Műtárgyvédelem, 2006 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Összefoglalók
drapery are more-or-less identical, which is evidently due to the fact that all the copies followed the same model. The original, by now perished area of the drapery could be reconstructed from the preserved surface and the distribution of the folds in the compositions prepared in the workshop. Many interesting data surfaced during the restoration of the panel. Numerous analyses and the photo documentation made in the course of the restoration can give answers to further questions that might emerge in the future. The diploma work was supervised by Péter Menrát and Kornélia Forrai was the consultant. Restoration of a baroque sculpture depicting the sleeping apostle Saint John Zsolt Hermann The 18th century wooden sculpture depicting the sleeping Saint John got indirectly into the collection of the Museum of Ethnography from the floating mill of Ráckeve. It probably belonged to a group of sculptures, which represented the start of Jesus’ sufferings, the event on the Mount of Olives. The data in the museum describe the item as the sculpture of a sleeping apostle. The wooden sculpture was carved from a single piece, yet joints can be found in the right knee, the left hand and the rock. The back is slightly hollowed. The wood of the artefact was cracked, the paint layer had peeled off at several places and the colours of the original pigments had faded. The right hand and the second and little fingers of both hands had broken off. The cracks were full of dust and animal and plant remains. With opening a test surface and from the analysis of the cross-section of samples from the painted surface the extent of overpainting could exactly be determined. Restoration started with the cleaning of the wood surface. The thick dirt deposited on the surface and the cereal and insect remains stuck in the cracks were removed. After sampling, the peeling pigment layer was consolidated with a 7% solution of rabbit glue. Where the painted layers were evidently original, cleaning tests were made. The test area was opened with a 5% solution of ammonium hydroxide wiped off with white spirit. The opened surfaces of the wooden statue were conserved with 8% solution of Paraloid B 72 in toluol. Then the cracks were filled in with balsa wood, and the plastic elements were authentically replaced. The process of replacement was the following: moulding, carving, ground coating and invisible retouching. Retouching and the completion of the pigment were made with oleoresinous varnish. Finally, a basement was prepared to place the statue in its original position. The basement was made of lime wood. It was conserved with 8% solution of Paraloid B 72 in toluol and painted with 10% solution of Paraloid B 67 in white spirit with added pigment- powder. The object was restored as a diploma work in the academic year of 2004/05 in the Institute for Training of Conservators of the Plungarian University of Fine Arts. Erzsébet B. Szent-Gály supervised the work and Ildikó Boross and Péter Menráth were the consultants. 187
