<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Fragment. The Experience of restoration.
\nIt is the title of an exhibition hosted by Romania’s National Museum of History,
\nlocated in the Old City Centre. The exhibition is on until mid-June. Visitors
\ncan have the chance to know the museum’s restoration laboratories, whether we speak
\nabout painting, metal or wood, or whether it’s about ceramic, paper or textile
\nmaterials\/fabric. It is an incursion in history but also a behind-the-scenes glimpse
\nof the exhibits, there where the items are stored, maintained and restored by
\ndedicated and passionate people. We were lucky enough to speak to restorer Sorina
\nGheorghi\u021b\u0103, a collaborator of Romania’s National Museum of History’s painting restoration
\nlaboratory. Here she is, giving us details on the work behind the exhibited
\npaintings but mainly about a restorer’s work as such:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sorina Gheorghita:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Since
\n2013, when the easel painting restoration lab was accredited as part of Romania’s
\nNational Museum of History, around 25 paintings have been restored. Many of the
\npaintings are authored by renowned Romanian painters such as Luchian, Tonitza,
\nRessu, Stoica, Teodorescu-Sion. The Paintings depict major historical events,
\nwar scenes, mainly, focusing on the War of Independence or World War One. A major
\nwork which has been restored is a painting by Aman, titled The Proclamation of the
\nUnion, it is the Union of the Principalities, the depicted scene is a very familiar
\none, it is a scene that usually goes with the event.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But what are the restoration stages for
\na painting? How does the whole process unfold? <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sorina Gheorghita: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking about the
\nsteps to be taken for the restoration of a painting, the very moment the
\ndecision has been taken for that particular painting to be restored, it had
\nbeen examined already by the preservation person responsible for the painting warehouse,
\njointly with the restorer, in some cases, and a common decision has been taken,
\nto that end. The very moment the
\npainting is taken to the restoration lab, the painting undergoes a research process for which using various means and operations are being used, direct light, lateral light, ultra-violet light, we sometimes
\nhave no choice other than using infrared light or X-rays.
\nWe resort to analyses, the laboratory of Romanian National Museum of History’s
\nis extremely well-provided, giving us a hand whenever needed…Then, as soon as
\nall those investigations have been made and the structure of the painting layer
\nhas been accurately detected, the level of degradation and the cause of the degradation
\nare also specified. Then the proceedings are set, for a detailed research proposal,
\nwhereby all the required operations are presented for the painting to be
\nrestored, that particular research and the ensuing intervention proposals are
\npresented before a sitting restoration panel which gives its go-ahead for the operation.
\nThe restoration process comes to a close, that’s for sure, while the
\nfreshly-restored work is again presented before a panel, whose job is to check
\nif all the steps had been taken, that were put forward for the restoration work,
\nalso checking the respective work’s post-restoration condition, then the work
\nreturns to the storage room or is being displayed as part of an exhibition, like
\nthe one we’re having right now. The most rewarding surprises emerge, in fact, while
\nwe’re doing the cleaning, which is a spectacular operation, whether we remove
\nthe varnish alone and the surface layers. A great many details resurface, which had not been visible before, or the colors, which turn out to be a lot livelier.
\nAlso, if, in time, the painting was covered in certain re-painting layers, we
\ncan have the surprise of coming across some details that had become absolutely
\ninvisible, otherwise, or even signatures. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As part of the \u00ab Fragment \u00bb
\nexhibition, an important section is spectacularly represented, the metal
\nrestoration laboratory. Moreover, as an absolute first for the lay public,
\nbronze and iron items are shown, in an exquisite display, items that are part
\nof the archaeological site that was discovered in 2012 in Tartaria, lying in the
\ncentral Romanian county of Alba. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Archaeologist Corina Bors: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The archaeological site in
\nTartaria, the Western Tartaria Bridge was unearthed in the spring of 2012. The
\ndiscovery occurred as part of a series of large-scale or pre-emptive archaeological
\nresearch, carried on the occasion of the construction of a highway along the
\nMures River valley. The two deposits, with bronze and iron objects, were
\ndiscovered in an extremely special archaeological context, namely the western boundary
\nditch of the Hallstattian habitat, the objects were stored in two pots made of
\nclay, with archaeologists taking samples of all that. The first deposit, labeled Tartaria 1, has, judging
\nby what we have been able to find so far, and you will see why, more than 400
\nitems made of bronze and iron, dating, broadly speaking, from the 19th
\nand the 18th centuries BC. The second one counts 50 objects, also dated
\nfor the same timeframe.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But which of the items that have been discovered
\nare the most precious, archeologically and historically? <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Corina Bors:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The items of
\nexception that were found in all those prehistorical votive deposits, among
\nthem, there is a chest lace piece, a lavish harness kit made of a tongue bit with
\na mouthpiece, but also several phalera, the golds medals offered to the Romanian
\nsoldiers as a prize and worn around the neck, as well as other everyday items,
\nmade of bronze. In the Fragment exhibition which is still open at the Romania’s
\nNational Museum of History, you can admire, separately, the seven-part necklace,
\nbut also, in a one-of-a kind display, the harness kit placed on a real-scale
\nhorse bust, as well as a series of adornment objects, day-to-day objects,
\nbelonging to a male set, also displayed on a man’s bust. And, last but not the
\nleast, a necklace made of bronze beads is also displayed, again, a piece which
\nis extremely rare for the so-called middle Hallstatt age from the area of the Danube
\nRiver basin. The discovery was made by archeologists and all the fragments kept
\nin those deposits could be sampled, with utmost care, so organic materials were
\nalso sampled, which made it possible for the findings to be accurately dated. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Restoration, a job for the dedicated ones<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":163381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[45073,45075,45076,40582,45074],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-163380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture","tag-archaeology","tag-color","tag-fragment","tag-painting","tag-restoration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n