Műtárgyvédelem, 2008 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Kovácsné Gőgös Ágota: Kispetri egykori templomából származó feliratos karzatlezáró díszítés restaurálása : a festett asztalosmunkákon gyakran megjelenő egyik pigmentelváltozás megfigyelése
The inscription fragment running along both panels is not coherent since an element is missing from the closing decoration of the choir. The provenance of the inscription is not known, it was probably a fragment from the text of a Calvinist song book, a so-called psalm paraphrase. The names of the persons who ordered and prepared the choir and the year of the completion can be read on the longer panel. A plant ornament of alternating blue, green and red colours runs along under the text written in black against a white background. The upper profiles and the edges of the lower sawed motive rows of the panels are light red. The support of the painting seems to be pine wood according to its appearance. The wooden material was strongly deteriorated by insects, and missing areas and larger fissures could be observed at a few places. The white background, which was applied directly over the wood, was so strongly worn on both panels when it was handed over for conservation that often even the wood could be seen. Discolouration, brown spots appeared at several parts of the surface, which disturbed the interpretation of both the plant ornament and the inscription. At a few places, the pigment layer crocodiled. The traces of former fixing and hammered iron nails could be observed in both panels. Minium, Parisian blue and auripigment could be identified in the paint layers of the plant motives with the help of polarisation microscopic analyses. The presence of chalk could be excluded in the priming by dripping nitric acid on the surface; it was probably prepared with plaster. After the termination of the analyses, the peeling elements of the pigment layer were fixed to the support with acryl dispersion MfKo, and only then could the impurities be cleaned from the painted surface and the backsides of the panels. After the removal of the bracing laths, the wooden material was consolidated with 20% solution of Paraloid B72 in nitro-diluent. The next step was the replacement of the missing areas of the wood, and then the parts that got shifted in consequence of cracking were fixed with pine pieces and Araldit adhesive. Only the deeper holes had to be stopped from the damages cause by insects. It would not have been justified to remove the hammered and to replace and complete the missing elements of the sawed ornament and the quadrangular traces of fixing since they belonged to the history of the object of art and did not disturb the aesthetic appearance to a significant degree. The missing elements of the pigment layer were replaced with a mixture of 7% gelatine, gypsum and dry colour. In parallel to the conservation, a thesis work was also prepared, which deals with the pigment layers of 17th—18th century Transylvanian painted joinery. According to the microscopic analyses described in this work, the painter joiner of the analysed painted church furniture often used auripigment in the green and the yellow colours, which faded by time due to chemical modification. The originally bright green and yellow pigment layers paled and lent a grey, faded appearance to the surface. A szerző címe/Author’s address: Kovácsné Gőgös Ágota Festőrestaurátor művész/Painting conservator MA Tel.: 06/20/931-46-39 e-mail: gagicag@freemail.hu 20
