“Restoration can be likened to medicine, with the triptych “prevention, curative care and surgical acts” meaning climate control, simple, superficial, short and often one-off operations ([…] applying tension strips to the reverse side of the canvas, refixing and re-varnishing) and deep operations ([…] deep cleaning and reintegration); as in medicine, repeated care is preferable to surgery and the trauma it entails. As in medicine, scientific physico-chemical methods of examination and analysis are indispensable.”
Ségolène Bergeon, Science et Patience, RMN, 1990
“Restoration can be likened to medicine, with the triptych “prevention, curative care and surgical acts” meaning climate control, simple, superficial, short and often one-off operations ([…] applying tension strips to the reverse side of the canvas, refixing and re-varnishing) and deep operations ([…] deep cleaning and reintegration); as in medicine, repeated care is preferable to surgery and the trauma it entails. As in medicine, scientific physico-chemical methods of examination and analysis are indispensable.”
Ségolène Bergeon, Science et Patience, RMN, 1990
It was with this quote from Ségolène Bergeon, a leading figure in French conservation-restoration, that I decided to open this blog. I wanted to present the conservation-restoration profession to you from a certain angle, that of a doctor facing his patient.
Examination, Diagnosis, Causes, Treatment...
In order to establish a conservation-restoration intervention protocol, a precise examination of the work is required. It is thus necessary to define the nature of each of the painting’s original components, those that may have been added, and to examine their current state of conservation. These initial investigations will enable us to make a precise diagnosis of the alterations observed and their causes, and to prescribe the appropriate treatments.
The correct analysis of the work’s constituent elements will determine the choice of restoration materials to be used, in order to preserve the integrity of the work and the stability of the materials in relation to each other. Theoretical and empirical knowledge of the history of painting techniques is complemented by tests of the physico-chemical reactions of materials to traction, different solvents, temperatures, etc., in order to determine their nature and the possible combinations of treatments or those to be avoided.
However, none of these in-depth scientific examinations can replace observation “with the naked eye”: this is the restorer’s first contact with the work. A trained eye will be able to recognize the work’s main deteriorations right from the outset, and determine the main focus of future interventions. Further analysis using binoculars with low magnification and different lights will complete the examination and confirm, or not, the initial observations.
In addition, it is essential to establish the causes of each observed alteration: tracing the origins of the alteration enables us to understand the current state of the work, anticipate its possible evolution and decide on the appropriate treatment. Natural or accidental, environmental or factorial, acts of vandalism, old restorations… the causes of deterioration of a painting are numerous and require, to be determined, a good knowledge of the natural ageing of the constituents of a pictorial work, their physico-chemical reactions to climatic conditions, temperature changes, light… and other constraints, as well as a good understanding of painting techniques.
Therefore, like a doctor dealing with a patient, the conservator-restorer dealing with a painting needs to define all these elements in advance during a detailed condition report, in order to correctly choose the materials to be used and the order of operations and care to be given, but also to avoid any unanticipated constraints leading to changes in treatment during the course of the intervention.
Iconographic Sources
- Ségolène Bergeon, « Science et patience » ou la restauration des peintures, Editions RMN, 1990 (réédition 1992)