Rescat 35 ENGLISH

35 EDITORIAL

The recovery of organs Page 2

INTERVIEW

Jean-Bernard Mathon Page 3

CONSERVATION-RESTORATION

El Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece in Colomers Page 8

The doors of the organ in Tarragona Cathedral Page 16

Ceramic flooring of the Sala Tarongers Page 46

NEWS

British Museum Mellon Symposia Page 56

A MUST-READ

Les pedreres medievals a la Corona d’Aragó Operació trasllat. Art de Sixena Page 57

CONSERVATION-RESTORATION

THE DOORS OF THE ORGAN IN TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL

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EDITORIAL

Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles de Catalunya

THE RECOVERY OF ORGANS, A WIDESPREAD PHENOMENON The organ is an instrument of Greek origin that was introduced to the Christian kingdoms by the monk Gerbert of Aurillac. Records for the consecration of the church of Sant Andreu de Tona, from the year 888, state that the temple was to be endowed with an organ, among other artefacts. But it wasn’t until the end of the 13th century that the organ was definitively introduced into churches, since musical instruments were not permitted inside until then. Most of the organists were clerics. The organ gained prominence during the Renaissance and reached its zenith in the 18th century. Barcelona was a unique melting pot in Europe with foreign teachers who created their own school, according to the master organist Gerhard Grenzing.

In recent years there has been a slow but widespread recovery of the organs that survived the destruction of the Spanish Civil War in churches and monuments around Catalonia. On 18 July 1936, there were seventy pipe organs in Barcelona and a week later there were only seven left. In recent years, associations and institutions have turned to crowdfunding to restore many organs that were in very dilapidated conditions.

The most emblematic restorations include the organ of the Palau de la Música, that of Santa María del Mar or, more recently, that of Tarragona Cathedral.

In most cases, excluding chests, doors and the odd pipe, these instruments have undergone many

interventions over the centuries. Very few resemble the original design. In this sense, probably the oldest Catalan organ is that of the church of Cadaqués.

In Catalonia, during the second half of the 20th century, Capuchin friar Robert de la Riba (1912-1999) did great work recovering organs in the Barcelona of the post-war era. At that time it was a rather unknown instrument and in some circles even disparaged according to the musicologist Josep Maria Gregori. His morning organ concerts at the Palau de la Música between 1952 and 1956 were famous.

The restoration of the organ of Tarragona Cathedral was emblematic because the process involved the restoration not only the instrument itself but also of the organ’s Renaissance doors, painted by Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo between 1563 and 1565. It is a unique monument in Catalonia, both for its Renaissance style and for its size and artistic quality. The restoration was led by the CRBMC with a highly qualified interdisciplinary team. It lasted almost two years was funded by the Tarragona Cathedral Chapter, the Provincial Council of Tarragona, the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and the Mútua Catalana Private Foundation of Tarragona.

Congratulations to all those who made it possible!

Àngels Solé, director of CRBMC

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Testing the door leaves’ closing mechanism

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INTERVIEW

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Josep Paret Pey, conservator-restorator of cultural artefacts

JEAN-BERNARD MATHON Conservator-restorer of cultural artefacts (retired).

Director of the Pyrénées-Orientales Regional Council’s Centre of Heritage Conservation and Restoration (CCRP, 1989–2017). Conservator of antiques and art objects from the PyrénéesOrientales (2007–2017). President of the Association for the Protection of the Artistic and Historical Heritage of Roussillon (ASPAHR in French).

THE MASTER OF HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION IN PYRÉNÉES-ORIENTALES JEAN-BERNARD MATHON WAS A PAINTING RESTORER FOR THE MUSEUMS AND MONUMENTS OF THE CITY OF PARIS (1981–1989), BEFORE BECOMING DIRECTOR OF THE HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION CENTRE IN PERPIGNAN (1989–2017) AND A CONSERVATOR OF ANTIQUES AND ART OBJECTS FROM THE PYRÉNÉES-ORIENTALES (2007–2017). HE CONTRIBUTED TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ‘PLAN-OBJET 66’, ALONGSIDE THE LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE (INVENTORY, SAFETY ASSESSMENT, CONSERVATION, PROMOTION OF THE MOVABLE HERITAGE OF THE PYRÉNÉES-ORIENTALES, ETC.). HE ALSO LED THE PROJECT ‘RENAIXEMENT’, WHICH EXAMINED RENAISSANCE ARTS IN CATALONIA (TEXTILES, PAINTINGS) AND THE DECORATION AND MONUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH EASTER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. HE HAS ORGANISED VARIOUS EXHIBITIONS FOCUSING ON THE APPRECIATION OF RESTORED MOVABLE HERITAGE (RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS, THE DEVOUT CHRIST OF PERPIGNAN, MEDIEVAL DEPICTIONS OF THE VIRGIN IN ROUSSILLON AND THE MASTER OF LLUPIA).

How did you get into the world of heritage?

The key moment was in 1977, when I found out about the conservation-restoration training programme that had just been created at Paris-1, where I was studying history.

That was how I dove into the ‘world of heritage’.

But this choice had no doubt been influenced by my previous experiences. I was born in 1952 and lived out my first six years in a village of 500 souls, in the confines of Berry and La Touraine. My grandparents, who some might call peasants, others artisans or tradespeople, lived in this village with three grocer’s shops, a bakery, a butcher’s, a hardware store, two hotels, a hairdresser’s, a mechanic's garage, a bicycle seller, a farrier and a wheelwright. In barely ten years, with the mechanisation of the countryside and the rural exodus, there was nothing left. This background probably influenced me and drew

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me to ethnology, anthropology and memory conservation work. But then, when my family moved to Paris in 1958, I became immersed in the world of cultural heritage; I often visited the Louvre and admired the paintings. That is where my fascination with the arts and art history came from.

What was your route into the world of conservation and restoration? What did you study?

I studied for a Scientific and Technical Master’s Degree (MST) in the Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Artefacts at Paris-1 University, from 1977 to 1981. This was the first conservation-restoration training programme in France, created in 1974. At the time, it was a very theoretical programme that combined restoration ethics and law, physics, chemistry, study of materials and techniques,

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Training volunteers in the conservation and maintenance of religious artefacts.

Photo: J-B Mathon

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and practical work and internships. I specialised in paintings. My year group fought to protect the MST against a new programme called the IFROA, which was created in 1977. Many of the students in my year went on to be involved in defending the conservation-restoration profession, either through their professional activity or through associations. During my studies, I had an internship with Mr. Maréchal, a rather old-school painting restorer. At the end of my course, I went to Rome for six months, for an internship at the Istituto Centrale del Restauro (ICR). Every morning we did tratteggio exercises, then we worked on restoration projects. The most memorable part for me was the weekly sessions given by Paolo and Laura Mora.

This was the best glimpse I’ve had of the ideas of Cesare Brandi, who founded the ICR. Throughout my career, I have found it useful to look back at Brandi’s Teoria del restauro when doubting over different restoration choices.

Where have you worked?

After my studies, I was employed by a restorer who worked for the centre for historical monuments and na-

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tional museums for two and a half years. There, I learned how to work on paintings on panels, as well as gaining experience with mural paintings (Harouet Castle) and marouflaged paintings (Bordeaux Grand Theatre).

I decided to go it alone and create my own workshop in 1984. I have worked for an important antique dealer, for whom I have restored large paintings on canvas by Hubert Robert and Desportes, and I have carried out restoration work for museums, including the Carnavalet Museum in Paris. At the same time, I’ve taken part in restoration projects, alongside my colleagues.

Do you have a speciality?

I have two specialities: on one hand, the conservationrestoration of paintings on wood and canvas (especially large ones), and on the other, preventive conservation. I must admit, though, that I stopped working directly with art in 1998, as I was too busy with my duties as director of the CCRP, then as a conservator of antiques and art objects.

Having said that, my early work as a conservator-restorer was highly useful in these duties.

Did you have any responsibilities before you became director of the Heritage Conservation and Restoration Centre?

In the eight years I spent working freelance, I didn’t have any specific responsibilities, except actively participating

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in professional conservator-restorer associations, especially the ARAAFU and FFCR. Which are the main initiatives you would like to highlight as director of the Perpignan Heritage Conservation and Restoration Centre?

When I was appointed, in 1989, at the head of what was called the Pyrénées-Orientales Regional Restoration Workshop, it was poorly equipped and only had one employee. The structure was there but there was a lot to do, if you take into account that this was a region with exceptionally rich heritage and thousands of works of art of all kinds sitting in churches all over the region in a worrying state of conservation. In the 1990s, while the restoration work was being carried out, diagnoses were made and we implemented conservation initiatives and a real regional conservation-restoration plan.

Once it moved to a purpose-made building, in 1998, the Restoration Workshop became the Heritage Conservation and Restoration Centre (CCRP) and was allocated the human, technical and financial resources needed to implement a well thought-out heritage conservation policy. Its scope was extended into the field of maritime heritage, with the creation of a branch in Paulilles (Port-Vendres).

There are two main axes of activity I would like to highlight: The ‘Plan-Objet’ is an innovative programme upon which the CCRP’s activities are based. It was established in partnership with DRAC (the State department for culture). First, the Plan-Objet brings together artefact inventories, assessments of buildings’ and objects’ condition, recommendations on conservation work required, application of treatments, identification of pieces to be

restored, training of volunteers in heritage conservation and promotion, etc. It mobilises both CCRP staff and external providers. This programme brings us closer to the art, its owners and users.

The second axis, about which I am very passionate, is multidisciplinarity. I have established three major projects, which have seen participation from conservatorrestorers, historians, art historians, conservators, anthropologists and scientists. Exchanging knowledge and skills helps us each move forward in our research, all for the benefit of our heritage. This is how the CCRP teamed up with Toulouse, Perpignan, Montpellier and Girona universities, as well as the CICRP in Marseille and other laboratories. Work has concentrated on medieval Virgin with Child depictions, Renaissance paintings, and Easter monuments. This multidisciplinary work has led to exhibitions for the public and publications about restoration.

I have also helped to raise public awareness of conservation through various lectures and work with art history students at Toulouse, Montpellier and Perpignan universities.

Finally, I would like to highlight that the conservatorrestorer must always be at the centre of the heritage process, and that this role must be recognised. The conservator-restorer is the mediator between the object and the various participants, owners and users.

What are the main initiatives you would like to highlight as a conservator of antiques and art objects from the Pyrénées-Orientales?

Conservators of antiques and art objects (CAOA in French) work almost on a voluntary basis. It is one of the anomalies of the heritage system in France. One of my main

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Meeting between conservators, scientists and conservatorrestorers to debate the choice of intervention on a piece of art. Photo: J-B Mathon

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missions for a decade as a CAOA was identifying and documenting the pieces of art that could be protected as historical monuments, which led me to register and classify almost 500 pieces. I also advised town councils on the work needed on some artworks, how to stabilise them and how to find funding to restore them. I also contributed towards monitoring restoration projects in partnership with the DRAC conservator. This role was clearly complementary to my post at the CCRP. How is the conservation-restoration profession structured in France, at a state and county level? Do you think it works at a regional level?

In France, most conservator-restorers are self-employed and participate in tender processes. Mostly, the contracting parties are the State, regional authorities and public institutions. There are few museums and institutions with their own in-house conservator-restorers.

A great deal of conservator-restorers are members of associations linked to the four existing training programmes, while some (too few) are members of the FFCR (French Federation of Conservation-Restoration Professionals), which aims to defend the profession. The FFCR is a national organisation with regional offices. The profession is not structured at a county level. The State awards master’s-level diplomas but still does not recognise the title of conservator-restorer, which means it does not recognise the profession. Only French museums require a recognised diploma from anyone who works on their collections; this is not the case for French historical monuments and other institutions. Since public procurement processes became mandatory, competition has been tough and conservator-restorers’ earnings are falling.

What problems have you come across through your work and what solutions would you propose?

The main problems I have encountered throughout my career revolve around, on one hand, human and financial resources and, on the other, convincing those responsible for the artworks that conserving or restoring them requires specific professional skills.

The development of the CCRP, for example, halted around four or five years ago. It has been subject to budget restrictions and dwindling staff numbers due to, according to the county council, financial difficulties and its lack of compulsory jurisdiction in the field of heritage.

