the intervention to be carried out. Each page was treated individually, since each was made up of a different base material and technique.

The old interventions that had created stresses and deformations of the base material were eliminated, and a different methodology was used to wet clean the pages, based on the study of the stability and solubility of the various supported techniques. The second phase of the intervention on the Book for apprentices was completed with the dimensional stabilization and the material reintegration of the base material, by applying Japanese paper of various weights and by cleaning and provisionally reinforcing the binding.

The third phase of the restoration is pending, and will involve the comprehensive restoration of the binding and the final assembly of the book, which is currently stored inside a cardboard conservation box.

— M. Carme Balliu and Bárbara Viana

Image of the whole of the open block with sheet no. 30 attached with a concertina guard, before the disassembly and the intervention of the block

Image of sheet no. 30 after its intervention and attachment with a concertina guard, copying the original display

Photo of the book for apprentices of the Honourable Brotherhood of Master Carpenters of Barcelona before the intervention

Poster for the Festa Major of Vilafranca del Penedès

Object Poster

Material/Technique Paper and lithographic ink Title/Topic

Poster for the Festa Major of Vila franca del Penedès of 1907

Author

Josep Senabre Giralt. Madriguera Press, Barcelona Date/Period 1907

Dimensions 1150 × 857 mm (upper fragment) and 117 mm × 857 mm (lower fragment)

Location Museum of the Wine Cultures of Catalonia (VINSEUM), Vilafranca del Penedès (Alt Penedès county) CRBMC Register NO 12475

The Documentation Centre of the Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia (VINSEUM) preserves an important collection of documents related to the Festa Major (town festival) of Vilafranca del Penedès. Among other things, it is worth highlighting the collections of prints of Saint Felix, from the 18th century, posters of the town fair and goigs (devotional and paraliturgical songs). This collection grows year after year with the documentation generated by the current year’s festival.

Between 2015 and 2017, the following works from this collection were restored at the CRBMC: 2 large posters from 1907 and 1928 and 13 posters with programmes from the 19th century.

The first intervention carried out at the CRBMC was on the 1907 poster. It is a work of huge significance because it displays an image that sums up some of the most important iconographic elements of the Festa Major of Vilafranca del Penedès: the entrance of Sant Fèlix into the Basilica of Santa Maria, the castellers and some of the characters of the dances, in particular the Dragon of Vilafranca del Penedès.

The slogan, «the most traditional festival», created the previous year, also appears.

State of conservation

The poster was in a poor state of conservation, since it consisted of two large, separate, very fragile pieces of paper, with numerous tears and losses of the edges. It was covered in dirt, stains and residue, and the base material was deformed and undulating, while also suffering from intrinsic deterioration and ageing.

Intervention

Taking into account the state of conservation of the work, the proposed intervention set out to restore the stability of the piece, by consolidating and reinstating the tears and losses, in order to preserve it for the future. In addition, the union of the two fragments had to be resolved in order to be able to display the poster in its entirety.

The intervention began with the removal of dirt and the remains of other materials from the paper base, with a vacuum cleaner specific for archive materials, with a HEPA® filter and rubber erasers of different consistency. Once the mechanical and dry cleaning of the piece had been completed, it was dimensionally stabilized, by spraying it with water, to progressively relax the cellulose fibres, and by applying weight to certain areas, always with the piece protected by nonwoven polyester fibre and drying paper.

With the piece already clean and dimensionally stabilized, all the tears were consolidated and all the losses of base material were filled in, using Japanese paper of different thicknesses and shades, similar to the original. The gaps in the areas where there was a drawing were chromatically reintegrated to create an illusion using watercolour pencils, in order to aesthetically integrate the new base material.

The size of the poster made it difficult to store and display, which is why each of the fragments of the poster was attached to a secondary conservation cardboard support at the top using hinges. This new presentation system allows the two fragments of the poster to be stored flat in a drawer. It also enables the work to be displayed and framed.

— Èlia López

Image of the upper fragment of the piece before the intervention

M. Carme Balliu Restoration Èlia López Year of restoration 2015



Dry mechanical cleaning process of the surface of the poster with a rubber eraser in powder form



Detail of the lower corner of the upper fragment, showing the chromatic reintegration of the lost areas with watercolour pencil

Photomontage joining the two fragments together after the intervention

Elevation drawings of the gates of the wall of Mataró

Object

Drawing

Material/Technique

Ink on paper

Title/Topic

Elevation drawings of the gates of the wall of Mataró

Author Unknown Date/Period 16th-17th centuries

Dimensions

12657.1 76.5 × 43 cm; 12657.2: 81 × 42.5 cm; 12657.3: 59 ×

42.5 cm; 12657.4: 68 × 43 cm; 12657.5: 39.5 × 41 cm; 12657.6: 39 × 29 cm

Location Maresme County Archive, Mataró (Maresme county)

CRBMC Register NO 12657

Coordination M. Carme Balliu

Restoration M. Carme Balliu and Anna Ferran Year of restoration 2016

There are six documents, unique in that they are the only plans of the walls of Mataró that are preserved in the Maresme County Archive. It is not known which gate each elevation drawing corresponds to and the degree of fidelity of the project on paper in relation to the final works.

The authorship of the elevation drawings is also not clear, as the engineer appointed by Charles V to make the wall was Jorge de Setara, but annotations in Catalan and drawings belonging to more than one hand have been found.

State of conservation

The plans were drawn on an 11-micron-thick, cream-coloured handmade laid paper. Of the six drawings, five were made up of two or more pieces of paper attached to each other with glue of animal origin, which left stains on the edges of the paper. Over time, different types of adhesive tapes and patches were added to strengthen the bonding areas of those that had been torn which, due to their deterioration, had lost their adhesion power.

The supported elements are: black or brown ink for lines and handwritten texts; watery brown ink and graphite for shading, and blue ink for the County Archive stamp. The handwritten inks were oxidized, and at some points of high concentration had penetrated the paper.

The plans were in a moderate state of conservation, since they had numerous folds, undulations, tears and losses from the attack of xylophagous insects, which underscored the fragility of the paper, and posed a risk to its physical and mechanical stability. There was also widespread oxidation and dirt that affected the readability of the drawings. Some of the plans contained moisture stains that could be seen in the form of darker rings.

Intervention

First, the documents were mechanical cleaned using a vulcanized rubber sponge and rubber erasers of different consistency to remove surface dirt. The various adhesive tapes were then removed, by applying moisture in places with agar-agar gel and the mechanical aid of spatulas and a scalpel.

To remove the most stubborn dirt, a wet cleaning was carried out through capillarity, with non-woven polyethylene fabric on a Japanese Oita table, with the help of Japanese mizubake and shigokibake brushes, specific for this technique.

Prior to the capillary cleaning, water solubility tests were performed on the supported elements and the soluble inks were waterproofed with a silicone agent applied with a brush.

After a progressive and controlled flattening under weights, the consolidation of the tears was carried out with Japanese Kizuki-Kozu paper weighing 6 g/m2 and the gaps were filled in with Japanese Kinugawa-Kozu paper weighing 22 g/m2, both adhered with wheat starch glue.

The final presentation system consisted of two levels of protection: first, a barrier paper sleeve weighing 80 g/m2 tailored for each of the six drawings, and second, a PremierTM white and grey conservation cardboard folder for the whole set of documents.

— Anna Ferran

Photograph during the process of waterproofing the soluble inks using cyclomethicone D5

Photograph of the back of the drawings of the wall of Mataró (CRBMC reg no. 12657.5) after the intervention

Photograph of the back of the drawings of the wall of Mataró (CRBMC reg no. 12657.5) before the intervention

Letter of concession of privileges from 1366 to celebrate the Fira de Sant Joan in Olesa de Montserrat

Object Document

Material/Technique

Parchment, handwritten inks, buffer ink, graphite and embossed seal

Title/Topic

Letter of concession of privileges to celebrate the Fira de Sant Joan in Olesa de Montserrat

Author Peter ııı the Ceremonious Date/Period 1366

Dimensions 41 × 31 cm

The parchment refers to the granting of privileges to hold a fair and market by King Peter ııı the Ceremonious, and given its poor state of conservation, the Councillor for Culture of the Olesa de Montserrat Town Council and the Municipal Historical Archive of Olesa de Montserrat (AHMOM) requested that the CRBMC carry out a conservation-restoration.

State of conservation

Based on an organoleptic examination, the following pathology was identified:

Identified pathology

Alteration of the base material Widespread dust and dirt

Deformation of the base; undulations and folds

Weakening and perimeter tears in areas affected by biological attack

Loss of the base material due to biological attack (possibly rodents and book-eating insects)

Pigmentation of the base material derived from an old microbiological attack Loss of base material

Alteration of the supported technique

Alteration of the seals

Fading of handwritten ink

Fading of buffer ink Loss in places of handwritten ink

Loss of original hanging seal

Loss of relief of the embossed seal (not original) «Olesa de Montserrat City Council»

Stability and solubility test of the different supported inks identified in the document

Location Municipal Historical Archive, Olesa de Montserrat (Baix Llobregat county)

CRBMC Register NO 12720

Coordination M. Carme Balliu

Restoration Magalí Gómez-Franco Presentation system

Conservation cardboard folder Year of restoration 2016

After an analysis to determine whether the base material had any microbiological damage, a study of the constituent materials was carried out together with stability and solubility tests of the different supported techniques, and throughout the intervention process a photographic record was taken of both the original state of the work and the treatment it underwent, as well as of the final result of the intervention.

Intervention

After the document had undergone preventive disinfection, been mechanically cleaned and the seals had been protected, it was rehydrated through the controlled application of moisture, using a cold ultrasonic spray and a low-pressure suction table. After ensuring the base material was hygroscopically stabilized, it was then physically stabilized by consolidating and reintegrating the loss base material, through the application of Japanese paper that was thinner than the original and chromatically integrated.

Following the preventive preservation parameters, the parchment was mounted on neutral pH conservation cardboard and placed inside a conservation folder as a final presentation system. This system allows for proper storage, as well as display and observation of the document if necessary.

— M. Carme Balliu and Magalí Gómez-Franco

Process of consolidation and reintegration of the original parchment. Adhesion of the new Japanese paper base

General image after and before of the parchment after the intervention

Act of consecration and endowment of the canonry of Sant Vicenç de Cardona

Object

Parchment

Material/Technique

Parchment and handwritten ink

Title/Topic

Act of consecration and endow ment of the canonry of Cardona Date/Period 11th century Dimensions 480 × 711 mm

Location Parish Archive of Sant Miquel de Cardona (ASM), Cardona (Bages county)

CRBMC Register NO 12961

Coordination M. Carme Balliu Restoration Èlia López Year of restoration 2016

In handwritten ink and on parchment paper, the act of consecration and endowment of the canonry of Cardona, with Eriball as bishop of Urgell and prince and lord of the church and fortress of Cardona, and Arnulf as bishop of Roda d’Isàvena, confirms the endowment of the church, as well as the condition for future viscounts to preserve, protect and defend the new church.

Consecrated in 1040 (for which the act is not preserved) and initiated by the Viscount of Bremon before his death in 1029, it was born from the re-endowment, reform and subjection of the church of Cardona and the church of Sant Vicenç that Bremon carried out under the advice of Bishop Oliva.

State of conservation

The work was in a precarious state of conservation. The parchment, which had been folded, had missing parts and small tears at the edges of the folds, most likely caused by the attack of rodents along with the wear of the fold itself.

The localized sum of these missing parts had caused the almost total fragmentation of the base material in the area of the upper third, visibly repaired with blue (electrical type) selfadhesive tape. Also, and as well as the drying out of the base material, there were ring marks caused by moisture, stains of various types, stresses and deformations, dust, surface

dirt, surface deposits, expansion and localized fading of the handwritten ink, and the losses here and there of the stitching that joined the 5 small parchments arranged at the bottom edge, which posed the risk of them coming apart.

Intervention

Once the work had been documented photographically and its constituent elements studied and analysed, a prerequisite for any intervention, the conservation-restoration process began in accordance with the principles of minimum intervention, readability and reversibility of the materials used. First, the previous interventions and remnants of adhesive on the surface were eliminated. The base material was dry cleaned and the parchment was then wet cleaned and hygroscopically and dimensionally stabilized on a suction table and with an ultrasonic spray. The consolidation of the original stitches and the material reintegration of the missing parts was carried out with Japanese paper of similar weight and tone to the original.

Currently, the act of consecration of the canonry of Cardona is preserved mounted on conservation cardboard, a final presentation system that allows it to be checked, if necessary, and stored in accordance with the parameters of preventive conservation.

— M. Carme Balliu and

Èlia López

General image using raking light of the back of the parchment before the intervention

General image of the front and of the back of the parchment after the intervention

Photographic collections of the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC)

Object

Set of 2,058 photographic plates on glass support

Material/Technique

Gelatin silver photography on glass plates (positives and negatives)

Title/Topic Landscapes and everyday scenes, mainly from Catalonia

Author

Josep Forns Olivella (1881-1882, Sant Boi de Llobregat – ?)

Date/Period

From the beginning to the middle of the 20th century

Dimensions Various sizes and formats

Location

Photographic Archive of the Muse um of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC)

CRBMC Register NO 13001

Restoration Ángela Gallego Years of restoration 2016-2017

Between 2016 and 2017, the conservation and conditioning of 2,058 gelatin silver photographs on glass, from the Forns Olivella collection, owned by the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC), was carried out.

This collection consists mainly of stereoscopic photographs that reflect landscapes and everyday scenes, mainly from Catalonia, from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century.

State of conservation

The photographic plates showed some mechanical and physical deterioration: scratches, abrasions, areas of the glass support that were cracked and broken, as well as loss of image and other chemical damage, such as the oxidation of the image caused by contact with the acid paper envelopes in which they were stored.

Intervention

First, the envelopes protecting the plates were removed. The plates were then cleaned with hydroalcoholic solution applied with cotton on the glass side, and mechanically, on the emulsion side, with a rubber hand pump and specific brush for cleaning photographic material.

As for the broken plates, they were encapsulated with borosilicate glass of the same size and thickness as the original plate, previously cleaned and dried, in order to restore

their physical stability. Before joining the fragments, however, it was necessary to ensure the correct arrangement of the different parts of the negative and to rule out that any fragment could have been mixed with the rest of the negatives. The encapsulation was carried using with one or two glass parts depending on the degree of complexity of the breakage of the photographic plate. This ensure the piece was protected using transparent material which was compatible with the original. For glass plates that had missing parts, the material reintegration was carried out based on a permanent cardboard graft with a neutral pH and PAT (photographic activity test) certified according to the thickness and dimensions of the original piece.

To prevent the appearance of Newton rings produced by contact between two glass plates, a permanent paper wedge was applied between the original and the new glass, and finally the whole piece was sealed around the edges with selfadhesive conservation tape.

The intervened glass plates were arranged inside four-fold conservation paper envelopes, with the registration data and the original information attached, and placed in conservation cardboard boxes as new installation units.

— Ángela Gallego

Organoleptic examination of the glass plates using transmitted light

Cleaning and conditioning in preservation envelopes and boxes

Reconstruction

of a glass plate broken in 10 fragments

Glass plate after and before restoration

Drawing of Loïe Fuller,

by Ramon Casas

Loïe Fuller (Illinois, 1862 - Paris, 1928), an American dancer and choreographer who created the serpentine dance and a pioneer of modern and contemporary dance, performed at Cau Ferrat in Sitges in 1902. Her portrait, attributed to Ramon Casas, was reproduced in various publications of the time, including Feminal, no. 28, July 1909, page xvı (signed), and Pèl & Ploma, vol. ııı, no. 88, May 1902, page 374 (unsigned). A photographic reproduction of the signed drawing is also stored in the Mas Archive, which also appears later in the book Retratos de Ramon Casas, by Andreu Avel·lí Artís, Barcelona, Ediciones Polígrafa, page 109.

State of conservation

The charcoal drawing on paper of Loïe Fuller was in a very poor state of conservation. It was extremely fragile and unstable as a result of the acid hydrolysis of the original base material, the main cause of the deterioration.

This high acidity index (pH 3.5) has caused a severe loss of mechanical strength that made the base material very brittle, apart from the fact that it had also yellowed and darkened.

Meanwhile, it also contained chromatic remains from the adhesive used to attach the work to two secondary supports and from the self-adhesive tape with which the drawing was attached to the passe-partout in which it was displayed. These different points of adhesion, together with the alteration from old interventions of the base material, created strong tensions

Object

Drawing

Material/Technique

Paper and charcoal

Title/Topic

Female figure identified as Loïe Fuller

Author

Attributed to Ramon Casas

Date/Period 20th century Dimensions Not available

Origin Private collection Location

Private residence

CRBMC Register NO 13088

Restoration M. Carme Balliu

Assembly Conservation cardboard folder Year of restoration 2017

Photograph taken with UV light that shows the points of adhesion between the different base materials and old interventions

that posed a risk to the durability of the work. It was therefore necessary to stabilize it at the physicochemical level and assess the viability of the old interventions located on the front and back of the original base material.

Intervention

After examining the base material and the stability of the supported technique, and having finished the rest of the preliminary tests, the passe-partout and the various supports stuck to the back of the original were taken apart, all documented with technical photographs.

Subsequently, the different cleaning tests performed determined that the base material needed to be cleaned and stabilized chemically through deacidification. A permeable base was laid out under the original base material, which very slowly and avoiding any tension and deformation made it possible to moisten it by capillarity, and by dragging it, managed to remove the dirt and acidity from the base material, without changing the characteristics of the suspended charcoal particles. Then, earlier interventions that caused tensions were removed, although those that did not have any detrimental effect on the work were preserved and aided the intervention. At the same time, the back of the support was laminated with 3g Nao® Japanese paper, and the physical reintegration was done using 11g Mitzumata® Japanese paper. Controlled tension drying made it possible to dimensionally stabilize the work and minimize the stresses that endangered its stability.

— M. Carme Balliu

Close-up showing the physicochemical instability of the base material, with tensions, undulations, folds, wrinkles, cracks, losses and old interventions

Drawing (front) before restoration in which the different tensions that affected the base material can be seen

Drawing (front) after restoration, with the base material stabilized at the physicochemical and dimensional level

Drawing by Joan Miró Personnages, oiseau, étoile

Joan Miró’s drawing came in a frame with a passe-partout and base made of plywood, both acidic in nature that had caused the acidification of the industrially manufactured paper, and with a graphite pencil on the front and back, as a supported element, together with typed and printed ink.

State of conservation

The alterations suffered by the work were mainly the result of the presentation system and in the adhesion of the work to the passe-partout with various types of adhesive tapes. The base material showed symptoms of physicochemical alteration by acid hydrolysis, visible thanks to the darkening and yellowing of the original base material, in direct contact with the acidic passe-partout (pH 5). Widespread surface dirt and some small perimeter tears were other alterations that could be seen.

Before carrying out the intervention, it was documented photographically and various physicochemical tests on the solubility of the supported elements, pH and conductivity of the paper were carried out to establish the most appropriate conservation-restoration processes for the piece.

Intervention

First, the work was removed from the frame and separated from the passe-partout; the self-adhesive tapes and mechanically glued tapes were also removed, using scalpel and moisture applied in places. A spot dry mechanical clean

Object

Drawing

Material/Technique

Graphite on paper

Title/Topic Personnages, oiseau, étoile

Author Joan Miró i Ferrà (1893, Barcelona - 1983, Mallorca) Date/Period 22 April 1978 Dimensions 27,5 × 21,6 cm

Origin OlorVISUAL Collection, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location OlorVISUAL Collection, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 13244

Restoration Bárbara Viana Year of restoration 2017

was then performed with a smoke sponge, and the adhesive was removed with soft and low friction rubber erasers.

After several tests to check what type of wet treatment would not affect the appearance of the graphite, a capillary chemical cleaning process was chosen. This wet treatment was carried out on a semi-porous wooden table, with the work arranged on a polyester and wood pulp textile base (Sontara®) and through the application of 0.3% Tylose® MHB-3000 solution in water to extract the soluble acidity. The dimensional stabilization of the base material was then carried out through controlled drying.

Subsequently, the tears were consolidated with 9g/m2 Japanese paper adhered with wheat starch paste, and the drawing was prepared with Japanese paper hinges also adhered with wheat starch paste to be arranged between two 100% cotton passe-partouts.

To adapt the original frame to the new presentation system, the original glass panels were replaced with new anti-reflective UV filter glass panels. We should emphasize that one of the most important parts of this intervention was the assembly of the work with specific stable conservation materials, which will help the future preservation of the work.

— Bárbara Viana

Cleaning and chemical stabilization process

Back of the drawing with raking light before the intervention

Work once restored and assembled in the original frame, readapted to meet the necessary conditions of preventive conservation

Four manuscripts from the Girona Historical Archive (AHG)

Object

Manuscript

Material/Technique

Documents handwritten on rag paper, bound in parchment or half skin, with wooden covers

Title/Topic 4 books: CRBMC 13475: Manual of Palamós. AHG. Pa, 594; CRBMC 13476: manual from the notarial collection, of Castelló d’Empúries. AHG. Ca, 2085; CRBMC 13481: notification of the capbreu of the knight Hugo of Foixà, lord of the castle and the town of Albons.

The four manuscripts in question are from the Girona Historical Archive. They are comprised of two books with flexible binding, with reused parchment; a third book which, from the remains of preserved binding, is thought to have been bound with the same technique, and a book bound in half-skin and with wooden covers.

All four are handwritten on rag paper. The Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula started to produce this type of paper from 1150 onwards. It is a very high quality type of paper, which has been preserved to this day. These papers reached our hands in a poor state of conservation, largely because of proliferation of microorganisms, the result of an accumulation of water, as is the case of specimens 13475 and 13482. Another cause of deterioration was pests, as in the case of specimens 13476 and 13481, which had been affected by attacks from xylophagous insects.

Another factor that had altered the works was due to the handwritten metalloacid inks, which had oxidized, as in the case of specimen 13475, which as a result had penetrated the base material.

Both these factors had weakened the physicochemical structure, both of the paper and of the binding, and made reading them difficult while also putting the documents themselves at risk. The deterioration was progressive and could have resulted in the total

AHG. Al, 36, and CRBMC 13482: book of accounts, of Torroella de Montgrí. AHG. To, 740

Author Unknown Date/Period Between the 13th and 16th centuries Dimensions Various Location

Girona Historical Archive (AHG) CRBMC Register NO 13475, 13476, 13481 and 13482

loss of the work. For this reason, an intervention was undertaken.

State of conservation Books 13475 and 13482 had similar pathologies. In general, they all displayed significant mechanical alterations resulting from their reading and handling over the centuries. In terms of the base paper, some old microbiological damage was observed which had weakened the paper and there were also large ring marks (13476) due to the water. Also of note were the perforations and losses resulting from the oxidative effect of the corrosive metalloacid inks (13476).

Meanwhile, significant alterations affected the structure of the original stitching and the parchment covers, which had disintegrated, with a loss of base material and containing some prior repairs. The capbreu 13481 was the one in the best condition because, despite the fact that the base material contained holes created by woodworm and it was missing the spine of the binding, the structure and stitching were sturdy.

Intervention

Based on a preliminary study comprising of physicochemical analyses, the treatments were adjusted according to the individual needs of each specimen.

Nevertheless, the treatments described below were applied generally.

Book (CRBMC reg. no. 13475) before the intervention. Process of measuring the pH of the base material

M. Carme Balliu

Restoration

Book (CRBMC reg. no. 13475) before the intervention. Close-up of original base material affected by the alteration of the handwritten metalloacid ink, which affected almost the entire text box

Book (CRBMC reg. no. 13475) before the intervention

Berta Blasi, Lorena Escolano and Toni Esparó; intern: Elisabeth Carvajal, and work placement students: Anna Ferrer and Ariadna Garrigolas

In order to minimize any microbiological damage to the books, after taking a sample using a sterile cotton swab, the first step was disinfection. In this case, the works were treated with inert gases. They were placed in the anoxic chamber and were subsequently sprayed with a hydroalcoholic solution, where necessary.

Afterwards, the different base materials were mechanically and dry cleaned, using a vacuum cleaner with a Hepa® filter whose intensity could be regulated and with brushes.

After studying and documenting the structure of the original stitching, the books were disassembled, where necessary, in order to perform the intervention.

The following step involved wet cleaning the base materials, using different methods of application, in order to remove damaging products, and almost in parallel they were chemically stabilized through deacidification. One of the books underwent a specific treatment in order to minimize the damage caused by the metalloacid inks.

To restore their physical stability, the base materials were consolidated with Japanese paper of different weights, either by lamination or by reintegrating the missing parts of the original base in certain places.

As for the binding parchments, and after consultation with the technical staff of the archive, they were worked on as

separate documents so they could be studied and checked. Their treatment involved mechanical and wet cleaning, hygroscopic and dimensional stabilization and consolidation of losses of the base material.

Finally, following the previously documented stitching, the books were re-stitched. When binding 13475 and 13482, the principle of readability was followed, and the original parchment binding, now a document, was replaced with a neutral pH cardboard binding.

Protection and storage system

In terms of external protection, four boxes were made to measure for the books, and two folders for the parchments, all made with conservation material, which will help to protect the specimens from knocks, dust and light. It is crucial that the environmental and storage conditions meet the criteria of preventive conservation and priority must be given to the digitalization of the books in question in order to minimize their handling.

—

Berta Blasi and Toni Esparó

Book (CRBMC reg. no. 13475) open after the intervention. The reintegrated first page and the structure of the new conservation binding that replaces the original parchment can be seen

Image of the bifolio of the book (CRBMC reg. no. 13476) before and after the intervention, showing the alteration of the base material and the handwritten inks due to moisture and book-eating insects

Reused parchment used in the binding of the book (CRBMC reg. no. 13482) before and after the intervention and its treatment as a document

Poster of Vallauris exposition 1954 by Picasso

Object Poster

Material/Technique

Linocut on paper with printing inks.

Carving Title/Topic Vallauris exposition 1954

Author Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Màlaga, 1881 - Mougins, 1973)

Date/Period 1954

The poster announces the annual ceramics exhibition that Pablo Picasso organized during his stay in Vallauris (France, 1948-1964). He himself carved the posters for this event, which many of his friends collected.

The poster in question was made using the linocut technique in colour and is printed on industrially manufactured paper, made with high quality cotton fibres, and with a slightly satin finish. The poster has a «Registres-Torpes» watermark at the top. Initially, the work was framed and in contact with a very thick glass, partially attached to a secondary support and with a cardboard base, both acidic in nature.

State of conservation

In terms of its state of conservation, it was mostly suffering from widespread surface dirt, stains of various kinds, deformations, cracks, significant loss of the base material and old interventions, including the use of self-adhesive tape to repair tears and a retouching of the colours.

Although the deformation of the base material affected almost the whole work, the most significant problem was the tension created by four points of adhesion between the work and the secondary support. A ring mark was also visible in the upper margin as a result of direct contact with moisture, which had spread dirt and caused the ink to migrate, which in theory was not part of the original document. Finally, in the lower margin, there were significant losses of base material and the colours had been retouched, and old microbiological damage had left the base material very fragile and unstable.

