Kovács Petronella (szerk.): Isis - Erdélyi magyar restaurátor füzetek 14. (Székelyudvarhely, 2014)
Mester Éva: Nagyméretű üvegfestmények "in situ" vagy műtermi restaurálása
which, at the time of their production and installation, too, met the strict claims made on the genre and which have stood the test of time. These conditions are the following: good quality cames and glass; paint that lasts well; and expert leading of the various fields, with accurate soldering of the joins, appropriate plugging of any gaps, and, for the stiffening of the glass surfaces, use of iron rods that continue into the wall surrounding the window. On this, and on many details, the statics and technical condition of the window-fields depend. Another important condition is that since their installation windows have not been exposed to appreciable damage (e.g. wartime destruction, harmful chemical substances, etc.). We know of very few stainedglass assemblages in the Carpathian Basin today which survive in their original places of installation. In the case of surviving windows in good condition, the obligation of conservators is to retain the original materials and method of installation, thus increasing the historical value of these works of art. In the study, the author mentions a 100-year-old glass-painting assemblage which has survived in its original place of installation in a church. The product of two different ateliers that had worked on it simultaneously, it was in rather an unusual condition technically. The stained-glass windows of the archiepiscopal cathedral at Kalocsa had survived in very good condition, albeit with a high degree of surface soiling. There was some lasting damage caused by air-rifle shots, as well as by cracks in the glass over a large area. This stemmed from carelessness during building work during the present restoration of the church. The glass paintings at Kalocsa are good examples of conservation performed using the in situ method. The author has been conserving windows on the site over a period of three years. In the case of large windows made at a similar time in the Church of the Minorites in Szeged, insufficient care was taken during the making of the windows and during their installation. The author presents the findings of many months of research and evaluation in connection with the windows in the Szeged church. These windows can be conserved only in a studio. 147
