Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 47
The stretchers also had to be changed. The “flapping” of the canvas had to be stopped and the load caused by the sharp folding of the edges had to be reduced. We developed semicircular profiles on the stretching edges, so that the canvas need not break at stretching. They move as caterpillar treads. With the insertion of a polycarbonate plate, the stretcher was turned into a light-weight support. This panel securely keeps the paintings in plane and protects them from mechanic impacts without increasing their weight.4 AESTHETIC RECONSTRUCTION We used a paste of specific composition to fill up the gaps in the surface of the paintings. This paste combined the characteristics of pastes used on wall paintings and on paintings on canvas, since wall paintings mounted on canvas can be affiliated into either category. More than one paste was prepared to match the complexity of the task, it would take too long to describe each. The surfaces of the fillings were adjusted to the structure of the original surface. Retouching was made with aquarelle, acrylic tempera and, to a lesser degree, with paint powder, Plextol B 5005 and lime. The simpler part of colour reconstruction was mending of mechanic injuries and filling in smaller gaps. The overall worn condition and larger compositional gaps was the greater task. During retouching we never forgot that authenticity was the primary aspect. We found fillings justified only where they were evident: at unambiguous places (sky, benches) or at repeated motives (pillars). We respected the style of all the three paintings at the completions, and studied the general impression of contemporary intact wall paintings. On surfaces where there were densely scattered numerous gaps, details became indecipherable and obscure. Restorers know it from their own experience that after neutralising the disturbing vibrations, details appear that could not be perceived earlier. Expert retouching can reveal new information that could not be reached until then, and this can authentically enrich the image and the knowledge of the painting. This way we could “develop” such new details in the Agostino Barbarigo painting that the most important ones deserve being listed. 4. Detail of body armour. The painter drafted the outlines of the suit in yellow paint on the fresh plaster, then engraved them into the plaster after finishing the fresco. This was usually done when a metal plate was glued on the surface. Here, it was probably a thin tin plate that provided the basic colour of the body armour, on which the details were painted with some transparent paint. Similar phenomena could be observed at several parts of the painting. The blades of the halberds were prepared with the same method. There are, besides, some gilded elements and we even found traces of silver on the banner. 47
