Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)

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The thickness of the corroded iron, the base of the galvanoplastic was prepared from coloured plastic.

Organic solvents were applied for the cleaning of the surface of the helmet and the removal of the conservation substances used during the last century. The spots of iron and silver corrosion on the gilt coating were treated with a solution of phosphoric acid and inhibitor or silver cleaning solution and mechanically. We succeeded in removing several corrosion remains that could not be cleaned earlier. Conservation was made with 3% solution of Paraloid B72 and Mowilith poly(vinyl-acetate) in acetone, xylene-toluol (1:1).

The gluing of one of the cheek flaps and the reconstruction of the nose guard raised a problem. Cerezine could only partly be removed with chemical cleaning since it is always difficult to remove a material that had been soaked heated in vacuum. In this case, it seems impossible, to our knowledge, to remove it from the rank iron corrosion without damaging the object. None of the adhesives we know is effective enough on the still rather waxy surface, so we had to look for another method. Where glueing could not be evaded, the synthetic resin and the object were heated together. The wax melted in the relatively small area where we were working and the adhesive, although somewhat mixed with the cerezine,

substituted the latter to a certain degree. This causes a decrease of efficiency but with great care it binds well especially when it cools. The surfaces of both the fillings and the reconstructed elements were conserved. The glueing of the separate cheek guard, which was rather heavy, could be luckily strengthened with two pegs. We pierced the filling at the two edges and glued a peg into each hole. Then the pegs were fit and glued into the respective holes pierced into the filled in bottom of the close helmet. Thus we removed the weight from the glued surfaces (figs 10-11).

With the filling and reconstruction of both helmets, it was not our only aim to create a condition that secures the physical survival of the objects as long as possible. We also endeavoured to reconstruct at least a faint image of the authoritative appearance and pomp they once owned and to recall the valiant Roman times.

10. Reconstructed helmet from the side

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