CCRP will struggle to progress with its missions in these conditions.

Keeping our heritage alive, conserving it and securing a legacy for future generations necessitates certain essential conditions. Of course, it requires financial resources. We cannot make do with the 3% of the culture budget dedicated to heritage or with scratchcard-style gadgets. Finally, we need to guarantee qualifications and regulations for the professionals who take care of the conservation and management of our heritage, such as

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conservators-restorers and conservators of antiques and art objects. Finally, in the historical monument sector, we must establish public structures at county level that can assist local authorities in carrying out inventories, diagnoses, recommendations on conservation work required, preliminary studies and administrative and technical dossiers. This would create 100 posts for conservatorrestorers and conservators of antiques and art objects.

If I am not mistaken, you are currently the president of the Association for the Protection of the Artistic and Historical Heritage of Roussillon (ASPAHR in French).

What is your mission, what are you doing and what do you want? What are your main projects?

ASPAHR is an old association, created in 1963, that was made dormant in 2000, following the death of its founder and leader, Pierre Ponsich. This association was founded again in March 2017 to defend against the threats faced by our heritage, and I became its president.

ASPAHR’s goal is to protect the heritage of the Pyrénées-Orientales in its many forms: buildings, artefacts, environment, intangible. Its lines of action are various: raising awareness among the public, launching alerts and petitions, liaising with representatives and decision-makers, staging protests, appealing to the courts, etc.

Our main fight has been to ensure a moratorium on the demolition work to be carried out in Perpignan’s historic centre. Between 2015 and 2018, 82 buildings were demolished illegally by the council in the remarkable heritage area. Along with local residents, we worked to stop the demolition of a block of buildings in the Saint-Jacques neighbourhood in July 2018. Since then, we have been in talks with Perpignan City Council and the head of the prefecture to stop the demolition of Saint-Jacques and encourage rehabilitation.

ASPAHR has won three significant battles recently: the theme park project on the old Ruscino site has been abandoned; a house in the medieval centre of Bages (Roussillon plain) will be renovated instead of being demolished; and in Perpignan, a house built by architect Dorph-Petersen, which was to be demolished, will be preserved.

Roussillon’s heritage is threatened by urban expansion and the choices of representatives and developers who care little about our heritage and environment, even though our county boasts exceptional architectural and scenic heritage that is an asset for economic and tourism development.

Overall assessment and final thoughts. What is your assessment of the profession today?

A tool like the CCRP is a good response at county level to ensure the management, conservation and promotion of our heritage, but unfortunately, budget restrictions have hampered it for years now. While museums are relatively well equipped in terms of staff to guarantee the conservation of well-defined, unified collections, the same does

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Protest (26.07.2018) to stop the demolition of a block of buildings in the neighbourhood of Saint-Jacques, in Perpignan]. Photo: J-B Mathon

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not go for historical monuments, which are spread out over hundreds of buildings. To look after these monuments, at a State (DRAC) level, there is only one conservator for every two counties, so a structure like the CCRP is a good solution for managing heritage locally.

The State is abandoning more and more of its duties and distancing itself from this field, especially following territorial reforms and the establishment of larger regions. As well as this, historical monument legislation (the Heritage Code) is constantly being questioned. For example, last October, the ELAN Law was passed, which restricts architects’ approval of French buildings. What is even more worrying is that, following the Notre-Dame fire and the French president’s decision to carry out restoration work immediately, a law is going to be passed to allow breaches of the Heritage Code. This way, it will be possible to bypass the law in the case of an iconic heritage monument, even though France has some of the best laws in the world in terms of heritage protection and conservation. This is really serious. How can we make private owners and organisations obey the laws on historical monuments if the State itself is breaching them?

The conservation-restoration profession is in crisis.

This isn’t a new development, but the situation is getting worse, for three main reasons. First of all, even though the

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State does award diplomas in conservation-restoration, there is still no specific title for this profession. It is neither recognised nor protected, so everyone can call themselves a ‘restorer’. This creates unfair competition in terms of prices and poses a danger to our heritage.

Secondly, conservator-restorers tend to rely on public procurement, yet State spending is being cut year upon year (currently, the Ministry of Culture’s annual budget for the restoration of historical monuments is approximately 310 million euros, which is just 3% of the Ministry’s overall budget), and the same goes for local authorities. This leads to reduced public procurement activity, which has forced many companies to lay off staff. Thirdly, unfortunately, conservator-restorers are not organised enough in terms of associations to be able to influence ministers and decision-makers. This is an individualistic profession that only comes together sometimes to participate in tender processes and almost never acts as a group or cooperative to share the human, technical and management resources that would tailor the profession to our current economic and administrative reality.

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Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles de Catalunya

POLYCHROME SCULPTURE

The Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece in Colomers

THE OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY ALTARPIECE displays a Baroque style that was evolving in the eighteenth century. Instead of the usual grand scenes, focus is placed on the sculptures (currently missing) and the scenographic structure that surrounds them.

Introduction Chromatically speaking, here, the homogeneous tendency to gild almost the entire surface of altarpieces is combined with surfaces covered in grains, which imitate marbles and varnishes of various colours and cover metal sheets to create different colour tonalities.

Diagnosis and state of conservation In terms of state of conservation, the wooden structure presented various alterations: attacks from xylophagous insects, including the common furniture beetle (anobium punctatum), and very localised termite (reticulitermes lucifugus) attacks; cracks; detached and broken elements; and a loose niche in the entablature. The most obvious damage, however, was the loss of material that affected various elements, especially parts of the base, such as the central panel of the predella and the steps, a putto and various other fragments. There was also some peeling and loss of polychrome and gilding, while some of the mecca gilding was in a fragile state, especially the parts made from natural rosin with a black pigment, which imitated tortoiseshell. On the surface, the team found nests, animal remains, excrement, a great accumulation of dust, dirt and bat urine, which had penetrated deep down into the polychrome.

Other notable features include the barium sulphate-based turquoise paint covering the coloured varnishes on the mouldings and the columns, and the layer of the same paint used clumsily to imitate marbling, covering all the original marbling on the lower level. The panels adjacent to the wall on this lower level and the base of the alter bore an added layer of water-based paint.

The base had been repainted in black. Also present were a piece of fabric occupying the predella

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Significant losses on the mecca gilding made up of rosin and black pigment.

Photo: Laia Roca

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The altarpiece before restoration.

Presents losses of important elements and added pieces.

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Laia Roca i Idoia Tantull, conservator-restorers of cultural artefacts

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During the carpentry work to recreate the missing elements.

Photo: Idoia Tantull

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Reproduction of the parts missing on the steps and in the predella. Made with stained cedar, following the original volumes but without the decorations.

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Gilding cleaning process. Photo: Laia Roca

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During the polychrome cleaning process.

Photo: Laia Roca

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area, MDF panels covering the orifices under the altar table and an added set of steps, smaller than the original.

Various analyses have been carried out to delve further into the examination of the altarpiece. The results have revealed a host of pictorial techniques and procedures used on the artefact.

Gold and silver leaf covered with rosin glazes and with sandarac has been found. The combination of these natural resins with different pigments (Prussian blue, earth pigments, black pigment, verdigris, etc.) provides the piece with unusual, metallic textures and enriches the polychrome work.

The wood used has been identified as poplar

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Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles de Catalunya MECCA GILDING ON SILVER ON AN 18TH CENTURY ALTARPIECE Section

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Sample M5

Image

Varnish

Pigments mixed with resin

Metal base

Natural sandarac resin

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Silver sheet (currently blackened, forming silver sulphide)

Table with the characteristics of the different types of mecca gilding we have found on the altarpiece.

Various resins and pigments were used to stain the silver sheets and create metallic chromatic textures.

Created by: Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull

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A

4000,0

3600

3200

2800

2400

M8

Natural rosin resin

Toasted umber

Silver sheet

M11

Natural rosin resin

Prussian blue

Silver sheet

M4 (resin found under repainted layer), M12, M14, M15, M16, M18

Natural rosin resin

Variable accumulations of black pigment, which give the optical illusion of imitation tortoiseshell.

Silver sheet (currently blackened, forming silver sulphide)

A

4000,0

M9

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Natural rosin resin

Earth pigments.

The resin could also be mixed with verdigris, or directly applied to a layer of copper resin.

3800

3600

3400

Silver sheet

3200

3000

2800

2600

2400

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Colour of the bowl

Analytical technique

Red. Red earth pigment found

Stratigraphy, μFTIR spectrometry and GS/MS gas chromatography

Front of the sample at 63x FTIR spectrum — M5 — Sandarac resin pattern

2000

1800 c m -1

1600

1400

1200

Ochre. Toasted umber pigment found

1000

800

Stratigraphy with ultraviolet light The results of chromatography indicate the presence of sandaracopimaric acid, which confirms that it is a sandarac resin

550,0

Stratigraphy and μFTIR spectrometry

Stratigraphy with ultraviolet light

Front and back of the sample at 50x Red. Red earth pigment found

Stratigraphy, μFTIR spectrometry and GS/MS gas chromatography A

FTIR spectrum — Sample 11 — Rosin pattern — Prussian blue pattern Red

4400,0

4000

3600

3200

2800

2400

2000

1800 c m -1

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400,0

Stratigraphy, μFTIR spectrometry and gas chromatography

M4. The metal and the varnish is visible under the repainted turquoise layer

M18. Stratigraphy at 200x with ultraviolet light

Chromatogram of the M4 sample. The presence of compounds derived from the deterioration of the abietic acids such as 7-oxodehydroabietic and 15-hydroxy-7-oxodehydroabietic acid indicate that it is a rosin-like diterpenic resin.

FTIR spectrum — M14 — M15 — M16 — M19

2200

2000

1900

1800 c m -1

1700

1600

1500

1400

1300

Toasted umber pigment found

1200

1100

1000

900

800

700

600

550,0

Stratigraphy and μFTIR spectrometry

M9. Front of the sample, Stratigraphy at 200x at 50x and with ultraviolet light

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Mapping of different types of mecca gilding.

Created by: Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull

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Application of the second layer of protective varnish.

Photo: Laia Roca

— (populus s.p.), the most commonly used in the region for this kind of structure. Analyses have also revealed the use of a plaster with a protein-based binder for the preparation layer.

The conservation-restoration process The conservation-restoration project aimed to guarantee the altarpiece’s structural stability while recovering the original appearance of the pictorial surface, through a thorough cleaning process and by removing added layers of paint.

First, the dust and excrement was removed mechanically, using brushes and a vacuum cleaner. Next, the wood was cleaned chemically with a water and alcohol mixture, then treated

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with Xylores Pronto®. To stabilise the wood, three main processes were carried out. The wood damaged by xylophagous insects was hardened using Paraloid® B-72 acrylic resin in different proportions (5–10%) and with a varying number of layers depending on the area. Then, detached and loose wooden fragments were fixed with Lineco® neutral pH polyvinyl glue. Finally, losses were consolidated with Araldite® SV427 epoxy resin and HV427 hardener. Next came the volumetric reintegration of the missing elements on the predella: cedar wood was used to restore the steps and the predella, without reproducing their decorations.

Under the altar stone, the two MDF panels (with high acidic content) were removed and replaced

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During the polychrome cleaning process.

Photo: Laia Roca

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Process of chromatic integration with watercolours.

Photo: Idoia Tantull

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Right-hand side of the predella before restoration.

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Right-hand side of the predella after restoration.

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by two cedar posts, while on the left-hand side of the predella, losses were reversed with a graft.

Except for the latter, which was designed to create an illusion, all these new elements were stained and protected with different tones of Xylazel® Lasur in order to create chromatic texture and avoid creating a vast, flat-looking surface.

Any peeling polychrome was fixed with Lineco® neutral pH polyvinyl glue diluted in water. Meanwhile, different cleaning processes were used, depending on the surface and the nature of the paint layer or dirt to be removed. The gilding and mecca gilding was cleaned with a W/O emulsion with 10% pH6 buffer, 90% white spirit and 4 grams of Tween® 20. The temperas were cleaned with water, although in the areas where the urine was stuck fast, the cleaning process was finished with a pH6 buffer, with strong chelating agent DTPA. Added paint layers were removed with various solvents, including acetone and white spirit (70:30), methoxypropanol and gellified acetone with Klucel® G. In the case of the added paint layers that were covering the mecca gilding, the state of conservation of the glazes was especially poor, due to the fragility of the materials.