Intervention

Before carrying out the intervention, in order to determine the viability of the conservation-restoration treatments, it was

Close-up of the affected area before and after the intervention

Dimensions 81.9 × 59.3 cm

Origin

Abelló Museum. Municipal Art Foundation, Mollet del Vallès (Vallès Oriental county)

CRBMC Register NO 13500

Restoration Bárbara Viana Year of restoration 2018

documented photographically, examined for microbiological activity, studied and analysed to determine its constituent materials and various physicochemical tests were carried out to determine the solubility of the supported elements, the pH and conductivity of the paper.

First, the surface was vacuum cleaned, with the help of a soft hair brush. The work was separated from the secondary support and the remains of adhesive were removed mechanically by applying a solvent here and there. The self-adhesive tapes were also mechanically removed with a scalpel, and a dry mechanical clean was performed using a vulcanized smoke sponge.

Although it was not possible to apply an aqueous treatment to the whole work due to the presence of a soluble supported element on the back, a chemical cleaning was carried out in certain parts using a buffer solution adapted to the pH and conductivity of the work. This treatment was applied with a brush and on a textile base of polyester and wood pulp (Sontara®) to absorb the soluble acidity of the stains. Subsequently, to stabilize the free radicals, a solution with calcium ions was applied and the base material was dimensionally stabilized; it was then allowed to dry under moderate weight.

The tears were then repaired and the base material was reintegrated, with Japanese paper of different weights adhered with 5% Tylose® MHB-300 in water.

Finally, a more suitable framing system was created, by mounting the work on conservation cardboard, with Japanese paper hinges, and protected by methacrylate with a UV radiation filter on the front and a polypropylene base on the back.

— Bárbara Viana

Back of the drawing with raking light

Vallauris Exposition 1954 drawing, before the intervention

Various work by Víctor Català

Caterina Albert i Paradís, better known as Víctor Català, apart from being an important literary figure, was also interested in other artistic disciplines, such as painting and drawing. Her graphic work consists of more than 80 pieces that, in some cases, were created to illustrate her own stories.

The restored works used different types of paper and other base materials, such as parchment. As for the supported elements, she also worked with various materials, such as graphite, charcoal, pastel and watercolour.

State of conservation

The treated pieces arrived in frames and passe-partouts, and some were attached to secondary supports, with self-adhesive tapes or other types of adhesives. The main physicochemical alterations they suffered included surface dirt, deformations, ring marks, folds, tears and losses of base material. Also, the base material was oxidized, there was darkening, oxidation stains (foxing) and chemical destabilization, as a result of the acidity of the paper.

After the work had been documented photographically and been treated with inert gases (anoxia), it underwent physicochemical tests to determine the state of the base material and the supported elements. First, contact sampling was carried out using a sterile swab in order to rule out any microbiological activity that might be affecting the different base materials. The pH and conductivity of the base material, as well as the solubility of the supported elements, were then measured, and a test for Fe2 was performed to evaluate the stability of the metalloacid inks. The conservation-restoration process was then designed based on the results of these tests.

Object

Various graphic works

Material/Technique

Base material: paper and/or parchment; graphite, charcoal, pastel and others

Title/Topic 81 works with different supported techniques, on paper and parchment bases

Author

Caterina Albert i Paradís, known by her pseudonym, Víctor Català (l’Escala, 1869-1966)

Date/Period 1877-1932

Dimensions

Various Origin L’Escala Council, L’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

Location L’Escala Historical Archive, Alfolí de la Sal, l’Escala (Alt Empordà county)

CRBMC Register NO 13517

Intervention

First, the works were separated from the various secondary supports and the traces of adhesive from tapes were removed mechanically. To eliminate the remains of aerosol adhesive, rigid and semi-rigid gels were used, along with solvents applied alone, in emulsion or in gel.

Subsequently, dry and wet mechanical cleaning was carried out on the works that required it. After various tests, it was decided that the works should undergo a capillary cleaning process on oita (semi-porous wooden table: this is the application of moisture through a porous membrane, which ends up absorbing dirt) using a buffer solution adapted to the conductivity of the base materials. For those pieces where the supported elements were unstable, a controlled wet cleaning on a suction table was carried out, through the application of an ultrasonic spray.

Then, all the parts that required it were dimensionally stabilized, through controlled drying. Once the base materials had been stabilized, the tears were consolidated with Japanese paper applied with cellulose ester adhesive.

In terms of the final presentation system, the works intended for exhibition were mounted on Japanese paper hinges so they could be framed. The rest of the pieces were arranged in conservation sleeves made from barrier paper, which were made to measure, and placed inside conservation boxes, as new installation units and in accordance with the established criteria of preventive conservation.

— Ariadna Garrigolas and Francesca Tort

pH and conductivity testing of the base material with agarose tablets

Controlled wet cleaning inside the humidification chamber

M. Carme Balliu

Restoration Ariadna Garrigolas and Francesca Tort Year of restoration 2018

Self-portrait by Caterina Albert, drawn in charcoal on paper

Framing system for pieces intended for exhibition

Emergency intervention on the documentary collection. Disinfection, cleaning and physical stabilization

Object

Books, posters, pamphlets, photographs, etc.

Material/Technique

Paper, fabric, cardboard, natural leather, synthetic leather, different types of adhesives, etc.; inks, printed and handwritten

Title/Topic Various, basically related to the world of cinema Author Various

Date/Period 19th and 20th centuries

Dimensions Various Origin Government of Catalonia, Barcelona (Barcelonès county) Location Barcelona (Barcelonès county) CRBMC Register NO 13606

It is essential to have a management plan in place for emergencies, in order to respond quickly and minimize the potential damage to cultural artefacts.

In the event of flooding, the deterioration of the artefacts depends on the response time, but also on the nature of the constituent materials. If the affected heritage item is a documentary collection, the great diversity of types, format and base material of the documentation, which in itself is made up of different materials, must be taken into account.

During the autumn of 2018, Barcelona suffered episodes of intense and sudden rainfall that affected various cultural entities, though the alertness and rapid reaction of heritage conservation-restoration professionals ensured that the damage could be repaired and its effects minimized.

State of conservation

The set of documentation affected by the flood consisted of books, posters, pamphlets, photographs, etc., and was located in three different spaces, arranged in compacts, flat and metal filing cabinets. Part of this set, which was treated at the CRBMC, had suffered the direct effect of the flood, and the rest of the material was subjected to an environment saturated with relative humidity.

The microbiological damage, confirmed from the results of the analyses, was evident and showed an exponential growth of fungi, bacteria and yeasts that generated a diverse chromatic substrate on the different materials.

Intervention

The emergency intervention began in situ in the repositories where the documentation was located. Clearly, an order of priority had to be established for the treatment of the affected collection, which was transferred to the CRBMC.

There were three levels of damage, which required different disinfection, drying and cleaning treatments. The most affected works were freeze-dried, which, together with their encapsulation in which the oxygen level was controlled and the incorporation of an antifungal agent for the second level of damage, and anoxia for the rest, minimized the identified microbiological growth.

The analysis of the samples taken systematically, before and after the different treatments, determined the suitability of each one, and different levels of treatment were also established for the physicomechanical alterations derived from the incident and from the treatments themselves.

At the same time, the intervention continued in the repositories with the cleaning and control of the rest of the documentation that had not been affected. Several conservation-restoration projects are still being carried out today, and work is continuing on achieving the stability of the stored collections, and on establishing the ideal parameters for their preventive conservation, in order to minimize the risk of the damage being reactivated.

It is worth mentioning that at all times we worked following rigorous occupational health and safety protocols with the use of different PPE (personal protective equipment), essential to carry out the cleaning and disinfection of the documentary heritage.

— M. Carme Balliu

Assessing and establishing the order of intervention in situ

Close-up of the sample taking from the affected books

Years of restoration 2018-2019

Cleaning of different affected books and sample taking at the CRBMC facilities

Book affected by microbiological activity and physicomechanical alteration, before and after the intervention

M. Carme Balliu, Elisabet Carvajal, Ángela Gallego, Ariadna Garrigolas, Ariadna Olivé and Francesca Tort

Textile material

The Girona Cathedral Tapestry or Embroidery of Creation

The following is a summary of the latest conservationrestoration intervention on the tapestry, which was undertaken to stop the deterioration of the work, following the principles of minimal intervention.

In the world of textile artefacts, the so-called Tapestry of Creation is a unique work of medieval art. Only a large fragment is preserved, which depicts three iconographic cycles: Creation, the calendar and the legend of the Invention of the Cross.

State of conservation Initially, a comparative review was carried out, based on the photographic documentation of the 4 known interventions and the images of the non-destructive physical analyses. These showed that the tapestry had undergone a large number of reconstructions designed to create an illusion, which have become an integral part of the work.

An analysis of the technical aspects, the manufacture and the nature of the constituent materials was crucial in revealing the main alterations, both of the original elements and of the interventions. A comparison of the front and the back of the work during the intervention revealed that the

Object

Liturgical panel

Material/Technique

Wool and linen. Serge; concentric and embroidered rhombuses, and stem stitching. Natural dyes of plant originl

Title/Topic

The Girona Cathedral Tapestry or Embroidery of Creation Author Unknown Date/Period Between 1081 and 1094

Dimensions 355 × 449 cm

Origin

Girona Cathedral, Girona (Gironès county)

Location Girona Cathedral Treasure, Girona (Gironès county)

CRBMC Register NO 9121

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP)

integrity of the threads had been altered by environmental factors and perhaps also as a result of the treatment it had received. In this regard, the loss of material and colour was more noticeable on the front side.

The tapestry contained dirt, deformations and stresses due to its vertical display, in a frame, stitched to a hessian fabric and attached with studs. An added negative factor was the difficulty of moving the piece, for security reasons. All this required a solution which involved preventive measures and curative actions. The former were aimed at adapting the exhibition space and the latter at stabilizing the work.

Intervention

In order to meet the requirements for the new intervention, the work had to be removed from the frame. Then, a graphical representation of the stitches that attached the tapestry to the hessian fabric was made, in order to determine the repercussions. This examination confirmed what had been revealed during the preliminary study. As a result, it was decided that the stitching and the hessian base should be removed, a very laborious task since a large number of the embroidered reconstructions penetrated through this fabric.

Close-up using raking light of the left side of the tapestry. The deformations caused by the stitching to the hessian support can be seen

Photograph taken with UV light before the intervention. The most recent interventions in maroon brown and fluorescent white can be seen



The back, after cleaning and reduction and removal of patches from previous interventions. The purple colour can be seen, unlike on the front

X-ray image of the representation of the Gihon river which clearly show the pictorial alterations of an old intervention made with white lead

Close-up of the of the second ring, of an area where the embroidery is missing

Completely uncovering the back of the work turned out to be a discovery, revealing the original colours in all their splendour, and the presence of patches (279, of 13 types) in the reconstructed areas. Removing the patches enabled us, among other things, to confirm the name of the character that appeared on the faded inscriptions on the back, something which had given rise to a great deal of debate. It is Hercules.

In order to place the work in the correct position and given its irregular border, a grid was outlined using a thick thread,

which also served as a guide for all the treatments. Dirt, both on the front and back, was removed using a micro-vacuum cleaner. It was also decided that a great deal of the darning which was not part of the embroidered reconstructions should be unstitched.

Throughout the process, glass was placed on top of the work to prevent the fabric from moving. Later, the glass was used to correct deformations, and weights were placed on top in some parts, with their position frequently changed to prevent them from leaving indentations.

Work on the back of the tapestry, separation of the support fabric and removal of superficial dirt

Process to correct deformations on the front of the tapestry

The consolidation intervention was carried out to restore balance and stability to the tapestry and also to reinforce certain parts. This was done through stitching and the use of base fabrics, following a comprehensive approach aimed at the presentation and conservation of the piece.

As for the new display support, it was decided that the best option was a standalone mobile structure, consisting of an easel that supports a frame, which can be tilted.

Finally, the tapestry was placed in the same location from

where it had come, the last room of the Girona Cathedral Treasure, but with an adapted display system and area that improved its preventive conservation and exposition.

— Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata

The Tapestry of Creation in situ after the restoration

Banner of the Corpus from the Girona Cathedral Chapter Archive

Generic classification

Painting on canvas

Object

Banner

Material/Technique

Oil painting and gilding on silk serge

Title/Topic Mother of God with child

Author

Attributed to Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755)

Date/Period 1724

Dimensions 434 × 280 cm

The banner of the Corpus preserved in the Girona Cathedral Chapter Archive is a unique piece, both because of its dimensions and because it preserves paintings on both sides that are attributed to Antoni Viladomat.

The central image is the Mother of God with child, on a throne, with a holy bishop kneeling in adoration, complete with two angels at the top, with the inscription «Ave maria, gratia plena», and two at the bottom, with the date «1724». The analyses performed confirmed that it is oil painting and gilding with gold leaf, on silk Batavian serge.

State of conservation

The fabric was in good condition, but the large number of rips and gaps drastically weakened the piece. This deterioration was due to the stresses caused by the pictorial layer and the many folds during use and storage.

To mitigate the risk caused by these gaps, multiple repairs had been carried out–re-sown rips, placement of patches and a large 84 cm fold in the tongue–which changed the shape and size of the piece. Despite the wear and tear, the pictorial layers still adhered well to the base material.

Intervention

Origin Girona Cathedral, Girona (Gironès county)

Location

Girona Cathedral Chapter Archive, Girona (Gironès county)

CRBMC Register NO 11176

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Beatriz Urbano and Montserrat Xirau

Year of restoration 2014

Various cleaning processes were carried out: controlled vacuuming; wet cleaning of the fringe, and cleaning of the pictorial layer and of the gilding using a pH buffer solution. Wetting the piece with cold water vapour helped loosen the fibres and was crucial for opening and restoring the lower fold.

Different methodologies from various specializations were combined to stabilize the fabric. First, a thread-by-thread suture technique was used for fixing tears, with sturgeon glue and wheat starch, used in the consolidation of the fabric base of the paintings. Meanwhile, an encapsulation technique was used for the textile restoration. It was applied during the reinforcement of the upper area and in the consolidation of the recovered lower area. The small fragments were immobilized, and the area was strengthened by placing the original serge between two fragments of tulle fabric which were sewn together along the perimeter of the missing parts with a basting stitch.

This ensured that the intervention was as non-invasive as possible and could be reversed and ensured the painting was visible thanks to the use of a highly transparent fabric.

The process restored the piece’s original shape, recovered the pictorial composition and gave cohesion to the banner. This enabled the piece to be put on display in the Girona Art Museum, in 2014, as part of the exhibition «Antoni Viladomat i Manalt (1678-1755). Life and Work», with Dr. Francesc Miralpeix as curator.

The main aim of the intervention was to stabilize the work and improve its readability, using the following criteria: minimum intervention and reversibility, so that more complete action could be taken in the future; avoid the concealing of both sides, and avoid the use of fabric consolidation methods that could damage the pictorial layer. 

— Beatriz Urbano and Montserrat Xirau

Vacuuming and correcting of the deformations of the folded area, after unfolding it

Close-up of the consolidation process by encapsulation

Close-up of a rip after consolidation (reintegrated with microfibres)

General image of the banner after the conservationrestoration process

Altar frontal from the old Hospital de la Santa Creu

The altar frontal dates back to the 17th century, although it was restored subsequently, and is currently in an old showcase in the Auditorium of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. It is a velvet piece with embroidery made of silks, stretched raised gold and or nuè; almond-shaped muslins; passementerie, and galloon trimmings. It no longer had the original frame, and before the intervention it was nailed to a plywood sheet. The central part depicts Calvary surrounded by crosses, rosettes and palmettes arranged in an elegant staggered pattern. The side and front panels —upper frieze— depict plant stylizations and grotesque mascarons. In addition, in the centre of the side panels there is a cartouche containing the coat of arms of the old Hospital de la Santa Creu.

State of conservation

The work was in a very poor state of conservation, due to the high intrinsic sensitivity of the constituent materials to environmental variations and exposure to light. Among the many alterations, it is worth mentioning the disintegration of the velvet hair and also the multiple gaps in the velvet, on the front and sides in particular, with out-of-place fragments that had been poorly rearranged. In addition, the threads of the embroidery had significantly lost their cohesion.

Intervention

The intervention was a very delicate and thorough process which lasted 10 months. The measures taken focused on stopping the deterioration that compromised the conservation

Object

Altar frontal

Material/Technique

Silk, gold and silver braided threads; velvet and embroiderys

Author

Unknown Date/Period 17th century Dimensions 90 × 300 cm

Origin

Old Hospital de la Santa Creu, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 11704

Coordination Maite Toneu Conservation-restoration Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP)

Showcase refurbishing Carmelo Ortega, carpenter (CRBMC)

Years of restoration 2016-2017

of the work. Therefore, the intervention began with an evaluation of the results of the analysis of the constituent materials and of the multispectral analysis.

Meanwhile, the direct intervention began with the dismantling of the multiple fragments that made up the front of the altar and with superficial cleaning. Subsequently the small waxy deposits were removed using a scalpel tip and the metallic elements were cleaned with a combination of both organic solvents and aqueous solutions containing chelating agents, depending on the nature of the dirt that had to be removed and on the sensitivity of the base material.

During these processes it was necessary to combine this cleaning with a consolidation of the most delicate areas, and to sew up the metal threads that had come loose in certain parts.

Because the piece was particularly fragile, each part —the centre, side and front— had to be completely supported on a base made of cloth that was dyed to match the piece. Some parts also had to be protected using monofilament tulle, and flannelette stuffing had to be applied to some of the raised decorations so they could maintain their shape.

Finally, the piece was mounted on a new support, adapted to the old showcase so that it could be returned to its original location.

— Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata

The altar frontal after the intervention

 Close-up of the frontal before and after the intervention.

Photograph of the altar frontal before the intervention, in situ

Object Flag

Material/Technique

Industrially manufactured fabrics, with wool and cotton taffeta weave; rope and metal fasteners; fabrication: machine sewn Title/Topic

Starred Catalan flag: «Estelada bla va». (blue estelada) Flag with a blue triangle and a white 5-pointed star, a symbol of Catalan independence Date/Period c. 1915 Dimensions 85.5 × 172 cm

Origin Private property of Núria Clapés Solé (descendant of Dr Joan Solé i Pla)

Location Museum of the History of Catalo nia, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)) CRBMC Register NO 12142

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Beatriz Urbano and Montserrat Xirau Historical information Museum of the History of Catalonia website and information provided by the historian Joan Esculies Years of restoration 2013-2014

«The starred flag established itself as an unmistakable symbol of Catalan independence during the First World War years. On 11 September 1915, in front of the statue of Casanova, the Catalanist Union presented this starred flag to the Catalan volunteers who had gone to fight in the first great war of the century. The flag has a blue triangle fastened with a brooch, with the idea being that it could be removed if independence were achieved. After the war, the starred flag was given to Dr Joan Solé i Pla, promoter of the campaign in favour of the Catalan volunteers, was preserved by his descendants and finally added to the collection at the Museum of the History of Catalonia. Today it is the oldest surviving starred flag and is of huge historical and symbolic importance»1

State of conservation

This starred flag is made up of two separate pieces: the flag and the blue triangle with the white star —the latter can be removed and attached by means of metal fasteners—, made entirely of cotton and wool fabric. What has been preserved is a fragmented and incomplete flag, only a third of what would have been 270 cm long flag, which would have also had a triangle with a star on the other side.

It was in a moderate state of conservation. The deterioration of the piece was mainly due to the dried fibres, the missing material and the folded and frayed fabrics. It had also been affected by other alterations such as dirt deposits and loss of colour.

Intervention

Various dry mechanical cleaning processes were performed to remove the accumulated dirt. The application of cold water

vapour —generated by an ultrasonic humidifier— slightly loosened the folds; the goal was not to completely eliminate the marks that attest to the history of the piece, but to mitigate the risk of the fibres in these areas from breaking.

The processes undertaken to consolidate the fabric were instrumental in stabilizing the piece. The technique of overlocking was used for the torn edges and the gaps in the centre were consolidated by sewing on a new partial base. A highly transparent silk fabric was used for this base —dyed yellow, red or blue, depending on the area being consolidated— to highlight the gaps.

To ensure proper handling, storage and exposure, a flat, rigid support was made from honeycomb conservation cardboard, lined with inert materials. The flag was fixed to the support using its own fasteners on the back.

Its recovery was completed for the occasion of the exhibition «300 Onzes de Setembre. 1714-2014» (300 Elevenths of September) at the Museum of the History of Catalonia. The described procedure was undertaken because of its symbolic importance, prioritizing its huge historic value over any aesthetic or material value. This minimal intervention helped to slow down the deterioration process while preserving the physical marks that explain its history and use.

— Montserrat Xirau

1 / Museum of the History of Catalonia (MHC): https://www.mhcat.cat/col_leccio/el_museu_presenta/ bandera_estelada [Consulta: 15 de maig de 2020]

Wetting process

Consolidation of missing parts of the fabric

General image before and after the intervention

Object

Fragment of fabric used to envelop a relic Material

Silk and braided thread with gold leaf Technique Lampas decorated with pattern wefts and swivel weave (honeycomb) Title/Topic Encircled pairs of lionesses rampant and tree of life, and flowers and palmettes in the interstices

Author The Almeria workshops, Al-Andalus

The fragment of fabric in question was stored in a wooden lipsanotheca and had almost certainly been used to envelop a relic.It is worth remembering that silk and gold fabrics of Hispanic-Muslim origin were often used to wrap these prized pieces, since they were considered luxury items.

State of conservation

The fabric was in a very delicate state of conservation; the drying and ageing of the fibres had weakened it, as had the accumulation of inorganic deposits. The fabric had been folded as a result of its use. This along with the numerous tears and gaps in the weft and warp meant that the decorative motif was hard to read and had resulted in a loss of cohesion and stability.

The conservation intervention

The intervention focused on stabilizing the state of conservation of the piece and improving its readability. With this in mind, the deposits were removed, dirt was eliminated as much as possible and the deformations were fixed, through a combination of low-powered micro-vacuuming methodology and wetting the fabric with cold steam — making use of stereoscopic microscopy to do this.

Bearing in mind the small dimensions of the piece and its fragility, the idea was to intervene as little as possible, and a system was designed to avoid it being directly handled. This involved creating a support that improved its horizontal preservation, allowing the front and the back to be viewed (conservation folder).

Meanwhile, samples of the inorganic deposits found on it (CaCO3 and aluminosilicates) were collected and analysed, given that they could be associated with the relic it had contained.

 Close-up of the head of the animal with the weft of swivel-weaved brass leaf, after the intervention (front)

Date/Period

First half of the 12th century/ Almoravid era (Hispano-Muslim Kingdoms)

Dimensions 9.2 × 13.4 cm

Origin Lipsanotheca of the church of San ta Maria de Cap d’Aran, Tredòs, Naut Aran (Val d’Aran county)

Location

Val d’Aran Museum, Vielha, (Val d’Aran county) CRBMC Register NO 12472

Coordination Maite Toneu

This fragment of fabric, a lampas depicting pairs of animals inside circles, is a clear example of the refined fabrics of the tiraz workshops. We took the opportunity while carrying out the intervention to analyse it and date it. The technical analysis and comparative observation of similar fabrics, in accordance with the published studies on Hispanic-Muslim fabrics, allowed us to determine its age.

The fragment fits in the group classified by D. Shepherd as fabrics produced by the workshops in Almeria (Al-Andalus) in the first half of the 12th century, in the middle of the Almoravid era (1086-1143).

The technique of a lampas with an irregular taffeta background, the use of double threads for the underlying warp, the use of pattern wefts to sow the decorative motif and the use of a weft of swivel-weaved brass leaf (golden animal organic membrane) with a honeycomb effect —only on the heads—, the decorative motif and the colours all distinguish this piece as being part of this group.

There are technical similarities with the Fabric of St Daniel (CDMT 2498 and IVDJ 2087).

However, there is an even greater technical and aesthetic similarity with the MTIB 49743 fabric, which was used to envelop the MNAC 1147 Romanesque Christ, although in this case the pairs of animals are birds. The fabric of Tredòs, however, stands out from the others because it preserves its dark coloured pattern weft, something which the aforementioned pieces have almost completely lost due to deterioration.

— Montserrat Xirau

 Process of microvacuuming and elimination of concretions using a microscope

Study and conservation of the medieval fabric from the lipsanotheca of Santa Maria de Cap d’Aran

General image before and after the intervention (front)

Seating upholstery at the Episcopal Palace of La Seu d’Urgell

Object

Upholstery of a set of 29 chairs and a sofa Material/Technique

Silk, velvet, jacquard satin and trimmings Title/Topic Seating upholstery Date/Period Early 20th century

Dimensions

Armchairs: 128 × 68 × 65 cm; chairs: 108 × 45 × 46 cm, and sofa: 148 × 193 × 68 cm

Origin

Episcopal Palace, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

Location Episcopal Palace, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 12622

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP) Years of restoration 2015-2016

In 2015, we began the conservation-restoration of the fabrics of the early 20th-century seating which was located in different rooms at the Episcopal Palace of La Seu d’Urgell. There were a total of 29 neoclassical Louis XVI style pieces, upholstered in silk cloth, mechanically produced, containing several features, such as velvet and jacquard satins with a damask effect, all accompanied by matching trimmings.

State of conservation

These were pieces that had been made for everyday use. In fact, their function and the inevitable ageing of the materials were the main cause of the alterations. For example, in the chairs, tears of different sizes were visible; the corners and seat backs were perforated and torn; in the armchairs the same alterations extended to the arms, and in the sofas some seams had opened up, and in the velvet cloth, in addition, the hairs had changed direction, resulting in chromatic irregularities. There was also evidence that they had undergone poor restoration processes. in some cases, for example, adhesives had been used to reassemble several parts.

Intervention

Taking into account the previous interventions, the upholstery was restored without separating it from the furniture. First, the holes were stuffed with flannelette, and then they were consolidated and reintegrated with cotton and silk fabrics, placed as a base, and cut, following a pattern, to fit the size of the hole, and finally, the fabrics were sewn to the original upholstery. Meanwhile, the tears in the cloth on some of the seats and backs needed protecting using monofilament tulle, which was sewn to the trimmings around the edges.

As a final point, it is worth noting that when a piece of furniture is restored, it is often forgotten that the upholstery is an integral part of the piece which makes contributes to the whole aesthetic. In this case, however, it was gratifying to see how the efforts of restorers focused on preserving the upholstery.

— Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata

Close-up of a chair before the conservationrestoration

Chair before the intervention

Close-up after the intervention in showing the restored upholstery

Chair after the conservationrestoration

Commemorative ribbon from the 1st Castell Competition - Tarragona (1932)

Object Tie o ribbon Material/Technique

Artificial silk, cotton and braided metal threads

Author Unknown Date/Period 1932

Dimensions Ribbon: 156 × 14 cm. Display support: 166 × 24.5 × 2 cm

Origin Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls, Valls (Alt Camp county)

CRBMC Register NO 12726

Coordination Maite Toneu Conservation-Restoration Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP) Year of restoration 2017

The ribbon is part of what we call ethnological heritage, and its value derives from the fact that it is representative of a traditional recreational activity from Catalan popular culture, the castells (human towers). Since 2010, these have been included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

State of conservation

The alterations to the piece had been caused by both external and internal factors. The external factors included the use that had been made of it and the way it had been displayed. Its significant discolouration was evident when comparing the front with the back; also noticeable were the marks left by the items that had been used to attach the ribbon to its support, such as pins and remnants of adhesive putty, and there were also some gaps, wrinkles, and dirt deposits on the piece.

