13 Preventive conservation

13

Preventive conservation

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)

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

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, 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

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

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

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

In situ. Preliminary study and analysis

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)

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)

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

Unpacking of the tapestry upon its return to the Girona Cathedral Treasure

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

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

Conservation of the set of tapestries belonging to the Government of Catalonia at the headquarters of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC)

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 triumphs" (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

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 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

Location

Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

Origin

Sala Prat de la Riba room, in the Institut d’Estudis Catalan (IEC), Barcelona (Barcelonès) The tapestries 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

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); disassembly: 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

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).

The Triumph of Death over Chastity, after carrying out the minimum necessary interventions for its storage

Object

Collection of artistic works: paintings, sculptures, contemporary art, graphic work, photography and miscellaneous objects

Material/Technique

Painting on different base materials, textiles, ceramics, glass, stoneware, terracotta, wood, metal, etc.

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

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

Object Various

Material/Technique

Various

Title/Topic

Collection of the Barcelona Port Authority (APB)

Author Various

Date/Period

Various

Dimensions

Various

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

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, 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

Model from the APB's heritage collection

 Air quality assessment in the archive

Preparing the objects from the Portal de la Pau building for transfer Moving objects from the Portal de la Pau building

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.

Navigation instrument from the APB's heritage collection

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

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

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). • 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

Assembly

Alfons Orriols, David Piquer, Manolo Ríos, Enric Salazar and Pol Vélez

Documentation

Irene Julve

 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 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

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...)

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

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 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

Location

Administration Pavilion. Modernist site of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona (Barcelonès county)

CRBMC Register NO

11692-11719

Coordination

Ruth Bagan and Maite Toneu

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

Material/Technique

Wood, metal, leather, fabric, graphical documents, photography, stone, plastic and rubber

Date/Period

Various

Dimensions

Various

Origin

Basement of the old headquarters of the Barcelona Cemetery, on Carrer

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

 Sample taking to analyse and identify alterations in the leather  General view of the collection of funeral carriages

Object

Stored collection of the Diocesan Museum of Urgell

Material/Technique

Various

Author Various

Date/Period

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

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 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

Paintings on panels on the mobile racks

 Close-up of the storage of liturgical clothing

 Close-up of the inside of the cabinets in which the large metal objects are kept

Object Various

Material/Technique

Various

Title/Topic Various

Author Various

Date/Period

3rd-20th centuries

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

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. 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

Process of cleaning and stabilising a ceramic panel in order to transport it

Presentation of the vitrine with astrolabes and clocks

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

Check on a book’s state of conservation

 During the presentation and installation of the different objects when setting up the four permanent exhibitions

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

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 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. 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, (Barcelona): 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, Barcelona: Voravit Roonthiva and David

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