After the cleaning process, a protective varnish with a low molecular weight was applied (Regalrez® 1094 dissolved at 20% in D-40 white spirit).

This process was repeated following a chromatic reintegration with watercolours, which created an illusion to hide small losses and the graft on the left side of the base, and served an archaeological purpose for larger losses.

In addition, the foot of the altar was altered to match the stone used for the floor and the base, and the old, conspicuous pink colour was removed.

Finally, the horizontal surfaces on the back of the entablature were protected with a waterproof yet breathable fabric, in order to keep away bats and pigeons and to stop dust accumulating on the altarpiece.

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General view of the altarpiece before restoration.

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General view of the altarpiece after restoration.

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DETAILS GENERIC CLASSIFICATION: polychrome sculpture | OBJECT: altarpiece | MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE: wood with glue tempera polychrome (marbled), gilding, estofado layering technique (image of the dove), mecca gilding and oil paint (skin of the putti).

With a small stone base | DESCRIPTION: Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece. Now dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima | DATE/PERIOD: Baroque. It bears two dates: “1738”, under a repainted layer on the medallion in Our Lady’s niche, and a second, “1769”, in the middle of the central panel of the finial, and either side of the central niche, among the plant motifs. They correspond to when the altarpiece was cut and assembled and to when the polychrome and gilding were finished, respectively | DIMENSIONS: 6.30 x 3.74 x 1.5 metres | LOCATION: Santa Maria Church, Colomers (Baix Empordà) CRBMC REGISTER NO.: 13263 | COORDINATION: Pep Paret | RESTORATION: Laia Roca and Idoia Tantull | CARPENTRY: Carmelo Ortega | HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC INFORMATION: Francesc Miralpeix | YEAR OF RESTORATION: 2017-2018

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CONSERVATION-RESTORATION

PAINTING ON CANVAS

Conservation-restoration intervention on the doors of the sixteenth-century organ in Tarragona Cathedral THIS CONSERVATION-RESTORATION PROJECT IS A HUGE HERITAGE PRESERVATION CHALLENGE, to which the Chapter of Tarragona Cathedral and the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia have dedicated a great deal of effort and resources.

PIETRO PAOLO DE MONTALBERGO, PAINTER OF THE ORGAN DOORS IN TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL This study aims to examine the artistic and professional career of painter Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo (circa 1520–1588) within the context of the restoration of the cloths on the doors of the Tarragona Cathedral organ. It would be amiss not to mention the researchers who spearheaded research into the artist’s pictorial work, outlined his biography and defined the peculiarities of his painting style. Their research and publications are the foundations for the following pages.

The first reference to the painter appeared in Diccionario Histórico de los más Ilustres Profesores de las Bellas Artes en España (1800), by Antonio Agustín Ceán Bermúdez, published by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, before Sanç Capdevila Felip cited him in his book La Seu de Tarragona (1935) in relation to news gleaned from the Chapter Minutes. Another valuable contribution was made by Josep Maria Madurell Marimon, technician from the Historical Archive of Protocols of Barcelona, who provided reliable information in his article ‘Petro Paulo de Montalbergo, artista pintor y hombre de negocios’, published in Anales y Boletín de los Museos de Arte de Barcelona (1945), and through his collection of unpublished files, obtained from notarial records used by various art historians. Finally, special mention must go to Joaquim Garriga Riera (†) for his article ‘Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo, pintor italià, ciutadà de Barcelona’, included

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in Miscel·lània en homenatge a Joan Ainaud de Lasarte, co-published by Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat (1999).

I. PURPOSE OF THE DOORS ON THE CATHEDRAL ORGAN

The door leaves on this organ are two wooden stretchers covered on the front and back with cloth fastened to the stretchers with rivets, and their purpose is three-fold: decorative and aesthetic, as they complement and enhance the sculptural work on the wooden structure, integrated into the cathedral’s architectural design; and devotional, as the congregation can contemplate the religious scenes represented on them. When the door leaves are open, they depict the Nativity and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: the two main festivals in the Christian liturgical calendar. When they are closed, they hide and protect the pipes in the central casing of the organ structure while portraying the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel and the Incarnation of God the Son in the womb of the Virgin Mary, a key scene in the mystery of salvation. One of the Chapter Minutes reads: ‘In Holy Week there is no organ; except for Maundy Thursday, when it must accompany the whole service [...] And after the Communion it must be played while the Illustrious Chapter, the Clergy and the Council take Communion = On Holy Saturday, the organ begins with the Gloria and continues for the rest of the service.’

Assuming that the closing of the doors meant the organ was silent, we can conclude that they remained closed for Holy Week until the Gloria was sang during the Easter Vigil, with the exception of the liturgical celebration of Maundy Thursday until after the attendees took Communion. This liturgical situation meant worshippers could properly contemplate the story portrayed in the three pictorial scenes once a year. An echo of

Dr. Antonio Pedro Martínez, artistic, Documentary and Sacred Art Heritage representative at Tarragona Cathedral Maite Toneu, conservator-restorer and coordinator of the Painting on Canvas Department of the CRBMC David Silvestre, conservator-restorer of paintings on canvas

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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

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this practice is found in Santiago de Compostela, where there was an old tradition in which the organist shut the console of the organ after the Gloria on Maundy Thursday and did not play again until the Gloria of the Easter Vigil.

These iconographic sequences enhance the structure of the organ, designed with extraordinary dimensions (20 x 9 m) like a Mannerist altarpiece and adapted by architect Father Jaume Amigó. He thought up a well structured architectural design that was then brought to life skilfully by carvers Jeroni Sanxo and Perris Ostris between 1562 and 1567. Given that this study is dedicated

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to the paintings that adorn a pipe organ, the importance attributed to this instrument by the Church must be highlighted. According to the first paragraph of number 120 of the ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, published by the Second Vatican Council: ‘In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendour to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things.’

II. THE PERSONALITY OF PIETRO PAOLO DE MONTALBERGO

Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo was an Italian painter, mentioned in documents under different names – Alberghis, Dalberges, Mudalbergis, Muntalbergo, Petro Paulo, Pere Pau – and born around 1520 in Forneglio del Monferrato, a small Piedmontese village in the bishopric of Casale

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Monferrato. He was the son of Jeroni, a painter, and Beatriu, and had four siblings: Pere, a merchant who lived in Rome, Apol·lònia, Magdalena and Verònica. He experienced the artistic atmosphere of the mid-sixteenth century first-hand in the years he spent in Rome, where his brother Pere lived, around 1540–1548. He then moved to Barcelona alongside painter Pietro Morone de Piacenza around 1548, invited by friend and merchant Nicolau de Credenza. There is record of him living in Catalonia from 1548 until his death in 1588. As a painter – a craft he had learned from his father and others from his hamlet – he set up his workshop in the home of Àngela, the widow of chandler Rafel Malarça from Barcelona, located on Plaçeta de la Trinitat, now Carrer de Ferran, in front of the church in the Convent of the Calced Trinitarians, in the current parish of St. Jaume.

From this home and workshop, Montalbergo carried out his artistic activities, making the most of his contacts from Italy. These circumstances would gradually define his multifaceted character as a painter, an occupation he fulfilled from 1548 to 1580, working on different projects on which he is always recorded as a ‘painter’, an activity considered a ‘craft’ in Catalonia and an ‘art’ in Rome.

His personal profile also includes a spell as a businessman, having set up a company with Àngelo Tavacio, a Barcelona resident, to buy and sell Italian books. In this and other projects, Montalbergo acted as an investor, while his partner took care of selling the product. His relatively comfortable financial situation in the last decade of his life enabled him to lend money with no interest to colleagues or friends, including Barcelona carpenter Antoni Granollachs, tanner Joan Sans, and painter Guiu Aumont.

Alongside his work as a painter, it is worth mentioning his activity spreading artistic forms in Catalonia, which he achieved by importing engravings and books printed in Italy, in connection with merchants based in Spain, such as the Genovese Joan Negroto, and in Italy: in 1580, he bought two treatises on architecture and three thousand five hundred printed sheets, including two hundred and forty-three engravings of different sizes by Cornelis Cort, from Francesco Testa d’Arezzo. These commercial activities contributed towards spreading Renaissance artistic culture throughout Catalonia and started off slowly from 1561 to 1580, during which time they were occasional and infrequent, then developed from 1580 to 1588, when he worked alongside his brother Pere and invested his savings This double role as ‘painter’ and ‘merchant’ was common for many artists and craftspeople,

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so that they could complement the money they made from their art or craft. This information on his work as a businessman and disseminator of Renaissance trends in Catalonia derives from the six wills he wrote in the final decade of his life, between 10 April 1577 and 29 February 1588: five in Barcelona and just one in Rome. All of them mention Àngela Malarç as executor and beneficiary, with whom he clearly maintained a close relationship; according to Garriga, it is not clear whether or not she was the mother of his biological son, Jeroni Pau d’Alberges. Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo died on 4 March 1588.

III. ARTISTIC WORK IN TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL AND ARCHDIOCESE

Painting was Montalbergo’s main professional activity over the forty years he spent in Catalonia, from 1548 to 1588. His artistic career can be traced and approached from the small collection of his thirteen preserved works. His first commission seems to be the Doors and painting of the positive organ in the Church of Saints Justus and Pastor (Barcelona), which he carried out alone on 7 July 1549. This piece, which has not survived, encouraged the Chapter of Tarragona to entrust him with making the doors on the central casing, along with the curtains on the loft of the organ and on the positive organ on 9 November 1563.

As well as this key project, the canons gave him other, less significant projects, such as the pictorial decoration and gilding of the pipes on the cathedral’s organ on 3 November 1566. His task was to embellish the outer horizontal pipes for a fee of two hundred Catalan pounds. The result was the ‘en chamade’, or horizontal trumpet, which survived until 1927 and was decorated in the canonry library. In 1566, Montalbergo also gilded and polychromed the sculptures of Saint Michael and the Guardian Angel, images crafted

by Perris Ostris, for one hundred and eighty Catalan pounds; before, they sat under canopies, ‘[...] in pedis altaris majoris sedis [...]’, but now, they are displayed without the canopies on the frontispiece flanking the pinnacles on the cathedral’s main altar.

Two more possible interventions complete the picture of Montalbergo’s presence in the Archdiocese of Tarragona. One may have concerned the renovation of the main altarpiece in Prioral de Reus Church, sculpted by Perris Ostris, of Austrian origins, in 1576. The proposal to make the most of the existing altarpiece and enlarge it was ruled out, and a new one was made instead.

The jurors for the potential intervention project appointed painters Isaac Hermes Vermey and

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Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo to supervise the design commissioned to painter Pere Guitart, who had created the eight large panel paintings that made up the ill-fated Renaissance altarpiece, which were saved in 1936. Once the commission was made, it was decided that the carpentry work would also be designed by Pere Guitart, but Montalbergo did not want Guitart to take care of the painting aspect.

The second piece possibly related to the painter from Forneglio del Monferrato is the Resurrection Altarpiece from Sant Jaume de Vallespinosa Church made in 1582 and attributed to him by Joaquim Garriga, as the five mixed-media panel paintings preserved at the Diocesan Museum reveal a host of similarities between the Resurrection Altarpiece and the cloths on the cathedral organ.

IV. MONTALBERGO, PAINTER OF THE ORGAN CLOTHS

a) The contract On 9 September 1563, commissioners Rafel Joan Gili, archdeacon of Vila-seca, and Jaume Amigó provide information to the Cathedral Chapter on the procedures carried out in Barcelona with painters Pere Serafí and Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo. They were then empowered to sign the contract, mentioned in a much later publication

by Salvador Sanpere Miquel (1901–1902). The Chapter Minutes from the Cathedral Archive record all the procedures involved in making the organ casing and painting the cloths: contracts, incidents, payments, acquisitions, etc.