As for internal factors, the textile analysis revealed that the red ribbon is made of artificial silk, regenerated cellulose, a material that in unsuitable environments, such as those with excess moisture, loses resistance and has difficulty in recovering its elasticity. This was possibly why the fabric was so wrinkled and had opened up in some parts.

Intervention

The first stage of the actual intervention involved dry cleaning the piece, using a micro-vacuum. The putty concretions were removed mechanically, using a spatula and a kneaded eraser, and the wrinkles were flattened through moisture transmission and with the aid of glass and weights.

The loose threads of the embroidery were reattached using small cotton thread stitches. The damaged and perforated parts were consolidated with localized patches of cotton, dyed the colour of the area being treated, tinged with crepeline to achieve the shine of the ribbon. These patches were attached to the back of the ribbon with couching and basting stitches, made of 1-head organza silk thread.

Also, the back of the ribbon was lined with crepeline, to reinforce it and to prevent the consolidation patches from folding. The edge of the ribbon, which was missing a piece of the fringe, was also chromatically reintegrated. Monofilament tulle was used here, attached be means of basting and twisted stitches. The stitching was carried out with very thin, straight needles. Finally, the ribbon was displayed on a rigid platform, padded and lined, without any form of attachment.

— Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata

Image of the piece before the restoration

Image of the piece after the intervention

Cleaning process using a micro-vacuum cleaner

Moment in which the deformations were corrected

Piece of embroidery depicting the coat of arms of the old Countship of Urgell

Object

Piece of embroidery Material/Technique

Silk, linen, gold and silver braided threads; taffeta, velvet and embroidery Title/Topic

Piece of embroidery from a liturgi cal vestment depicting the coat of arms of the old Countship of Urgell Date/Period 15th-16th centuries Dimensions 47.5 × 20 cm

Origin Acquired by the Government of Catalonia in 2015

Location Museum of la Noguera, Balaguer (Noguera county)

CRBMC Register NO 13334

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP)

Year of restoration 2017

State of conservation

The importance of this embroidery lies mainly in the fact that it bears the coat of arms of the old Countship of Urgelll, which stood until 1413.

A preliminary analysis showed that the image of the saint depicted in the centre of the composition and a fragment of the galloon trim on the left side did not belong to the original work. The embroidery displayed other alterations, such as the upper and lower areas, which had been cropped; the silk that attaches the braided threads to the base, which had been lost in many areas, and the silk fabrics, which had holes in.

Intervention

The intervention consisted of separating the added elements (image of the saint and the galloon), by unpicking the threads that attached them to the base. Subsequently, to clean the piece, the surface was vacuumed and the fabrics were moistened using water thickened with agar-agar, which also helped to remedy the deformations in some of the fabrics. Finally, the damaged parts were consolidated and restored, by filling in the gaps with small supports (grafts) made of cotton and silk. Meanwhile, the most fragile parts were protected using monofilament tulle. In both cases, the consolidation was carried out through sewing, and the fabrics, the tulle and the threads were previously dyed so that the affected areas could regain their original colour scheme. The loose braided threads were reattached to the original base with small stitches, following the direction of the twist in the braid, while those that make up the outer galloon trim were attached following the original stitch, in order to recover the structure of the muslin.

The removal of the added elements was especially interesting, because it allowed the iconography of the work to be recovered and also made part of preparatory drawing of the embroidery visible.

— Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata

Restorer and chemist taking samples for analysis of the materials

Protection process

The embroidery before the intervention

The embroidery after the intervention

Banner of the Lira Poblense Choir Group

Object Banner

Material/technique

Base made of cotton and braided metal threads; jacquard fabric, satin and cotton velvet; embroidered with metallic threads; central medallion with mercerized cotton thread and bugle embroidery; painted medal lion on cotton fabric, with direct polychrome on the fabric; cotton cord, with wooden core in the tassels; ancillary items: viscose ties, metal medals and leather banner

holder. Title/Topic Banner of the Lira Poblense Choir Group, from La Pobla de Claramunt Date/Period 1922 Dimensions 148.5 × 76.5 cm (after the intervention)

Origin Headquarters of the Lira Poblense Choir Group, La Pobla de Clara munt (Anoia county)

The first documented references to choir singing in La Pobla de Claramunt date back to the end of the 19th century, with the Parish Choir and the singing of Caramelles (popular Catalan songs) during the Easter festivities. This banner, from the first quarter of the 20th century, is a valuable testimony to how the activity of these choir groups has been maintained over the years.

It is a rectangular banner, with fastening loops attached to the pole. The back is made of garnet-coloured jacquard fabric, added during a previous intervention, with three applications of brown velvet, with perimeter trim and embroidered inscriptions that read «Agrupació Choral/LIRA POBLENSE /POBLA DE CLARAMUNT»; a lyre; embroidered plant motifs and beads; a strip of the Catalan flag on the right side, and the Spanish flag on the left side. The back is made of ivory-coloured cotton satin, with a medallion painted directly on the fabric (Claramunt Castle). Below, there is an inscription with the date of manufacture: «1922».

State of conservation

With regard to the piece’s state of conservation, the ivorycoloured satin was stained with red spots, and in the upper right half the Catalan flag had a water stain.

There were remains of rust from the braided metal wires, folds and wrinkles, and some of the attached elements had come loose. The covered buttons contained salts, some of which had penetrated the silk fibres, eroding and cutting them. The fringes had warped and the core of the threads had become exposed. On the back, a large part of the bugle embroidery had come off.

The painted medallion on the back displayed serious alterations, especially in terms of loss of the base material and loss of cohesion of the fabric. The main problem was the loss of warp and weft, over the whole base; rips from one side to the other, and darning from a previous intervention, which had tightened the fibres causing folds and deformations.

Intervention

First, all the added elements were removed: the metal medals and the rusty safety pins that held the Catalan flag in place. The piece was then placed on a worktable, with drying paper in between, and then taken apart. The satin on the back was washed in an immersion bath with deionized water.

With regard to the trimmings, the salts were cleaned with a buffer solution (with a pH of 5.7), applied with a cotton swab, and with the interposition of non-woven fabric, to absorb the dissolved crystals by capillarity. The salts disappeared and although the red stains were not removed completely, they did visibly fade.

Chemical cleaning was also carried out of the ties. Since the conductivity of the fabric was quite high (3000 µS), a buffer isotonic solution was created, applied with a brush and dried using a micro-vacuum cleaner. This obtained good results, removing the green stains, dirt rings and salts. The bugle embroidery that had come loose was stuck back in place using an epoxy adhesive, with the help of a syringe. The previous interventions on the medallion on the back were removed, and the losses of warp and weft were resewn.

— Rosa M. Martínez

Final photo of the back

Location

Town Hall of La Pobla de Clara munt (Anoia county)

CRBMC Register NO 13457

Coordination Maite Toneu Conservation-Restoration Rosa M. Martínez Year of restoration 2018

Final photo of the front

 The painted medallion on the back after the intervention

Goldsmithing

Restoration of the mausoleum of General Joan Prim i Prats

Generic classification

Sculpture and goldsmithing

Object

Mausoleum, coffin and general’s uniform

Material/Technique

Iron and damascening; bronze and silver galvanization

Author

Mausoleum: Plácido Zuloaga (iron and damascening). Bronze and silver sculpture, panels and fixtures: Émile Hébert

Date/Period 1874-1875 Dimensions 2 × 1.4 × 1.6 m

Origin Pantheon of Illustrious Men, Madrid Location General Cemetery of Reus (Baix Camp county) CRBMC Register NO 11255

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba and Pere Rovira

Joan Prim i Prats was born in Reus in 1814 and was assassinated in Madrid in 1870. He was the most important Catalan politician of the 19th century and was Head of Government and Minister of War at the time of his death.

As a head of State, the government ordered the construction of a large mausoleum in the «Pantheon of Illustrious Men» next to the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid.

The city of Reus asked for the remains of its illustrious son to be returned, and on the occasion of the centenary of his death, the remains were moved to Reus, along with the large mausoleum made by Plácido Zuloaga. The monument was installed in a square, among pine trees, in the General Cemetery of Reus.

The mausoleum It is one of artist’s masterpieces, built in the neoclassical and renaissance styles.

The mausoleum consists of three parts: from bottom to top, the four supporting legs; the sarcophagus, on which the coffin containing the remains rests, and the reclining figure of the general, on top.

The central part of the sarcophagus is decorated with embossed bronze and silver panels, with scenes from the battle of Castillejos and the General’s entry into Madrid; four panels with portraits of Roman soldiers; the shield, enamelled, and the name, rimmed and damascened. At the bottom, there are four bronze fixtures, painted and silver plated, with a clock and a skull.

The iron is adorned all over and damascened (inlay of precious metals that form patterns on iron and steel, on a finely striped surface, with a blued finish). 33 goldsmiths worked on it for two years. The piece came with a canopy supported by four columns with florets and a cross in the upper centre. It is currently thought to be missing.

State of conservation

When the mausoleum was moved to Reus (1970), it was placed outdoors in the cemetery, surrounded by the original perimeter fence. It stayed like this for many years, until a glass showcase was built around it. Although this protective structure helped mitigate the deterioration, the metal had suffered temperature and humidity changes over many years.

In general, the mausoleum was in quite a stable state of conservation, but the ornamentation of the sarcophagus had suffered. Its deterioration was mostly due to the rusted iron.

Close-up during disassembly for its documentation and transfer to the CRBMC for conservationrestoration.

Restoration Mausoleum: Carolina Jorcano (team leader), Xisca Bernat, Lourdes Domedel and Magdalena Gómez. With the collaboration of the interns Laia Contreras and Sílvia Marín

Coffin: Montserrat Xirau (coffin),

Magdalena Gómez (uniform) Carmelo Ortega (logistics) Disassembly and assembly of the mausoleum: Jordi Domènech (Serralleria S. Mestres, SCP) Years of restoration 2012-2014

General photograph of the mausoleum before the start of the intervention

Close-up of the peeling decoration due to oxidation of the underlying metal

 Mausoleum in the protective glass urn placed in the cemetery of Reus

Close-up photograph of the corrosion of the metal base covering the damascening

This superficial rust was significant, above and below the noble metal, leading to bubbles, uplifts, warps, peeling and losses of the material. There were also several alterations to the silver, which had blackened and contained several gaps. There were parts which had been repainted with purpurin.

The reclining figure had been given a surface layer of protection which, over time, had oxidized resulting in black spots of silver sulphide and green spots of copper chloride, which had migrated to the surface from the bronze sculpture.

A thick layer of grease in the holes of the screws and in the couplings of the different pieces, applied during the assembly in Reus, without doubt prevented their oxidation, and the whole piece was disassembled without any problems.

Intervention and final assembly

The conservation-restoration intervention involved a drastic mechanical cleaning of the grease, especially in the internal areas; the external decorative parts were cleaned, piece by piece, mechanically and chemically using different gels.The bent and raised parts of the gold and silver threads that were still in place, in some case stuck with rust, were attached.

Finally, a layer of inhibitor was applied to protect the metal and to preserve it from damage caused by external agents. Altogether, it was a long process, carried out by a team of 4 restorers and 2 interns, over 10 months.

For the assembly, the existing documentation was followed, since each of the pieces of the whole work was numbered and identified. Also, from the beginning, each piece had been engraved or painted with an identifier–letter or mark.

Currently, the mausoleum of General Prim is back in the cemetery of Reus, where a new exhibition space has been set up, with controlled environmental conditions to ensure its future conservation, allowing the general public to visit and admire the extraordinary masterpiece by Plácido Zuloaga.

Damascening technique

Surface preparation

Striating the metal with a knife tip



Left column: Images taken from the book El Damasquinado de Eibar, 1981. Various authors.

Right column: Example inside the mausoleum

Damascening

Inlaying thin metals, gold or silver onto iron or steel

Bluing

Coating the surface of a ferrous metal with blackening to prevent it from rusting Blackening: Very thin layer of bluish metallic sulphides and chlorides

Chipping

Action of engraving a pattern in relief using a gouge, burin, or chisel

— Xisca Bernat and CRBMC

Photograph

Close-up of chemical cleaning using gels

Visual comparison in the same piece

of the mausoleum once the intervention was completed and of the subsequent assembly at its new location in the cemetery of Reus

Gothic cross of Sant Joan de les Abadesses

The cross of Sant Joan de les Abadesses is a processional cross and also a reliquary cross, a common type of cross in high medieval Europe. In terms of its manufacture, it was made in a goldsmith’s workshop in Girona at some point in the first half of the 14th century.

The support of this cross potent is made of wood and is covered by 18 plates and 10 medallions of silver with gilding and enamels in the centre. Most of the wood is covered with a thinner silver band, decorated with parallel stripes that form rhombuses and flowers inside.

The remarkable transparent enamels stand out for their beauty and quality, and are made in low-relief, a technique that emerged in Siena and quickly spread to the great artistic hubs of Gothic Europe.

Thanks to the work carried out at the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC), two parchments and some relics, wrapped up in small bundles, were found inside.

State of conservation

The relics contained small fragments of organic and inorganic matter.Meanwhile,the parchments contained some important information.

One of them certifies that the relics are of the True Cross, possibly in 11th century writing. Based on this dating, it is believed that the parchment and relics may have come from a previous reliquary-cross owned by the monastery.

The other parchment is written on both sides and mentions two interventions on the work: a repair carried out on the cross in 1508, and a clean and examination of the relics in 1633.

Object

Processional cross

Material/Technique

Wood, silver metal plates with gild ing and medallions with enamel

Title/Topic

Processional cross of Sant Joan de les Abadesses

Author Unknown Date/Period

Girona workshop, first quarter of the 14th century

Dimensions 140 × 75 × 3 cm

Origin

Monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Sant Joan de les Abadesses (Ripollès county))

Location Episcopal Museum of Vic, Vic (Osona county)

CRBMC Register NO 11943

Intervention

A decision was taken to carry out an in-depth analysis of the piece prior to its restoration, examining the composition of the enamels, the composition and manufacture of the metals, and the morphology of the wood, to understand the causes of the alterations. As a result, a project was launched involving the Episcopal Museum of Vic (MEV), as the owner of the piece, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), to carry out all the analyses, and the CRBMC, to perform the restoration and coordination of the work.

First, the components of the cross were separated, after which a treatment of the metals was carried out involving a clean with bicarbonate to remove the deposits, dust and corrosion. Work was carried out on some of the rusted nails of the plates and on some of the copper chloride in the cracks and welds. Around 100 iron nails were replaced with silver ones, to prevent further corrosion. The remains were then removed from the layer of shellac.

Xylophagous insects had infested the pinewood base in some areas. As a precaution, the base was placed in the CRBMC’s anoxic chamber for a month, and the wood of the arms was then reinforced.

As for the relics and parchments, they were also treated by the corresponding specialized departments. The intervention criteria agreed with the conservators of the MEV involved displaying the items in order to give them the exposure they deserved, after so many centuries hidden away.

— CRBMC

Coordination

M. Àngels Jorba

Restoration

M. Àngels Jorba and Carolina Jorcano Scientific photography

Víctor Illera and Ramon Maroto Analysis techniques

Trinitat Pradell (UPC) i Ricardo Suárez (CRBMC)

Years of restoration 2015-2017

At the end of the conservationrestoration intervention

 Discovery of the package containing the relics inside the cross



One of the parchments attesting to the presence of relics inside the cross

Close-up of Christ’s face, in which we can see the intricate goldsmithing work, after restoration

The True Cross of Anglesola

Object Cross

Material/Technique Goldsmithing, glass, wood and relics

Title/Topic

True Cross of Anglesola Date/Period 12th century (interior), 17th century (outer case)

Dimensions 18.5 × 7 and 10 (upper and lower crossbars, respectively) × 1.7 cm

Location Parish church of Sant Pau de Nar bona, Anglesola (Urgell county) CRBMC Register NO 12026

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba Restoration M. Àngels Jorba and Carolina Jorcano Years of restoration 2013-2014

This is a Romanesque cross, which has been in Anglesola for centuries. According to tradition, relics of the True Cross can be found preserved inside.

The cross is deposited within another, dated from the 17th century, in the form of a box or case with a gold lid, chiselled and inlaid with coloured and transparent glass. For display purposes, it is embedded on a silver base, embellished with chisel work, which dates from 1676, and is decorated with two angels holding a red cord.

State of conservation and intervention

A comprehensive examination was initially carried out on the oldest cross, as a preliminary analysis of its state of conservation. The owners of the piece were told about this study and informed that in order to learn more about the state of internal conservation, it would be necessary to disassemble and lift the glass cross, the sides and the plates. This would help determine if the cross is made of solid wood and which sacred relics are located where.

The process was started very cautiously. The cross was in a poor state of conservation and appeared to be very fragile. The first step was to remove the long nails in order to detach the strips from the sides 1, right and left. These strips originally belonged to a large Gothic processional cross, and were reused in the form of a staple to bind and hold the cross together. They cover the sides and part of the front and back of the cross.

Under the cross there is another strip, which is older and thinner, with fine embossed decorations of crosses and stripes. It covers the exact thickness of the right and left side of the cross. There are broken folds. The strip corresponding to the lateral part 2, the upper right, when removed, confirmed that, indeed, there is a plate 2, front and back, hitherto totally unknown.

The decorated plates (plate 1, front) are cut to the exact size of the cross and are fastened with silver nails with different points. In the area of the two intersections there is an empty circle of metal that separates the plate into seven different parts, corresponding to each of the arms and through which another plate can be seen (plate 2). Currently, half of the former is missing, and the latter is completely damaged by the inlay of the glass cross.

In the second step, all parts of plate 1 were raised, and the whole of plate 2 was revealed underneath, front and back. The symbolism is the same as the one above, but the execution is better, with larger drawings and a relatively similar to the upper one.

The third step involved lifting the longest longitudinal part of plate 2. For this part of the process, the wooden cross was emptied and refilled with organic material consisting of monocotyledons, pebbles and bone. The section between crossbars was also raised. No more plate sections could be raised.

 

Front and back of the inner cross before the intervention revealing the materials from which it is made.

Close-up of the inclusion of the glass cross in the central part

Disassembly of the side strip (staple) and extraction of nails. It is from a later period. Side 1, right or left

Side strip below the previous one. Same date as the inner cross. Study. Side 2, right or left

Raising of the front plate. Plate 1, front: parts 1 to 7; back: parts 1 and 2

Relics

We consulted with the historian Francesca Español who informed us that, since the cross probably came from Jerusalem and considering the precision of the drawing of the Holy Sepulchre, it is possible that the material comprising the relics originated in one of these holy places and was converted into precious relics, so highly valued in that era.

The fourth step of the restoration process consisted of cleaning all the plates and nails. The loose plates were cleaned in ultrasonic baths, totally submerged in water and neutral soap. They were subsequently bathed in distilled water to rinse them.

Finally, everything was dried in alcohol baths. The plates that were not removed were cleaned with a mixture of water and alcohol. Using the appropriate tools, the most warped and bent metal parts were flattened so they could be placed properly back into position. To cover the central hole, a thin, transparent plastic plate, similar to methacrylate, was cut to the size of everything that needed to be covered. This also served to prevent the internal material of the relics from falling out. To cover the upper opening, a thin piece of the same plastic was cut, and for the lower area, since side nails needed to be inserted, a small piece of cedarwood was cut to size, to act as a plug. Once the set of pieces (plates 1 and 2, side parts 1 and 2) and the nails had been restored, everything was placed back into its corresponding place. Where possible nails were hammered back in, and the rest was glued with a reversible adhesive. Finally, it was placed inside the gold case and closed. The Romanesque cross was now visible through the glass of the lid.

The broken glass of the small cross containing the fragments of the True Cross was also restored; the silver case containing it and the decorations on the edges were replaced and the cross was cleaned. Since this does not belong to the Romanesque cross, it was decided that it should not form part of the whole piece and should be stored separately.

Plate hidden below the above one. Study. Plate 2, front: 1 to 5 (broken between them)

Conclusion

This project allowed us to completely disassemble the True Cross of Anglesola and carry out a thorough historical study of its composition, manufacture and materials; research which will be added to all previous studies of the cross. Finally, the cross will be put permanently on display, since it is greatly revered in its hometown, and it will be catalogued and placed together with other crosses of the same era and style.

— CRBMC

Back

Front and back after the restoration of the metal plate, still pending the placement of the nails

Cross and base after the intervention

Restoration of the reliquary bust of the priory church of Sant Pere de Reus

This piece of silversmithing by Francesc Via, dating from t he 17th century, replaced another wooden reliquary that is also preserved.

It is an extended bust dressed in a tunic, stole and halo. The head of Saint Peter is slightly raised, depicting him as an old man with a beard. The tunic is wide and fitted at the waist, has marked folds and depicts a brocade fabric. The oval reliquary is embedded in the chest, preserved in the Priory church, and houses a fragment of the skull of Saint Peter the Apostle; it features gilded mouldings and a filigree crest with nineteen red glass inserts featuring roses. His left hand is holding the symbolic keys of heaven and his right hand is holding a book by the clasp; the covers are decorated in a similar manner to the clothes; the halo is embossed with ornamentation resembling a wreath; the plinth is octagonal, and at each corner there is a cast iron leaf.

State of conservation

After arriving at the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC), the bust was carefully examined to check its state of conservation

These goldsmithing works are made of separate pieces joined together with screws, so they can be disassembled if necessary, as was the case here.

The most affected part, which required a more thorough restoration process, was the cuff of the left hand. This area was damaged in several places, and the piece supporting the hand with the keys was broken. There were also two significant fractures on the same sleeve. It should be noted that just the hand and keys together weigh 1,041 grams.

The examination revealed that the plinth was held together by rusty iron nails, which had damaged the silver and wood, and

Object

Reliquary

Material/Technique

Embossed and chiselled silver

Title/Topic Reliquary bust of Saint Peter

Author Francesc Via Date/Period 17th century

Dimensions 63 × 48.5 × 36.5 cm

Location

Priory Church of Saint Peter, Reus (Alt Camp county)

CRBMC Register NO 12036

Coordination M. Àngels Jorba Restoration Montserrat Cañís Year of restoration 2013

that one of the leaves of the plinth and several nails and screws were missing.

Intervention

The conservation-restoration process involved a thorough clean of all the disassembled pieces using the appropriate products. The bust section was cleaned by hand, since the polychrome right hand could not be disassembled.

Then, all the missing pieces were reconstructed, while in parallel a study was carried out to decide what kind of piece was needed to support the damaged part. The decision was taken to use a more resistant, threaded, piece, with the same construction technique as the original, used by the goldsmith Francesc Via in the 17th century, in order to support and consolidate the left hand, so it could be screwed to the bust.

The two fractures on the sleeve were welded and reinforced internally to support the full weight of the hand and thus prevent any movement.

The plinth was also reinforced with an internal wooden structure, to prevent the plinth base from swaying and the whole bust from moving.

The process was completed with the application of a protective layer to the work to prevent the silver from oxidizing and blackening, and all the parts were reassembled.

— CRBMC



Reliquary bust of Saint Peter after the intervention 

Close-up before the intervention



During the disassembly of the base of the bust and separation of the plinth

Saint George killing the dragon. Fountain of the Pati dels Tarongers (Orange Tree Courtyard) of the Palau de la Generalitat

Generic classification

Sculpture and goldsmithing Object

Decorative sculpture of a fountain Material/Technique Bronze/casting Title/Topic Saint George killing the dragon

Author

Frederic Galcerà Alabart (Barcelona, 1880-1964) Date/Period 1926 Dimensions 65.5 × 54 × 35 cm

This sculpture, which crowns the stone fountain in the Pati dels Tarongers of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, is a good example of the conservation problems suffered by metal sculptures that are located outside. Over the years, the work has had to be restored several times, due to the deterioration caused by the alteration of the metal.

Conservation history and previous interventions

The first restoration of the sculpture was carried out in the 1970s by Jaume Mayas (restorer) and Eduard Porta (chemist) from the Institute of Prehistory and Archaeology. The sculpture was almost 50 years old and suffering from bronze disease. The tip of the spear was missing and Saint George’s leg was practically broken.

The causes of the alteration of the metal and the deterioration of the sculpture were attributed to water and moisture, and the restorers recommended that the fountain spout from the mouth of the dragon be closed and that periodic checks be carried out. The intervention consisted of removing calcareous concretions, stabilizing the corrosion and applying a protective layer, consisting of a polyester resin bath.

Mayas and Porta warned of the temporary durability of the restoration if the sculpture was returned to the same location and under the same conditions. Water and air would cause the protective layer to wear away and would result in new calcareous concretions being deposited on the surface.

In August 2013, a new intervention was performed in situ by the CRBMC (Elena Iglesias). The metal appeared to be covered in a stable layer of copper carbonates, showed signs of oxidation, and suffered from calcareous concretions and

Location Fountain of the Pati dels Tarongers, Palau de la Generalitat de Catalun ya, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12278.1

CRBMC Coordination M. Àngels Jorba and Pere Rovira Restoration Carolina Jorcano

active corrosion produced by chlorides. The cause of the corrosion of the metal was attributed to three factors: the algaecides used to treat the water sprayed by the fountain; the constant moisture on the sculpture when the fountain was in operation, and, finally, the effects of the pollution of Barcelona that causes chemical and electrochemical reactions on the surface of the metal.

An intervention was carried involving the elimination of the corrosive products and stabilization of the piece, the application of a protective film of acrylic resin, the adhesion of areas with structural fractures and the material and chromatic reintegration of missing parts. Finally, an alternative treatment for the water not involving chlorine (the most important factor in terms of salt intake) was proposed and a pre-established maintenance protocol was followed.

Intervention 2017

By 2017, the sculpture was once again covered in a layer of active corrosion and calcareous concretions; it was disassembled and taken to the CRBMC, where it was subjected to a dechlorination and stabilization treatment through immersion.

The corrosion of the metal was irreversible, widespread and advancing more and more, since the sculpture was located outside in a fountain in discontinuous operation. It was therefore recommended that the original sculpture be removed and replaced with a copy, in order to guarantee its future conservation, and stored in a space where it would be protected against the harmful effects of environmental agents.

— Carolina Jorcano



Alterations of the metal surface covered with a layer of active corrosion (blue-green) and calcareous concretions (white)



Assembly of the sculpture of Saint George slaying the dragon from the fountain of the Pati dels Tarongers, at the end of the conservationrestoration intervention.

Disassembly M. Àngels Jorba and Pere Rovira (CRBMC coordinators); Carolina Jorcano (restorer of the sculpture), and Nieves Marí and the intern Jaime Salguero (external collabo rators)

Assembly Carolina Jorcano (restorer of the sculpture), Carmelo Ortega and Mònica Salas (CRBMC collabora tion), and Nina Baldrich and Laura Magrinyà (external collaboration) Packaging logistics Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC) Years of restoration 2017-2018

Back of the bronze sculpture of Saint George slaying the dragon from the fountain of the Pati dels Tarongers of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, at the end of the conservationrestoration work.

