Academic thesis
| Susanne Maria Winkler: | The restoration of a large wooden polychrome Virgin and Child (Walnut, Salzburg, c. 1420) from the collection of the Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck | Back |
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| Abstract: | This diploma thesis presents the conservation-restoration of a larger than life polychrome Virgin and child from walnut wood (Salzburg, c. 1420, Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck). The sculpture showed complex damages to the wooden support and the polychromy. Due to a fall in the depot of the museum the head of the Virgin, the arms of the child and the entire backside got separated from the sculpture. The polychrome layers of the plinth and the backside is partially undermined and collapsed due to a former pest infestation. The entire polychromy is significantly reduced and heavily damaged due to an improperly executed removal of younger paint layers, probably conducted in the 1st half of the 20th century. The emphasis of the diploma thesis lay thereby in the reinstallment of the stability and integrity of the sculpture by reattaching of broken sculpture parts, as well as an in-depth scientific investigation of the different paint layers of the damaged polychromy. Practical treatments consisted of stabilizing the damaged backside and reassemble the sculpture. To this end, fish glue with the addition of fillers was used and their ratio was to be adapted according to the differing glue joints in the composition. Due to the three-dimensionality of the object common gluing aids (e.g. clamps) and specially made auxiliary constructions were used during the gluing process. The damaged polychrome surface should be preserved in its existing condition. Loose fractions of paint layers were consolidated, and where the polychromy was undermined due to the pest infestation the cavities were filled with a suitable filling material (Evacon-R, ethylvinylacetate copolymer, with added fillers). For the detailed investigation of the exposed polychromy and the remains of younger paint layers an analysis of selected paint layers was conducted, and cross-sections were taken to assign the various phases of the polychromy. The aim of the conservation-restoration was primarily to preserve the current condition as a “polychromed ruin” and integrate only the visible traces of the recent treatments into the overall, aged appearance. |
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 Germany License.
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| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) | https://dx.doi.org/10.21937/grf2-9f18 |
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