The contract was signed by Pere Serafí and Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo, who had worked together on other occasions, and not always harmoniously. Pere Blai I, a general contractor from Barcelona and father of the famous architect of the same name, acted as a witness. Although both appear as contractors on the project, both later documents issued by the Tarragona Cathedral Chapter referring to the manufacturing of the organ – most of which were cited by Sanç Capdevila i Felip – and observation of the stylistic characteristics of the surviving paintings suggest that Serafí was not involved and assign authorship of the piece exclusively to Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo. In fact, all payments and the final settlement for the work carried out – to the Chapter’s full satisfaction – on 9 March 1565 are received and signed by just Montalbergo. From the contract onwards, Serafí is not mentioned anywhere, not even in the preliminary agreements, but Montalbergo is included, and would go on to be paid for the project and referred to in the singular as Petro Paulo.

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

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The agreements established that the doors were to be painted ‘in fine colours’, both inside and outside, and that the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary was to be depicted in two parts, with the Archangel on one door and the Virgin on the other. The interior canvases would represent the Nativity of the Lord and the Resurrection, each with the relevant figures, ornamentation and setting for these scenes. They also agreed to paint the loft curtain to cover the façade pipes with the same quality and chromatic tones with depictions of the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity. The curtain on the positive organ was to portray the Virgin Mary, in the middle, and Saint Thecla and Saint Catherine on the sides. To carry out this iconographic programme, the Chapter was to provide the canvases, or cloths, while the colours,

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transport to Tarragona and installation on the organ were the painters’ responsibility. The contract stipulated that the work would be carried out over eight months, which could be extended to a year, and that three hundred Catalan pounds would be paid for the finished work: one hundred at the mid-point of the project and the rest once the cloths were installed and examined by experts. b) General characteristics of the pictorial piece Michelangelo’s Last Judgement and the elegant, pleasant forms of Raphael's creations, including those found in palaces and churches, fascinated Montalbergo before he moved to Catalonia, where, through a single maniera, he combined the two trends that evoked the Roman figurative culture of the mid-sixteenth century and would condition his painting style. This was a period in which many followers of both Renaissance painters tended to fuse references to them to create one single eclectic style. Below is a summary of the characteristics that define Montalbergo’s painting style: Technique. Montalbergo’s preferred technique was tempera, with no preliminary preparation on the canvas, although he has also used oil paint (Santa Cecília Altarpiece, Sant Miquel Church, Barcelona), and mixed media (Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Sant Miquel Church, Malla, near Vic).

Drawing. A notable characteristic of the painter’s drawings is the linear imitation to emphasise the contours of the figures’ anatomies and architectural reproductions. He may have been inspired by certain engravings by Alberch Dürer and Cornelis Cort, though only models of Italian prints evoking Roman figurative culture in the mid-sixteenth century have been formally recognised.

Anatomy of the figures. Imprecise open hands and sloppy, unequal modulation of anatomical features, in contrast to the original print sources from which he took inspiration. However, the adaptable, majestic design of the figures in contrapposto evokes the Roman figurative world.

Gestural solutions. The so-called attitudini, or postures, were studied by Montalbergo before he started work on the cloths (1563–1565); he contemplated original work by the great Renaissance masters in situ and carefully examined their etchings and prints. From these sources, he selected, complemented and adapted the specific solutions that best fit his project (architectures, figures, landscapes) to guarantee overall harmony and monumentality, as achieved on these cloths.

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Clothing. Montalbergo’s clothing is ostentatious and grandiose. The typical tight, metallic pleats that appear in Alberch Dürer’s engravings are simplified and made substantially lighter in Montalbergo’s paintings, in accordance with the Italian style.

Pigments. When it comes to use of colour, Montalbergo’s Italian roots are obvious; he opted for the light, bright colours of the Venetian School.

He focused more on chromatic values and impact than on drawing, unlike his colleague Pere Serafí, thus achieving a more diligent resolution in his application of colour, with slightly muted tones.

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Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, once restored

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Composition. He singles out and separates the figures, refines the layout of the spaces they occupy, and calibrates their depth, organising them in a tiered formation. For the backgrounds, he chooses cities in perspective and scenery that evokes Lombardy to finish off the composition. c) Description of the scenes painted on the cloths ANNUNCIATION BY THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL TO THE VIRGIN MARY

This tempera painted piece occupies the whole outer surface of the two closed door leaves (7 x

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9.26 m). The scene is demarcated by two Corinthian columns – coherent with the architecture of the organ – that depict a host of different musical instruments, which alternate with the occasional mitre, stole and choirbook, instead of the traditional military trophies popular in the Renaissance. The columns initiate a series of parallel lines that evoke the verticality of the other architectural supports at the sides, which hold up round arches and define an open composition on an infinite backdrop; the space is interrupted by the partition that structures the room into two spaces, also delineated by the large central column, an element that splits the composition into two with perfect symmetry, thus hiding the join between the door leaves. On the left door leaf, we find the Archangel Gabriel, and on the right, the Virgin Mary, both placed in a hypothetical semipyramidal configuration.

The episode is situated in a splendid, powerful, classicist interior setting, parallels with which could be drawn with the architecture depicted in Italian prints, though there are also architectural similarities with the engravings of Alberch Dürer: two round arcades with diamond coffered soffit stretch out the depth of the room, which opens up onto a faraway background landscape of mountains, rivers, a bridge and seemingly Lombard cities, where the vanishing point is found.

The Salutatio was created by Montalbergo through two sequences. The lower one depicts Gabriel the messenger in the foreground, on a seat of clouds and dressed in flowing, sheer clothes, appearing in front of Mary of Nazareth, who was preparing to pray. Mary appears semikneeling on a prie-dieu, in a slight contrapposto position with a startled expression. The porticoed, half-open side of the prie-dieu reveals shelves with prayer books: a Flemish pictorial method defined by a desire not to draw attention to any object visible to the person contemplating the painting. The upper sequence is dominated by the image of God the Father, half the length of whom is depicted in heavenly clouds accompanied by cherubs. This other messenger raises his arms, exhales and sends the Holy Spirit to put a child in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The reproduction of the marriage bed behind the Virgin is to be related to her categorical response to the Archangel’s message.

From a stylistic point of view, it is worth noting the linear imitation of the drawing, evident through the architecture and the anatomical contours of both figures, which stand out due to their bright colours (blues, yellows, pinks) among the colour symphony of earth, grey and green

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pigments. A lack of skill is displayed in the outline of the Archangel’s hands and the exaggeration of the anatomical volumes shown on the Virgin’s legs; these drawing irregularities are a constant in Montalbergo’s paintings. Another notable feature is the contrast of the characters’ gestural expressions or attitudini: majestic, floating, friendly, in the case of Gabriel, compared to the startled look on the Virgin’s face. Both are dressed in lavish clothes with puffed out creases, though subtly simplified and made lighter in the Italian style, unlike the billowing clothing depicted by northern European painters and engravers from the Flemish and Dutch traditions.

The composition comes together in an interior space where the figures appear in their own section, communicating through their gazes and steeped in a host of staging elements reproduced gradually in perspective back towards the vanishing point, indicated by the bright, ethereal landscape in the background, seemingly evoking the Lombardy region. The aforementioned chromatic ranges – with alternating cold and warm pigments – are part of the commitment expressed in the contract to paint using bright, subtle, ‘fine colours’.

NATIVITY OF JESUS AND ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS

This is the scene painted on the inner cloth on the left door leaf (7 x 4.63 m) using the tempera technique. It depicts the birth of Jesus, accompanied

by Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. The figurative composition is structured around a succession of two hypothetical juxtaposed semicircles, where the painter situates the protagonists of this episode; behind, the powerful Roman columns act as a counterpoint to the curvature of the figures’ attitudini and accentuate the verticality of their parallel lines, which slope towards the side ornaments that frame the bright background.

The Nativity takes place on a grandiose half-built architectural stage covered with wooden roof trusses that sit on top of the cornice; meanwhile, the rear part of the stable remains open and reveals scenery similar to that of the Annunciation.

The overall composition is split into three planes: in the foreground is the Virgin Mary, dressed in a pink tunic, alluding to the mystery of the Incarnation, and covered with a lavish, striking blue cloak, a symbol of celestial realities, which she lets drag on the floor to cushion the naked body of her baby son, adored by the first shepherd, who appears in a semi-kneeling position. Given the prominent position of this character, it could be a self-portrait of Montalbergo. In the middle ground, next to the

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door to the makeshift stable, another shepherd and Saint Joseph – dressed in clothes from the time – stand beside the bull and the donkey. The scene is completed by the Annunciation to the shepherds, made up of two wanderers in typical clothing who, with a surprised expression, look up to the overcast, leaden sky, where a young angel appears floating and holding a phylactery, in allusion to the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bone voluntatis. Behind the shepherds, we can glimpse castle-like constructions, against the light and in the distance, which rise up over their respective hills, separated by a river.

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Nativity of Jesus and annunciation to the shepherds, once restored

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In the Nativity and Annunciation to the shepherds scenes, Montalbergo repeats the same features, in terms of drawing; range of sharp, lustrous colours; tiered, rhythmic composition; and appropriate distribution of the figures in the tight space afforded to them, though there is the occasional anatomical irregularity or malformation, such as the semi-kneeling shepherd’s femur and the Virgin Mary’s left hand and thighs.

Despite these anomalies, it is worth highlighting the beauty of the classicist face of Mary, whose hair is gathered, like Venus, in the style of the Flavian era.

The figurative source of the shepherd in the foreground may be the print Saint Ambrose barring Emperor Theodosius from the church, an anonymous engraving from Marcoantonio Raimondi’s workshop, or another anonymous engraving depicting Diogenes from the engraver Bonassone, from 1555. The Virgin Mary, meanwhile, seems to be based on the image of the Nativity by the aforementioned engraver, taken from the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ series, though Montalbergo may also have taken inspiration from La Perla, by Rafael.

RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

This is the scene painted on the inner cloth on the right door leaf (7 x 4.63 m). The episode is framed by a border made up of trefoils, foils, and sprouting leaves around the perimeter. The Resurrection is represented at the moment when Jesus leaves the tomb. In the foreground, we find two soldiers dressed in Roman attire: one has his buckler at his feet and is sitting in front of the tomb and sleeping, his head resting on his right arm on the edge of the tomb slab. He is wearing a galea, a reddish woollen lacerna or cloak, a yellow shirt with gold edging at the hem, a mauve-coloured skirt and green (not red, which was reserved for senators) calceus shoes fastened with straps. In fact, sandals became the preferred footwear as Rome adapted to Greek customs. The other soldier is sitting on his cloak on the floor, apparently protecting himself with his buckler on his left arm.

He is barefoot and wearing white breeches, a blue shirt and a helmet like that of his colleague, while behind him on the ground is his gladius, a small sword used by gladiators. In the middle ground, there are two more soldiers. The one on the left, with his head turned, wearing white breeches, a blue skirt and a yellowish cloak, is looking on, astonished, as a body floats over the grave supposed to contain the body they were guarding, the tomb slab ajar. This character may correspond to the figure of Theodosius, by the anonymous en-

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graver from the Marcoantonio Raimondi school.

Meanwhile, the one on the right, standing up in a contrapposto position, holds his gladius, and is wearing a protective galea.

The background is a bright, clear sky in which the semi-nude body of the resuscitated Christ is levitating, holding a processional banner with a cross motif, and blessing those on the ground as he rises up to heaven. Montalbergo has highlighted the whitish mauve fabric of the shroud billowing in the wind, along with the standard flying in the vast, bright sky, or heaven, surrounded by a crown of clouds. The alternation between warm

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Resurrection of Jesus Christ, once restored

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and cold colours is suitable for this representation, as is the upside-down pyramid structure of the scene. The same cannot be said for the anatomical execution or the canon of the figures, which, once again, display the usual anomalies found in Montalbergo’s paintings, including a tendency to draw the legs too high, in this case the sleeping soldier’s and Christ’s thighs. The left soldier’s and Christ’s open hands and the right soldier’s arm holding the buckler are also of mediocre quality.

V. CONCLUSIONS

Although Pere Serafí and Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo had previously worked together, apparently with the occasional disagreement, the Chapter Minutes and an observation of the stylistic characteristics of the preserved paintings lead us to rule out Serafí’s involvement in painting the cloths for Tarragona Cathedral’s organ and to assign authorship of the piece exclusively to Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo.

The three scenes painted on the cloths on the organ’s doors and on the curtains on the positive organ and on the loft of the instrument evoke features of various figurative sequences from midsixteenth-century Rome, a period in which many followers of Michelangelo and Raphael attempted to combine these two masters’ figurative models in one eclectic style, known as Mannerism.

