{"id":18454,"date":"2018-03-21T17:22:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=18454"},"modified":"2018-03-21T17:22:48","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:22:48","slug":"the-talks-the-london-gels-in-conservation-conference-alina-moskalik-detalle-conservation-of-murals-by-eugene-delacroix-at-saint-sulpice-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2018\/03\/21\/the-talks-the-london-gels-in-conservation-conference-alina-moskalik-detalle-conservation-of-murals-by-eugene-delacroix-at-saint-sulpice-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"The London Gels in Conservation Conference: Alina Moskalik-Detalle, \u201cConservation of murals by Eugene Delacroix at Saint Sulpice, Paris\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gels<\/a>
Gels In Conservation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This blog post is part of a series of observations about the London \u201cGels in Conservation\u201d conference co-hosted by the Tate and IAP (International Academic Projects, Ltd).\u00a0 In mid-October, over the course of three days, some 41 authors presented research, techniques and ideas on gels in conservation.\u00a0 The talks were excellent, and I\u2019ve focused on four that were notable for the wide range of materials treated and challenges faced. They ranged from coating\/grime removal from a giant sequoia tree cross section, to dirt and varnish removal from Delacroix wall paintings, to removal of repairs from a fragile felt hat from a 18th<\/sup> century ship wreck, and an experiment comparing residues left behind by various gels on paper.<\/p>\n

\"2.Alina<\/a>
2. Alina Moskalik-Detalle talking describing coating removal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the second of four talks, Alina Moskalik-Detalle presented \u201cConservation of murals by Eugene Delacroix at Saint Sulpice, Paris.\u201d The talk was interesting for its scale and challenges. \u00a0Because I\u2019ve gone to see these murals many times over the years, the talk was also personally interesting. Each time I visited, I left somewhat disappointed by the darkened, flat, dull murals.\u00a0 As luck would have it, I was scheduled to travel to Paris a week after attending the gels conference.\u00a0 What I saw when I visited Ste. Sulpice was truly remarkable\u2014color, depth, and drama.\u00a0 The cleaning had totally transformed these murals.\u00a0 Naturally, I couldn\u2019t help myself, I actively looked for shiny patches\u2014the results from this treatment were remarkable.\u00a0 This multi-year project involved numerous conservators including collaboration with Richard Wolbers.\u00a0 Some of the treatment challenges included flaking paint, complex paint layers, multiple restorations, rising damp in the walls, carbon based grime, and, if that wasn\u2019t enough, the paint was very sensitive to organic solvents.\u00a0 The conservators wanted to limit penetration of their solvent gels without leaving a residue or tide line behind. They wanted good contact between the gels and the substrate, control of the action of water, and to create mixtures of solvents that would clean effectively without damaging the paint layers.\u00a0 After cleaning tests were performed, a treatment protocol emerged: by pre-saturation of the areas being treated with cyclomethicone followed by the application of silicone solvents gels to the mural\u2019s surfaces, \u00a0tide lines were avoided, grime could be removed, the gels could be cleared, and residue was limited.\u00a0 The D4 was a slow evaporator which allowed about a 30 minute working time for the application of the gel and subsequent grime removal without harming the paint layer.<\/p>\n

\"during<\/a>
3. Delacroix mural detail, during treatment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gels were made and applied in a paste-like consistency for maximum control of where the material was placed. It clung to the vertical walls and horizontal ceiling long enough to be effective.\u00a0 Using D4 based emulsions to clean the mural\u2019s paint surfaces allowed the removal of surface soil without stripping wax or oily components from the paint films themselves.\u00a0 Because the emulsions were surfactant free, it was easier to clear them from the treated surfaces. Analysis of samples didn\u2019t show residue left behind on the surface, but when the conservators tried to consolidate flaking areas of paint, they had trouble with adhesion, it is unclear why.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see how these murals age over time and if further treatment is needed in future, how re-treatable it is.<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/a>
4. Author pictured in Delacroix chapel after treatment was completed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This blog series is a result of receiving the FAIC Carolyn Horton grant to help me attend the conference.\u00a0\u00a0 I would like to gratefully acknowledge the FAIC for helping make it possible for me to attend this important conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog post is part of a series of observations about the London \u201cGels in Conservation\u201d conference co-hosted by the Tate and IAP (International Academic Projects, Ltd).\u00a0 In mid-October, over the course of three days, some 41 authors presented research, techniques and ideas on gels in conservation.\u00a0 The talks were excellent, and I\u2019ve focused on … Continue reading “The London Gels in Conservation Conference: Alina Moskalik-Detalle, \u201cConservation of murals by Eugene Delacroix at Saint Sulpice, Paris\u201d”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,34,1],"tags":[84,217,417,516,609,873],"class_list":["post-18454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ccs","category-paintings","category-uncategorized","tag-alina-moskalik-detalle","tag-carolyn-horton-grant","tag-faic-grants","tag-iap","tag-london-gel-conference","tag-richard-wolbers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}