The “EIKON” Exhibition
Hosted by the National Museum of History of Romania (MNIR), the exhibition focuses on the process of conserving and restoring wood icons.
Ion Puican, 04.01.2025, 14:00
The National Museum of History of Romania (MNIR) in late November inaugurated the exhibition “EIKON. Conservation and restoration of wood painting”. The exhibition brings to the public icons on wood and the general issue of conservation and restoration of wood paintings from the Museum collections. The exhibition displays both restored objects and the technological flow that an object goes through, from restoration to exhibition. We spoke to restorer Maria Popa about the exhibition and the steps the Museum is taking to bring restoration to the attention of the general public:
“The ‘EIKON’ exhibition is the first exhibition of wood painting restoration organized at the National Museum of History of Romania. Restoration is a topic the museum wants to bring to the attention of the public as often as possible, because, before reaching the showcase, the items go through the restoration workshop for a brief check. The National Museum of History of Romania has in the past hosted other exhibitions on the conservation and restoration of heritage items on different types of supports. Last year, in the same space where we have the ‘EIKON’ exhibition today, there was an exhibition on restoration of old books and documents”.
Maria Popa told us more about the concept of this exhibition:
“The concept behind the exhibition was a desire to present to the public some of the activities that takes place in the wood painting restoration workshop.”
Restorer Maria Popa told us which pieces or exhibits can be seen in the exhibition, how they were restored and what other elements visitors can see.
“The exhibition includes 12 pieces, 11 from the collections of the National Museum of History and one from a private collection. Most of the items are from the Russian, Lipovan school, and were manufactured between the 18th and 20th centuries. They reached the restoration workshop with various problems, from dirt deposits on the surface, areas of charring caused by the heat released by the candles that were placed too close, cracks in the framework panels, or areas where the painting was no longer preserved. The centerpiece of the exhibition is an imperial icon depicting Saint Hierarch Nicholas from the area of Northern Transylvania or Maramureș. Over the years, it underwent two separate repainting processes, and when it arrived at our workshop, it had a different painting than the one you can see in the exhibition. The decision to remove the previous work done was due to the quality being poor both aesthetically and technically, and the painting brought to light following these restoration interventions is much superior to the original. You can see both the final result and the images from the restoration operations in the ‘EIKON’ exhibition. Within the exhibition there is an area that recreates a restoration workshop, with all the materials, tools and protective gear restorers use during the conservation and restoration process. Also in this area, you can see videos of the restoration of pieces on display. In one of the showcases, we have three icons on display that are in different stages of restoration, starting with the removal of deposits from the surface, filling gaps in the frame, and chromatic integration of missing areas”.
Another Museum restorer, Marian Radu, specializes in wood frameworks. He told us more about the restoration process and its particularities:
“In the field of conservation and restoration, the purpose of the intervention is to preserve movable and immovable heritage. Cultural goods are notable for their great diversity in terms of composition, structure, morphology, size, appearance, color, functionality and, obviously, value. The degradation factors that act on cultural goods are the physical-chemical factors and, last but not least, the human factor. Knowing all that, we can also learn more about the degradations that take place at the level of the wooden frame”.
Marian Radu also told us about the panel of wood icons presented in the “EIKON” exhibition:
“The panel is reinforced with two parallel crossbars of different directions, semi-retracted, inserted into the wood fiber, with a trapezoidal profile. By inserting the crossbars, the icon is made using the dovetail system. The crossbars play a very important role in the resistance structure of the panel … Considering these icons are two to three hundred years old, they have suffered various degradations over time… All of these will make the restoration process very difficult”.
At the end of our talk, restorer Marian Radu told us the following about the “EIKON” exhibition:
“The profession of restorer is less known in Romania, but by means of this exhibition, which is a premiere for the National Museum of History of Romania, I hope I have managed to pique the curiosity of the public to come to the museum, where they can see and better understand the fruit of our work over the past few years.” (VP)