It must be noted that, when painting the doors for the cathedral organ, Montalbergo took direct inspiration from graphic models deriving from prints by Marcoantonio Raimondi, Giulio Bonassone and other engravers and artists from Roman circles, as well as from the occasional northern European engraver.

Finally, we must remember his key role in Catalan art’s stylistic transformation in the second half of the sixteenth century towards the Renaissance style, due to his personal and commercial connections with Italian booksellers and printers.

Montalbergo was a daring, highly commendable pioneer in Italianising figurative models in Catalonia during his lifetime, thus becoming a persistent, efficient link between Catalan artistic production and Italian models from the same period.

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Inside of the cathedral. The organ with its doors open, 1960. © 2015 Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic - im. 05305001 (photo Gudiol-43524 / 1960)

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CONSERVATION-RESTORATION INTERVENTION This conservation-restoration project is a huge heritage preservation challenge, to which the Tarragona Cathedral Chapter and the Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia have dedicated a great deal of effort and resources, working together over a long period to achieve the goal of returning the organ doors to their original placement and preserving their function.

Of course, a project of this magnitude required an exhaustive technical study, carried out by a multidisciplinary team of professionals, which in turn determined the conservation-restoration methodology to follow. Meanwhile, sponsorship was essential for the whole project to be carried out in optimal conditions. This was provided by financial contributions from the Cathedral Chapter itself, along with grants from the Government of

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

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Inside of the cathedral. The organ with its doors closed, 1925. © 2015 Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic - im. 05304006 (photo Mas C-43978 / 1925)

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Catalonia, the Fundació Privada Mútua Catalana and the Provincial Council of Tarragona, in the final phase.

In February 2012, when the Heritage representatives for the Archbishopric of Tarragona requested advice from the CRBMC, a first assessment of the piece was made. At that time, the doors were detached from the organ and propped up vertically, one in front of the other, against the railings on the Cardona chapel, on the Gospel side of the cathedral.

This first visit was the basis for a first phase of collaboration, the purpose of which was to gather as much information as possible on the history of the organ: the chest, the pipes, the sculptural work and, specifically, the doors (and their painted cloths). As mentioned above, the doors were studied in depth by Joaquim Gar-

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riga (†), who advocated, in line with the CRBMC’s and the Cathedral Chapter’s conclusions, for the recovery of the whole organ and the return of the paintings (doors) to either side of the central body of the instrument. It was also important to gather information from oral testimonies from the procedures undergone by the doors (dismantling and lowering to the ground, how the mechanism worked, etc.). The dismantling procedure was carried out while the cathedral was being restored, as part of the Cathedral Plan, and coincided with the installation of the new instrument created by Verschueren Orgelbouw Heythuysen, or VOH. Furthermore, an intervention project was already under way on the sculptural elements of the organ, under the supervision of conservatorrestorer Jesús Mendiola.

Therefore, in this first study and information gathering phase, it became clear that, due to the diverse components that affect the organ doors and their complexity, this was a clear example of a conservation-restoration project that required involvement from a multidisciplinary team that could bring a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to the table.

I. GRAPHIC DEPICTING THE FINAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM

The team had to do everything in its power to return the doors (and their four painted cloths) to their original position on the organ, once they had been stabilised and restored, while preserving as many original elements as possible, recovering their aesthetic and devotional message, and ensuring their liturgical function (opening to reveal the organ and closing).

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The organ without its doors, before intervention

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II. PRECEDENTS AND SIMILAR CASES

The approach to the project was governed by a policy of intervening as little as possible and respecting all the elements that make up the organ, its history and its usage, with a view to ensuring maximum stability and preserving it for generations to come.

Experience and information from previous similar projects were priceless for this intervention.

This is why, when approaching this project, we assessed previous interventions in which we participated directly and looked for information and advice on projects carried out by other professionals.

General framework of the project / Multidisciplinary team

Paintings on canvas

Team of 4 conservator-restorers specialized in painting on canvas and large dimensions

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Strainers

Specialist in construction of strainers, structures and heritage works.

Conservator-restorer

Structure, anchors

Engineer or architect, structural consultant

Opening and closing mechanism

Specialized watchmaker

Logistics

Company specialized in transporting works of art

Scientists, historians, photographers, organist, organ builder, specialist in preventive conservation and collaborators

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One of our own similar projects was the restoration of the organ doors from Cadaqués Parish Church (CRBMC reg. no. 2452 and 2455), which took place in 1987–1989. The project involved oil paintings on canvas from the eighteenth century (3.73 x 1.75 m), and our intervention meant that they could be kept in their original position.

However, the treatment used on the canvas greatly increased the paintings’ weight, which was a situation we wanted to avoid in Tarragona. We also strove to avoid a result like that of the organ doors in Barcelona Cathedral; in this case, the doors had to be dismantled and their cloths hung on the wall as paintings, separate from the organ.

Another relevant project was the intervention on the doors to the main altarpiece in Sant Pau Church, Zaragoza. For many years, the cloths on these doors seemed to be going the same way as those in Barcelona Cathedral; they were attached to stretchers and hung on the church’s walls.

Fortunately, through a project carried out by the Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain (IPCE), they were returned to the altarpiece and recovered their previous role as liturgical doors. We would like to thank conservator-restorers Rocío Bruquetas, Ana Carrasón and Cristina Sala for all the information and experience from this complex intervention they have shared with us.

We have also gathered information from another current project on a similar piece: the organ doors in Perpignan Cathedral (also from the sixteenth century). This intervention is still being carried out, and the conservators from Monuments Historiques DRAC Occitanie, who are leading the project, contacted the CRBMC for advice. It has been interesting for us to see that their course of action has followed a similar path to ours for the Tarragona organ, with the same purpose of recovering the doors’ original function.

III. PRELIMINARY PLAN

When writing up a preliminary plan, we faced a series of difficulties: the doors had already been removed from their original placement, and none of the process was documented; the large dimensions of the piece made the whole intervention a challenge; and, finally, as one of the door leaves was resting on the other, it was impossible to examine the four painted cloths, the state of the wooden structures (the stretchers) and the hinges.

As for the opening and closing mechanism, it was evident that all the functional elements remained, although they had been inoperative for a time. Meanwhile, the door anchoring components on the organ and on the wall seemed well preserved and did not present any irreversible deterio-

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ration. However, a final assessment by specialist professionals was needed.

From the preliminary diagnosis examination, the results of the first surface cleaning tests and the results of the first physico-chemical analyses, we drew up a preliminary plan and a guide cost estimate. The first cleaning tests could only be carried out on the painting on the door that could be accessed: the right door, depicting the Virgin Mary.

From what could be seen of the stretchers, some deformations in the cloth were down to problems with some of the posts and crossbars. The metal elements applied to parts of the perimeter to strengthen the structure signalled that the stretchers were in poor condition.

As for the cloths, apart from the aforementioned visible deformations and some rips, their general state of conservation was quite satisfactory. In general, their function as a base for the painting was still being fulfilled. The pictorial layer still presented good adhesion to the cloth and cohesion, but there were some large areas with paint loss, some of which had been repainted, and a thick layer of darkened varnish that distorted and camouflaged the piece’s aesthetic message.

IV. CONSIDERATIONS

In order to avoid handling the door leaves excessively before documenting and examining them exhaustively and to avoid losing any information, it was decided that the cloths would be examined attached to their stretchers and the relevant scientific analyses would be carried out. For this reason, we decided to carry out the conservationrestoration in situ, and to begin the intervention phases with the cloths on the door leaves in their natural position: vertical.

When the intervention began, the plan was still not finalised, as it was subject to the evolution of the diagnosis and test results as we gained access to all the parts and components of the piece (stretchers, back of the cloths, hinges, etc.).

As well as a team of conservator-restorers specialising in large-scale paintings on canvas, who led the project, we needed an expert in structural calculation to make a diagnosis, to reinforce the door anchors on the organ and to design new stretchers. A carpenter who specialised in large structures would take care of making the stretchers. To implement the door opening and closing mechanism, the watchmaker specialising in organ mechanisms had completed a first repair phase, before the organ’s new pipes were installed. To begin the project, we also needed a specialist in the logistics and movement of large works of art, who would help to plan all opera-

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ANALYTICAL TABLE AND RESULTS Scene: RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Location where sample was taken

Analysis technique

Results

M.1. Stretcher wood

Optical microscopy at 200x / Wood comparison

Linden wood from the original stretchers (Tilia cordata Mill). The cross-wise section presents radii of two different sizes, with diffused semicircular porosity and both individual and grouped pores.

In the radial section, we can see helicoidal enlargements along the veins, which confirms that this is linden wood.

Tangential section

Cross-wise section

M.7. Stretcher wood

Binocular microscope at 10x

Insects: common furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum)

M. 3-4. Cloth

Binocular microscope. Fibre comparison

The fibres analysed from the cloths on which the four paintings were carried out are bast fibres: flax and hemp.

The same goes for the fibres from the protection tape in the riveted area.

Back of the sample at 20x

Front at 20x

Optical microscope

Stratigraphy at 50x M. 32. Yellow polychrome taken from the reverse

Fibres at 200x

Binocular microscope

Front of the sample at 50x Optical microscope

Stratigraphy at 200x Stratigraphy with ultraviolet light Micro-FTIR

µFTIR spectrum — PbSn I yellow pattern — PbSn II yellow pattern

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The yellow pigment is made from lead and tin, used from the fourteenth to the mid-eighteenth century.

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ANALYTICAL TABLE AND RESULTS Scene: ANNUNCIATION BY THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL TO THE VIRGIN MARY

Location where sample was taken M.1. Varnish (tiled floor)

Analysis technique

Results

Micro-FTIR

The varnish applied to the entire surface is an alkyd/ polyester resin.

FTIR spectrum M.6. Blue pigment

Binocular microscope Optical microscope

The sample is made up of azurite blue and gypsum.

Front of the sample at 30x Stratigraphy at 500x with UV light Micro-FTIR

µFTIR spectrum

ANALYTICAL TABLE AND RESULTS Scene:

Location where sample was taken M.9. White polychrome (Jesus’s cushion)

NATIVITY OF JESUS AND ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS

Analysis technique

Results

Binocular microscope Optical microscope.

A μFTIR analysis of the sample indicates that it is made up of gypsum and carbonates, probably bound together with a protein-based substance, given the bands located at 1650 cm-1 and 1550 cm-1, which belong to the amide bonds with the proteins.

Front of the sample at 50x

Stratigraphy at 200x with UV light

Micro-FTIR

µFTIR spectrum — Gypsum pattern — Carbonates pattern — Protein-based binder band

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tions to move the art, the infrastructure for working vertically and accessibility measures at height for when the doors would be installed in their final position on the organ.

V. THE INTERVENTION PROCESS. Diagnosis phase

and physico-chemical analyses The intervention began with an exhaustive study of the paintings, an all-important examination carried out by the conservator-restorer team, and an analysis of the piece under different light spectrums (UV, IR and raking light). Alongside this, samples were taken from each painting to determine the nature of the materials and the strata that made up the pieces through optical microscopy and FTIR analysis. Finally, the study included various physico-chemical tests, such as solubility tests, to check the polychrome’s reactivity to aqueous systems and solvents.

The light spectrum analysis revealed two important pieces of information: The ultraviolet light confirmed a significant quantity of discol-

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Analysis with UV light. Photograph of the scene Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, in which we can see the irregular way in which the varnish was applied

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During the photographic documentation process

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oured, invasive repainted and varnished layers that hid the original polychrome. Meanwhile, the infra-red light revealed that, although Montalbergo largely remained faithful to his preliminary drawings, in some cases he corrected them to adjust the figures to the architectural framing of the background. One notable case is the Archangel Gabriel scene, on which the IR study uncovered a preparatory drawing on the upper left part that was totally different from the final result: underneath where we see God the Father, there are floral and plant motifs that have nothing to do with the scene.

The raking light examination showed that the cloths presented a number of deformations, caused by various factors such as extreme relative humidity and temperature and, above all, the poor condition of the wood of the rigid frame (the stretchers) on which the cloths were nailed.