Frontal view of the bronze sculpture of Saint George slaying the dragon at the CRBMC (2017), before the conservationrestoration intervention

Set

of goldsmithing

pieces from of the Palau de la Generalitat

Located on the first floor of the Palau de la Generalitat, the chapel of Sant Jordi is a richly decorated room, which houses two monumental candle holders in bronze.

State of conservation

Both pieces were in a moderate state of conservation, with lots of white residue from cleaning products visible on the surface, especially between the decorative reliefs, which had allowed surface dirt and moisture accumulate and speeded up the corrosion of the metal. Drops of wax from the prayer candles could also be seen, especially at the top. The adjoining room is the sacristy, where the goldsmithing pieces are stored perfectly protected. Nine of these objects were selected for intervention at the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC).

Monumental candle holders. Cleaning in situ

Object

Various objects: 4 candelabra, 2 monumental candle holders, reli gious interior decorative elements, pax, incense boat and 2 low candle holders

Material/Technique Bronze, silver, gilded silver and paper. Wooden cores and iron structures. In some cases, fixtures and decorative elements in colour Title/Topic Liturgical goldsmithing items

Author Anonymous Date/Period

2 monumental candle holders: 1670; 2 low candelabra: 1623; other objects, undated Dimensions Various Location

Sacristy of the chapel of Sant Jordi. Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

The base material of the silver pieces was stable, but the surface had become tarnished due to environmental factors, darkening the colour and reducing the original shine of the metal. This reaction occurs because silver, in contact with atmospheric hydrogen sulphide, creates silver sulphide on the surface, which is black. In fact, the darker the surface, the more heat it absorbs and the faster sulphidation occurs. As before, there were remnants of cleaning products and remnants of wax on the candle holders along with dust.

Intervention

Once the relevant organoleptic examination and preliminary analyses had been carried out, the pieces were restored. First, the monumental candle holders were treated in situ, due to their size and weight. The dust was cleaned mechanically, using vacuum cleaners and paintbrushes, and the incrustations were removed with the help of a scalpel.

The wax was removed using a device that blows hot air and solvent. The remnants of cleaning products observed in the reliefs were removed through a cleaning process using aqueous gels and gentle mechanical treatments. Finally, acetone was applied to dry the surface.

Then, the silver pieces were restored. These were disassembled whenever possible. The first step consisted of a physico-mechanical cleaning and then, depending on the characteristics of the piece, it was wet cleaned if necessary.

In the case of the candelabra and the incense boat, an electrochemical bath was applied to them, which managed to remove the black sulphide. Once clean, the parts were placed in an ultrasonic cleaner to remove the remnants of cleaning products and the most inaccessible dirt. Immediately afterwards, the pieces were dried in the stove and finally given a protective layer of shellac for metals, to protect them from the environment.

Then, the pax was cleaned with just cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the black layer, and a resin was applied to protect the piece.

Finally, a mechanical and then a wet cleaning and was carried out on the religious decoration made from paper, which gave the piece a sharper and neater appearance.

Year of restoration 2016

  Incense boat Before and after the conservationrestoration intervention.

 Low candle holders. Before and after the conservationrestoration intervention

Restoration Sara Bordonado, Magda Gómez, M. Àngels Jorba and M. Nieves Marí

Set

of

goldsmithing pieces from the Diocesan Museum of Urgell

The Diocesan Museum of Urgell has one of the largest collections of religious art in Catalonia, and since 2015 it has been working to modernize its museography and provide the cathedral with a new discourse.

In view of this aim of updating the collection, a very diverse set of goldsmithing pieces was sent to the CRBMC.

State of conservation

In general, the pieces had suffered typical alterations: darkened and tarnished appearance, caused by the sulphidation of the silver; surfaces without their characteristic polish, with abrasions and scratches, and in some cases even a missing metallic layer. The use of these objects over time means that they often arrive here incomplete and out of shape having suffered breaks, cracks, blows, deformations and old repairs.

As is usual with objects of this type, most had a layer of soot, wax and dirt, in most cases the result of their environment and smoke, and those used in liturgy were also covered in candle wax. In addition, in the most inaccessible areas there were often remnants of cleaning products, which together with moisture had accelerated the corrosion process.

Intervention

Once the relevant preliminary examination and analyses had been carried out, work began om restoring the pieces. Whenever possible, they were dismantled to be able to get to the more inaccessible areas. A physical and mechanical cleaning of the surface was then performed, and if this was insufficient, a bath was applied to them.

This chemical bath was necessary for those pieces that had a layer of indissoluble, encrusted dirt. Those pieces which didn’t have any enamels or polychrome, which could have become damaged as a result of the bath, were submerged in it. In the case of the pieces covered in black oxide, a typical feature of silver, were given an electrochemical bath.

In both cases, and in order to remove the cleaning products and the most encrusted dirt in the interior areas which were hard to access, the pieces were rinsed in the ultrasonic cleaner with distilled water.

Once clean and rinsed, excess moisture was removed by inserting the pieces into the hot air stove. The pieces with deformations were adjusted mechanically, which improved not only their appearance but also their stability. The broken parts were consolidated and reintegrated using metal-suitable epoxy resins.

Material/Technique

Silver and gilded silver. Wooden cores and copper structures. In some cases: glass, fabric, velvet, natural sponge, semiprecious stones and enamels

Title/Topic Various liturgical goldsmithing items Date/Period Between the 15th and 19th centuries Dimensions Various sizes Location

Diocesan Museum of Urgell, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county) CRBMC Register NO 13022 to 13052 and 13072

Coordination

M. Àngels Jorba

Restoration Montserrat Cañís (processional cross of The Pity), Carolina Jorcano and M. Nieves Marí (other objects)

Analysis

Ruth Sadurní and Ricardo Suárez Ph Analysis and advice on cleaning Clara Bailach Anoxia

Pep Paret Logistics Carmelo Ortega Replacement of parts Montserrat Cañís and Laguarda Joiers

The pieces that could not be submerged were subjected to a controlled cleaning process using aqueous gels and gentle mechanical treatments.

The cleaning systems applied helped to remove silver chlorides and sulphides, and give the pieces back their silvery and shiny appearance, while respecting the original patina, which helps to highlight the chiaroscuro of the work done with chisel and burin.

To prevent future oxidation, a protective layer of shellac for metals was applied. The polychrome areas were protected with a low molecular weight resin, and the gaps were chromatically reintegrated with acrylic paints or silver and gold coloured mica.

The final step, once the protective layer had been applied, was to reassemble the pieces. The rusty iron nails, not original, were replaced with silver nails, and chains and rings, easily distinguishable, were replaced in order to complete the set without creating a false historical artefact.

— M. Nieves Marí

Chrismarium from the 17th century. Cleaning using an aqueous gel. This type of cleaning was used given the impossibility of dismantling the wooden support from the metal

Processional Cross of the Pity

(MDU 489) - CRBMC 13022

Ciborium donated by Ramon Grau (MDU 124) - CRBMC 13023

Body-part Reliquary of Arcavell (MDU 123) - CRBMC 13024

Amphoras for the holy oils of the cathedral (MDU 78/79/80) - CRBMC 13026

Episcopal cruet and tray (MDU 128/129) - CRBMC 13027

Lunette holder from Galceran de Vilanova (MDU 127) - CRBMC 13028

Three sacraments of the cathedral (MDU 130) - CRBMC 13029

Cathedral Censer (MDU 532) - CRBMC 13030

Amphora of Bishop Simeó de Guinda (MDU 125) - CRBMC 13031

Reliquary of the Holy Thorn (MDU 115) - CRBMC 13032

Reliquiary ciborium of Sanaüja, possibly from the 16th century. Before and after the conservationrestoration intervention

Reliquary of St Francis (MDU 243) - CRBMC 13033

Reliquary ciborium of Sanaüja (MDU 422) - CRBMC 13034

Pax of the Pity (MDU 507) - CRBMC 13035

Cathedral incense boat (MDU 541) - CRBMC 13036

Chrismarium (MDU 593) - CRBMC 13037

Chrismarium (MDU 611) - CRBMC 13038

True Cross (MDU 119) - CRBMC 13039

Cruets and tray (MDU 250) - CRBMC 13040

Sculpture of St Ot (MDU 77) - CRBMC 13041

Aspergillum of Saint Balaguer (MDU 699) - CRBMC 13042

Aspergillum of Saint Balaguer (MDU 700) - CRBMC 13043

Episcopal candlestick with finial snuffer (MDU 291) - CRBMC 13044

Risen Christ (MDU 126) - CRBMC 13045

Chalice from the 18th century (MDU 116) - CRBMC 13046

Chalice from the 9th century (MDU 117) - CRBMC 13047

Chalice from the 8th century (MDU 118) - CRBMC 13048

Chalice from the 18th century (MDU 121) - CRBMC 13049

Four candelabra from the cathedral (MDU 262-265) - CRBMC 13051

Ciborium (MDU 431) - CRBMC 13051

Monstrance of Bishop Benlloch (MDU 318) - CRBMC 13052

Chalice from the 19th century CRBMC 13072 (MDU no number)

Chalice from the 19th century. Oxidation of the silver on gold

Stained glass 9

The Dames de Cerdanyola, (Ladies of Cerdanyola), a veritable garden of glass

Object

Panel with Modernist stained glass

Material/Technique

Leaded stained glass: grey, enamel and acid-etched flashed glass

Title/Topic

Triptych of the Dames de Cerdan yola (Ladies of Cerdanyola)

Author

Ludwig Dietrich Von Bearn (Alsa tian stained glass artist). Attributed by Joan Vila-Grau and Francesc Rodon. Other possibilities have not been ruled out. It is also not

known whether Martí de Riquer or the architect himself, Eduard Maria Balcells Buïgas, took part in preparing the templates

Date/Period

Circa 1910 Dimensions 235 × 195 cm, 235 × 190 cm and 240 × 180 cm

Location

Cerdanyola Art Museum (MAC), Cerdanyola del Vallès (Vallès Occi dental county)

The stained glass windows of Cerdanyola are among the most iconic Catalan Modernist stained glass windows. Everyone knows what they look like, just like the skylight of the Palau de la Música or the galleries of the Casa Lleó Morera. Apart from the unquestionable beauty and captivating elegance of the scenes, this is also because they have appeared on the covers of several books and have been displayed in various exhibitions.

The stained glass windows were installed in the museum during the building’s renovation that the owner, Evarist López, commissioned to the architect Eduard Maria Balcells Buïgas. In 1984, they were moved to the Miró Foundation for an exhibition, and from then on, they were stored in a warehouse until 2009, when they were acquired by Cerdanyola City Council and returned to their original location.

They are attributed to the Alsatian stained glass artist Ludwig Dietrich von Bearn, although other possibilities cannot be ruled out. It is not known whether Martí de Riquer or the architect Balcells himself took part in the preparation of the templates, which contain many similarities with the pictorial work of the former and, in general, with Central European Modernist stained glass windows of the era.

State of conservation

The stained glass windows had been returned to their original position without being restored, so they were suffering from some serious pathologies and other damage that could quickly lead to major deterioration. Temporary repairs that had been carried out with silicone, some of the panels were heavily warped and parts of the glass and lead was broken.

The stained glass windows were solid to the touch but were fragmented in the lead camework, which suggested that the metal was weak and altered or that it was supporting some of the weight of the panels, which should have been held in place by the railings.The green and blue enamels were damaged all over. Also, the surface of one of the yellow pieces, similar to yellow glass, was cracked.

The stained glass windows appeared to be clean, but they were covered evenly with a thin layer of dirt, especially on the outside.

There are no documented prior restorations, although there was evidence that repairs had been carried out, already visible in the 1983 photographs, and there were some pieces that were identified as undated replacements.

Fracture in one of the lead parts of The Ladies of the Lake

Coordination

Years of restoration

Study and evaluation of the state of conservation: 2012; disassembly: 8-10-2013; conservation-resto ration intervention: 2013-2014, and final assembly: 17-12-2014

Marta Llach, Txema Romero and Maite Toneu

Restoration J. M. Bonet Vitralls, SL / Tallers Nualart

The ladies of the swing Final

Intervention

The intervention was carried out in stages, between 2012 and 2015. The aim was to stop the spread of the detected alterations: dirt, warps, cracks..., and, at the same time, to improve the conservation conditions of the stained glass windows.

To carry out these tasks, the stained glass windows were disassembled and transported to the workshop, packed in boxes lined with expanded polystyrene. The dismantling of all the panels was done in the workshop, by first removing the perimeter putty using fine chisels. The disassembled stained glass was laid out flat on a work surface to flatten the warps.

A first dry clean was carried out, using brushes, followed by a second using cotton swabs soaked in a 50% water and alcohol solution. The remains of putty from the perimeter were removed with a scalpel.

The fractured parts were consolidated with epoxy resin, and only one piece was re-introduced that was discreetly, but visibly, marked with the year and name of the workshop.

The stained glass comes in a complex lead camework, with different thicknesses. The fractured lead parts were re-welded locally and replaced, if necessary, with new profiles of the same section and size. In the case of the Dama del llac (Lady of the Lake) stained glass windows, the lead was especially damaged. Many cracks were re-welded in order to preserve the original lead, and putty was added to the panels with a spatula. The restored stained glass was installed in the original frames, and the attachment system was replaced: putty and wooden pegs with L-shaped iron plates.

Assembly

Attaching the frame to the window meant that the screws had to penetrate very close to the lead of the stained glass windows. The disassembly was used to weld new lugs to the outside of the frame, to enable a simpler and safer installation of the frames on the window jambs. Sealing the panels with putty was no longer necessary which, in addition, would have made maintenance tasks very difficult. For this reason, it was replaced with a batten screwed to the frame, which allows the panels to be disassembled with a screwdriver and without creating dust.

Conclusion

The restored stained glass windows regained all their natural splendour, while ensuring further deterioration was prevented and improving the system of assembly and disassembly, making any future conservation intervention much easier.

Overall view of the restored stained glass windows

Warped panels of The Ladies of the Lake stained glass window

Old temporary repair made with silicone

Alteration of the green enamel in the tiara of the central figure of The ladies of the tulips

Conservation-restoration of the 13th century stained glass windows of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus

Material/Technique

Crown glass and lead profile in H; wrought iron structure, railings with lugs and pins

Title/Topic

Leaded stained glass on the east side of the church’s transept. Lead ed window made of white/green glass. A complex geometric border typical of the Cistercian order

Author Unknown Date/Period Early 13th century

The stained glass windows of Santes Creus are unique for several reasons: they are the oldest preserved in Catalonia, installed in the windows for which they were designed; they are not fragmented remains but a complete set of stained glass windows. They date back to the period in which the monastery was built, of which there are very few examples left, and they were also manufactured according to the rules of the Cistercian order, using clear glass and complex borders without any figuration.

State of conservation

They were originally made of crown glass, cut with red-hot iron, with different thicknesses (up to 6 mm in parts). The coloured glasses were coloured en masse, and only one of the pieces, on one of the sides, is a red flashed glass. There were clearly some reintegrations with newer glass, displaying more intense colours, which were much more scratched than the older glasses, and which did not follow the lead pattern of the other panels.

The lead was very hard and, despite having numerous fractures, warps and movements, it was preserved almost completely. There is no reason to believe that this is not the original from the early 13th century.

In total we counted 29 painted pieces. Two types of grisaille were found: a darker one, which coincides with a more basic, more irregular and less elaborate stroke, and a redder one, which we believe is more recent, in which the lines are thinner and more delicate.

Some of the glass was suffering from early stages of corrosion. The whitish ones were slightly iridescent on the outside, and only some parts were blackened or had holes in, typical of a more advanced stage of corrosion.

On the outside, the surface was clean; there was only a thin layer

Dimensions 3.836 × 0.943 m approx.

Location

South transept V of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus, Aiguamúrcia (Alt Camp county) CRBMC Register NO 12641

Coordination

Joan Ibarz (Monastery of Santes Creus) and Pere Rovira (CRBMC) Restoration J. M. Bonet Vitralls, SL Year of restoration 2015

of dust which was loose and evenly spread. There were cement marks around the perimeter, with some panels partially covered by this material. On the inside, there were thick, unevenly distributed crusts, spider webs and dust.

In the very thick glass pieces which are mechanically very strong there were a lot of fractures in the lead. The fact that there were so many cracks greatly weakened the stability of the panels, to the point that the risk of them coming off was high.

Intervention

After the construction of the scaffolding, each panel was photographed on both sides, and plans of the damage were drawn up. A rigid base lined with expanded polystyrene was placed on both sides of the panels during their extraction. The stained glass windows were transported to the workshop packed in closed boxes.

The stained glass was cleaned on the outside using a 50% water and alcohol solution. The encrustations on the inside were softened in places, using a gelled solution of ammonium carbonate, and removed with a scalpel. Small holes were filled in with coloured epoxy resin. The largest reintegrations were carried out using cylinder blown glass, etched in acid, and dated with a diamond tip.

Assembly

The panels were individually framed in brass frames. The protective glazing and stained glass were assembled in such a way that the original wrought iron was preserved and used as a structural element. This resulted in a fixed structure, without the need for welding or modification. The new assembly should allow easier handling of the stained glass windows and improve their conservation conditions.

— J. M. Bonet

 Panel a8, showing most of the deposits and the painted pieces reused by the original author (on the right side)

 One of the top panels placed on the support used to properly position the fractured pieces before consolidating them

 Close-up of the top of the stained glass window reinstalled in the original position

Contemporary art 10

L’espiral de la llum (The spiral of light), by Josep Guinovart

Object Painting

Material/Technique

Acrylic paint, straw, wire, eggshells and aerosol spray on plywood

Title/Topic

L’espiral de la llum (The spiral of light)

Author Josep Guinovart (Barcelona, 1927-2007)

Date/Period 2007

Dimensions 244 × 122 cm

From the house-workshop located in Castelldefels and dated between 1952 and 2007, a set of fourteen works by J. Guinovart were sent to the CRBMC to undergo a conservation-restoration intervention.

State of conservation

Almost all of these large, diverse pieces (collages, paintings, matter painting, etc.), have undergone tasks to reattach the polychrome and some material elements (grains of millet, sand, clay, vegetable fibres, newspaper, wicker, etc.), small cleaning actions, some anoxia and reintegration operations, and preventive conservation actions (protection of the backs).

One of the works which has been restored is L’espiral de la llum (The spiral of light), dated 2007 (the year of his death), which stands out for its peculiar composition and the challenge involved in the intervention.

On wooden plywood, it is painted with acrylics and, like a collage, has strands of straw stuck everywhere, while a large spiral wire cuts across the composition diagonally with fragments of eggshells glued and painted white to highlight its lustre. The work is finished off with the arrangement of wood nailed in the lower right and upper left corners, inside the black area.

The piece’s major problem when it arrived at the CRBMC was the detachment and the poor adhesion to the pictorial layer of

Close-up of the detached eggshells before the restoration

Origin House-workshop of Josep Guino vart in Castelldefels (Baix Llobregat county)

CRBMC Register NO 11077

Coordination Maite Toneu Restoration Irene Panadés Year of restoration 2013

some of the materials that Guinovart uses for the collage. Many strands of straw were loose or had already come off, while the spiral (attached to the panel with staples) had separated from the base at certain points and in those movements it had caught on the polychrome, tearing it from the surface. In addition, the upper end of the spiral was deformed (caused by a knock or incorrect handling of the piece).

But the critical part of the intervention lay in the condition of the eggshells. Many had come loose and broken. They hung loose in fragments above the piece, and from the documentation that we received about the work, we could see that some had been lost.

Intervention

Therefore, the intervention consisted of fixing the wire to the pictorial surface and rearranging the deformed end in the original position, following old photographic documentation of the work. As for the loose strands of straw (likely to fall off), they were fixed with a neutral pH polyvinyl acetate mixed with Tylose® in order to increase their viscosity and reversibility. The eggshell fragments were glued with a cyanoacrylate-based adhesive to the wire as shown in old photographs.

After fixing the unstable elements of the work, a mechanical cleaning (front and back) of the accumulations of dust, cobwebs and dead insects (spiders) was carried out on the piece. This mechanical cleaning was done using a micro-vacuum cleaner or flat brush, depending on the area and the risk of material detachment.

Finally, after contacting the painter’s daughter, it was decided that the lost material (eggshells) should be restored as shown in previous photographs of the work. They were replaced with new eggshells (broken in the same way and placed in the same position on the spiral), painted with vinyl water-based paint imitating the brushstroke and tone of the originals. To avoid creating a false historical artefact, the piece was mapped to document the replacements of each restored eggshell.

In short, we consider this intervention to have been an interesting work because it raised the eternal dilemma about the restoration of materials in contemporary art. After consulting with the painter’s daughter, the focus of the intervention was to consider the work as a manifestation of the artist’s intentions in which, if necessary, the message must be updated so that the work continues to communicate what the artist wanted to tell us. However, the documentation of the intervention and the mapping of replaced parts will make it possible to return, if necessary, the work to the same condition it was in when it arrived.

Map showing the positions of the restored eggshells.

In blue, the originals placed back on the spiral, and in red, those that were replaced.

General view of the work after the restoration

Dismantling of the ceramic mural by Joan Miró and Joan Gardy Artigas at the old IBM building, headquarters of the Department of Education

Object

Ceramic mural

Material/Technique

Refractory stoneware tiles

Title/Topic

Mural for the company IBM

Author Joan Miró i Ferrà (Barcelona, 1893 - Palma de Mallorca, 1983) / Joan Gardy Artigas (Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, 1938)

Date/Period 1976

In 1976, Joan Miró and the ceramist Joan Gardy Artigas (son of the ceramist Josep Llorens Artigas, a friend of Miró and his collaborator since 1944) created a ceramic mural, commissioned by the company IBM, which was to be located in the building on Via Augusta in Barcelona, that later became the headquarters of the Department of Education.

This splendid mural, which was located in the lobby of the building, consists of 406 refractory stoneware tiles measuring a total of 2.80 × 8.72 m. The tiles are grouped in thirty regular panels, which made it easy to mount in situ on a metal grid attached to the wall along three lines of rails. Each tile is adhered with epoxy resin on a 19 mm thick plywood board, reinforced on an iron frame, forming eighteen panels of fifteen tiles, 9 of 12 tiles, 2 of 10 and 1 of 8. The tiles in each set have not been grouted with mortar and are not joined together.

All the ceramic work and the design of the structure and composition of the panels was carried out in Joan Gardy’s workshop, as he himself confirmed. Of his painting, the only thing that stands out is the use of yellowcake, a rare pigment, impossible to find now but which was historically used in glass and ceramics. He also told us the story of the drawing covering the whole of the mural, with its striking black line at the bottom. This horizontal line was the product of Miró’s exasperation when he found out about the budget for the mural, contrary to what had been initially agreed, saying that the with that budget he could only do “up to here!”. There are also those who say that, in its original location, that part was hidden and did not need to be painted, and that Miró drew the line to mark the boundary. There is no accounting for taste.

State of conservation

In general, the tiles were stable and contained only surface dirt and widespread sediment on the surface and in the nooks and crannies, typical of this type of ceramic. At certain points they had eroded a little and there were small alterations at some corners, possibly caused during the original assembly. All the ceramic elements were in good condition, although there was a broken tile, but no loss of support. The panels were stable and the tiles held firmly in place, although the adhesive epoxy resin had a yellowish tone due to ageing.

Intervention

The dismantling process took a week. The quality of the assembly ensured that the separations of the panels could not be seen, something which only became clear during the dismantling. Being able to consult with Joan Gardy Artigas throughout the process was crucial in determining the methodology required. First, the mural was traced, each of the tiles was numbered and the mural was preventively wrapped in gauze, after which the disassembly was started. The panels of were removed from the gird, starting with those along the

Dimensions Tile: 19.8 × 29.8 × 2.1 cm each unit (406 tiles); mural: 2.80 × 8.72

m

Origin Lobby of the Government of Cat alonia’s Department of Education building, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location National Art Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

top row, continuing with those along the middle row, until finally removing the lower row. Each panel, already numbered by Joan Gardy, was packed as soon as it was removed.

The work, owned by the Government of Catalonia, was transferred to the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), where it is now on display in the Dome Room. A full-scale photographic reproduction of the mural, printed on aluminium panels, has been installed in the lobby of the Department of Education, as a reminder of the original location and maintain the radiance of the building’s entrance.

— Esther Gual and Pere Rovira

General view of the mural in the lobby of the building, before the start of the restoration work

During the restoration work: the moment the mural was traced

Close-up

of the tiles and joints between them

Application of the protective gauze

Restoration Esther Gual, M. Àngels Jorba and Pere Rovira

Year of restoration 2013

A ripple is a concentric wave that is created on the surface of water when an object falls into it. This is the title of the work in question.

The Jeroni de Moragas Foundation, located in Valldoreix (next to the CRBMC), cares for people with intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses. In 2016, they started the Pas per tu project, which uses artistic creation to raise awareness and give visibility to those in care and also to raise funds for the Foundation. This exciting project finally took shape on 6 June 2016, when Santi Moix came to Valldoreix and created a mural titled «The Ripple», in situ and in collaboration with the people in care.

The work is composed of eight 100 × 70 cm Canson® cards, fastened with pins on industrial cardboard, attached vertically to the wall. On the surface, glued together as if it were a collage, are several coloured circles that the artist asked the people in care to paint before he arrived.

When Santi Moix designed the work while in New York, he requested eight Canson® sheets, imagining several individual works that could be sold separately in order to raise money for the Foundation. But when the time came, having arrived in Valldoreix, the dynamics of the creative process led to the creation of a single work that could in no way be divided up.The issue then arose about how this considerably large work could be taken down from the attic where it had been painted (it wouldn’t fit down the tiny staircase) and how it could be properly supported.

The Foundation contacted the CRBMC and a team of conservator-restorers from the Documents and Contemporary Art departments was sent.

Generic classification

Document, works on paper and photography

Object Graphic works

Material/Technique

Color pencil, acrylic paint, oil pastels, white glue and Canson® 125 g paper

Title/Topic The Ripple Author Santi Moix

Date/Period

6 July 2016 Dimensions 200 × 280 cm

Location Jeroni de Moragas Private Foundation, Valldoreix (Vallès Occidental county)

CRBMC Register NO 12964 Coordination Esther Gual

Intervention

The purpose of the intervention was to join the fragments together to regain the unity of the work and also to create a rigid support as a display/protective system for the piece.

Because the original support consisted of eight Canson® cards that had been nailed to the wall and only joined together by the cut-outs that made up the collage, the work had suffered numerous deformations, due to the stresses created by these added elements.

We believed that the ripples and the relief of the work had to be respected and we that we should not create a display system that would eliminate them. Therefore a lattice of Japanese paper was constructed that adapted to the relief of the work and acted as a mechanism for transferring the work onto a rigid support.

Then a lattice was built with Japanese paper, woven like taffeta and was stuck to the rigid to the rigid support only around the edges, so that the work was loose and maintained its original ripples.

Finally, so the work could be handled more easily, an aluminium frame was added behind the honeycomb cardboard. The aluminium added very little weight to the piece, but gave it rigidity, made handling easier (you didn’t have to touch the back to move it), protected the edges and also served as a support for possible future framing. The aluminium structure was machined and attached to the cardboard from behind.

