Konserwacja portali gotycko-renesansowych we wnętrzach Zamku na Wawelu

• Authors: Stępień Piotr

Title variants

EN

Conservation of the Gothic-Renaissance Portals it the Interiors of the Wawel Castle

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The Gothic-Renaissance portals (door-frames), decorating the chambers of the Wawel Royal Castle (Cracow, Poland), have a great historic and artistic value. Their composition is unique and they are an important part of the castle architecture. Two groups of the portals can be distinguished. The first group is connected with earlier phases of rebuilding the castle into a Renaissance palace (the west and north wing, 1504-17). In this group the lower part of the door frame (jambs and lintel) has a Late Gothic decoration with mullions. The moulded cornice, placed over it has a clear Renaissance form. In the second group, placed in the east wing (1520-29), Gothic and Renaissance elements are linked harmoniously in the whole composition of the portal. Repairs of the original portals (including the exchange of some elements) and reconstruction were executed in the 1920s, during the renovation of the castle. In some cases elements from the 16th century, were inserted into a newly made portal. New architectural elements have decorations in the Gothic-Renaissance style. Both original and reconstructed portals are made of porous „Pińczow” limestone (from Central Poland). Jambs in some portals of the first group are of Jurassic limestone. Basic conservation problems are connected with dirt, mechanical damages, cracks, soluble iron compounds, old repairs and the weakness of the material. The aim of the present works can be described as: re-establishing the aesthetic value and protection against damage. The portals were cleaned with the use of water dispersed in an air stream under low pressure (a method similar to so-called nebulisation). Soft brushes and poultices with an ammonium bicarbonate solution were used to remove the more dense dirt. Remains of mortar, gypsum, paint and floor-wax were removed mechanically. Delicate methods of cleaning made it possible to keep and identify traces of the old colour layers. The layer with the colour of stone seems to be the oldest. It was used to unify the appearance of the stone and as protection. After cleaning, if necessary, an extraction of soluble iron compounds was made. Lime-based putty with stone powder, pigments and hydraulic additions was used for repairs. Although the portals are inside the building it was found necessary to protect the stone with a hydrophobic treatment. This treatment should: — passivate the material, by coating the grains of calcium carbonate with a film of less reactive material; — lower the dirt accumulation, by reducing moisture (hydrophobic effect), the production of gypsum (effect of passivation) and the specific sufrace (a film „smoothes” the microstructure); — facilitate future cleaning (maintenance) by protecting from excessive moisture and the washing out of the stone compounds. The first phase of the work used siloxane in organic solvents (Wacker 290). The protecting effect was found very good, although evaporation of solvents created difficulties and dangers. For this reason the next phases applied silicon microemulsion (Funcosil Hydroimpraegnierung from Remitters), equivalent to siloxane but diluted with water. Documentation of the work was prepared as a „documentation chart” for each portal, becoming a catalogue of the architectural decoration of the castle. All the described work was executed in 1992-94 by a conservation team headed by the author of the article.

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1995
• Issue: 3-4
• Pages: 299-310

Dates

published

1995

Contributors

author

Stępień Piotr

References

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Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247