Mentényi Klára szerk.: Műemlékvédelmi Szemle 2001 szám Az Országos Műemléki Felügyelőség tájékoztatója (Budapest, 2001)
MŰHELY - Wierdl Zsuzsa: Az esztergomi palotakápolna és a Vitéz János-Studiolo falképeinek restaurálása
Dutch electronic layer investigation used on murals here for the first time in the world. Restoration work led by the author was carried on with the cooperation of international (Italian, Swiss, Dutch and Spanish) experts. The frescoes discovered during the 1934 year excavations were several times restored and this is one of the chief problenms of the present restoration. As a result of the earlier works the frescoes bear the marks of several repaintings of different extent, retouch, cement and plastic stuffing, glue and preservatives in several layers on top of each other. This is hindering the differentiation of the three mural layers and hampers the investigation of original surfaces. In the course of preliminary research and samples it became clear that surfaces were cleared and repainted in the time of the first Italian restorer, Mauro Pellicioli in the 1920's - against to the presumably correct restoration. Newer layers were put on the stuffings and strong cement edges used during the restoration of 1935-38, in most of the cases without removing the earlier ones. The present restoration removes the harmful materials, among others the paraloid put on the surfaces in 1970. Similarly to the use of cement the different plastic based plaster mixtures and stuffings of the 1968-70 restoration are also destructive. These can be removed by softening without destroying the surrounding surfaces. The author reports on the detachment of the chapel's north-western niche's 14 th century mural representing an apostle figure, a result of the work of Pellicioli. She investigates the techniques of the secco Virtue figures decorating the „studiolo", the original beauty of the today only thin layer of the renaissance wall painting. In the course of the restoration all the earlier marks are removed from the surafaces and the original layers can be seen again. This may help the art historians, by the end of the work new facts would known and perhaps even the artists can be identified as well.