— Esther Gual

Moment prior to moving the work from the attic of the Jeroni de Moragas Private Foundation to the CRBMC

The Ripple, by Santi Moix

Aluminium machining Carmelo Ortega Years of restoration 2016-2017

Photo of the finished front of the work after mounting on the new conservation support

Diagram showing the construction of the support.

A: work by Santi Moix, consisting of 8 cards that are only joined together by

the elements of the collage.

B: Japanese paper lattice.

C: honeycomb conservation cardboard

Photo of the finished back of the work after mounting on the new conservation support

Restoration Carme Balliu, Anna Ferran and Esther Gual

Furniture 11

Iron door of the church of Can Miró de Navata

The entrance to the Romanesque church of Can Miró de Navata is made of poplar wood —anatomy analysed by Raquel Piqué Horta, professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Department of Prehistory— and decorated with wrought iron. It consists of two leaves and is supported on the wall by four iron hinges. The iron ornamentation is fastened to the wood, at different points, by means of wrought iron nails —some spherical and others cubed, the latter with an incised cross. This decoration is divided into six horizontal sections, separated by a straight line. In each of the sections, spirals are displayed in a repetitive pattern, except in the central section, where the handle and the bolt are located, which closes the door like a snake’s head. In the upper section the spirals are smaller and are topped with cone-shaped nails.

State of conservation

The Romanesque door had already been the subject of a conservation-restoration intervention in 2000.

Object Iron door

Material/Technique Wood and iron Title/Topic Entrance door of the old church of Sant Pere in Can Miró de Navata

Author Unknown Date/Period Romanesque, 12th century Dimensions 250 × 67 cm (each of the door

leaves) and 10 to 12 cm thick

Location Church of Sant Pere in Can Miró, Navata (Alt Empordà county)

CRBMC REGISTER NO 12097.1 Restoration Caterina Aguer Year of restoration 2018

Intervention

The conservation-restoration intervention consisted, initially, in a general cleaning of the dirt and accumulated dust over the whole surface, working very carefully to reach the most hidden and least accessible corners.

Subsequently, on the outside, the linseed oil layer, which had blackened over time and was heavily encrusted, was removed. Suitable blasting techniques were used to perform the cleaning. The conservator-restorer was suitably protected when carrying out the task. On the inside of the door, the linseed oil layer was mechanically removed using solvents. Finally, conservator-restorer gave the iron decoration –interior and exterior– a once over mechanically with the help of different steel cutters.

In final part of the intervention with a view to the final presentation, the two materials used in the door were protected: wood and iron. To protect the wood, a lasur-type product was used, an impermeable coating that penetrates deeply into the wood without forming a layer, so it leaves an open pore finish that regulates the moisture of the wood and facilitates the exit of water vapour from its interior. To protect the iron, a penetrating antioxidant oil was used that prevents oxidation and the reappearance of corrosion.

— Caterina Aguer

The intervention that took place in 2018 respected, at all times, the previous action that had been carried out. The intervention was only carried out after the presence of a black layer on the surface of the door was detected –only on the part that is in contact with the outside, but not on the inside. This layer prevented the original wood and iron from being seen correctly. This darkening could be the consequence of the application of linseed oil, which would have caused a chemical oxidation reaction in direct and prolonged contact with the sun’s rays and rainwater.  Door during the sandblasting process  Back of the door after the intervention

Door after the restoration

The recovery of a litter for carrying people

Sedan chairs, still used today in certain parts of the Far East, where they originated, were, along with stretchers and litters, one of the oldest means of transportation. Reserved especially for the most important or distinguished people in society and carried by servants, they were widely used in Europe from the 16th century until well into the 19th century.

The structural base of this specimen is a light construction of linden wood, covered on the outside with oil-painted cloth. Inside, it is upholstered in silk. Due to its function, this piece must have been highly exposed to inclement weather and, at the same time, subjected to the impact of movements and vibrations typical of a means of transport. For this reason, throughout its history it has undergone various «repairs» and restorations, mainly focused on fixing the tears and holes that in the painted fabric of the exterior lining. These basically involved reinforcing the damaged areas with pieces of cloth stuck with thick layers of glue, on the back of the original, which were hidden by the silk upholstery of the interior. On the outside, it had been retouched, or repainted, mimicking the original colour.

Object

Sedan chair or litter

Material/Technique

Linden wood (structure); oil-painted linen cloth (exterior lining); upholstery, with different fabrics, such as silk, and glass in the win dows (interior lining)

Date/Period Last quarter of the 18th century Dimensions 157.5 × 80 × 75 cm

Origin Private individual, Mr Claret Sargatal, Sils (la Selva county)

Location National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (MN ACTEC), Terrassa (Vallès Occiden tal county)

CRBMC Register NO 12259

Restoration Marta Vilà

Year of restoration 2014

These interventions, carried out according to techniques of the time had ended up compromising the stability of the lining fabric, and causing deformations and even the detachment of some parts of the pictorial layer. This was aggravated because the wooden structure of the piece was not built to absorb the movements of the fabric covering it, but quite the opposite: being a fixed and rigid structure, it could not move in line with the fabric in its contraction and expansion movements and, therefore, could not correct the undulations and tensions caused by the additions of built-in reinforcement fabrics over time.

Intervention

The intervention carried out in the CRBMC focused, as a trial, on the door of the litter, with the idea of replacing the old pieces used for reinforcement with a system based on less invasive methods. After removing the silk upholstery from the inside, the pieces added in prior interventions to the back of the painted fabric were removed. This was done using a gel applied to a rigid plate, which allowed the application of moisture to be controlled and all the adhesive residues to be carefully removed. Subsequently, with the back of the original fabric clean and free of stress caused by foreign materials, linen cloth grafts were applied to the holes and tears, reinforced with a polyester fabric impregnated with a contact adhesive. Finally, after repositioning the silk fabric on the inside, the chromatic reintegration of the lost painted areas on the outside was carried out, using pigments and retouching varnish.

This intervention, together with the museum’s proper climate control measures, should ensure its proper conservation.

— Marta Vilà

Close-up of the deformations of the fabric and of the losses of pictorial layer, on the door of the chair, before the intervention

General view after the intervention

The choir stalls of Santa Maria de Ripoll

The choir stalls of Santa Maria de Ripoll is a large item of furniture commissioned and built in the context of the renovation and restoration of the monastery that Elies Rogent started in the second half of the 19th century. This item, located in the presbytery and attached to the wall of the apse, was shortlived, as it was dismantled shortly after 1936, and some of its constituent parts were stored until 2016, when they were transferred to the workshops of the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) in order to restore them.

State of conservation

Previously, in the spring of 2014, an on-site technical study had been conducted to assess the state of conservation and the number of pieces preserved. It was determined that, of the total that must originally existed, only eight whole chairs were preserved, with some defects and no correspondence between them. The walnut wood support was in an irregular state and, in many cases, showed signs of alteration caused during the storage period. These signs were the result of continued exposure to water leaks, which had caused the proliferation of fungi and microorganisms, which in turn had resulted in an attack by xylophagous insects. This combination had weakened the support and also caused irreversible loss, which made it structurally deficient.

Intervention

The restoration intervention aimed to recover the preserved fragments in order to restore them within their original space, in accordance with the wish of those responsible for the work.

Object Stalls

Material/Technique

Pine wood (internal structure) and walnut, carved and lathed

Author

Catalan workshop

Date/Period

Final third of the 19th century Dimensions 650 × 1200 × 120 cm

Location

Monastery of Santa Maria, Ripoll (Ripollès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12556

Coordination

Pep Paret Restoration

Sonia Berrocal, Voravit Roonthiva and Xavier Serra Assembly

Pau Claramonte, Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC), Voravit Roonthiva and Xavier Serra Years of restoration 2016-2017

Therefore, once in the workshop, all the parts were disinsected and then the support was cleaned and the deteriorated parts were cleared up. The support was then treated by stabilizing the structure of the pieces and making wooden grafts and reinforcements Many missing parts, both structural and decorative, had to be remade with cedar wood in order to obtain parts that were stable enough for assembly.

The anchors between the different parts had to be replaced with new stainless steel parts.

The newly made elements and grafts were stained with alcohol dye in the same tone as the original wood, and the whole set was treated with a stained and burnished beeswax to obtain the finish that the choir stalls must have initially had.

Finally, the whole piece was returned to the monastery, where it was mounted in situ in its place, following the original fitting system: on top of a tailor-made cedar wood platform, the high backs were anchored and secured to the wall of the apse. Four chairs were placed symmetrically on either side of the altar, and in the middle, joining the two parts, the missing area was filled in with new pieces imitating the shapes and final finish of the original chairs, but without reproducing the decoration and carving in detail.

— Voravit Roonthiva

During the assembly tests at the CRBMC

Part of the choir stalls stored during the 2014 technical study

The choir stalls installed in the presbytery after the conservationrestoration work

Intervention on the sliding door of the Hall of the Marquises of the Moja Palace

Object Door

Material/Technique Wood and glass / carving, gilding with fine gold: polished and matt Title/Topic

Frame of the Hall of the Marquises, Marian iconography

Author Unknown Date/Period 17th century Dimensions 5 × 5.40 m

The Moja Palace, the former palace of the Marquis of Comillas, was built by the architect Josep Mas between 1774 and 1789. In 1982 it became the headquarters of the Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage of the Government of Catalonia. For its historical and artistic value, it has been declared a cultural asset of national interest.

Architecturally, it contains elements of the late Baroque period and is heavily influenced by French neoclassicism. Inside it houses important paintings by Francesc Pla and Pere Pau Muntanya, significant items of furniture and numerous decorative arts objects that make up the history of the building.

Description

The carved and gilded wooden frame of the north wing alcove is one of the most remarkable artistic elements that stylistically recalls French classicism and its simple lines.

Diving the space into two rooms, a chamber and an alcove, it maintains the same building structure on both sides, although its decoration varies in richness and composition. Vertically, it is divided into three spaces crowned by three semicircular arches, with the central one higher than the side ones. A cornice creates two heights: the lower one houses the three glazed doors —the central sliding one and the fixed side ones, while the upper one houses the corresponding arches, decorated with plant and religious motifs —central medallions with the Marian symbol and the monogram of Jesus Christ.

State of conservation

In terms of the state of conservation, of particular significance was the poor adhesion between the support and the preparation layers and gilding. The expansion and contraction of the wood, as a result of fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity caused by the air pumps placed just below,

Location Moja Palace, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 13065

Coordination Pep Paret Restoration Núria Lladó (team leader) and Marta Estadella Year of restoration 2016

had created numerous uplifts, air bubbles, ridges and, ultimately, a loss of gilding. In particular, poor handling of the piece had caused through wear, erosion, knocks, etc.

Given this constant manipulation, restoration work has been continuous over the last few decades. Not dated chronologically, most have focused mainly on preserving the gold polychrome of the wooden support which is very inconsistent. For example, the original gilding in the chamber in a warmer tone, and the more modern gilding above on the alcove side, in a colder tone, were clearly visible. The upper arches and decorations featured another type of gilding, of poorer quality, coated with a film of dark, matte resin. Other subsequent interventions consisted of fixing the detached polychrome and retouching the colour losses with varying degrees of success.

Intervention

Finally, in 2011 it was decided that an urgent and timely intervention should be carried out to reattach the polychrome layer and the preparation layer in the face of their imminent loss. In this action, a part of the gilded surface was papered over and two broken windows of the lower doors were replaced. Later, in 2016, a more comprehensive intervention aimed at preserving the polychrome was started.

This included several processes, such as the overall reattachment of the gilding which had come loose from the support with synthetic and neutral adhesives, the conservative cleaning of these with W/O emulsions, the chromatic reintegration of gaps with water colours and, in the upper part, the reattachment, gluing and recovery of the carvings on the crown.

— Núria Lladó

After the recovery of the relief that crowned the door

 Close-up of the Marian symbol, the main decoration of the central door’s semicircular arch



Before the recovery of the relief that crowned the door

General image of the carved and gilded wooden frame before the intervention

Josep Puig i Cadafalch’s furniture and tools

Generic classification

Furniture and ethnographic material

Object

Furniture (balustrade, tables, shelving, lamps, tripods, etc.), tools (compasses, paintbrushes, colouring pencils, set squares, tape measures, camera, calculator, etc.), samples of construction and decoration materials, plaster casts, personal belongings (medals, watches, etc.), metal printing ma trices for books and the terracotta model of the capital of the Dam Montells family’s tomb monument

Material/Technique

Wood, metal, stone, plaster, terracotta, etc.

Date/Period 19th and 20th centuries

Origin Home of Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Carrer de Provença no. 231, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location Storeroom at the National Archive of Catalonia, Sant Cugat del Vallès (Vallès Occidental county) CRBMC Register NO 13256

In 2017, as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Puig i Cadafalch, the Museum of the History of Catalonia (MHC) hosted an exhibition which put on display some of the architect’s projects and personal objects, which came from his private residence on Carrer de Provença in Barcelona.

These objects had been preserved since his death in 1956, almost unchanged, until the sale of the property, at which time the Government of Catalonia bought the collection of documents, as well as some of his furniture and personal belongings to become part of the National Archive of Catalonia (ANC).

The set of objects consisted of a large tabletop on drawers for storing architectural projects; the table from his office, with chairs; various lamps; wooden shelves and some mesh to store rolled up plans, as well as a large balustrade.

Also included was a set of small work utensils, with brushes, watercolours, rulers, measuring tapes, compasses, scale rulers, calculator and camera, smaller in size and made of wide range of materials (leather, metal, iron, paper, wood and glass). There were also samples of building materials and other personal items and ornamental elements including traceries and plaster reliefs, some by the sculptor Eusebi Arnau i Mascort, such as a terracotta capital from the tomb of the Dam Montells family.

State of conservation

The furniture and larger objects had been altered significantly, caused by excess humidity and direct contact with water. There was a severe and widespread attack of fungi on all surfaces, as well as severe expansions and cracks in the wood, water drops and rising damp.

There were also signs of attack by xylophagous insects, a lot of dirt and an accumulation of dust. In some of these objects,

the varnished surfaces were badly damaged. The balustrade, for example, was very detached and fragmented.

The small, personal items were in better condition. Some materials displayed signs of natural ageing, dust and alterations due to the use of tools.

Intervention

An anoxic treatment was given to all the objects. These were then vacuumed to remove the fungal spores; this was done using a device with HEPA filters and a systematic anti-fungal treatment was applied.

A general clean was carried out to remove the dirt and the original varnishes were restored. A layer of traditional varnish was applied to certain objects. The tables and chairs were also given a superficial layer of wax finish.

In order to be able to display the balustrade, the wooden fragments were consolidated and reattached and the whole set was reinforced, with two crossbeams, on the back.

The remaining objects underwent a minimal intervention. Only the most deteriorated parts were restored: basically the dust was removed and aqueous solutions were applied to clean them. As for the paper objects, these were flattened, their tears were fixed, their corners were strengthened and their display systems were improved.

— Jesús Zornoza

Large table before the intervention. Drawers where architectural plans were kept

Restoration

Anna Ferran and Jesús Zornoza Carpentry Carmelo Ortega Year of restoration 2017

Terracotta capital before the conservationrestoration process

Assembled table after the intervention process

Terracotta capital after the conservationrestoration process

Conservation and restoration of the collections of decorative arts and author-centred art of the Design Museum of Barcelona

Generic classification

Furniture, Painting on wood, Documents, works on paper and Photography Object Various Material/Technique Various Title/Topic Various Date/Period 13th-20th centuries Location Design Museum of Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

The Design Museum of Barcelona was inaugurated in December 2014. The new museum emerged from the creation of a single space for the collections of four museums in Barcelona: the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Museum of Ceramics, the Museum of Textiles and Clothing and the Graphic Arts Cabinet. It is a collection of more than 70,000 objects from different eras.

Of these, a significant number of the decorative arts collections have been restored at the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC).

It contains more than 200 pieces comprising of:

- Caskets and chests. 13th-16th centuries.

- Chests with drawers and polychrome wooden Catalan bridal chests. 15th-16th centuries.

- Desks. 16th-19th centuries.

- Watches. 16th-19th centuries.

- Miniature portraits. 17th-19th centuries.

- Hand fans. 18th-19th centuries.

- Olot-style headboards. 18th centuries.

- Endpapers from books. 18th-20th centuries.

- Wallpaper. 19th-20th centuries.

- Sideboards. Chalkboard Italy (scagliola board) and Mallorca (bufet). 1700-1750.

- Carriage bed. Barcelona (?), 1804-1830.

Intervention

The CRBMC was directed and coordinated the conservationrestoration work necessary for the correct preservation of these groups of objects.

Example of the different examination techniques used to carry out the study of the pieces: UV

CRBMC Register NO Various Coordination Pep Paret Restoration

Koro Abalia, Art-Restauro, Claustre Augé, Carme Balliu, Xisca Bernat, Marta Bosch, Montserrat Cañís, Ana Casal, M. Asunción Casalod, Lourdes Domedel, Joan Escudé, Esther Gual, Carolina Jorcano, Núria Lladó, Èlia López, Silvia Marín, Oriol Mora, Irene Panadés, Restauracions i Reformes Cerdan yola, Laia Roca, Voravit Roonthiva,

The different interventions began with an exhaustive scientifictechnical study of the works in order to better understand their history and nature, and their material composition. Based on one of the fundamental principles of interventions on cultural artefacts, that of interdisciplinarity, this study was carried out in collaboration with other disciplines: art history, scientific photography, radiology and chemistry, as well as by the conservators-restorers themselves.

Through these examination techniques and analyses, we have expanded our knowledge of the pieces and their formal and constructive history, and we have added it to the stylistic and research studies in the archives provided to us by historians.

In addition to the CRBMC, the study has also involved the collaboration of the Estudi del Moble (The Association for the Study of Furniture) and the Design Museum of Barcelona, which stores these cultural artefacts.

The study involved different examination and analysis techniques: the works were exposed to various lighting systems (diffused light and low light), as well as photographic techniques based on different radiations (UV fluorescence, digital infrared and IR reflectography) and radiography, and were complemented with the taking of certain samples for analysis under optical microscopy, infrared spectrophotometry, and gas chromatography, as needed.

This multidisciplinary work has enabled us to resolve issues regarding the identification of the successive interventions on a pictorial surface; the analysis of technical aspects such

Example of some of the different examination techniques used to carry out the study of the pieces: diffused light

Example of the different examination techniques used to carry out the study of the pieces: IR

Natàlia Sánchez, Idoia Tantull, Td’ART, Beatriz Urbano, Marta Vilà, Montserrat Xirau and Jesús Zornoza Years of restoration 2013-2014 and 2017

as the brushstroke, the preparatory drawing or the changes of composition; the study of wooden supports to discover the original or modified structure, to determine the nature of the constituent materials and classify the products added in previous interventions; and also the state of conservation of all these layers that make up the works.

The results also contributed to a better planning of the conservation-restoration work, more suited to the large number of objects involved, consisting of wide range of materials and techniques, with treatment characteristics that had to be adapted to each of them: wood —with or without polychrome—, metal, paper and ivory, among others.

The necessary curative conservation and restoration actions were carried out by a team of interdisciplinary experts based on the constituent elements, the state of conservation and the causes of alteration that the study had determined.

The CRBMC followed a scientific criterion, implying a certain control and thoroughness in both in the preliminary planning and in the adoption of the methodological criteria applied to the intervention. The approach always ensured the utmost respect for the integrity of the object, and the principle of minimum intervention underpinned all the action taken. In short, the aim was to respect the original work as much as possible: restoring means preserving what is left, without forgetting the other implicit principles of reversibilityretractability, readability, stability and compatibility of materials.

Close-up of the decoration on the headboard of the Olot bed before restoration

— Pep Paret

CRBMC workshop where a good number of works from the Design Museum were restored.

Headboard of the Olot bed after restoration

Carriage bed after the intervention

Technical, scientific and industrial heritage

Conservation and restoration of a mill in Alfolí or Casa de la Sal in Gerri de la Sal

Generic classification

Technical, scientific and industrial

heritage

Object Salt mill

Material/Technique

Metal elements, concrete, wood, stone, fabric, pipes....

Date/Period 1925

Dimensions Undetermined

Location Alfolí or Casa de la Sal, Gerri de la Sal (Baix Pallars county)

CRBMC Register NO 11890

Coordination Pep Paret Restoration Àgora. Restauració d’Obres d’Art i Conjunts Artístics, SL Year of restoration 2012

L'Alfolí or Casa de la Sal is a three-storey building, the result of an extension made during the 18th century, due to the need to increase the capacity of the building at a time when the saline activity of Gerri de la Sal was increasing. Around 1925, a mill was bought to meet the demands of customers, who wanted fine salt, given that the village mill is not enough.

State of conservation

The most important pathology of the pieces to be treated was derived from the action of salt on the different materials. In the case of wooden objects, the salt had dried them out and they showed obvious signs of biotic activity. As for the metallic elements, the salts had caused exfoliation and overall weakening. Fabrics were weakened, with holes and stains. The stones had added mortars that partially covered the stone support and the joints were disintegrated. Finally, the concrete had cracks and fissures with loss of material. In general, the whole ensemble accumulated plenty of surface dirt.

Intervention Wood: surface cleaning with soft brushes, by spraying a low-pressure dry aggregate and with an anti-xylophagous treatment. The final presentation was achieved through the application of an oil-based protector, with nutritious and regenerative components.

Iron: gentle mechanical cleaning combined with chemical cleaning to remove dust residue. Application of an inhibitor. Consolidation of exfoliated areas and volumetric reintegration into cracks and fissures as a preventive measure to prevent the accumulation of dirt inside. The elements that had lost part of the metal core have been reinforced to improve their stability. Finally, a layer of metal protector has been applied to them, based on acrylic resins with antioxidant additives.

Fabric: cleaning the inner fabric of the lifting chain, dry or wet, depending on whether or not it was in contact with the metal. Consolidation of the weakened areas, by placing patches made with non-woven fabrics or with the material reintegration of the losses with patches with characteristics similar to those of the original fabric.

Stone and concrete: combination of manual surface cleaning with the projection of a low pressure dry aggregate. Mechanical cleaning of the unadhered and powdery bonding mortars was also carried out, and the mortars covering the original stone support were removed. For the new grout, traditional lime and sand mortar has been used. Occasionally, consolidations have been carried out with epoxy resins.

— CRBMC

Metal elements of the salt mill before and after the intervention

Metal elements of the salt mill after the intervention

Wooden elements of the salt mill after the intervention

Restoration of a set of nautical objects by the Barcelona Port Authority

Generic classification

Technical, scientific and industrial heritage

Object

Set of 30 nautical objects (10 bin nacles, 1 horn, 1 air compressor, 6 lanterns, 4 propellers, 1 periscope, 4 gyro repeaters, 2 command telegraphs and 1 helm)

Material/Technique

Bronze, copper, cast iron, wood, brass, lead solder, methacrylate and glass

Date/Period

19th century–first half of the 20th century

Dimensions Various Origin Germany, Spain and Great Britain Location Different exhibition or storage spaces owned by the Barcelona Port Authority (APB)

CRBMC Register NO 13086.1 and 13086.2

This is a set of nautical objects that were part of ship navigation devices during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, which are representative of the history and identity of the Port of Barcelona (APB), as well as its activity over the last two centuries.

As is characteristic of this type of industrial heritage objects, we must keep in mind that they were functional objects, that is, they had a use and thus additional wear. This set of pieces combines a wide range of materials and manufacturing techniques, which gives them a very heterogeneous character. Precisely, this material wealth can sometimes lead to more complex interventions and treatments.

State of conservation

The main problems presented by this set of objects were: metal corrosion and oxidation of protective layers; cracks and fissures; deteriorated wood varnishes and breaks; a large amount of dust and dirt, and a variety of built-up stains of various origins, all the result of inadequate storage in adverse weather conditions and in a saline environment, based on the wear of the objects themselves while they were in use and the long period of time they have remained unused.

Intervention

As for the intervention process, many of the objects were dismantled in order to reach all the corners properly and achieve more in-depth results, as is the case of the binnacles, lanterns and gyro repeaters, which required meticulous disassembly to better access their interior and properly vacuum and clean the most inaccessible corners.

The metal cleaning process, in some cases, consisted of cleaning mechanically dry, by combining abrasive systems of different hardness, to remove the most adhered corrosion in the form of deposits; other cases required the oxidised varnishes that coated the metals to be removed with high polarity solvents. Very significant results were obtained using both treatments.

The wooden supports of some binnacles, the air compressor, horn and periscope required a consolidation treatment, given that cracks, breaks and holes caused by biological damage (xylophagous insects) had led to material loss and weakening, which affected their supporting function. Adhesives based on polyvinyl acetate were used in the breaks and weakened sections, with the help of clamps, and the material losses were reinstated with two-component epoxy resin or with stained wood grafts, depending on each case.

The glass and methacrylate from the visors of some of the objects were cleaned on the inside at the time of disassembly. Some screws that had a lot of corrosion, had broken or lost

 

Binnacle (NIAPB 226) before and after the intervention

 Binnacle (NIAPB 347) after the intervention  Telegraph (NIAPB 230) after the intervention

their function were replaced, and those that were missing were added, in order to restore stability to all parts of the set. Occasionally, some broken welds also had to be reinforced, with new cold welding.

As a final metal protector, in some cases, Paraloid® B-44 acrylic resin was used on acetone and aromatic hydrocarbons and, on others, Owatrol oil®, depending on the need, location and conditions of exposure of each material. In the case of wood, it was protected with colorless and satiny lasure* from Xylazel Sol®, as the uncontrolled environmental conditions of the exhibition or storage spaces so required.

*A lasure is an impregnating action surface coating that leaves an open pore finish and does not create any layer, so it allows the wood to breathe, regulate humidity and enables moisture to escape.

— Pau Claramonte

M. Àngels Jorba Restoration Pau Claramonte and Xavier Serra Year of restoration 2016

 Lantern (NIAPB 355) after the intervention

 Air compressor (NIAPB 350) after the intervention

Recovery of a railway furnace car from 1958

Generic classification

Technical, scientific and industrial heritage

Object

Railway furnace car JVT 306260

Material/Technique Steel, wood and canvas tarp Title/Topic Car from freight train

Author

Construcciones Auxiliares de Ferrocarriles (CAF) Date/Period 1958

Dimensions 9.95 × 2.85 × 3.08 m

Origin

Renfe, Spain

Location

Railway Museum in Móra la Nova. MNACTEC territorial system (Rib era d’Ebre county)

CRBMC Register NO 14025

Restoration Associació per a la Preservació del Patrimoni Ferroviari Industrial (Association for the Preservation

This railway car was one of the more than 400 standardised, closed freight cars from the 1940s, to which a furnace and water tank were added, along with coal or fuel to steamheat the train when the steam engines of passenger trains were removed in the early 1980s to be replaced with electric heating.

Once its service life was over, it was stored in Vilanova i la Geltrú, where it stayed almost 40 years until the Associació per a la Preservació del Patrimoni Ferroviari Industrial (Association for the Preservation of the Industrial Railway Heritage, APPFI) chose it to functionally restore it.

State of conservation

The vehicle was heavily deteriorated. It had rust, it was missing material on the lower parts of the body, the wood was heavily weather damaged and it was missing elements due to theft.