A comparative analysis of the fibres in the cloths determined that they were bast fibres (flax or hemp). The four canvases, which measure 7.00 x 4.65 m, are each made up of five pieces of cloth sewn together with vertical stitches. The plain weave cloth is made of Z-twist threads and has a density of 10 x 12 per centimetre. The cloths are nailed to the wooden stretchers via the front with

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two parallel rows of rivets all around the perimeter, except for the right side of the Annunciation by the Archangel canvas, where there is just one row of rivets. The rivets are applied with a strip of ribbon between them and the cloth, acting as a protective measure. As well as the rivets, the canvas is glued to the wood all around the perimeters with animal protein glue.

The cloths presented some tears, rips and holes, as well as the aforementioned deformations. The areas with the most deterioration were the parts in contact with rust from the rivets and the iron hinges, which made holes in the material.

According to a comparative wood fibre analysis, the structure was made of linden wood (tilia cordata mill), as indicated by the radial characteristics of diffused semicircular porosity with helicoidal enlargements along the veins. Linden wood is particularly weak to fungi and insects; it is therefore strange that this was the wood chosen for the door structure. It was probably used due to its light weight.

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Closeup of the Virgin Mary figure in the Annunciation scene, during an infra-red photography study

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The structure of the two stretchers was made up of two vertical, three horizontal and three diagonal crossbars. The battens were 12 cm wide and 4 cm thick, and both dovetail and half lap joints were used.

The state of conservation of the stretchers was very poor, due to a colony of xylophagous insects (anobium punctatum) that had consumed the inside of most of the wood, leaving it with burrows, empty, powdery, brittle and soft in many areas.

The wood was so fragile that some posts were broken and about to collapse, especially on the right door leaf, where an emergency repair had been made, consisting of metal plates that had not been successful in reinforcing the structure.

Each door leaf was equipped with five hinges.

The two hinges on the upper part of both doors were slightly longer than the others: 167 x 10 cm, and were fixed with rivets. From a conservation perspective, these presented the most rust, probably from being in direct contact with water from leakages. The other hinges were slightly shorter: 157 x 10 cm.

The laboratory analysis results determined that the pictorial technique used was a tempera with protein-based binder and pigments, most of which are inorganic. This information contradicts most previous sources, which assumed that it was an oil painting. The paint was applied to the canvas with no significant preparatory layer. A preliminary layer of glue and water was probably applied to make the cloth somewhat impermeable and suitable for painting.

As for materials added in previous interventions, the analyses revealed thick, discoloured layers of an alkyd resin, which was hiding losses from the original pictorial layer. This material made it much more difficult to identify the binder used in the pictorial technique in the laboratory, as it tests positive for fatty acids, which are also present in oil paint. The resin was applied shoddily, in a thick, irregular layer with large vertical drips.

The losses from the pictorial layer were highly irregular in terms of areas and colours; the most damaged parts were those made up of blue pigments and the architectural backgrounds in all three scenes. In the areas where the polychrome was preserved, it was highly eroded and inconsistent, due to loss or damage to the binder. The cause of this kind of alteration is almost certainly human. In this case, cleaning may have been carried out with solvents that were too aggressive (due to their high polarity or ability to dissolve intramolecular bonds) or with aqueous solutions of a pH that was too acidic or basic.

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Photograph with raking light. We can see hinges with nails and deformations in the cloth, due to breakages in the stretcher, and some rips. There are also signs of losses of the pictorial layer, darkened varnish and accumulated dirt

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

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Treatment process a) Cleaning the pictorial surface To determine the most appropriate and harmless aqueous solution for cleaning the pictorial surface, first, the pH and conductivity of the surface were measured. With the data obtained from these tests, it was decided that the pH of the cleaning solution could be no more than one unit higher than the pH of the surface, and that the conductivity was to be kept below 3 mS to make sure the binder was preserved. The pictorial layer cleaning process to remove the accumulated inorganic dirt was therefore carried out with a buffer solution with pH 8, an ionic concentration of around 1 mS and a chelating agent added. The result was a slightly ionising solution used to weaken the alkyd varnish that would later be removed. To control how much it penetrated and spread across the surface, a gel system with hydroxypropylcellulose (Klucel® G) was used.

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Removal of the original rivets.

Photo: David Silvestre

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Remains of the wood with insect excrement. Photo: David Silvestre

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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.

Photo: David Silvestre

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Close-up of varnish removal process using gel polar solvent system.

Photo: David Silvestre

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The discoloured and damaged layers of varnish from previous interventions were removed with a polar mixture of solvents (isoctane and acetone 10:90), with 5% benzyl alcohol added. This mixture breaks the intermolecular bonds created between the alkyd resin and the tempera polychrome, thus causing the layer to expand.

The resin can then be removed physically with a swab. The dangers involved in the penetration and diffusion of polar solvents have been minimised through the application of the mixture as a gel, using a solvent surfactant gel , according to Richard Wolbers’s formulae. b) Consolidation of canvas To treat the frames of the four canvases, the cloths needed to be removed and rolled up into cylinders in a highly delicate process, in which a team of ten specialists participated.

The process consisted of gradually removing 3,000 rivets and replacing them with clamps to hold the cloths on the stretchers temporarily.

Once the rivets were removed, the upper part of the cloths was clamped to a horizontal bar, so that it could be taken down vertically with the help of two pulleys. Meanwhile, the cloths were rolled into cylinders. This procedure was then repeated backwards, once the consolidation had been carried out, so that the presentation system could be executed vertically in two phases (varnish and pictorial reintegration.

Once the paintings were removed from the rigid structure, the treatment was carried out horizontally. Prior to this, the back surface was cleaned with micro and macro vacuum cleaning.

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Process of removing the first cloth from the right door leaf.

The back of the Resurrection and the stretcher can be accessed for the first time

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Consolidation process on the cloth. Localised treatment of the perimeter before the reinforcement strips are applied. Photo: Voravit Roonthiva

— Any deformations were minimised through the application of pressure, moisture and controlled heat.

The canvas consolidation operation consisted of sewing up all rips, via thread-by-thread tear repair, where possible, and of the application of flax fibres and cloth grafts to holes and losses in the fabric. A sturgeon glue and wheat starch based adhesive, hot spatulas and micro-welders were used. The largest rips were reinforced beforehand with polyester gauze and silk crepeline, depending on the area, and long flax threads were attached with a vinyl acetate based thermoplastic glue: Beva® 371. To make sure the cloth was taught, flax fabric reinforcements were applied around the perimeter with the same glue. c) Presentation system The varnishing and chromatic reintegration phases were carried out with the cloths in their vertical position. For the protective varnish layer, after a series of tests, an aliphatic resin of little molecular weight was chosen: Regalrez®1094.

René de la Rie’s studies demonstrated that it remains highly stable over time (it does not oxidise) and is reversible, as it cannot polymerise until it links up in large chains.

Meanwhile, the chromatic reintegration was carried out following strict criteria, through vertical line hatching that was visible from close range but not from a distance. With the optical effect created by the hatching, the aesthetic message was recovered and the representation

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Right door leaf with the original stretcher and the back of the Resurrection visible, once the Virgin Mary cloth from the Annunciation scene was dismantled and rolled up. Reinforcements have been made to the stretcher to avoid collapse

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was completed, while ensuring maximum respect for the original painting and the painter, so as not to create a false historical artefact. Gamblin® paints, based on pure pigments bound by a ureaaldehyde resin of low molecular weight, were used for this process as they are highly stable and reversible. d) New stretchers Having witnessed the poor condition of the wooden stretchers, and considering the significant physico-mechanical requirements involved, the team decided that the original stretchers needed to be replaced, as the doors were large and had to hold huge canvases; adaptations needed to be made to fit the old, warped organ casing; and the opening and closing system needed to be as secure as possible.

Once various options and materials had been studied, new wooden stretchers were designed, with a slightly improved geometry that would ensure the forces and tensions deriving from the dimensions, weight (200 kg for each door leaf)

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The conservatorrestorers during the pictorial reintegration process. Photo: David Silvestre

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DClose-up of the reinforcement suture system used to repair a rip. Photo: David Silvestre

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Close-up photos before and after the restoration process

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and movement of the doors would be distributed more evenly.

Another improvement made was the type of wood selected to construct the new structures.

Canadian red cedar wood was chosen (Thuja plicata D. Don Syn) thanks to its stability and resistance to xylophagous insect and fungus infestations, even in humidities of more than 70%. Meanwhile, the original metal hinges were maintained, once they had been stabilised and treated to facilitate their anchoring and movement functions. e) Measuring and trial with prototype The doors’ poor state of conservation, with visible structural deformations resulting from ageing and having been sitting on the ground for years, caused a series of problems. Furthermore, as the exact measurements of the organ casing on which the doors were to be fitted were unknown, a topographical analysis was carried out with a drone. This allowed the team to examine the geometry of the area where the door leaves would be installed and determine the position of all the hinges on the front and sides of the piece. It was also confirmed that the centre of the organ casing presented some deformation due to the natural movement of the wood over the centuries.

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Drone DJI s900 with Panasonic GH4 camera and 24 mm lens.

Drone pilot: Xavier Ollé

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Topographical plan of the front of the organ.

Topographical engineer: Daniel Santos

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Topographical plan of the side of the organ.

Topographical engineer: Daniel Santos

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Daniel Santos taking measures and marking control points. Through the Trimble 5503 DR Total Station

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In order to adapt to these variables and reduce any problems during the final assembly to a minimum, preliminary tests were carried out with wood prototypes. Thanks to these tests, we could make the necessary corrections to the design of the new stretchers, check that the two geometries fitted together, make sure the hinges could carry the weight of the doors, take precise measurements of the position of the hinges, and determine the overall dimensions and geometry of the new stretchers. The prototypes were also an opportunity for the watchmaker, who had already restored the opening and closing mechanism before the organ pipes were installed, to make any necessary adjustments to the size of the cables, the speed of the system and how wide the doors would open.

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f) Installing the doors definitively The final installation of the two door leaves on either side of the organ was carried out on a large scaffolding structure, with a central platform and two towers on the sides. The two stretchers, made in the carpenter’s workshop, arrived unassembled at Tarragona Cathedral, so they had to be assembled in a vertical position, resting on the two side towers.

First, one of the stretchers, on which the five original hinges had been adapted, was assembled. These hinges were joined with the hinges on the organ with stainless steel door pins to replace the originals, which had been lost. The same process was then applied to the second stretcher.

Once the team had confirmed that the installation of the two stretchers was sound, and once open-

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Tests being carried out with stretcher prototypes, to make sure they are anchored properly. Measures being taken and opening and closing mechanism being checked

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During tests to check the opening and closing system with the prototype

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Reinforcement of the anchoring on the doors. Photo: David Silvestre

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Sketch of the design for the two new stretchers with the definitive geometry and measurements.

Plan: Jordi Payola

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ing and closing tests had been carried out on both door leaves to balance and align them correctly, the four cloths were installed. For this operation, they were raised up to the platform, while rolled into cylinders, via a route designed when the scaffolding was being put up. The cloths were fastened to the stretchers with stainless steel staples, with a protective strip of ribbon between the original painting and the staples.

The different specialists on the project worked together harmoniously for the final installation process.

VI. PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION

Preventive conservation activities are designed to prevent, avoid and/or minimise the effects of the risks to which heritage artefacts are exposed, through the application of the appropriate measures and adjustments to their environment.

In this case, the Preventive Conservation Department of the CRBMC has identified and assessed the deterioration agents involved in this project and decided on action to be taken as a priority to preserve the organ’s doors and the rest of the piece. As tempera paintings are involved, and this technique is highly sensitive to light, the priority is to control the light and environmental conditions around them.

We are aware that it would be impossible to control all these factors in one fell swoop, that we need more data and that these two areas are

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Scaffolding being built, with a platform and two side towers, to install the doors on the organ

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Stretcher assembly process.

The team is working on the scaffolding platform then assembling them vertically, with support from the towers

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extremely broad and require input from different professionals. For this reason, the activities should be carried out in phases, according to the resources available.

The main priority is controlling the natural light coming through the windows and the time the piece is exposed to both natural and artificial light. Meanwhile, we need to conduct the necessary studies to collect data that will help us to find an efficient, sustainable solution to control the climate in the building.

