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Restoration department: paper and parchment

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Activity information

The Laboratory

The Laboratory

Location

The restoration laboratory of the Paper and Parchment Department is located on the first floor of the OPD location at the Fortezza da Basso.

Restoration activity, research, training

Amongst the most fragile and perishable materials, paper and parchment are a considerable issue in conservation and restoration work. They are used as supports for a variety of graphic and painting techniques (pencil, metal point, pastel, tempera, charcoal, watercolour, sanguine, oil, woodcut, xylography, engraving, lithography), as well as in contemporary techniques involving the use of synthetic materials and industrial production techniques.
Consequently, the department restores not only more ‘traditional’ artistic types – such as drawings, prints and preparatory cartoons – but also a wide range of applied arts items on paper, such as frontals, fans, screens, geographical globes, papier-mâché statues, wallpaper and stage sets.
The department restores not only individual artefacts but also collections – either the graphic corpus of a single author or series of works by different authors historically presented in museums or as collector sets.
Besides preservation issues, this department deals also with the aesthetic presentation of the artefacts, in accordance with the Institute’s guidelines on inpainting integration methodologies. The losses of the paper support are integrated with Japanese tissue, then with watercolours with the differentiated selezione cromatica technique adapting to the tonality of the original paper support.
This department has been investigating for several years specific conservation problems of parchment, which is difficult to preserve due to the organic material’s extreme sensitivity to thermo-hygrometric variations. This is a great challenge for its conservation, especially when parchment is used as a support for paint layers. Research developed within the department has therefore aimed towards stabilising the support, as well as studying the climate conservation conditions that can create a constant balance between climatic agents and physical properties of the artefact.
Research is also carried out on artistic techniques and conservation materials and methods. In this field, significant applications have been achieved, such as the study of parchment mounting systems for displaying purposes and the understanding of the behaviour of natural and synthetic fixatives on both parchment and paper.
The study of ancient drawing techniques is also of particular interest by employing an interdisciplinary method involving various skills, especially in the scientific field, which fosters cooperation with the OPD’s scientific laboratories.
Since 2018, this department has also extended its field of expertise in conservation, restoration, and research to cultural heritage in the professional specialisation n. 10 – in particular the restoration of photography, in which many different kinds of material coexist, as well as many specific photographic processes. The fields investigated range from the origins of the technique up to the contemporary period, thus from daguerreotypes to analogue colour materials and digital prints. The department is also involved in the in-depth study of photomechanical techniques and research activities on material culture and methods for the identification of techniques, as well as in experiments towards innovative applications for restoration.
Additionally, the restoration department offers consultation to third parties concerning sustainable archiving and preservation.

 

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OPD. Settore di restauro Materiali cartacei e membranacei