Intervention

To restore it, all the wood had to be removed and totally replaced with new wood to achieve an outstanding finish. The metal structure of the body also had to be refurbished, and new material was added to the most damaged areas.

Once the structure was restored, it was given an overall cleaning by sandblasting, an initial primer was applied and it was painted

with its original colours: the frame black and the body grey, with signs in white.

The roof, which was virtually missing when it arrived, was also built of wood and covered with a waterproof tarp to prevent water from reaching it, and the smokestacks of the furnace, which had vanished, were rebuilt.

It was impossible to restore the furnace to operation because it was in such poor condition due to the passage of time and the lack of maintenance during the last years it was in operation. However, it was given an interior aesthetic recovery and the missing parts were re-installed, such as a coal bin and fire tools, in order to be able to teach about its former purpose.

All the rolling, shock and traction elements have been tested according to the current railway safety regulations so that the car can once again circulate along the main railway network with the tourist train “lo Caspolino”.

With this action, an important element in the modernisation of railways from the 1960s was recovered, which will also circulate once again as it originally did.

— Carlos Alpuente

Restored and rehabilitated interior

Car after the treatment State of the railway car during disassembly

Preventive conservation

Conservation intervention as a result of the temporary exhibition of the painting 11 September 1714, by Antoni Estruch

Generic classification Painting on canvas Object Painting

Material/Technique Oil on canvas

Title/Topic 11 September 1714 (Rafael Casanova, wounded and hoisting the flag of Santa Eulàlia)

Author

Antoni Estruch i Bros (Sabadell, 1873 - Buenos Aires, 1957)

On the occasion of the tricentenary of the events of 1714, the painting 11 September 1714, by Antoni Estruch i Bros, was exhibited at the Museum of the History of Catalonia (MHC). This is one of the most emblematic paintings showing the events of 11 September. It depicts the moment the Head Councillor of Barcelona, Rafael Casanova, was shot down, while hoisting the flag of Santa Eulàlia.

The large-scale painting, which is usually on display in the lobby of the Espai Cultura of the Fundació Antiga Caixa de Sabadell 1859, was protected by a large 400 kg glass panel, which had to be removed to access the painting. The complexity of the whole process required the coordination of an interdisciplinary team.

State of conservation and intervention

After removing the glass and checking that the pictorial layer was in good condition, the painting was taken down and the dust accumulated on the back was removed.

Since the size of the painting was larger than doors through which it had to pass, it had to be rolled up in a cylinder that had a diameter of 50 cm and a length of 400 cm in addition, supports were placed at the ends of the cylinder to keep it insulated from the ground. To carry this out, it was necessary to disassemble the canvas from the stretched and the frame,

Date/Period 1909

Dimensions 289 × 429 cm (with frame)

Origin Espai Cultura, Fundació Antiga Caixa Sabadell 1859, Sabadell (Vallès Occidental county)

Location Espai Cultura, Fundació Antiga Caixa Sabadell 1859, Sabadell (Vallès Occidental county)

CRBMC Register NO 321

after affixing the pictorial layer in certain places and cleaning the surface of the back and front.

It was rolled up with the pictorial layer facing out and protected with a synthetic non-woven fabric. The stretcher and frame were also disassembled, once the location of each part was marked, and then packed up.

Once in the museum, before reattaching the canvas to the stretcher and frame, those areas where the canvas base had tears were fixed and the edges that had been weakened by old restorations were reinforced. For its display, the work was placed and fastened to an easel-type aluminium structure.

At the end of the temporary exhibition, the painting was rehung in its usual place. To prevent glare and facilitate periodic inspections, the glass was not reinstalled, and a methacrylate was placed at the bottom as a safety barrier.

Conclusion

The temporary exhibition of the painting at the MHC, in addition to highlighting and disseminating the work, allowed improved preventive conservation measures and stability of the work in terms of its display system.

— Maite Toneu

Mounting the canvas on the stretcher prior to its final installation

Maite Toneu (CRBMC) and Mariona Company (Museum of the History of Catalonia, MHC)

Conservation-restoration

Clara Bailach, Ruth Bagan, Carla Enrique, Esther Gual and Maite Toneu. With the collaboration of Pep Paret and interns

Carpentry

Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC)

Logistics

Transfer of the glass Masiá, SA; scaffolding and exhibition system: Nordest Museum and Exhibit Services, SL and Transports

Llanos, SA

Years of intervention

Disassembly, transfer and assembly for exhibition at the MHC: 2014; return: disassembly, transfer and assembly at the Espai Cultura, Sabadell: 2015

Historical and artistic information the painting was part of the exhibition «300 Onzes de setembre», from 14 March to 28 September 2014



Beginning of the process of uninstalling the painting in the Espai Cultura, Fundació Antiga Caixa Sabadell 1859, during the removal of the glass protecting the painting

 The operation to display the painting in the lobby of the Espai Cultura, Fundació Antiga Caixa Sabadell 1859

Preventive conservation of the Girona Cathedral’s Tapestry of Creation

Generic classification

Textile material

Object

Liturgical panel Material/Technique Wool and linen. Serge; concentric and embroidered rhombuses, and stem stitching. Natural dyes of plant origin

Description

The Girona Cathedral Tapestry or Embroidery of Creation

Author

Unknown Date/Period Between 1081 and 1094 Dimensions 355 × 449 cm (rigid support: 380 × 470 cm)

Origin Girona Cathedral, Girona (Gironès county)

Location Girona Cathedral Treasure, Girona (Gironès)

CRBMC Register NO 9121

Coordination Maite Toneu Preventive conservation

Mireia Mestre and Benoît de Tapol (National Art Museum of Catalonia, MNAC), Juan Antonio Herráez (Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain, IPCE) and Ruth Bagan (CRBMC, currently MNAC)

The Tapestry of Creation is a large embroidery (358 × 450 cm), made on six strips of fine reddish chevron wool. It is a Catalan Romanesque work, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. Since 1975, the work has been exhibited as part of the Girona Cathedral Treasure museum collection, inside a space with a protective glass enclosure.

Conservation project

In 2011, a conservation-restoration process began, which was accompanied by a preventive conservation action, with the aim of improving the exhibition conditions and establishing monitoring guidelines for after the restoration. A multidisciplinary committee was created to manage all the aspects of the intervention, as well as the preparation of the exhibition space.

Based on the assessment of the state of conservation and the diagnosis, with results of physicochemical and microbiological analyses, and once the causes of deterioration and degradation had been identified, a plan was established for the intervention of the work and for a preventive conservation project, which would take place in parallel with the intervention.

This project was conditioned by the fact that the work had to be kept on display in the same space, in the Cathedral Treasure museum, and based on the premise of avoiding any active system of environmental control. Once the environmental conditions of the space and the use and management of the work had been evaluated, the intervention focused on improving the exhibition system and stabilizing the temperature and relative humidity, through a passive system. To achieve this, the insulation of the space was reinforced and buffer

materials were incorporated into the walls and floor; the ceiling was plastered to prevent the detachment of particles and the partial glass enclosure, in the visitor area, was replaced by a complete floor-to-ceiling glass enclosure, creating a showcase room with better security conditions. As for the lighting, LED technology was installed which eliminated all UV and IR radiation. In order to reduce the damage caused by light, dimmable lights that were installed which allowed the brightness to be kept below 60 lux, and the exposure time was reduced with the installation of motion sensors.

The improvement of the exhibition conditions also included a new rigid and light exhibition system (Chassitech®), which allowed the embroidery to be displayed on an inclined plane, on a padded contact surface. The presentation system provides for the evacuation of the tapestry in the event of an emergency. The preventive conservation action was completed with the drawing up of a definitive conservation protocol, which takes into account the aspects related to the handling and dismantling of the work, and includes guidelines for the maintenance of the space and for monitoring the state of conservation of the work.

Conclusion

The results of the periodic controls and the analysis of the data obtained indicate that the current exhibition space manages to reduce short-term environmental fluctuations and avoids high relative humidity values at various times of the year, when compared to the data from pre-intervention studies. The quantity of biological agents in the air has also been reduced.

— Ruth Bagan and Maite Toneu

In situ. Preliminary study and analysis

Unpacking of the tapestry upon its return to the Girona Cathedral Treasure

Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP)

Monitoring and control

Ruth Bagan and Maria José Gracia Scientific photography

Carles Aymerich and Ramón Maroto, CRBMC

Physico-chemical analysis

Pilar Borrego, Marian del Egido: laboratories of the Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain (IPCE) and Ricardo Suárez (CRBMC laboratory)

X-rays

Esther Gual

Colorimetric analysis with spectrophotometer

Maria Sala

Microbiological analysis

Josep Girbal, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Nieves Valentín (IPCE)

Preparation of the exhibition space

Joan Ramon Aromí

Lighting

INTERVENTO 2, SL

Years of intervention

2011-2012 (and monitoring of periodic preventive conservation controls)

 Handling during the assembly in situ

 Back of the support on which the tapestry is displayed

 Once mounted with the display lighting

Four Flemish tapestries from the Renaissance in the old Casa de la Diputació del General Mercury walking with Herse, Aglauros stopping Mercury, The Bridal Chamber of Herse and The Triumph of death over Chastity are the four Renaissance tapestries, weaved in Brussels and housed in the Sala Prat de la Riba room at the Institute for Catalan Studies. The theme of the series The Loves of Mercury and Herse is inspired by the fables of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book II), while the series The Triumphs is inspired by the poetic work Trionfi, by the Italian humanist Petrarch.

Preliminary examination of the state of conservation Unfortunately, the organoleptic examination of these works revealed that they were in an extremely poor condition: the colours had been altered; almost nothing of the silk wefts remained, and there were large gaps and cut-off sections, among other damages. In addition, the tapestries had undergone numerous restorations throughout their history, some of which are irreversible. Therefore, as Joaquim Garriga indicated, removing the four tapestries from the Sala Prat de la Riba room was essential in order to stop the alterations that were gradually damaging their structure.

The tapestries had been hung using twine that was not original in any of the cases and which was sewn to the top of the back

Generic classification

Textile material

Object

4 tapestries

Material/Technique

Wool and silk

Description 4 tapestries:

CRBMC reg. no. 11721: Tapestry from the series “The Loves of Mercury and Herse” (The Bridal Chamber of Herse)

CRBMC reg. no. 11722: Tapestry from the series “The Loves of Mercury and Herse” (Aglauros stopping Mercury) CRBMC reg. no. 11723: Tapestry from the series “The Loves of

Mercury and Herse” (Mercury walking with Herse)

CRBMC reg. no. 11724: Tapestry from the series "Petrarch's tri umphs" (The Triumph of death over Chastity)

Author Willem de Pannemaker (1512-1582): the love series; Willem Dermoyen: (active between 1520 and 1530 in Brussels): the triumph series Date/Period Renaissance Dimensions

CRBMC reg. no. 11721: The Bridal Chamber of Herse, 402 × 518 cm CRBMC reg. no. 11722: Aglauros stopping Mercury, 412 x 591 cm

side of each tapestry and hung on a hook. A pulley system was used to take them down, a commonly used method for this type of task.

First, after documenting the works photographically, the dimensions of the tapestries and their most significant alterations were mapped out. Subsequently, samples of threads, painted fabrics and other elements added during the different restoration processes were taken to identify their nature.

Intervention

Restoration began on the front faces of the tapestries, first by vacuum cleaning the surface dirt. Some samples of the vacuumed dirt were collected for examination using a binocular microscope. This revealed that along with the dirt a lot of fibres from the tapestries had been vacuumed, which demonstrated the fragility of all the threads.

As for the consolidation of the fragmented parts, only those that were at risk of being lost were stitched together (herringbone), temporarily and easily reversible.

The restoration continued on the back side with the removal of the elements used for hanging. It was noticed that the lining was not the original on any of the tapestries and that this had

Aglauros stopping Mercury, after carrying out the minimum necessary interventions for its storage

Conservation of the set of tapestries belonging to the Government of Catalonia at the headquarters of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC)

CRBMC reg. no. 11723: Mercury walking with Herse, 410 × 470 cm

CRBMC reg. no. 11724: The triumph of Death over Chastity, 415 x 617 cm

Location Palau de la Generalitat de Catalun ya, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Origin Sala Prat de la Riba room, in the Institut d’Estudis Catalan (IEC), Barcelona (Barcelonès) The tap estries are documented as being unambiguously and unquestionably part of the moveable property of the old Casa de la Diputació del General, or Palau de la Generalitat, according to Dr Joaquim Garriga

CRBMC Register NO 11721, 11722, 11723 and 11724, respectively Register NO 139 FA (CRBMC 11721), 140 FA (CRBMC 11722), 141 FA (CRBMC 11723) and 142 FA (CRBMC 11724)

Coordination

Maite Toneu

Conservation-restauration

Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP); disassem bly: Carmelo Ortega, Pep Paret and Maite Toneu (CRBMC team), Amanda Cerdà, Maria Sala, and the IEC team; review and assessment of the state of conservation and

minimal curative measures before storage: Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP) Years of intervention 2016-2017

also caused alterations. Finally, each of the tapestries was rolled into a cylinder for storage, with the hope that one day they will be restored.

We would like to end this article with a few words from Joaquim Garriga, to whom we are grateful for fighting so hard to preserve these works. Meeting him was a privilege we will never forget.

“All the effort employed to guarantee the survival and conservation of these tapestries –so they can be passed on to future generations–are wholly justified because they are works of huge artistic significance and historical importance even though they are not well known and almost never put on public display” (Joaquim Garriga, Rescat no. 36, p. 38, 2020).

— Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata

The Triumph of Death over Chastity, after carrying out the minimum necessary interventions for its storage

conservation

Generic classification

Painting on canvas, sculpture, documents, works on paper and photography Object

Collection of artistic works: paint ings, sculptures, contemporary art, graphic work, photography and miscellaneous objects

Material/Technique

Painting on different base ma terials, textiles, ceramics, glass, stoneware, terracotta, wood, metal, etc.

Author Various Date/Period

Various (mainly from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries)

Dimensions Various Origin

Acceptance in lieu, donation and acquisition

Location Museums, collections and administrative buildings of the Government of Catalonia

The artistic collection of the Government of Catalonia is made up of works from various periods and types, located in different spaces throughout Catalonia. It includes paintings, sculptures and graphic works, among other things. Some of these works are loaned out and/or kept by public bodies and museums. Some are also exhibited in iconic and representative spaces of administrative buildings, but a great number of works are currently stored in different storage areas.

The preventive conservation actions that are carried out are aimed at preserving the works, slowing down their deterioration and minimizing the risks as much as possible, in order to ensure their conservation for future generations. This requires coordination and teamwork.

Documentation

The conservation of these artistic works begins with properly documenting them and, therefore, cataloguing and creating an inventory of them. This is carried out by the technicians of the Museums and Protection of Artefacts Service of the DirectorateGeneral of Cultural Heritage, with whom the conservatorsrestorers of the CRBMC work in a coordinated manner.

Each work is identified with a general inventory number, registered in the Government of Catalonia's heritage artefact database, called GPG. The main details of the work and its location are recorded in this database. Keeping this database up to date is an essential step mitigating, among other things, the risk of dissociation.

Donation of Josep Bartolí’s work. Unpacking process at the CRBMC for its documentation, assessment of its condition, preparation and labelling before being put on display

Preventive conservation actions

The ongoing preventive conservation tasks carried out by the CRBMC to ensure the correct conservation of these collections include: the drafting of protocols for conservation, manipulation, etc.; environmental monitoring and control of spaces; maintenance and improvements in the conditioning of the storage areas; the assessment of the state of conservation; the preparation of conservation status reports; procedures linked to the loaning out of works for temporary exhibitions (assessments of the suitability of loans, loan and conservation condition reports, mails, packaging, transfers...); curative conservation interventions (disinfection, disinfestation, fixation and consolidation, surface cleaning, protection of the back of paintings, improvement of exhibition systems...); occasional advice on conservation, review of lighting, ventilation, air conditioning, firefighting systems, surveillance, furniture...; emergency interventions due to various causes.

Among the spaces in which action has been taken in recent years are the art warehouse of the Ministry of the Presidency and the art collection of the Ministry of Culture. Both spaces were revamped, with an overhaul of the furniture. The Joan Maragall House Museum and Archive is another emblematic space in which preventive and curative actions are carried out on a regular basis.

The works that have been loaned out over the years include the following: Pastoral, by Joaquim Sunyer, and the panels of the transferred wall painting The temporal is no more than a symbol, by Joaquim Torres i Garcia, from the Palau de la Generalitat and loaned to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York for the exhibition "Joaquín Torres-García: the Arcadian Modern".

The CRMBC has offered technical prescriptions for the transfer of works, such as the bronze sculpture Tempête pourchassée par le beau temps, from 1957, by Apel·les Fenosa, which is on display at the Cerdanyola Art Museum. In this case, curative conservation actions had to be carried out to stabilize it, and periodic controls were established to evaluate its behaviour in its new environment, since the piece had been transferred from a storage area to an outdoor location.

Preventive conservation is, in essence, a continuous work that requires constant and therefore limitless review. The conditions of the art collection have improved in recent years thanks to the actions, effort and monitoring of professionals, and will continue to do so in the future with the measures that will continue to be applied gradually.

— M. José Gracia and Maite Toneu

Preventive and curative

of the artistic collection of the Government of Catalonia

Coordination

M. José Gracia, Eulàlia Jardí and Maite Toneu

Intervention Ruth Bagan, M. José Gracia and Maite Toneu

Years of intervention

2011-2018

The sculpture in the final phase of installation and conditioning in the new display space, in the Cerdanyola Art Museum

Generic classification

Painting on canvas, sculpture, fur niture, documents, works on paper and photography

Object Various Material/Technique Various Title/Topic Collection of the Barcelona Port Authority (APB)

Author Various Date/Period Various Dimensions Various

The Port Authority of Barcelona (APB) has a heritage collection made up of objects of a very diverse nature, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, nautical charts, models and navigation objects.

Some of these objects are exhibited in APB buildings, while others are displayed outside, as is the case with some sculptures, and the rest are stored in various spaces.

With the aim of introducing improvements in the conservation of its collection, and taking advantage of the fact that some of the buildings of the APB were being refurbished, the curators of the collection entrusted its conservation to the CRBMC. Therefore, in 2013 the CRBMC began several preventive,

Location Several buildings belonging to the Port Authority of Barcelona, Barce lona (Barcelonès county)

Coordination

Ruth Bagan and Maite Toneu Preventive conservation

Ruth Bagan Curative conservation

Carme Masdeu and Luz Morata (Morata-Masdeu, SCP) (textile material)

Inventory and documentation Iris Garcia and Mònica Roca Years of intervention 2011-2013

curative and restoration actions on the collection. The collection had been previously documented and inventoried in 2011 and 2012.

Preventive conservation

In 2013, the preventive and curative conservation actions focused on the transfer of 61 works (paintings on canvas, works on paper and a wall painting panel) that were unsuitably stored for their conservation.

This operation revealed alterations that resulted in a curative conservation action to stabilize and adapt the works before placing them in the CRBMC warehouse.

Sculpture from the APB's heritage collection

Preventive conservation in the heritage collection of the Barcelona Port Authority (APB)

Model from the APB's heritage collection

 Air quality assessment in the archive

 Protecting elements for their transfer

Following this emergency action, a project was launched in 2014 to provide an overall view of the state of the collection, detect specific needs and determine conservation protocols. A review of all the goods in the collection and an evaluation of the spaces where they were located was carried out, and aspects related to the functionality of the space, its accessibility, security and conservation were assessed. The artefacts were distributed across 11 locations, including some buildings in the Port of Barcelona, such as the World Trade Center Barcelona (WTCB) and the Portal de la Pau building.

This assessment led to a series of recommendations and priorities for action to improve the conservation conditions of the artefacts and reduce the risks to which the works were exposed, including the creation of a single space for storage, various preventive conservation actions and some restoration interventions. The collection curators drew up protocols for the conservation of the artefacts, depending on their typology, as well as basic protocols for managing the spaces, always from the point of view of the comprehensive management of the collection’s conservation.

Following the recommendation to create a single storage space, but with an unclear horizon of when a definitive site would become available, the APB commissioned the CRBMC to draft a technical project to enable an interim space for the provisional storage of the APB's heritage collection. This

project outlined the requirements of this space in terms of surface area, functionality, distribution, construction features, accessibility, security and all those aspects related to the direct conservation of stored artefacts.

Later, in 2015, preventive conservation actions then focused on specific actions in the archive of the APB in the WTCB, to prevent the risk of microorganisms, as well as on coordinating the dismantling of the APB’s heritage artefacts located in the Portal de la Pau building, in order to move them to the CRBMC. The reason for the move was the future refurbishment of the building. Again, as had already happened in 2013, the move was used to review and adapt the works, which led to some curative conservation actions, especially in terms of stabilizing the textile items.

In 2016, during the refurbishment of the Portal de la Pau building, the CRBMC offered advice regarding the refurbishment project and drafted a technical specification for the display case of Eliseu Meifrén’s painting El port de Barcelona, a large painting on canvas with significant conservation issues that make it very vulnerable to environmental fluctuations. A maintenance project was also launched for the APB’s outdoor sculptures.

— Ruth Bagan

Preparing the objects from the Portal de la Pau building for transfer

Moving objects from the Portal de la Pau building

Navigation instrument from the APB's heritage collection

For three and a half months during 2018, a team of nine people worked continuously at the headquarters of the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT) to transfer the collection to four different locations: the CRBMC, the MNAT warehouse, the headquarters warehouse and the Tinglado 4 port warehouse.

Team

The intervention was carried out by three restorers specializing in archaeological material, with the following functions:

• Preparation of the conservation report for each piece using a simple colour code.

• Restoration actions, either cleaning, consolidating or restoring the pieces that required it, before handling.

• Support for the handling team during the transfer of the most delicate pieces. The team was comprised of handlers: three specialists in large works, with the help of mechanical elements, to remove the works and put them on pallets; two specialists in handling small works, to pack small items in European standard boxes; and a technician carry out the documentary control of the collection.

Procedures

The established protocol consisted of filling out an individual sheet for each piece (see the example of the datasheet) which all the teams were involved in. The datasheet was based on prior information from the existing inventory provided by the museum (photo, inventory/reference number, name and location). Any discrepancies were resolved directly with the museum officials. The rest of the information was filled in by the entire team.

The collection, spread over the four floors of the museum, was diverse both in terms of materials and formats and their state of conservation. The intervention tasks carried out depended on the condition of each piece:

• All the ceramic pieces were checked. In some cases, the paint from the reintegrated areas had lifted, and there were incorrect colours and unfinished restorations.

• Most of the stone items contained accumulations of dirt, dust and sediment, as well as remnants of old interventions. They were reviewed one by one, to decide what actions should be carried out in view of the stability of the base material.

• All glass items were checked. In most cases, the adhesive that had been used to join the parts had become quite rigid, increasing the risk of breakage. Some polyester reintegrations had undergone pigmentation changes. Due to the high relative humidity, the pH of some glass elements had changed and they had become alkaline, which endangered their stability (and increased their fragility).

Generic classification

Archaeological material Object

Transfer, display and storage of the works that make up the collection that was on display in the building of the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT)

Material/Technique Various Description

More than 1100 archaeological pieces from the museum's collection Date/Period Various

Dimensions Various Location

National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT) (Tarragonès county)

CRBMC Register NO Various Coordination

Joan Ramon Aromí (Nordest, Museum and Exhibit Services, SL) and Pere Rovira (CRBMC) Team

Nordest, Museum and Exhibit Services, SL

The bronze pieces, which contained small points of chloride in places or had not been cleaned, were first sorted to determine which needed to be intervened.

•

• The oil lamps that were transferred to the port warehouse were retouched pictorially. The oil lamps stored at central services building were checked for salt exudation issues.

• The antefixes and terracotta elements suffered the same problems as the lamps: saline efflorescences. They were carefully intervened to ensure that the remains of the polychrome were not lost.

• The organic material was first analysed, due to its complexity, to see which treatment was most suitable, prior to any treatment with fungicide.

• As for the items jewellery, the layers of dirt and sediment were cleaned to make them shine.

Handling

The process of handling (packaging and transport) all the pieces was carried out taking into account the type of material in question, the degree of risk according to their fragility and their state of conservation, and bearing in mind that the packaging was for the long term.

The process of removing the heaviest parts was done according to the dimensions, weight, state of conservation and volume. Some pieces required a very delicate intervention, with the use of forklifts, various hoists and slings of all sizes. Forklifts were used to lift the pieces, so they could be removed from their original location and placed on pallets. These forklifts could not access the upper floors so manual lifts were used.

The smaller pieces were put in European standard boxes and protected with various types of material, according to requirements: Tyvek®, non-woven fabric, polyethylene foam of various densities, Manila paper filler...

The metal shelves of the warehouse were covered with transparent polyethylene, attached with an adhesive strip to facilitate registration. This ensure the parts were still visible and prevented solid particles from being deposited on them. The most unstable parts were attached with slings.

— Joan Ramon Aromí

Transfer, display and storage of the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT)

 Use of cages to move fragile pieces

 Handling of a marble column using a manual lift

 Handling of a piece using an electric forklift  MNAT

Misi Bruned, Marina Prats and Anna Valls

Assembly Alfons Orriols, David Piquer, Manolo Ríos, Enric Salazar and Pol Vélez

Documentation Irene Julve

warehouse

Preventive and curative conservation of the artefacts (artistic) of the Administration Pavilion in the historical site of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Generic classification

Painting on wood, painting on canvas, textiles, furniture, sculpture, etc.

Object

Various objects: 15 lamps, two wooden benches, eight chairs, a large painting, a sculpture and a cloth altar frontal Material/Technique

Various (paint, wood, gypsum, fabric, glass, metal...; glazed ceramics, blown glass, wrought iron...)

The Administration Pavilion was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner as the main entrance to the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, to house the administrative offices. It was the first pavilion to be built. The works were carried out between 1905 and 1910 and the pavilion was beautifully decorated. Like the other pavilions, the original essence had been greatly altered by the various modifications carried out throughout the 20th century.

The preventive conservation action was part of the latest project to recover the appearance of the pavilions of the modernist site. The purpose of this action was to protect the various artefacts of the Administration Pavilion during the interior refurbishment work.

Intervention

The objects that needed to be protected were of various types: wrought iron and glass lamps; a lantern from the staircase on the first floor; the painting on canvas by Aleix Clapés Trasllat de les despulles de Santa Eulàlia des de l’església de Santa Maria del Mar a la catedral (255 × 685 cm, without frame); a cloth altar frontal; a gypsum and wood crucifix, and the presidential furniture of the Events Hall.

The action was coordinated with those responsible for the site’s artefacts, based on an inventory and evaluation of the characteristics and state of conservation of each piece.

To prevent damage during the refurbishment works, most of the objects were removed from their location. Only two

Title/Topic

Cultural and artistic artefacts (decorative objects of the Administration Pavilion)

Author Various Date/Period

Mostly from the first half of the 20th century, with the exception of the altar frontal, from the 17th - 18th centuries Dimensions Various

remained in situ: the fixed lantern on the main staircase leading to the first floor, which was protected with a customdesigned wooden structure, and the large presidential table in the Events Hall, which was protected and placed on platforms with wheels, to move it to the hallway.