As a future project, to complete the conservation activities on the organ, a conservation-restoration project will be carried out on the curtains on the positive organ and on the organ loft, which have been held by the Diocesan Museum of Tarragona for years. These two paintings remained rolled up in their position on the organ and were unfurled on the days when the organ doors were closed and the musical pipes were covered for liturgical purposes.

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The two stretchers installed in their final positions

The team working on installing the door leaves and adjusting the mechanism

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One of the cloths being raised from the ground to the platform. The operation is carried out using a pulley system, with the cloth rolled up in a cylinder

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Continuation of the operation to raise one of the cloths up to its position on the stretcher. The upper part of the cloth is fixed to a metal bar with clamps.

The process is carried out by the logistics team, the conservator-restorers and a system of pulleys

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The two door leaves with the Annunciation scene held in place with clamps

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Process of nailing the front of the cloth onto the stretcher. It is fastened with stainless steel staples, with ribbon in between as protection

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

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

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Crank handle to open and close the doors, before and after the intervention

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DETAILS GENERIC CLASSIFICATION: Painting on canvas | OBJECT: Organ doors | MATERIAL / TECHNIQUE: TGlue tempera on canvas | DESCRIPTION: Representation of three scenes: Annunciation 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 | DATE / PERIOD: Second half of sixteenth century (1562–1565) | ARTIST: Pietro Paolo de Montalbergo (Forneglio del Monferrato,1520?– Barcelona, 1588) | DIMENSIONS: 7 x 4.63 m | LOCATION: Tarragona Cathedral (Tarragonès). Central nave, left side, above the choir | CRBMC REGISTER NO.: 11790 | INVENTORY NO.: Cultural Property of National Interest NO.: 214-MH-ZA | TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION-RESTORATION PROJECT: Maite Toneu (conservator-restorer, coordinator of the Painting on Canvas Department of the CRBMC) and Maria Sala and David Silvestre, conservator-restorers of paintings on canvas | CONSERVATOR-RESTORER TEAM: David Silvestre (leader), Lourdes Domedel, Irene Panadés, Voravit Roonthiva, Maria Sala and Teresa Schreibweis (team) | SUPPORT CONSERVATOR-RESTORERS: Cira Castells, Mireia Cerrada, Pau Claramonte, Tània Grevolosa, Esther Gual, Guillem Massalles, Maria Mayo, Daniel Morales, Glòria Palomares, Laura Ruggieri, Xavier Serra and Maite Toneu | STRUCTURAL STUDY AND DESIGN OF NEW DOOR LEAVES: Jordi Payola, architect and structural consultant | CONSTRUCTION AND INSTALLATION OF NEW DOOR LEAVES: Tomás Duaso, carpenter specialising 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 | ORTHOPHOTOGRAPHY: Daniel Santos (Octocammaps) | DRONE, PHOTOS AND TIME LAPSE: 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 | 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 Dr. Antonio Pedro Martínez | YEARS OF RESTORATION: plans (2012) and conservation-restoration (January 2017–August 2018)

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Final photograph after dismantling the scaffolding

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Archidiocese of Tarragona: Archbishop Jaume Pujol and Father Antonio Pedro Martínez, Artistic, Documentary and Sacred Art Heritage representative Tarragona Cathedral Chapter: Father Joaquim Fortuny, dean and president; Father Joaquim Gras, custodian; Father Norbert Miracle, confessor and administrator; and Roser Martín, technician from the Heritage Delegation Tarragona Cathedral: Juan José Cuartielles, sacristan; David Cáceres, sacristan’s

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assistant; and Josep Maria Ayala, sacristan’s assistant Diocesan Musum of Tarragona: Sofia Mata, director Fundació Mútua Catalana: Joan Josep Marca, president Centre of Canonry Studies: Francesc Roig, president Regional Cultural Services Department of The Government of Catalonia in Tarragona: Jordi Agràs, director Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain (IPCE): Ana Carrasón and Cristina Salas, conservatorrestorers

Museum of the Americas: Rocío Bruquetas, conservator-restorer.

Department of ConservationRestoration Architect: Jorge Portal CONSERVATOR-RESTORERS OF CULTURAL ARTEFACTS: Aleix Barberà; Jesús Mendiola; Emma Zahonero CHASSITECH: Christian Ferrer Norcan Hispànica, SA: Oriol Ribas INCAFUST: Eduard Correal CRBMC: Àngels Solé, director, and Maria José Gracia, coordinator of the Preventive Conservation Department

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CONSERVATION-RESTORATION

ARCHITECTURAL MATERIAL

Restoration of the ceramic flooring of the Sala Tarongers (Orange Tree Room): intervention proposal and criteria WHAT TODAY IS KNOWN AS SALA TARONGERS (ORANGE TREE ROOM), BUILT IN THE 16TH CENTURY, was previously the Sala de Mapes (Map Room) (1912-1985), the Sala de Premsa (Press Room) (1985-2009), and also previously the second Sala de l’Audiència (courtroom) and the second room of the Pati dels Tarongers (Orange Tree Courtyard).

INTRODUCTION

The Sala Tarongers was built around 1585 and is one of 3 noble rooms with access from the Pati dels Tarongers, which between 1603-1608 was decorated (floor and balustrade) with glazed ce-

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Watercolour copy by Francesc de Paula Nebot (Barcelona, 1883-1965) of the glazed ceramic flooring that remains in the Palau de la Generalitat. It is the work of the ceramist Lorenzo de Madrid, which he carried out between 1603-1608. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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ramic pieces from the renowned ceramist Lorenzo de Madrid.

Between the years 1716 and 1908, the Royal Court occupied the Palau de la Generalitat and these rooms were transformed for other uses which led to the loss of most of the glazed ceramics; Only the ceramic flooring of this room was saved, which is one of the few examples of that period preserved in situ.

In 2018, it was recovered –despite its fragile state– with an intervention that consisted of conserving-restoring the existing pieces, and filling in the gaps with ceramic pieces of different neutral colours and with other original pieces that had

Júlia Roca Soler, architect and Director of Heritage of the Palau de la Generalitat

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Old photograph of the current Sala Tarongers in the Palau de la Generalitat, when it was the Sala de Mapes (Map Room) (between 1912 and 1985).

Photo: Historical Archive of the Barcelona Provincial Council

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Photograph of the current Sala Tarongers, just before beginning the restoration work on the ceramic flooring (beginning of 2017). Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Photograph of the old Sala Tarongers when it was the Sala de Premsa (Press Room) (between 1985 and 2009). Photo: Government of Catalonia

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nitial state of the flooring. Full view of the narrow gap and partial view of the central gap.

Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Example of ceramic pieces from the Sala Tarongers, deposited in the Ceramics Museum, which needed to be reproduced for this option Photo: Government of Catalonia

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been recovered and preserved in the old Ceramics Museum (now the Barcelona Design Museum).

The Museum had them catalogued as coming from the Palau de la Generalitat and they matched the missing pieces of the flooring. These pieces were discovered during the research phase of the project, thanks to the help of the Design Museum.

During the reintegration operation a total of 944 ceramic pieces were put into place, 334 coming from the Design Museum and 610 new handmade pieces.

This intervention helped to recover the entire shape of the original flooring, so that it can now be correctly interpreted as a whole HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CURRENT SALA TARONGERS

The current Sala Tarongers has had different names and uses throughout its history, as indicated at the beginning of this article.

STATE OF THE FLOORING BEFORE THE INTERVENTION

The initial state of conservation was quite deficient, although it was protected by carpet tiles

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which left adhesive remains on some areas of the ceramics.

On the surface there were remains of plaster in certain areas whose exact origin could not be determined.

During the process of filling in gaps, it was discovered that the ceramic flooring was positioned on top of a mortar base with a mesh, arranged in plates, which indicated that this flooring had been moved or relocated at some point in its history.

Records for this have not been found as yet.

The multidisciplinary group of experts who examined the flooring agreed that it is a work of great artistic and historical value, from the end of the Renaissance, of which there are very few examples in situ, and that it is worth recovering and preserving.

AIMS OF RESTORATION

- Recover the existing historical flooring made from glazed ceramic tiles from the 16th-17th centuries, so that the room where it is located (Sala Tarongers) can be enjoyed by every citizen and at the same time can be used occasionally for institutional events. It needs to be available for both uses: functional and as a museum piece.

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- Fill in the gaps, under the following conditions: • That the flooring as a whole be intelligible to all audiences, without requiring detailed explanations.

• That the filling in of gaps does not stand out or detract from the existing original ceramics, so that the new can be distinguished from the old.

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Option 2. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Example of ceramic pieces from the Sala Tarongers which needed to be reproduced for this option.

Photo: Government of Catalonia

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- Recover the maximum number of pieces from the Design Museum which would be returned to their original location (Palau de la Generalitat) INTERVENTION CRITERIA

Basic criteria: - Minimum intervention and maximum respect for the original pieces of glazed ceramics. During the whole conservation-restoration process, stable and reversible materials must be used which do not conflict with the original materials..

- Utility + beauty + durability (classical criteria) - The management of the flooring must go hand in hand with the intervention: the flooring must be protected so the room can be used, and the use will have to be controlled.

- The recovery of the pre-existing material must be compatible with the use (museum flooring compatible with the function as a Meeting Room). A PVC base or carpet must be used to protect the flooring.

- As a whole it must have meaning and be understandable (methodology of objective restoration).

- Humility / Respect / Analysis Specific criteria: - Recovery of the maximum number of pieces from the Ceramics Museum, placed using tradi-

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Test 3.1. Test with off-white semi-glazing used as the glazed base of the original tiles: Makes the new pieces appear too homogeneous, too perfect compared to the existing ones. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Test 3.2. Test using grey glazing, with the aim of finding a colour similar to the existing decorated tiles: Too bright. Too homogeneous.

It doesn’t quite match. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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tional techniques, in order to return them to their original location.

The arrangement of these pieces will enable us to redo the perimeter (which we know about), so that it helps provide an overall reading of the ceramic flooring.

- For the reintegration of the gaps that will remain after repositioning the pieces recovered from the Ceramics Museum, we propose using the same material as the existing flooring (ceramic tiles). After carrying out many tests using different handmade ceramics techniques we have opted for ceramic pieces of different neutral colours, which will be covered with a patina of mineral earth pigments, with acetone + Paraloid® at 5%, and will be protected with a layer of microcrystalline wax, before being put into place. Subsequently, the tone and intensity of the patina will be adjusted, depending on the

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Test 3.3 Test using matte brown glazing, imitating the base of the existing tiles: too homogeneous, it appears industrial, despite being a handmade piece. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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colour of the area to be reintegrated, by adding another layer of microcrystalline wax.

The pieces that are adjacent to the outer perimeter made up of those recovered from the old Ceramics Museum, and which would correspond with a strip of dark green square pieces, will be made from glazed green ceramics (matte), to reinforce the perimeter of the whole flooring and

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Test 3.4 Test using ceramics with matte glazing: 2 shades of green and 1 brown.

Dark green tiles: they help highlight the perimeter recovered from Museum pieces.

Very well manufactured piece, because it shows that it is new, but doesn’t appear industrial. It was approved.

Light green tiles: they shine too much and don’t match the colour scheme. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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to ensure the colour scheme matches, which will provide a better overall reading of the flooring, so that the filled in gaps do not stand out.

The options described below refer to the replacement with new ceramic pieces in areas where there are gaps, once the pieces from the old Ceramics Museum have been put into place.

All the options contemplate the use of ceramic pieces, made in the SOT ceramics workshop using the traditional technique, so that the restoration would be carried out with the same method as the original flooring. The options are listed in the actual order in which they were considered.

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Test 3.5. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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OPTION 1 (rejected option): filling in of gaps with new glazed ceramic pieces, reproducing the original pattern, using the old traditional technique.

Pros: The original pattern of the entire ceramic flooring area is recovered. It uses the same technique as the original flooring.

Cons: the restored parts would stand out against the recovered flooring, which by contrast would

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move into the background, and would make the readability of the whole flooring difficult.

This option was rejected because an intervention in which the new parts stand out more than the recovered old flooring and detract from its visibility did not seem the right choice. Rather it should be the opposite: a solution is needed to restore the gaps with neutral pieces in which the old recovered flooring stands out.

OPTION 2 (rejected option): filling in of gaps with terracotta pieces, of different shades of clay, patinated with pigments. The piece mimics the base and not the glazing.

