Műtárgyvédelem, 2008 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Török Adél: A Szépművészeti Múzeum biccherna-tábláinak restaurátori és levéltári kutatásainak eredményei
The earliest preserved biccherna came from 1258, while the latest one from 1682, which latter one was already painted on canvas. The Biccherna Office was closed in 1786. After more than 600 years of its operation, only 136 painted register covers were preserved, five of which are in the possession of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. The object of the present archival and conservation investigations is the provisor book cover from 1263, bearing the inventory number 1 in the Museum of Fine Arts. Regarding the painter of the cover, an entry in the registry that used to belong to the biccherna recorded the sum paid to the painter for the painting of the covers, but, regrettably, it did not name the painter. An inscription can be found in the uppermost section of the backside of the biccherna. Its exact translation cannot be given since the inscription is extremely worn and fragmentary. The conservation analyses uncovered new information of a different type, which had not been known in the literature on bicchernas. They proved that the lower part of the cover, which had seemed empty and unpainted until now could perhaps be painted. It became clear after the examination of the lower half under a stereo-microscope that this surface, which seemed to be raw wood, was once decorated with gilding and black and red painting. The extensive, nearly complete perishing of the painting is due partly to the painting technique and partly to human interventions. This specific form of the earliest bicchernas (1258-1300), namely that the lower parts were decorated with a much less resistant technology than the upper primed parts, can perhaps be explained by the direct impact of the contemporary book art on painting. Namely, the biccherna book covers were painted only after the book had been closed. Thus a direct contact must have been maintained between the book binding workshop and the painter and the painter must have experienced influences, technical instructions from outside his own field that were not common in a painter’s workshop but the master found them interesting and worth trying. The further analysis of the five biccherna covers in Budapest promise some more interesting novelties, which, hopefully, can be realised in the future. A szerző cime/Author’s address: Török Adél Festörestaurátor müvész/Painting conservator MA Tel.: +36/20/377-85-49 e-mail: adellevele@yahoo.com 46