The selected objects were moved to the facilities of the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC). In addition to being kept there until the completion of the building works, they also underwent the conservation-restoration interventions needed to stabilize them.

The system of protection for their transfer was established according to the type of object. For the lamps, custom protection cages were built, so that they could be transported while hanging and properly protected and attached.

The large canvas was detached from its frame and stretcher, and rolled up into a 50-cm-diameter cardboard cylinder for transfer. The fabric was transferred flat, with the same display case, with glass protection, given its fragility.

The dismantling, packaging and relocation operation was carried out by a multidisciplinary team made up of conservators-restorers and artwork handlers, with the support of the site’s maintenance crew.

— Ruth Bagan and Maite Toneu

Arrival of the objects at the CRBMC Lamp packaging system

Origin Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location

Administration Pavilion. Modernist site of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona (Barce lonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 11692-11719

Coordination

Ruth Bagan and Maite Toneu

Intervention Ruth Bagan, Voravith Rontiva, Maite Toneu and the collaboration of interns

Logistics

Joan Ramon Aromí and his team, maintenance crew of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Carmelo Ortega (CRBMC) Years of intervention 2011-2013

During the taking down of the painting

On the main staircase during the transfer of the painting on canvas by Aleix Clapés, with the cylinder packaging system

Preventive conservation and maintenance of the Collection of Funeral Carriages of Barcelona

Generic classification

Ethnological heritage Object

Collection of funeral carriages and vehicles, and related objects Material/Technique Wood, metal, leather, fabric, graph ical documents, photography, stone, plastic and rubber Date/Period Various Dimensions Various Origin

Basement of the old headquarters of the Barcelona Cemetery, on Carrer

Sancho de Ávila, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location Montjuïc Cemetery, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO 12441

Coordination Ruth Bagan Conservation Ruth Bagan, Pau Claramonte, Núria Lladó, Voravit Roonthiva and David Silvestre Years of intervention From 2013 to the present day

The Funeral Carriage Collection, created in 1970, is a unique collection in Europe. It brings together a number of nowdefunct funeral vehicles. The current collection consists of 22 vehicles, 19 of which are horse-drawn and 3 motorized. Other objects associated with the carriages are also included in the collection, including railings, harnesses, fabric covers, uniforms of the funeral procession lackeys and period photographs.

State of conservation

Initially, the vehicles were stored in the basement of the old headquarters, in Carrer Sancho de Ávila. In 2012, the entire collection was moved to the new purpose-built building near the Montjuïc cemetery, with a renewed and revamped display, and which was inaugurated in February 2013.

Shortly afterwards, as a result of a collective agreement, the CRBMC’s Preventive Conservation Department began designing a preventive maintenance and conservation plan adapted to the needs of the collection.

The initial actions were to update the inventory of the collection and to review all the objects that were still packed inside the transport boxes.

Intervention

Each of the pieces was inspected to determine the state of conservation and the requirements for their correct conservation, prioritizing them according to the urgency in each case.

At the same time, to improve the environmental conditions and minimize the impact of extreme weather conditions and external pollution inside the exhibition space, a glass partition was placed at the main entrance as a buffer. A continuous ventilation system was also required in the area of the harnesses, to allow to allow air to pass through and keep the space cool during periods of hot weather.

Also, a pest control and monitoring system was designed, especially for insects, and coordinated jointly with an external pest control company; for this purpose, controls and light traps were strategically distributed throughout the building, which are checked weekly.

Finally, it should be noted that maintenance and other curative actions are carried out every week on the collection, as is the supervision and coordination of loaned pieces and restoration works, where necessary.

— Voravit Roonthiva

Weekly maintenance work on the collection



New packaging with conservation materials of the graphic material in the collection

General view of the collection of funeral carriages

Sample taking to analyse and identify alterations in the leather

The Diocesan Museum of Urgell had a storage area on the ground floor, with an area of 165 m2, which housed some of the works from its collection. The museum management wanted to improve this space, which at that time had several flaws, and, at the same time, carry out a reorganization and restoration of the works. The stored collection included objects of a very diverse nature: paintings on panels, polychrome wood sculptures, liturgical clothing and pieces of jewellery, among other items.

There were deficiencies in the insulation, especially in the door facing the outside, and in the storage materials. The positioning of some of the works made them difficult to access and put their conservation at risk. In addition, there was a lack of basic means for the correct management of the collection and of the operating protocols.

Intervention

The intervention proposal was based on a strategy of minimum cost and maximum effectiveness, to improve the conditions of the storage area. Since there was no active system for monitoring environmental conditions, successive barriers or levels of protection were created in the storage of the works, in order to preserve their integrity. This preventive conservation intervention was accompanied by urgent curative actions to stabilize those artefacts that required them. The proposed actions focused on implementing improvements to the room’s infrastructure and storage system, as well as the conservation of the collection.

The tasks took place during the summer months of 2012, with an initial phase that involved adapting the storage room, and which continued in the summer of 2013. It began with the stabilization of the artefacts, focusing on works made with wood (polychrome carvings and paintings on panels), some of which had recently undergone a disinfestation treatment, and which required affixing and/or consolidation.

The sculptures were distributed across the cabinets and the new shelving, while the paintings on panels, once affixed, were placed on the mobile racks with additional metal supports at the bottom.

Some of the textile works were stored in metal drawers. The drawers were emptied so that they could be cleaned inside and the works protected, before being placed inside again. Previously, however, they were placed on rigid supports made with Fome-Cor®, acid-free cardboard, to ensure the correct handling of the fabrics. The works were covered with a nonwoven fabric made from Tyvek® high-density polyethylene fibres, labelled on the outside to make it easier to identify their location. In some cases, refill material had to be added to prevent the folds from leaving marks. The works were laid

Generic classification Painting on canvas, painting on wood, wall painting, sculpture, goldsmithing, textile material, etc. Object Stored collection of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell Material/Technique Various Author Various Date/Period Various

Dimensions Various Location Storage area of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell, Seu d’Urgell (Alt Urgell county)

CRBMC Register NO 11901 and 12231

Coordination Ruth Bagan and Maite Toneu Preventive conservation Ruth Bagan Conservation-restoration Mireia Garcia

out so as not to overfill the drawers, taking into account the available space. The liturgical clothing that could be hung was done so with padded and lined hangers, covered with a Tyvek® cover to prevent dust.

There were storage issues with the goldsmithing and other metal objects had due to a lack of space. The inventoried works, which, due to their size, could not be placed in boxes, were returned to the removable metal trays in the cabinets, laid out on a polyethylene foam. The heavier works, which were at the bottom of the cabinet, were laid out on foamcovered polyethylene pallets of the same material.

Smaller metal objects, which had been stored on the new open shelves in the central part of the room, were placed in polypropylene boxes. Polyethylene foam was used to avoid the objects touching. As for the smaller pieces, they were placed inside polypropylene bags, also inside the boxes.

The room has no environmental control, so small sachets of desiccant material were added inside the boxes to ensure low levels of relative humidity. The boxes were marked on the outside with a diagram to help identity the location of the works.

— Ruth Bagan

Preventive conservation of the stored collection of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell

2012-2013. Monitoring of periodic preventive conservation controls

 Close-up of the storage of liturgical clothing  Close-up of the inside of the cabinets in which the large metal objects are kept

Paintings on panels on the mobile racks

Preventive conservation at the Design Museum

With the opening of the Design Museum in December 2014, the Barcelona Town Hall, through the Culture Institute of Barcelona, culminated its ambitious museographic and cultural project undertaken in 2008 to integrate the four Barcelona collections on different subjects that until then had been part of the Decorative Arts Museum, the Textile and Clothing Museum, the Ceramics Museum and the Graphic Arts Cabinet in a single institution. Each of these cultural facilities was located in its respective site, and the largest number of items in the collection were at the historic Palau de Pedralbes, which had housed the Decorative Arts Museum since 1932, which after 1990 was joined by the Ceramics Museum. Pedralbes had also been the home to the collection of the Graphic Arts Cabinet, which came from Poble Espanyol on Montjuïc, and in 2008, it added the Textile Museum, which had been moved from the Palau del Marquès de Lió

Even though the opening marked a turning point, the subsequent preventive conservation and treatment efforts were intense due to the large number of objects, around 70,000 of them, and the difficulty coordinating their move.

With the construction of a single new site, the building called the Disseny Hub Barcelona, which had been completed in 2013, the transfer of the collections to the facilities immediately began, and the museographic work for the four permanent exhibitions was stepped up in order to meet the planned opening date.

Generic classification Technical, scientific, industrial arte facts; textile material and furniture; and documents, works on paper and photography Object Various Material/Technique Various Title/Topic Various Author Various Date/Period 3rd-20th centuries

Location Design Museum, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO Various Conservation-restoration

Ruth Bagan, Xisca Bernat, Joan Escudé, Maria José Gracia, Carolina Jorcano, Èlia López, Silvia Marín, Rosa Martínez, Voravit Roonthiva, David Silvestre, Beatriz Urbano and Montserrat Xirau

Years of intervention 2014-2016

In this context, a partnership agreement was undertaken between the Institute of Culture of Barcelona (ICUB) and the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) on matters involving preventive conservation, maintenance and treatments. This materialised in a project shared by the two institutions which was conducted between June 2014 and May 2016.

The previous year, this coordination had been preceded by a series of restoration treatments on a large number of the museum’s objects which were to appear in the future permanent exhibitions, with the goal of displaying them in ideal conditions.

In order to achieve its objectives, the museum wanted to ask the CRBMC for the service of a team of eight conservatorsrestorers coordinated by the CRBMC’s specialised preventive conservation department and the museum’s conservation and restoration department. In groups of two, the specific tasks and responsibilities were assigned according to each technician’s expertise, which essentially matched the type of objects in the collection and the needs that arose, because the purpose was to work on both storing the reserves and preparing the exhibition pieces.

A range of processes and actions were coordinated according to the museum’s needs and the calendar that had initially been set. Thus, during the initial phase of the project, preventive conservation during the set-up of the four exhibitions was

Presentation of the vitrine with portraits

Presentation of the vitrine with astrolabes and clocks

Process of cleaning and stabilising a ceramic panel in order to transport it

prioritised, which consisted in presenting and installing the objects bearing in mind the particular requirements of each of their most suitable conservation and safety conditions.

Once the museum was open, the work focused on first weekly maintenance of the objects displayed in the gallery, which consisted in a general check as well as follow-up on any incidents caused by visitors or the building itself, as well as occasional treatments, if needed. Without the pressure of the opening, the work next focused on the objects in reserve, that is, all the tasks that remained, such as moving, overseeing the transfer of large works and storing the collection that was not being displayed. The later phase, which occupied much of the project, involved previous, systematic treatments such as cleaning, surface cleaning, disinfection and evaluation of the state of conservation of the collections of ceramics, objects

associated with the graphic arts (typefaces, furnishings, etc.) and furniture that were still awaiting since the transfer from the Palau de Pedralbes to the Disseny Hub.

Conclusions

This preventive conservation project was complex, in that it encompassed many aspects, such as setting up exhibitions and moving and handling objects. This is a line undertaken by the CRBMC which should serve as a reference not only for future museographic projects but also to leave proof that although it is one of the least-known aspects of our professional, preventive conservation is essential for the sound conservation, use and dissemination of our heritage.

— Voravit Roonthiva

Overseeing the movement of a large wardrobe

 During the presentation and installation of the different objects when setting up the four permanent exhibitions

Check on a book’s state of conservation

The temporal is no more than a symbol, by Joaquim Torres Garcia . Intervention for its temporary display at the MoMA

Generic classification

Wall paintings

Object

Transferred wall painting Material/Technique

Fresco painting transferred to canvas Title/Topic The temporal is no more than a symbol

Author Joaquim Torres Garcia (Montevideo, 1874-1949) Date/Period 1916

The intervention on the transferred wall painting The temporal is no more than a symbol was carried out prior to its loaning out to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York for the temporary retrospective exhibition “Joaquín Torres-Garcia. The Arcadian Modern”, which took place between October 2015 and February 2016.

This work is part of a set of decorative wall paintings that the artist produced for the Sant Jordi room in the Palau de la Generalitat. The wall painting was covered with painted canvases until the 1960s, when the Gudiol family detached the entire wall surface and transferred it to canvas; they used the traditional calcium caseinate system, with double cotton canvas, mounted on a rigid wooden support, consisting of a reticulated structure of wooden battens and plywood panels about 5 mm thick.

The work was divided into 4 panels, due to size, with their respective wooden frames, made of simple battens, screwed to the wall, in what is today known as the Torres-Garcia room, also in the Palau de la Generalitat.

Handling the loan

The process of loaning out the work began with the administrative procedures carried out by the Ministry of the Presidency and the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, in coordination with conservators-restorers from the CRBMC.

The conservation work began with a diagnostic examination to determine whether the state of conservation of the work would allow it to be loaned out. The diagnostic report on the state of conservation included the proposed intervention necessary to condition the work, for its transfer and for the duration of the exhibition, in order to ensure its stability at all times.

Dimensions 4 panels with total sizes: 575 x 331 cm (frameless), and 578 x 334 x 5 cm (with frame). Only 2 for exhibition: top panel: 200 × 335.1 × 4.3 cm, and bottom panel: 217.8 × 334.8 × 4.3 cm

Origin

Sant Jordi room, Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Location

Torres Garcia room, Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

The curator of the exhibition and the MOMA’s painting curator made a preliminary visit to see the work in situ. In conjunction with them, a packaging and transfer system was proposed, along with a system to anchor the work once in New York, which presented certain technical difficulties due to the size of the work.

A curative conservation method was agreed upon, consisting of affixing the pictorial layer in certain places and a dry mechanical cleaning of the work, both on the front and on the back, once the panels had been dismantled. Since the painting presides over a very important room in the Palace, a canvas had to be printed with its photograph, at a scale of 1:1, and temporarily hung in place of the original work.

The packaging and transportation of the work was handled by two specialized companies, one in Europe and one in the United States, which had to coordinate with each other. Even so, the transfer and handling tasks were always supervised by a conservator-restorer.

As soon as the panels were returned to Barcelona, it was decided that the old anchoring system should be replaced with a less aggressive one, so that the work could be taken down in an easier and more practical way. The new anchors between the four panels were made of stainless steel screws with female lugs, and the anchors for the wall comprised of L-shaped stainless steel plates with slot holes, allowing for the natural adjustment and movement of the work, in substitution of the old system of diagonally inserted screws.

— Voravit Roonthiva and Maite Toneu

Packaging process of one of the panels

Coordination

Government of Catalonia, (Barce lona): Rosa M. Montserrat, Júlia

Roca and Maite Toneu; The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA (New York): Anny Aviram, Sacha Eaton and Karen Grimson

Preventive and curative conservation Voravit Roonthiva and David Silvestre

Disassembly and assembly after exhibition Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelo na: Voravit Roonthiva and David

Silvestre, together with Técnica de Transportes Internacionales, SA (TTI)

Assembly

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) team, New York

Logistics

Técnica de Transportes Internacionales, SA (Tti); Masterpiece International and Cargolux (cargo airline)

Courier Maite Toneu Years of intervention 2005-2006

The painting The temporal is no more than a symbol after its intervention

Innovation and research

Innovation and research at the CRBMC

One of the strategic objectives of the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) is innovation and applied research in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. Innovation and research are important as they allow us to improve our skills, increase knowledge of our discipline and enable the application of this knowledge in our professional sector through publications, courses, conferences, tutoring of interns and work placement students, collaborations with external professionals, etc.

We define our innovation and research goals with a five-year horizon to help mark our path for the future. All our proposals and projects are encompassed in the following four strategic objectives:

1) the characterization and identification of materials

2) the study of pathologies and causes of deterioration

3) intervention methodologies and techniques

4) techniques for documenting conservation-restoration

With regard to the first strategic objective; the characterization and identification of materials, over the last nine years we have carried out projects on the artistic techniques and constituent materials of works from authors as diverse as Viladomat and Miró (the latter in collaboration with the Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona). The exhaustive knowledge gained regarding the materials and techniques these artists used have helped when taking decisions regarding the intervention. Moreover, the richly structured works of these authors have barely been studied.

The samples and associated scientific and technical documentation of the Catalan Romanesque mural paintings restored at the CRBMC, from Sant Tomàs de Fluvià (1982) to Sant Climent de Taüll (2013), have been reviewed in order to obtain data on the nature, composition and origin of the materials in the wall paintings, to detect possible analytical deficiencies in previous studies (based on current scientific standards), and to establish correlations between the materials and painting techniques used.

This process of characterization and identification is not one limited to materials of artistic creation. We have also launched an ambitious study in the physicochemical laboratory on the analysis of organic components in conservation plastics, which, in addition to giving us valuable information about the nature of the materials that are in contact with the artwork (helping us to discard those which are unsafe), has contributed to the development of a method for the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the CRBMC laboratory.

With regards to the study of pathologies and causes of deterioration, the CRBMC is carrying out a study on the

effectiveness of essential oils in the control of microbiota, in collaboration with Dr Maria dels Àngels Calvo, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). This study began with samples subjected to anoxia, with the presence of essential oils, and the positive results encouraged us to test essential oils in museum reserves.

This study –still in progress– aims to transfer the results obtained from laboratory testing to a real environment; a reserve with material susceptible to microbiota damage, in order to see whether this can be controlled with the diffusion into the atmosphere of these essences.

Among the studies that are currently underway, we also want to highlight one that deals with the effects of plants on the surface of archaeological sites, in collaboration with Sant Cugat del Vallès Town Council. This study aims to examine and propose mechanisms to control the proliferation of plants at archaeological sites (a common problem), as these mainly attack the stone and mortars and cause significant physical and chemical damage.

The research carried out at the CRBMC is, above all, applied research. In terms of methodologies and intervention techniques, studies on polychrome cleaning have been carried out for years by our Painting on Canvas Department, giving rise to widely circulated protocols on the subject, and constituting one of our main strong points. An ambitious programme of review and updating relining techniques is currently being carried out in this department, in collaboration with international institutions. This research focuses on indepth knowledge of the mist-lining technique (methodology, materials, adhesives, etc.), in order to apply these resources when the original canvas of a painting is in such a poor state of conservation that it does provide an adequate support function.This study will culminate in a course to disseminate the results obtained.

A study has been carried out on the effectiveness of natural products in the consolidation treatment of non-underwater wood base materials, as an alternative to acrylic resins, in collaboration with Dr Laura Fuster, professor at the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Artefacts at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Polychrome on Wood at the Catalan Institute of Wood. The conservation of an object in an uncontrolled environment is conditioned by the ageing of acrylic resins because once the resin has been applied, the intrinsic properties of the wood are subject to modification. The ultimate goal of this study is to find natural and compatible alternatives for wood consolidation treatments, which are easily applicable and have a low toxicity rate for conservation-restoration professionals.

During the programme assessing relining techniques: mist-lining

Petri or culture dishes containing samples from different artefacts and essential oils

We would also like to point out that the new Documents, works on paper and photography department is studying new methods for the application of adhesives in emulsions applied to glass plates. The aim is to compare the results of the application of different adhesives and/or hardeners and to assess a new method of application through the spraying in different test tubes that have been exposed to the same level of deterioration. Another interesting project in this area, which will help us in future emergencies, is the freeze-drying, encapsulation and anoxia of documentary archives affected by flooding. This is a project that aims to minimize the effects of microbiological activity and water in cases of natural disaster, in order to safeguard heritage in situations of risk.

Research projects often arise as a result of the intervention of a cultural artefact, from which very specific study and research needs are generated. A typical example of this is the study carried out in the restoration of the Virgin of Bellpuig de les Avellanes. This Virgin appeared at public auction in 2011, and as a result was acquired by the Catalan Ministry of Culture. Everything seemed to indicate that this was the figure which presided over the tomb of the Counts of Urgell,

currently located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York. The sculpture, the work of Bartomeu de Robió, contained traces of shellac and we knew that the same traces were present in the tombs of the counts of Urgell. In order to compare both polychromes and to be able to confirm or deny the origin of the sculpture of the Virgin, the CRBMC established a collaboration agreement with the MET, to carry out a comparative study of both polychromes. In the end, the study determined that in both cases the same type of shellac, with the same components, was present. This therefore confirmed the theory of many historians that the Virgin of Bellpuig de les Avellanes, by Bartomeu de Robió, was originally located in the monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes, next to the tombs of the counts of Urgell.

In summary, at the CRBMC we dedicate all the resources we have at our disposal to learning more about the materials that make up the works entrusted to our care, so we can understand the mechanisms of deterioration in order to improve intervention methods and to establish partnerships with all kinds of institutions that, like us, are interested in knowing, valuing and preserving our cultural heritage.

Chemists Ricardo Suárez and Ruth Sadurní examining samples for characterisation and identification

Paolo Cremonesi is the scientific advisor to the CRBMC’s pictorial surface cleaning protocol. Here we see him in a course he taught at the Centre on this subject

Abalia Cerdán, Koro

Abella Rius, Elena

Abelló Sumpsi, Laia

Adrover Bia, Isabel

Aguer Subirós, Caterina

Albalat Moles, Núria

Algueró Grego, Mercè

Alibés Marquès, Clara Álvarez Cancelo, Raquel Álvarez Valls, Aleix

Amat Clausi, Patricia

Admella Baulies, Carmina

Amorós Bosch, Imma Andino Pol, Lorena Antonio Arcos, Francisco

Aragonés Olives, Eulàlia

Ares Bardasco, Raquel Argano Tomas, Sònia

Armengol Ferrer, Conxa

Armentía Albarrán, Silvia Arnau Valls, Xavi

Arribas Bueso, Alexia Arroyo Casals, Pau Arroyo Montagut, Adrià Augé Serra, Claustre

Aymerich Vilarrasa, Laura Badia Cortada, Marta Bagan Pérez, Ruth

Bailach Bartra, Clara Balaguer Pujol, Isabel Balcells Rivera, Mònica Ball-llosera, Anna Banegas de Juan, Inès

Baqué Muntané, Bartomeu Barberà Giné, Aleix

Barceló Casulleras, Laura Begur, Maria

Bel Fornes, M. Josep

Belfiore, Davide

Bello Urgellés, Carme

Beltran Queralt, Teresa Bermejo Vicioso, Eva Bernal Atienza, Carolina

Bernat Jaume, Xisca

Berral Benavides, Francesca

Berrocal Seisdedos, Sònia

Bertral Arias, Anna

Biosca Reig, Mariona

Birosta Massoni, Judit

Blanch Miravet, Marina

Blasi Roig, Berta

Blesa Prats, Silvia

Boix Riuró, Elena

Balart Aixendri, Anna Bonet Calveras, Violant

Bonet Rebollo, Isabel

Bonet Ahumada, Jordi

Bonfill Beneït, Roser

Bonillo Cid, Cristina

Bonjoch Valls, Oriol

Bordonado Lillo, Sara

Borgoñoz Motjer, Mireia

Borja Ortiz, Maria

Borrell Crehuet, Àngels

Bosch Valenti, Marta

Bosch Rivas, Clara

Bosom Diumenjó, Gisela

Bosque Cebolla, M. Àngels

Bottaro, Silvia

Brossa Diaz, Maria

Brugués Massot, Irene Brull Bonet, Imma

Bruned Gil, Misi Brustenga Badia, Sílvia

Burjons Bruch, Glòria

Busquets Salinas, Carla Camarelles Nieto, Sandra Campanyà Bigorra, Mireia Campmany Queralt, M. Neus Camps Martín, Pol

Cañadell Esterri, Mireia

Canal Artigas, Àngels

Canal Roca, Ramon

Cañís Arís, Montserrat

Canturiense Ferrera, Noelia Carbonell Esteruelas, Eulàlia

Carbonell Graells, Marta

Cardenal Rectoret, Maria

Cardoner Saiz, Aldolfo G.

Carmona Fontanals, M. Carme

Carvajal Segura, Elisabet

Casademunt Forteza, Núria

Casadevall Ministral, Núria

Casadó Montané, Judit

Casal Bosch, Neus

Casal Moreno, Anna

Casalod Esteban, Asunción

Casares García, Natalia

Casas Comas, Carlota

Casinos Molina, Cristina

Castán García, Júlia

Castells Mateos, Cira Castillo Arroitajauregui, Marta Castillo Sagredo, Raquel Castro Julián, Álex

Castro Piriz, Cristian

Castro, Carles

Cèni Garcia, Olga

Cerdà Sebastián, Amanda Cerdà Durà, Elisabet Cerezal Sánchez, Mar

Cerrada Dacasa, Mireia

Chamorro Rodríguez, Anna Chávez Ribero, Adriana Chillida Ameztoy, Javier

Ciurana Román, Clara M. Cladera Salvà, M. Antònia Claramonte Villanueva, Pau

Clemente Martínez, Carme Clusa Garcia, Júlia

Clusells Baltrons, Josep Ignasi Codina Santos, Laia Colonna-Preti, Kusi Contreras Sánchez, Laia Corberó Marconot, Marta Cores Ortiz, Claudia

Corona Esteban, Silvia Correa Sala, Olga Cortada, Antoni Cuberes Fernàndez, Xènia Cubillo, Pepe De la Aldea Martín, Nicola De la Peña Galiano, Caridad De la Sotilla Clarasó, Carmen De Toro Perpiña, Núria Del Árbol Guerrero, Ana Cristina Del Fresno-Guillem, Ruth Domedel Portabella, Lourdes Domínguez Carrasco, Manuel Dot Soldevila, Marta Duch Martínez, Xavier Duran Vila, Laia Duroux, Morgane Enrique Sitges, Carla Erra Picas, Jordi Escalas Vallespir, M. Magdalena Escoda Forcada, Marta Escudé González, Joan Esparó Torras, Antoni Espinosa Brosa, Júlia Esslinger, Mònika Estadella Colomé, Marta Esteban Farré, M. Assumpta Estevan García, Cristina Fabra Aymerich, Marc Fages Rodríguez, Mireia Farrerons Ballús, Mireia Fernàndez Castell, Ester Fernández, Lluïsa Ferran Roig, Anna Ferrer Homs, Anna Flinch Domingo, Glòria Florensa Flix, Montserrat Folch de La Fuente, Carol Fontcuberta Famadas, Cristina Freixas Jambert, Raquel Fuster García, Helena Gabernet Solé, Marta Gallego López, Ángela Galopa Vilaret, Mar Gamarra Campuzano, Agustín Gamarra López, Raquel Gàmiz Rivas, Raúl Garces Abad, Pilar Garcia Garcia-Cairó, Mireia García Jiménez, Cristina García Mulero, M. José García Pérez, Patricia García Urbano, Iris Garcia Villarejo, Carme Garduño Peinado, Raquel Garrigolas Ferrés, Ariadna Gaset Majà, Albert Gassiot Melian, Mònica Gilart Barranquero, Núria Giménez Mas, Elena Golobardes Subirana, Marta Gómez Lobón, Mar Gómez Martínez, Magdalena

Gómez Morgado, Laura

Gómez-Franco Estrella, Magalí Gonzàlez Cachón, Remei Gonzalez Hernández, Sandra Granero Cortés, Marina Grau Subirà, Núria

Grevolosa Dorca, Tània Guitart Mas, Mónica Guiteras Casado, Eva Gusta Botey, Sergi Herranz, Denise Herrero, Miquel Àngel

Homedes Celma, M. Victòria Iglesias Campos, Manuel Àngel Iglesias Debiaggi, Victoria Celeste Iglesias Guerra, Elena Infiesta Madurga, Teresa Íñigo Fernández, Olga Íñiguez Gràcia, Anna Isawa, Makoto Itzquievitch Monteros, Ekaterina Izquierdo Munuera, Meritxell Jaén Gastó, Jordi Janó Reina, Rosaura

Jaume Roig, Aina M. Jimeno Jiménez, David Jiskoot Busquets, Júlia

Jorcano Picart, Carolina Jurío Spizzamiglio, Carolina Justicia Hernández, Francisco Jutglar Álvaro, Núria Kahlo, Mariana Lara Morente, Salvador Lasunción Ascanio, Montserrat Latorre Gonzalez, Marisa Lauriola, Gianpiero Legemaate, Inés Linares Román, M. Trinidad Lladó Moreno, Núria

Llobet Font, Sílvia

Llorca Pérez, Esther Llorens Moreno, Núria Llusà Iglesias, Maria

Lopez Novell, Nadir

López Novell, Viviana López Reguant, Èlia

López Mata, Lourdes Magrinyà Panadès, Laura Mailán Escolano, Àlvar

Malo Panadès, Olga

Mallorquí Garcia, David Mamszynsky, Valèria

Marcó Bardella, Consol Marcos Mugartegui, Leire Margaleff Lemcke, Jasmin

Marí Ribas, M. Nieves

Marín Ortega, Silvia

Marquès Balagué, Mercè Marsé Ferrer, M. Àngels

Martí Robledo, Cristina Martín Morales, Daniel Martin Planella, Tatiana Martínez Carrión, Rosa M.

