Problemy estetyczne konserwacji malarstwa ściennego u progu XXI wieku

• Authors: Zalewski Władysław

Title variants

EN

THE AESTHETIC PROBLEMS OF THE CONSERVATION OF MURALS AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

Murals are the most frequently ruined relics due to their close affiliation with architecture which in subject to constant transformations and devastation. The number of factors which adversely affect murals has been revealed best of all in the course of complex examinations of the Giotto murals in the Capella dell'Arena in Padua. Their mutual influence is the reason why murals more frequently undergo conservation. Upon their example, it is easier to observe the changes in aesthetic conceptions. On the one hand, tendencies towards treating murals as a decoration which can be arbitrarily repainted and supplemented have survived in Europe. On the other hand, a number of methods have been proposed which, in accordance with the general principle of respect for the original work, treat gaps and supplements in a manner which favours certain schemes and aesthetic simplificactions. Not always do they take into account the individual nature of each painting. Many centres for training conservationists, fascinated by the progress of research and realisation methods, have neglected the painting abilities and aesthetic sensitivity of the students of the art of conservation. There is also enormous chasm between the high level of work conducted by large European conservation centres, scientific institutes and museums, and the general level of the work performed by accidental workers. Today many murals are composed of only the lower layers, prepared by the author for the execution of the painting proper. The fashion in which they are displayed is a source of numerous problems and requires aesthetic decisions. Even more difficult is the situation when fragments of well-preserved painting exist alongside drastic missing parts. In those instances, many solutions produce „preparations" which make the painting illegible. The most serious difficulties for aesthetic solutions are created by murals of a decidedly illusionistic character, primarily from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Frequently a shoddy execution of their lower layers is the reason for a number of irreversible gaps, which eliminate the proper effect of the paintings. In the last fiftty years, much has changed as regards the methods of punctation. The „trattegio" and similar methods have been adopted throughout the whole of Europe. A schematic application of those methods, however, and even particular regulation constitute a threat for the aesthetics of the supplementing paintings. Recently, however, it has been possible to notice a number of realizations in which the employment of „distinguishing" punctation is treated individually, in accordance with the character of the mural, and the devastations found thereon. One of the most prominent problems examined in the second half of our century is the mass-scale transfer of murals. Today, we are dealing with the number of places where such „saved" fragments of paintings are gathered. Those sad „cemetaries" testify to the greatly imperfect methods of removing murals and the unwise decision of conservationists. Only recently, attempts have been made to retain the original uneven surface of the painting in the course of its transference ( the work performed by Dr. Maria Ostaszewska in the Department of the Conservation of Artworks in the Academy of Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow ). In my opinion, at the beginning of the twenty first century conservation schemes and fashions will be rejected in favour of an individual approach to each mural, with due attention paid to its nature and state. It is also my view that the problem of the supplements and the display of murals will be suitably appreciated by all European conservation centres.

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1991
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 151-153

Dates

published

1991

Contributors

author

Zalewski Władysław

• prof. dr, Wydział Konserwacji ASP Kraków

References

• O . Ca s a z z a , II restauro pittorico. Neli'unita di metodologia, Firenze 1985.
• Ma r i a Os t a s z ews k a , Studia nad metodą utrzymania nierownej powierzchni tynku w transferze malowidła ściennego. „Ochrona Zabytkow" nr 2, 1991.

Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247