Recently in Fresco Restoration Category

The fresco had been damaged over the winter by a leak in the roof. This was not the first time this particular corner of the mural had been repaired. I was told that someone did some work on it last year and could see that a different hand had worked on the painting.

My intentions were to leave intact as much of the original artist's work with the least amount of interference from myself. When called upon to paint, I did so with the idea of using the true fresco technique (lime plaster and pigments) followed by a secco fresco layer with the use of casein paints.

The corner images were covered with salt: a result of the water leak pushing out elements within the roofing material through the lime plaster. I was fortunate enough to connect with fresco artist at the Fresco School who provided a formula to disintegrate the salt and restore the lime plaster back to its original constitution. The formula originated from Italy and the restoration of frescoes in Florence that were damaged during the 1966 floods. This formula was also used on the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel.

Deterioration of fresco paintings results from the open, porous nature of their support (walls and ceilings of buildings or other carriers) and their interaction with the surrounding microclimates.

The porous mortar backing provides an easy route for the movement of dilute salt solutions. Salts contained in the building materials or the surrounding area can be readily transported to the plaster underlying the painting. Old leaky roof, clogged gutters or subterranean walls and/or semi-buried walls - anything that would cause water to soak and remain in the wall will eventually bring salts from adjasent areas into the plaster. The wall and fresco can get wet from the rains and not be affected as long as it is exposed to freely moving air that would dry it naturally.

Expansion in volume associated with crystallization of these salts disrupts the plaster-pigment adhesion and leads to disintegration of the surface. Such crystallization depends on the identity of the salts and the moisture content of masonry which is subject to seasonal variations in atmospheric humidity and the amount of rain.

Computer experts at Princeton are helping archaeologists reassemble fragments of an ancient Greek fresco.

A mighty volcanic eruption smothered the Mediterranean island of Thera in the 17th century B.C., preserving a storied trove of cultural and artistic relics from the late Bronze Age.

When it was excavated in modern times, however, much of the trove was like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Greek archaeologists have labored for decades to reconstruct striking frescoes from pieces that still boast their original creamy whites and deep reds.

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http://www.buzzle.com/articles/215310.html

Art restorers in Pisa have found that a bacterium can do the job no chemical has managed to achieve: reveal part of a vast medieval fresco which was covered with a layer of glue during an unfortunate restoration attempt half a century ago.

Scientists from Milan University have shown that the bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri, applied with water on cotton wool, can eat through 80% of the glue in about 10 hours.

Chunks of the 14th- and 15th-century series of frescoes at the Camposanto (cemetery) were removed for repair and restoration in the 1950s.

Part of the cemetery had been badly damaged by bombing during the second world war.

But as a result of the strappo technique, using canvas and organic glue to pull the frescoes from the wall intact, one of the paintings vanished under a layer of glue which could not be removed without damaging the surface.

The frescoes were recently uncovered in a room at the Church of the Birth of John the Baptist in Presnya, located on a quiet side street near the Moscow Zoo. Vasnetsov painted the frescoes in the 1890s, but they were painted over in the Soviet era and forgotten for decades.

The restoration will give art historians a chance to examine previously unstudied works by the artist, who is best known for "The Three Bogatyrs," a painting of three medieval Russian warriors on horseback that often turns up in parodies and advertisements.

The discovery also comes at a time when works by Vasnetsov and his peers are hot items on the art market, eagerly snapped up by rich Russians seeking to amass prestigious art collections. Last year, a canvas by the artist called "Wise Oleg" set a record for his work when it sold for $637,000 at a Sotheby's auction in London.

The fresco, by Guido Reni, dates from 1599

A rare 16th Century Italian fresco has been restored to its original appearance after being painted over more than 150 years ago.

The Separation of Night and Day, painted by Guido Reni in 1599, will go on display at the National Trust's Kingston Lacy mansion, in Dorset.

Restorers have removed oil paint that was put over the work when removed from its original home in Italy.

(from BBC News)

Church fresco concealed beneath layer of plaster
(ANSA) - Venice, October 10 - Art restorers have uncovered a painting by Tiepolo that has been hidden for more than a century inside a Venice church .

The fresco called Faith was discovered in the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena beneath a layer of plaster on a semicircular panel or lunette....

from Ansa.it full article here:
Hidden
Tiepolo found in Venice

This fascinating fresco demonstration is an excellent opportunity for you to get familiar with the creative process and concept of buon (true) fresco - painting on wet plaster. iLia Anossov, Nathan Zakheim, and Masha Zakheim will introduce their audience to the traditional method of the true (buon) fresco and erase most of the misconception about traditional buon fresco technique that one may currently have.

The event takes place on June 29th, 2004 at Venetian Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada as part of 2004 Fauxcademy Awards week.

This is the question that I encounter the most. The story of fresco painting began over 35,000 years ago in the caves of modern France where the Neolithic man applied natural earth pigments to the moist limestone walls of his cave to illustrate his life and beliefs. Of cause Neolithic man did not call his paintings frescoes. So as every civilization there after had own name for the technique used for the magnificent wall paintings found in it's most treasured environments, temples, public spaces and homes - the only technique that allows us to see those masterpieces thousands of years after they were created. Through the years this technique has been refined and now we know it as Buon (true) Fresco.

The highlight of the June 2003 Professional Fresco Painting Workshop run by fresco artist iLia Anossov and his "Nationwide Fresco Painting Workshop Program" (http://FrescoSchool.com) was a lecture on fresco restoration by leading American Restorer/Conservator Nathan Zakheim. The lecture took place in Mr. Zakheim's studio in Marina Del Rey where 45ft long fresco by Alfred Ramos Martinez is just being delivered and installed for a year long restoration. Unlike many frescoes painted before WW2 which were destroyed or painted over by indifferent or little educated contemporaries this particular fresco was well kept in the high-end restaurant frequented by many celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, who was photographed dining in front of the fresco. However restaurant has suffered a major fire and fresco was damaged. It was decided that after the restoration fresco will be reinstalled in San Diego Public Library. Apparently the "good fortune" of R. Martinez's fresco was not over and it received a second chance in life when Mr. Zakheim took it under his wing and accepted the undertaking to restore and reinstall the masterpiece.

Fresco Workshop students learned from Mr. Zakheim details of restoration process and