Restorers

Marull Marull, Mònica

Masalles Arnavat, Guillem

Masana Punsoda, Clara

Masdeu Costa, Carme

Massanet Vives, Marga

Mauriz Ariza, Ferran

Maynés Tolosa, Pau

Mayo Pastor, María

Mayoral Martí, Jaume

Mendiola Puig, Jesús

Mestre García, Samuel

Miret Farré, Pep

Moles Matinero, Jordi

Molinas Daví, Maria

Montobbio Martorell, Beatriz

Montoliu Mangrané, Beatriz

Mora Grau, Oriol

Morales Martín, Daniel Morata Garcia, M. Luz

Mosegui Trias, Carlota

Munar Chacártegui, Catalina

Mur Corderas, Cèlia

Nadal Casas, Helena Natoli, Mariaverònica

Navarro Miguel, Cristina Nogueras Monserrat, Natàlia Núñez González, Tina

Olivé Soler, Ariadna

Oliveras Valentí, Clara Ordóñez Martínez, Ana Outomuro Ruíz, Maria

Pagès Gardella, Maria

Palomares Herrerias, José Luis Palomares Larreula, Glòria

Panadés Guerrero, Irene

Parello Brasca, Emilse

Pascual Martín, Blanca

Pedrajas Prats, Pablo Pérez Conesa, Lidia

Pérez Delgado, Maria Pérez Jordà, Zoraida Pilar

Perez Llorca, Ares

Pijoan Regidor, Ramon

Pinadell Sidera, Gemma

Piñeiros Garcia, Maria José Piqué Font, Núria

Piris Ametller, Sandra

Piscicelli, Alessia

Planas Torrents, Gemma

Pocostales Plaza, Llum

Potrony Romeu, Clàudia

Prat Mas, Rosa

Prats Gual, Marina

Projetto, Marzia

Puchades Chacón, Montserrat

Puigderrajols Dols, Sònia

Pujante Agudo, Cristina

Quelart Gavaldà, Hugo

Quintela González, David Ramírez de Mena, Pau

Ramisa Vallés, Marina Ranesi, Rudi

Rebollo Pujadas, Patricia

Ribas Prat, Miquel

Rierola Sabiote, Elisabet Rius Fabra, Aitana Robino, Lorenza

Roca Luján, Mònica

Roca Pi, Laia

Rodríguez Gómez, Rocío

Rodríguez Matín, Zara Rodríguez Capella, Gemma

Rodríguez Rosell, Gemma Roonthiva, Voravit

Rouch Andreu, Jérome

Rueda Extremera, Mònica Ruggieri, Laura Ruiz de Conejo Viloria, Anna Ruiz Formento, Rosa Marina Ruiz Lara, Maria P.

Sabadell Noguera, Cecília

Sabaté Balada, Mireia Sagristà Guindulain, Roc Sala Arnau, Coral

Sala Casanovas, Maria Salguero Martínez, Jaime Sánchez Carretero, Natàlia Sánchez Mateos, Carolina Sanromà Praguany, Judit Santomà Vicens, Alícia

Schifiano, Serenesse

Schmid Raset, Olga

Schreibweis Torrents, Teresa Scirè, Chiara

Serna Mata, Maite

Serra Llavall, Xavier

Serrano Coma, Agit

Silvestre Momeñe, David Solé Urgellés, Ramon

Soler Puig, Eulàlia

Solís Pradal, Verònica

Tantull González, Idoia

Tardà Copoví, Meritxell

Teno Pujol, Núria

Thió Lluch, Cristina

Tornero Romera, Francesc

Torra Campos, Gemma

Tort Vilà, Francesca

Torta Bausili, Maria

Udina Armengol, Rita

Urbano Murillo, Beatriz

Ureta Juan, Ana

Usero Garcia, Maria Sagrario

Valderrama Maiques, Aitana

Valeri Alonso, Mariona

Valls Berbel, Anna

Vázquez Vilar, Sonia

Verdaguer Ferrer, Glòria

Viana García, Bárbara

Vidal Femenias, Miquel

Vila Casòliva, Maria

Vilà Rabella, Marta

Vila Rigat, Mercè

Vila Serra, Aina

Viladrich Iglesias, Nina

Vilalta, Amankay

Vilaró Fabregat, Jaume

Vilarrasa Nuviola, Berta

Vilella Cano, Antoni

Xarrié Poveda, Roger

Xirau Pena, Montserrat

Xixons Prat, Núria

Zapata Tena, Neus

Zornoza Esteban, Jesús

Institutions

ACdPC – Catalan Cultural Heritage Agency

Àger Town Hall

Agramunt Town Hall

Alfolí de la Sal – Museum of L'Escala. Historical Archive of L’Escala. Víctor Català Space

Alòs de Balaguer Town Hall

Archaeology and Palaeontology Service of the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona

Archbishopric of Barcelona

Archbishopric of Tarragona

Archive Museum of Sant Andreu de Llavaneres Archive Museum of Santa Maria de Mataró Archive of Joan Maragall

Archive of la Paeria de Lleida

Arenys de Mar Town Hall

Argentona Town Hall

Art fund of the Government of Catalonia Art Museum of Girona

Art Museum of Jaume Morera

Art Museum of Sabadell Arts Santa Mònica

Association for the Preservation of Industrial Railway Heritage

Association for the Study of Maintenance. Centre for Research, Education and Maintenance

Safeguarding (AEM), Barcelona Association for the Works at the Shrine of Sant Crist de Balaguer

Association of Arboç Devils Dance Association of Archivists – Document Managers of Catalonia

Association of Conservators and Restorers of Catalonia (CRAC)

Association of Friends of Coaner Association of Friends of Gelida Castle Association of Muzio Clementi, Barcelona

Balenyà Town Hall

Banyoles Town Hall

Barberà de la Conca Town Hall

Barcelona Athenaeum

Barcelona Cemeteries, SA

Barcelona Port Authority (APB) Barcelona Town Hall

Beaskoa Gallery

Berga Town Hall

Besalú Municipal Historical Archive

Besalú Town Hall

Biosca Town Hall

Bishopric of Girona

Bishopric of Lleida

Bishopric of Sant Feliu

Bishopric of Solsona

Bishopric of Terrassa

Bishopric of Tortosa

Bishopric of Urgell

Bishopric of Vic

Botarell Town Hall

Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows, Valls

Brotherhood of the Blood, Valls

Bruc Town Hall

Cabrera de Mar Town Hall

Caixa Catalunya

Calaf Town Hall

Calafell Town Hall

Caldes de Montbui Town Hall

Callús Town Hall

Camprodon Town Hall

Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), Ottawa

Carlos Barral House-Museum

Casa Batlló, Barcelona

Casa Burés, Barcelona

Casa Puig i Cadafalch, Argentona

Casa Vicens, Barcelona

Cassà de la Selva Town Hall

Castell de Mur Town Hall

Castelldefels Town Hall

Castellfollit de Riubregós Town Hall

Catalan Encyclopedia

Catalonia Hiking Centre

Centre for conservation and heritage of the Pyrénées-Orientales Departmental Council, Perpinyà

Centre for Men's Penitentiary (Barcelona), Barcelona Town Hall

Centre for Modern Art (CAEM)

Centre for the International Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Rome

Centre for the Interpretation of the Railway, Móra la Nova

Centre of Documentation and Textile Museum, Terrassa

Centre of Documentation of the Design Museum, Barcelona

Centre of Interpretation Camp de les Lloses Centre Romanesque Vall de Boí

Cerdanyola del Vallès Town Hall

Cistella Town Hall

Ciutadilla Town Hall

Coll de Balaguer Hospital, Hospitalet l’Infant College of Architects. Association of Architects for the Defence and Intervention in Architectural Heritage (AADIPA)

College of Graduates in Fine Arts of Catalonia (COLBACAT), Barcelona College of Sant Pere d'Àger

Congregation of the Sorrows of Bellpuig Conques Town Hall

Consortium of Colònia Güell

Consortium of l'Estany Consortium of Mining Route Consortium of Sitges Heritage

Consortium of the Museum of Natural Sciences Consortium of the Royal Shipyards and Maritime Museum of Barcelona

Consortium of the Terres de l'Ebre Museum

Consortium of Turó de la Seu Vella de Lleida

Copons Town Hall

Corbera de Llobregat Town Hall

Corbera d'Ebre Town Hall

Cornellà de Llobregat Town Hall

CosmoCaixa Barcelona

Council county of Alt Urgell Council county of Garraf Council of Barcelona – Local Architectural Heritage Service

Council of Catalan Sport Council of Mallorca Island, Palma Council of Menorca Island, Maó Country Archive of El Vallès Oriental County Archive of El Baix Camp County Archive of El Berguedà County Archive of El Maresme County Archive of L’Alt Empordà County Archive of La Seu d'Urgell

Cubells Town Hall

Cultural and Recreational Athenaeum of Santa Margarida de Montbui

Cultural Association of Baixa Segarra Cultural Association of Friends of Sant Esteve and the Sanctuary of Tura, Olot Cultural Association of Vall de Lord Democratic Memorial Department of Culture, Heritage and Education of the Balearic Islands

Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona Diocesan Archive of Solsona Diocesan Archive of Urgell Diocesan Museum of Barcelona Diocesan Museum of Tarragona

Directorate General of Archives, Libraries, Museums and Heritage of the Government of Catalonia El Masnou Casino

Escornalbou Castle-Monastery Europa Sports Club Federation of Craftsmen's Associations of Catalonia (FAAOC)

Figueres Town Hall Film Library of Catalonia Forès Town Hall Foundation “la Caixa”, Barcelona Foundation Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art –Mas Archive Foundation Bosch i Gimpera Foundation Caixa de Sabadell Foundation Francisco Godia Foundation Iluro, Mataró Foundation Joan Miró Foundation Mas Miró, Mont-roig del Camp Foundation of the Construction Board of the Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Família Foundation Reeixida

Friends of Art (AMICART), Valldoreix

Friends of Romanesque Art (AAR-IEC), Barcelona Friends of the Railway, Móra la Nova

Friends of the Romanesque, Madrid Gandesa Town Hall

General Council of Aran General Historical Archive of Aran Gerri de la Sal Town Hall

Getty Foundation. Conserving Canvas Initiative Girona Public Library

Government of Andorra, Andorra la Vella Government of Catalonia – Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Government of Catalonia – Department of Culture – Directorate General of Cultural Heritage –Museums and Movable Property Protection Service, Barcelona

Government of Catalonia – Department of Culture –

Territorial Services of Girona

Government of Catalonia – Department of Culture –Territorial Services of Lleida

Government of Catalonia – Department of Territorial Policy and Public Works – Railways of Catalonia

Government of Catalonia – Department of the Interior – Mossos d'Esquadra

Government of Catalonia – Department of the Presidency

Government of Catalonia – Department of the Presidency – General Sub-Directorate for Works and Services, Barcelona

Granollers Town Hall

Granyena de les Garrigues Town Hall Group of Giants of Sant Cugat del Vallès Group of Vella dels Xiquets de Valls

Guimerà Town Hall

Guingueta d'Àneu Town Hall

Guissona Food Group (CAG)

GVA Sub-directorate General of the Valencian Institute of Conservation and Restoration (IVCR+i)

High School circle

Historical Archive of Girona Historical Archive of Lleida Historical Archive of Tarragona Historical Archive of the Hospital de la Santa Creu and Sant Pau

Horta de Sant Joan Town Hall

IBM Building, Department of Education, Barcelona Institute Amatller of Hispanic Art, Barcelona Institute of Botanic Sciences of Barcelona Institute of Catalan Finance Institute of Catalan Studies, Barcelona Institute of Catalan Timber (INCAFUST), Solsona Institute of Conservation and Recovery of Cultural Heritage of Valencia (IVACOR), Valencia Institute of Cultural Enterprises of Catalonia Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE), Madrid Institute of Cultural Heritage Research of Catalonia (ICRPC)

Institute of Culture of Barcelona (ICUB) Institute of Culture of Olot

Institute of Girona Studies (IEG), Girona Institute of Lleida Studies

Institute of Municipal Progress and Culture Institute of Chemistry of Sarrià (IQS) – Materials

Engineering Group (GEMAT), Barcelona Isona and Conca Dellà Town Hall

Jeroni de Moragas Workshop, Cooperative L’Estany Town Hall

La Baronia de Rialb Town Hall

La Campana (Barcelona) – Art and Culture Fund

La Casa dels Xuklis, Barcelona, Barcelona Town Hall

La Garriga Town Hall

La Lira Choral Society of La Pobla de Claramunt

La Lira de Sant Cugat Choral Society

La Molsosa Town Hall

La Riba Town Hall

La Selva del Camp Town Hall

La Seu d'Urgell Town Hall

La Vall d'en Bas Town Hall

Legal Advisory Committee, Government of Catalonia (Barcelona)

Les Cabanyes del Penedès Town Hall

Les Masies de Voltregà Town Hall

L'Escala Town Hall

Library of Catalonia

Linyola Town Hall

Llagostera Town Hall

Llívia Town Hall

Lloret de Mar Town Hall

Malgrat de Mar Town Hall

Manresa Town Hall

Marist brothers of the Hermitage province Massoteres Town Hall

Mataró Town Hall

Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Government of Andorra Moià Town Hall

Molins de Rei Town Hall

Mollet del Vallès Town Hall Monastery of Poblet

Monastery of Santa Maria, Ripoll Monastery of the Avellanes

Monastery of Vallbona de les Monges

Montcada i Reixac Town hall

Montgai Town Hall

Montjuïc Castle, Barcelona Montmeló Town Hall

Mossos d'Esquadra – Sabadell Municipal Archive of Reus Municipal Archive of Tossa de Mar Municipal Archives of Parets del Vallès (AMPV) Municipal Foundation Joan Abelló Municipal Historical Archive of Olesa de Montserrat Museum and Centre for Sports Studies Doctor Melcior Colet

Museum Episcopal of Vic Museum Frederic Marès Museum Maricel

Museum of America, Madrid Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia – Barcelona Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia – Empúries Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia – Pedret Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia – Ullastret Museum of Barcelona Cathedral Museum of Berga

Museum of Cerdanyola Museum of Cervera

Museum of Conca Dellà

Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA)

Museum of Design of Barcelona Museum of Ethnography of Ripoll Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures

Museum of Ethnology of Montseny, La Gabella Museum of Garrotxa

Museum of Granollers

Museum of La Noguera Museum of Lleida Diocesan Museum of Llívia Museum of Manresa Museum of Moià Museum of Montserrat

Museum of Music of Barcelona Museum of Olot Museum of Pontevedra

Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia –Museum of the Cercs Mines Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia –Museum of the Sedó Colony of Esparraguera Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia – Terrassa Museum of Terrassa Museum of the Capellades Paper Mill Museum of the History of Catalonia

Museum of the History of Catalonia – Town of Santa Creu de Rodes and Church of Santa Helena de Rodes

Museum of the History of Tarragona – Praetorian Provincial Forum, circus, Roman amphitheatre, colony forum, Ferreres aqueduct, Mèdol quarry, walls, Casa Canals, Casa Castellarnau and Volta del Pallol

Museum of the Igualada and Anoia Museum of Urgell Museum of Val d'Aran Museum of Valls Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia (VINSEUM) Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Museums in Sant Cugat

National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona –Arc de Berà

National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona –Early Christian necropolis

National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona –Monumental complex of Centcelles

National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona –Roman Villa of the Munts

National Archive of Catalonia National Art Museum of Catalonia

National Library of Spain

Navàs Town Hall

Olesa de Montserrat Town Hall

OlorVISUAL collection

Organyà Town Hall

Osona Local Studies Association

Parets del Vallès Town Hall

Penelles Town Hall

Peralada Town Hall

Pont de Suert Town Hall

Pontils Town Hall

Porqueres Town Hall

Prat de la Riba House-Museum

Private Catalan Foundation for Iberian Archaeology

Private Civil Foundation Populus Alba

Private Cultural Foundation Rocamora

Private Foundation Apel·les Fenosa

Private Foundation Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Private Foundation Mascort

Private Foundation Ramon Pla Armengol

Private Foundation Sant Romà

Public Foundation Isaac Albéniz Museum of Camprodon

Puigcerdà Town Hall

Puig-reig Town Hall

Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs Occitanie (DRAC), Montpellier

Regional Leather Museum

Rellinars Town Hall

Renau Town Hall

Reus Town Hall

Riner Town Hall

Ripollet Town Hall

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Barcelona

Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia

Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona

Royal Institute of Cultural Heritage (Koninklijk

Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium – Royal

Institute for Artistic Heritage KIK-IRPA), Brussels

Royal Monastery of Santes Creus, Aiguamúrcia

Rubí Town Hall

Sabadell Town Hall

Sala La Capella, Barcelona, Barcelona Town Hall

Sanaüja Town Hall

Sant Cugat del Vallès Town Hall

Sant Joan de les Abadesses Town Hall

Sant Just Desvern Town Hall

Sant Llorenç de Morunys Town Hall

Santa Coloma de Farners Town Hall

Santa Margarida i els Monjos Town Hall

Santpedor Town Hall

Sapiens, SCCL

School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage of Catalonia (ESCRBCC), Barcelona Scientific advice on CRBMC cleaning protocols

Seu Vella, Lleida

Sils Town Hall

Smithsonian Institution – Museum Conservation Institute (MCI), Washington, EUA

Solivella Town Hall

Solsona Town Hall

Sort Town Hall

Súria Town Hall

Talarn Town Hall

Taradell Town Hall

Tarragona Town Hall

Teià Town Hall

Terracotta Museum of Ceramics of La Bisbal Terrassa Town Hall

Terres de Ponent Clinic – L'Aliança, Lleida

Territorial Services of the Department of Culture –Central Catalonia

Territorial Services of the Department of Culture –Counties of Barcelona

Territorial services of the Department of Culture – Girona

Territorial Services of the Department of Culture – Lleida

Territorial Services of the Department of Culture – Tarragona

Territorial Services of the Department of Culture –Terres de l'Ebre

Territorial Services of the Department of Culture – Tortosa

The History Museum of Barcelona

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), New York

Tiana Town Hall

Tona Town Hall

Torà Town Hall

Tossa de Mar Town Hall

Tremp Town Hall

UB Heritage – Historical Heritage Studies, Barcelona

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) –Archaeological Analysis Service, Cerdanyola del Vallès

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) – Centre of Technology for Heritage Conservation (CETECPatrimoni), Cerdanyola del Vallès Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – Department of Animal Health and Anatomy, Cerdanyola del Vallès Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) –Strategic Development Unit. CORE in Cultural Heritage, Cerdanyola del Vallès Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – Faculty of Geography and History – Department of Art History, Barcelona Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – Institute for Research in Medieval Cultures (IRCVM), Barcelona Universitat de Girona (UdG) – Faculty of Arts –Department of History and Art History, Girona Universitat de Lleida (UdLl) – Faculty of Arts Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) –Department of Chemical Engineering – Higher Polytechnic School of Engineering of Vilanova i la Geltrú (EPSEVG)

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) –Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering –Barcelona East School of Engineering, Barcelona Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) –Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering – Barcelona School of Agriculture (ESAB), Castelldefels

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) – EPSEB Materials Laboratory, Barcelona Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) – Terrassa Textile Research and Industrial Cooperation Institute (INTEXTER), Terrassa Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) –Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Valencia University IUAV of Venice – Laboratory of Analysis of Ancient Materials, Venice

University of Cervera

Valls Town Hall

Viladecans Town Hall

Vilafranca del Penedès Town Hall

Vilanova de Meià Town Hall

Vilanova i la Geltrú Town Hall

Vilaplana Town Hall

Viver i Serrateix Town Hall

Wattia Innova, SL, Olot Welfare Projects “la Caixa” Wood and Furniture Guild, Barcelona

Abella, Joan Adell, Joan Albert

Albertí Serra, Lluís

Alcalde, Gabriel (†)

Alcolea, Santiago Alcoy, Rosa

Álvarez Prozorovich, Fernando (†)

Amat de Broto, Mònica Antomarchi, Catherine

Aragall Cortés, Assumpta Arbués, Clara Argelich, Maria Antonia Argemí, Mercè

Arimany, Josep

Armentia Albarran, Sílvia Aromí, Joan Ramon

Aymerich Barba, Carles Balliu Badia, M. Àngels

Balust Claverol, Lídia Baqués, Marcenia Bargalló Pi, Antoni Barrachina, Jaime Barrenechea, Laurent Bascones, Pere Baseran, Pere

Bastardes Mestre, Teresa Bayona, Lluís Blanco, Joan Borrós Gómez, Salvador Bosch Ballbona, Joan Boto, Gerardo Brull, Carles

Bruquetas, Rocío Butí Papiol, Salvador Caellas, Dolors

Calvo Torras, Maria dels Àngels Cambra Sànchez, Sixte Campillo, Jordi Campins, Lluís (†)

Camps Sòria, Jordi Canet, Jordi Canyellas, Sílvia Carrasón, Ana

Cassañas, Josep Castellà, Cristina Castillo Sabadell, Santiago Castiñeiras González, Manuel Ceballos, Laura Cirujano, Concha Ciurana, Jaume

Civit, Antoni Clarà, M. Antonia

Clemente, Carme Company, Ximo Compte, David Conesa Pagès, Mercè

Contreras Zamorano, Gemma M. Cremonesi, Paolo

Crespo Arcà, Luis

Cristià Balsells, Elisenda De Guichen, Gaël

Díez, Xavier Domingo, Laia

Eguinoa, Roman

Español Bertran, Francesca Esquins, Josep Maria

Fàbrega, David Fargas, Carles

Ferrer Rotger, Antoni Fité, Francesc Font, Anna Font, Dani Font, Joan Fontbona, Francesc

Franch Pagès, Sílvia Freixas, Carles

Freixes Camps, Pere Fuentes, Anna Fuster López, Laura Gabernet, Marta Garau, Toni Garcia, Salvador Gardy, Joan Garralla, Berna

Garriga Riera, Quim (†) Gené Sera, Jordi Gil, Núria Girbal Lladó, Josep Goicoechea Foz, Gemma González, Joan Ramon Grau, Carme Guardia, Milagros Guasch, Núria

Guerrero Asuar, Montserrat Guiral, Carme Guitart, Xavier Gutiérrez, Mònica Hernández, Carolina Hernández, Xavier Herráez, Juan Antonio Hosta, Jordi Hosterich, Oriol Isvern, Xiscu Jové, Marta Juanes Barber, David Julià, Montserrat

Juncosa Vecchierini, Elena Kirchner Granell, Helena Laborde, Ana Lambert, Simon Lazzarini, Lorenzo Llagostera, Antoni

Lorés Otzet, Imma Macià, Montserrat

Mancho Suárez, Carles

Manchon, Joan Marsal Amenós, Feliu Martín, Roser

Mas, Manel

Mata de la Cruz, Sofia Mathon, Jean-Bernard Matosas, Amadeu

Mecklenburg, Marion F. Miralpeix Vilamala, Francesc

Mirambell Abancó, Miquel Miró, Ignasi

Mn. Alanyà, Josep Mn. Armengol, Xavier Mn. Baró, Robert Mn. Cardona, Víctor Mn. Domènec, Pere Mn. Gil, Antoni Mn. Julià

Mn. Martí Bonet, Josep Maria Mn. Martínez, Antoni Mn. Mauri, Josep Maria Mn. Naspleda, Joan Mn. Prat, Lluís Mn. Riba, Josep Maria Mn. Utgés, Llorenç Mn. Vila, Octavi Molina Giralt, Glòria Montañés, José Ángel Montero, Paco Montoliu, Xavi Monzó, Anna Muñoz, Alfonso Nadal, Joaquim Navarro Ezquerra, Antonia Olañeta Molina, Juan Antonio Olesti, Oriol Olivé, Anna Olivé, Conxita Orellana, Miquel Oriols Pladevall, Núria Orobio, Ignacio Pagès Paretas, Montserrat Palet Alsina, Daniel Parcerisses, Francesc Pardo, Francesc Pastor Bodmer, Perico Peramiquel Cols, Josep Pessarrodona, Marta Piera Miquel, Mónica Pins, Isidre Piqué Huerta, Raquel Planas, Joan Portal, Jordi Prada Pérez, José Luis Pradell Cara, Trinitat Pueyo, Imma Puig Gordí, Lluís Puy, Albert Radríguez, Xavier Ramos Santiago, Miquel Àngel Raventós, Joan Rella, Ferran Ribas, Anna Ribas, Antoni Rita Larrucea, Cristina Roca Soler, Júlia Roca Vilaregut, Alfons Roca, Anna Marta Roca, Estanislao Rocabanyera Viñas, Rosa Rodríguez, Alba Ros Barbosa, Elisa Rota, Mercè Sala, Joan

Sala, Roger Salas, Cristina Salom, Cristobal

Salvadó Cabré, Nativitat Sánchez Ledesma, Andrés Sanstravé, Josep Maria Sanz, Toño

Sesplugues, Jordi Sureda, Marc

Taboada Romero, Óscar Tarragona, Eva Tor, Pep

Torra, Joan Tubella, Carles Tuset, Àngel Tuset, Lourdes Valentín, Nieves Velasco González, Albert Velasco, Antoni Vendrell Saz, Màrius Verdaguer, Judith Vericat, Agustí

Vilà Ginferrer, Francesc Vila, Josep Maria

Vilanova, Antoni Vives Sicília, Joan Enric Xandri, Joana

Yeguas Gassó, Joan Zazurca Codolà, Mercè

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