Proceedings e report - Firenze University Press

THE CONSEQUENCES OF WOODEN STRUCTURES CONSOLIDATION
THROUGH TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES ON THE RESISTANCE OF SUPPORT
PANELS AND PAINT LAYERS (SOME CASE STUDY - STELEA MONASTERY
TARGOVISTE, HUMOR MONASTERY AND ARBORE MONASTERY)
Gheorghe Niculescu*, Migdonia Georgescu
National Research Institute for Conservation and Restoration, Bucharest, Romania
The majority of Romanian icons, especially those from XVI-XIX centuries, are painted on panels of
soft wood, like lime – the most widespread, poplar or coniferous trees. Icons on hard wood panels, as
oak or beach, are rarely found. For this reason the major part of the icons preserved onto this day has
suffered a xylophages insects attack, sometimes resulting in a considerable loss of mechanical strength
of the panel. In time, various methods aiming to restore the panel resistance were tested, as
impregnation with consolidant substances and inserting wedges of different materials, hoping in an
improvement of the icons state of conservation. In most cases the results were far from those foreseen
by restorers.
As an exemplification is presented the case of icons from the church and museum of Stelea Monastery
- Targoviste, as well as the icons and iconostasis of Humor and Arbore Monasteries, displaying a large
range of deteriorations, frequently found in the majority of the orthodox icons collections from
Romania.
The icons of Stelea Monastery were reinforced by two traditional methods: impregnation and inserting
of some new wood fragments on the icon back. Most of the interventions implied both treatments. In
most cases, the impregnation was carried out using a wax-colophony mixture, imparting a greater
mechanical resistance to the wooden panel. However the results were not quite satisfactory for many
reasons.
- the impregnation is not uniform, as the liquid penetrates through the exit holes of xylophages insects,
randomly distributed;
- in some cases, due to the correspondence between the insect channels and because the consolidant is
poured in a liquid form the wax-colophony mixture reaches the painted surface, deteriorating it;
- the increase of material density in the impregnated areas (about 5 times greater, in our estimation)
creates additional strains at the level of already existent cracks, resulting in a fracture along the
incipient fissure;
- the most destructive consequence is the formation, on the icon back, of a barrier for water vapors as
well as for the xylophages insects resistant to disinfection (as a rule, this is the case of heavily
contaminated icons, the biocide treatment being carried out by brushing, the eggs and the larvae
deposited in depth are not destroyed). So, the exit holes will appear also onto the icon front side,
increasing the deterioration of the pictorial layer. At the best, the final result would be a reinforced
solid panel, usually very heavy, on which the pictorial layer – the image intended to be preserved –
will would deteriorate even more rapidly than before consolidation.
Taking into account the above facts, the restorer Dinu Savescu suggested a completely different
restoration method, based on the following considerations:
- the pictorial layer has an insignificant weight comparing to the wood panel itself, thus a very solid
panel is unnecessary;
- the xylophages biological attack, especially on soft wood, is directed to the areas between the wood
fibers, the panel preserving its mechanical resistance to a greater extent than expected;
- the consolidation of some areas is feasible using soft material, like balsa wood. Thus, the density of
the support material is not essentially modified;
* E-mail: niculescu.geo@gmail.com
Joseph Gril (edited by), Wood Science for Conservation of Cultural Heritage –Braga 2008: Proceedings of the International
Conference held by COST Action IE0601 (Braga - Portugal, 5-7 November 2008, ISBN 978-88-6453-157-1 (print)
ISBN 978-88-6453-165-6 (online) © 2010 Firenze University Press