Restoring wallpapers
When we talk about research, we are often reminded of scientific and technological issues. But in other disciplines too, research is absolutely necessary.
The report that comes next is a testament to this. We went to the Faculty of Fine Arts of Leioa, to the Restoration department. There, we have been taught how to renovate old wallpapers. For this task, in addition to the talent of the artists, they absolutely need, for example, the help of chemists.
According to a legend, Mrs. Maria Perez, with her bare hands, dominated King Alfonso I the Fighter in the 12th century. The king then asked her, “Who is the man who has come to me?” and Mary answered: “I am not Varon, Sino Varona”. Thus took the name of the family of the Varones, and their tower houses, to the west of Álava, in the village of
Villanañe. The tower house is currently converted into a museum, where, among other things, the wallpapers of its walls are spectacular.
RODRIGO VARONA: It's a hunting scene, when they come out of the palace, they look for the deer, they catch it, and they make a snack.
It's a hunt, when it comes to the palace, it's persuasive, it's a hunt, and it's a merienda. The wonderful wallpapers that
decorate the walls of the tower house of the Varones date back to the 18th century. They are a work of art, composed of parts by parts and with great detail.
They look great, no doubt, probably very similar to what they originally had. The appearance is due to the renovation work carried out at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Basque Country.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: We decided to remove all the wallpapers that were in the tower house, renovate them all in the laboratory of the UPV/EHU, and then put them back in their original place.
He thought about the possibility of doing the screening of all the painted papers of the tower, his restoration in our laboratory in the UPV, and after the relocation once again in situ. The removal of paper is the first phase of the renovation process, which is basic and must
be carried out with great care. In addition to removing the paper without damaging it, it is necessary to classify it in detail at the end in order to place each part in the correct place.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: Depending on the state of the wall and the paper, the removal work is done in one way or another. The easiest thing is to remove it on the ground: scrape the plaster with a scalpel and remove the paper. In other situations we apply moisture to the wallpaper, thus softening the adhesive and then removing the paper.
It depends on what conditions we have on the wall and the paper that is going to be glued to the wall, optams by a guy from scratch or another. The more the sencillo looks like he's a direct striker in the dry, when the scalpel lights up that wall to make the more facile the striker. In a second position we humectate the painted paper, we ablate the tails with which they are attached to the wall and make the scratch.
Common problems in the renovation work are the poor state of the paper itself, the appearance of fungi both on the wall and on the paper due to moisture, and the almost total disappearance of the paints.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: In some cases the paper is almost gone, disintegrated, and we have nothing left but polychromy. And we have polychromia because it is usually made with inorganic pigments. In cases like this, we get help from scientists to find out what pigment we have, and sometimes even what binder we have. We have been in situations where the
paper has been disintegrated, it has been disintegrated and we do not have more than what is polychromy, and what is polychromy is because it is made with inorganic pigments. Where the sciences normally help us determine what type of pigmento we have, sometimes what type of pigmento we have. We are located in the technological park of Zamudio,
laboratory of the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the University of the Basque Country. This research group has been involved in the recovery of wallpapers from the Varona tower.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, the interior of the painted papers has been observed.
KEPA CASTRO; EHU-UPV: In contrast, through the infrared based microscope, the binders, the bonds between the elements, have been identified. They are usually inorganic resins. In addition to defining
the components contained in the papers individually, elements that are formed from combinations of these components have also been defined in this laboratory. Focused on the área where the laser light is to be analyzed, the spectrum of the elements present in the sample appears on the screen.
Since nothing is destroyed with the technology used in these studies, the samples were also returned to the renovation process.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: With the paper removed from the wall, we brought it to the faculty to begin the renovation work. First, both the front and back of the paper
are cleaned with brushes and gums, and also by moistening. Once you've done the show, the papers are traded to the faculty, and they're shown to do what the restaurant is like. The first thing we do is a cleaning of the amber and the reverse with brochas, gums and also humidifying.
After cleaning the paper, it is often necessary to re-reinforce it so that it is not lost. For this purpose, it is usually customary to add another layer of paper to the back of the original paper. Then you can start working on it.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: To re-establish the color, we have to go closer to the original color before introducing the new color, and we make the following color scales. To make the
color reintegration we have to make it easier to make one of these colors original to the new color that we go to meter, because so many of the colors we make are these color scales. The task seems simple, but it requires
a lot of testing. It is necessary to find the tone of each color, make color scales, decide how much of each color is needed, etc.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: To restore the color, since they are decorative elements, we often make series of elements, so we have all the necessary data to be able to carry out a faithful chromatic reconstruction. We seek to maintain the difference of tone with the original, leaving the new painting in a lower tone to emphasize this difference, but at the end it gives it a whole. This paper, seen in this way, goes directly to the area where the eye is missing. By introducing the color, it becomes more integrated.
This re-integration of color, as decorative elements are, in many cases has serial elements, with the result that we have the data to make it possible to carry out a fixed chromatic re-construction, so as to maintain a tonal difference respectful of the original. There is a tone in a little bit more under the new one that takes the original to mark that difference, but the final one is a unit, it’s a whole. This paper looks like this, the eye is direct to the missing part, when it comes to color is already more integrated. Once the pigments are
defined, the colors and tones are marked, the renewal process itself begins.
Away from the sparkles, they look for matte tones.
It is a routine process, a task that must be carried out with patience and skill. It takes time, but there is no doubt about the outcome. Once the
workshop’s renovation work has been completed, all that remains is to return the papers to their place. It is at this time that the sorting performed during the removal of the papers is necessary, since each of the parts of the paper must be
in place. After placing the paper, pay attention to the final details, and the necessary repairs are made on the wall itself. The result of the work done among many people becomes pure joy in the eyes of the audience.
LOLA RODRIGUEZ; EHU-UPV: We work with analytical chemists, sometimes biologists, we have also needed physicists and mathematicians to perform calculations. If I, for example, have to restore the color in a very wide area, I have to know what components the original color has, I have to separate these components to know how much of each one I have to put in order to get a similar tone. Disziplina anitzeko proiektua da, berriztatze-departamentutik koordinatua, gu garelako ondarea berreskuratzen dugunok, baina disziplina anitzekoa. We work on everything with analytical chemistry, sometimes with biology, even sometimes with
a lack of physics, even mathematics to calculate percentages for me, sometimes with a model that makes a chromatic re-integration of a very large area, that we have to see the color of the original ingredients, with the need to know the tone for which we need to know something. Or it is a type of multidisciplinary profession, coordinated from the restoration that we are to the end that we recuperate the patrimony, but it is multidisciplinary. According to an old legend, María Pérez venerated with her own hands to the king Alfonso I the Battalion in the 12th century. The Vencido king asked: who is the man who has come to me? and Maria replied: “I am not Varon, Sino Varona”. So is the saga of the Varona with the apellido, the name with which it is also known that its house is located in the west of Álava, in the poblado of Villanañe.
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