Pros: With the patinated clay pieces you can play with the colours to perfectly integrate the pieces from the Ceramics Museum. The pieces

will be worked on in situ by the restorers, so that the flooring as whole can be referenced and the colours can be adjusted accordingly to achieve the right brightness.

Cons: the flooring is porous, which makes it delicate.

OPTION 3 (rejected option): filling in of gaps with ceramic pieces enamelled or semi-enamelled using a spray gun, with neutral colours, using the glazed colours of the original tiles. The piece imitates the glazing and not the base.

Pros: The same technique is used as was used originally on the flooring but applied using a gun.

The pieces come finished from the workshop and do not require any work in situ (it is a faster option). The pieces recovered from the Museum,

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Test 3.8. Test using 2 types of pieces in the central gap, for comparison.

Although all the pieces are manufactured in the same workshop, manually, the option of using enamelled pieces is too homogeneous and seems almost industrial.

The texture and patina options offered by unenamelled clay pieces is considered a much more interesting and appropriate option. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Test 3.6. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Test 3.7. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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next to the glazed coloured pieces, stand out and are emphasized better.

Cons: The new pieces have a very homogeneous appearance, almost industrial, although they are handmade. Therefore, the edges of the gaps seem too pronounced and do not match the flooring as a whole.

Different colours of glazing were considered in this option.

Examples: See tests 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. These are explained in the photo captions Tests 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7: Enamelled ceramics in different matte colours, which imitate shades that match the existing flooring. Result: the placement of pieces in a row, of the same colour, gives a result that is too homogenous. The combination of pieces of different colours is disordered and random. It doesn’t look good.

OPTION 4 (chosen option): filling in of gaps with ceramic pieces of different colours, protected and patinated with pigments and new pieces enamelled in dark green.

The chosen option is using ceramic pieces of different neutral colours, which will be covered with a patina of mineral earth pigments, with acetone + Paraloid® at 5%, and will be protected with a layer of microcrystalline wax, before being put into place. Subsequently, the tone and intensity of the patina will be adjusted, depending on the colour of the area to be reintegrated, by adding another layer of microcrystalline wax.

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Tests 3.9 and 3.10: Tests using 2 types of pieces in the central gap, for comparison. The option on the left is rejected because the lines are too homogeneous and because of the almost industrial aspect of the light green and the browns, but the option on the right side of the test was approved. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Proposed repositioning of the pieces, according to the criteria of option 4. It was approved. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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The outer perimeter will be reconstructed with pieces from the Ceramics Museum, to recover the exact shape of the original flooring; the pieces that are adjacent to this perimeter made from recovered pieces will be enamelled in dark green, to reinforce the perimeter of the whole flooring and to ensure the colour scheme matches, which will provide a better overall reading of the flooring.

Pros: With the patinated clay pieces you can play with the colours to perfectly integrate the pieces from the Museum; these pieces will be worked on in situ by the restorers, so that the flooring as whole can be referenced and the colours can be adjusted accordingly to achieve the right brightness.

Cons: the porosity of the flooring will have to be counteracted by applying one or two layers of microcrystalline wax. This option is more laborious for the restorers and is therefore slower.

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Restored ceramic flooring, before placing the two final protective layers.

Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Proposed repositioning of the pieces, according to the criteria of option 4. It was approved. Photo: Government of Catalonia

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Photograph of the finished work. Photo: Jordi Bedmar

In order to reconcile the use of the Room with the "museumization" of the ceramic flooring, a protective solution has been adopted based on two layers of transparent protection. The first is a layer of transparent anti-static polyester (Melinex®), and on top of it a layer of flexible and transparent PVC, 2 mm thick. Dark grey Macael marble was chosen for the perimeter of the flooring which emphasizes the recovered historical ceramic tiles.

DETAILS GENERIC CLASSIFICATION: Architectural material | OBJECT: Ceramic tile flooring | MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE: Glazed ceramic tiles from Talavera | AUTHOR: Lorenzo de Madrid | DATE/PERIOD: between 1603 and 1608 | DIMENSIONS: 42.60 m2 (glazed ceramics) + 30 m2 (perimeter) | LOCATION: Sala Tarongers, Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona (Barcelonès) | CRBMC REGISTER NO.: 13746 | INVENTORY NUMBER: flooring from Sala P1-055 | COORDINATION: Pere Rovira | RESTORATION: Gamarra & Garcia. Conservació i Restauració, SL | ARCHITECTS: Júlia Roca Soler and Santiago Castillo Sabadell. General Subdirectorate of Works and Services of the Department of the Presidency of the Generalitat ANALYTICAL STUDY: Patrimoni 2.0 | YEAR OF RESTORATION: 21-11-2017 to 21-4-2018

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NEWS

Participation of CRBMC at the British Museum Mellon Symposia The 5th Mellon Symposia, which was held at the British Museum on 30 May, was dedicated to the conservation and study of wall paintings, entitled "A closer look at Murals - Recent Advances in the Conservation and Scientific Investigation of Wall Paintings": http://www.bm-mellon-symposia.org/ The keynote lecture was given by Dr Piero Baglioni, of the CSGI of the University of Florence: http://www.csgi.unifi.it/ He talked about the use of nanoparticles and chemical gels for the consolidation and cleaning of wall paintings and presented the results and the products developed as a result of the Nanorestart project. There were also notable presentations on the use of Er:YAG lasers to clean wall paintings by experts at the British Museum and on the cleaning of Pompeian wall paintings, carried out by colleagues from the Getty Conservation Institute.

The Centre for the Restoration of Artefacts of Catalonia (CRBMC) participated to present the results of the preliminary studies that were carried out on the Roman wall paintings of the villa of Els Munts, regarding the content of soluble salts and the removal of the coatings of varnish and buildup on the surface. The main aim of this study was to uncover and assess the deterioration suffered by the paintings due to the presence of soluble salts and exacerbated by the presence of a significant layer of Paraloid®B72.

The presentation titled "Preliminary studies for the assessment of the treatment of wall paintings: cleaning tests for the removal of acrylic coatings and the study of the content of soluble salts with agarose gels and statistical colour maps" described the system of analysis of soluble salt content using agarose gels, based on the conductivity tests of Dr. Richard Wolbers. Apart from obtaining quantitative data, more than one thousand points of the paintings were measured, in order to capture the results in statistical colour maps, so as to distinguish the distribution patterns of the salts on the faces of the wall paintings. These studies were complemented with the characterization and analysis of the salts using FTIR, SEM-EDX and DRX. Regarding the cleaning of the paintings, an aqueous system was used to eliminate the Paraloid®, based on a polymeric emulsion without surfactants, only 10% of which were solvents.1 Using this formulation, which is

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Cleaning test for the removal of Paraloid® B72 from the surface of the wall paintings, using a polymeric emulsion without surfactants, only 10% of which were solvents.

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Statistical colour map on the orthophotographs of one of the rooms in the Roman villa of Els Munts, which shows the distribution pattern of soluble salts, from the data obtained after extraction using agarose gels. Created by: Jaime Salguero, Aleix Barberà and Silvia Marín.

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applied using a brush and is also rinsed with water, both the acrylic resin and the layers of build-up can be removed from the painted surface. This allows the task to be more controlled and efficient, minimizing the use of solvents, making it more environmentally friendly and safer for conservators-restorers.

The abstracts of the various presentations can be consulted online in the Book of Abstracts, which can be found at the following link: http://www.bm-mellon-symposia.org/resources/BoA_ BM%20Mellon%202019%202.pdf Aleix Barberà, conservator-restorer of cultural artefacts

Barberà Giné, A., Marín Ortega, S. (2017). The removal of Paraloid B72 coatings with aqueous gelled systems: Roman frescoes from Empúries, Catalonia. In Angelova, L., Ormsby, B., Townsend, J., & Wolbers, R. (Eds.), Gels in conservation of Art (pp. 363-365) London: Archetype Publications Ltd. 1

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A MUST-READ

Les pedreres medievals a la Corona d’Aragó Francesca Español, Joan Valero (ed.)

Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans, 2017, 303 p.

This book recounts the presentations made during the “Pedreres medievals a la Corona d’Aragó” International Symposium, organised by the Amics de l’Art Romànic association, which took place in November 2013 at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC) base in Barcelona.

The publication brings together information on the quarries operated in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula and on the Balearic Islands during the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Apart from the geological and topographical data, a crucial tool in characterising materials and determining their origin, the information gathered here is mainly derived from documentary sources and archive materials.

The reader is therefore afforded an insight into the lives of the stonecutters and their families, into how guilds were organised, into salaries and into the business interests involved in this pre-industrial machine.

The authors carefully examine material purchase and transport contracts, log books and some notary documents, and shed light on the context that saw the creation of architectural and sculptural pieces that are still an important part of our cultural identity today.

It is also worth noting that this is a well referenced book, with constant annotations and transcriptions, that offers the reader a first-hand look at the social groups and infrastructures linked to the commercial use of stone deposits. This is undoubtedly an invaluable tool for art historians and conservator-restorers looking for this kind of information. It is an excellent compendium of documents that had never been brought together in one monograph, until now.

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Operació trasllat. Art de Sixena Marga del Campo Lleida: Pagès Editors, 2018, 128 p.

A group of police officers enter the Museum of Lleida in the early hours of the morning with a “Buenas noches”.

They have come to block the museum’s emergency exits. This could be the start of a Dan Brown novel, but unfortunately, it is how the story began on the night of 11 December 2017, which saw an unprecedented episode in the history of Catalan artistic heritage management.

Operació trasllat takes a look back at what happened at the museum that night, from before the Spanish police arrived, at 3:21 a.m., until they left with 44 works of art from Sixena, which the Catalan government had bought in 1983 and kept in the Museum of Lleida. It was just another episode of this famous dispute, but this time to the backdrop of Article 155 (part of the Spanish Constitution triggered by the State government to rule Catalonia directly after the referendum of 1 October) and a substitute judge who decided to act on a provisional sentence, with excessive participation from Spanish security forces.

The story places us thoroughly and objectively within the context of the Sixena artworks conflict, so that we can begin to understand the seemingly unfathomable events leading up to that night. Above all, this is a human story that intimately depicts the plight of the museum’s workers who, like the art itself, suffered first-hand that night. It reveals details that range from helplessness, pain and glances of solidarity between colleagues, to the most tense and unpleasant moments with the Spanish police and Aragonese politicians.

This is an exercise in transparency and humility that does the author a great deal of credit, written in a frantic, frenetic style that immerses us in a tense atmosphere, accompanied by the previously unpublished photos of the night’s events taken by Jordi V. Pou. An undignified night, especially for heritage professionals, that must be recounted, remembered and, above all, condemned.

Aleix Barberà, conservator-restorer of cultural artefacts

Nina Viladrich, conservator-restorer of cultural artefacts

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CRBMC. CENTRE DE RESTAURACIÓ DE BÉNS MOBLES DE CATALUNYA C. Arnau Cadell, 30 – 08197 Valldoreix Tel. 935 902 970 – Fax 935 902 971 crbmc.cultura@gencat.cat http://centrederestauracio.gencat.cat www.facebook.com/RestauraCat www.instagram.com/restaura.cat

PUBLISHER Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya EDITOR Àngels Solé EDITORIAL BOARD Esther Gual, Josep Paret, Àngels Planell, Pere Rovira,

Mònica Salas, Àngels Solé and Maite Toneu GENERAL COORDINATION Àngels Planell TEXTS © The autors TRANSLATION Sounds & Words PHOTOGRAPHS Ramon Maroto (CRBMC) and the photographers DOCUMENTATION Maria Ferreiro, Àngels Planell and Mònica Salas LABORATORY OF PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND EXAMINATION PHOTOGRAPHS

Ricardo Suárez X-RAY LABORATORY Esther Gual GRAPHIC DESIGN ciklic COVER Photograph during the process of taking down and rolling up one of the

canvases of the doors of the organ of the Cathedral of Tarragona. Photo: CRBMC LEGAL NUMBER B-13.856-2012 ISSN NUMBER (ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION) 2013-3251 Key Title: Rescat (Barcelona, Internet) Abbreviated Title: Rescat (Barc., Internet)

Generalitat de Catalunya Departament de Cultura