Technical Studies

Foreword

Martina Grießer, Matthias Manzini, Elke Oberthaler

pp. 8–9 Download (PDF, 102 KB)

Cartonnages from Mummies in the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

Elfriede Haslauer

pp. 10–37 Download (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Abstract
From the beginning of the 22nd dynasty, mummies were wrapped in a linen cartonnage that was painted like an inner sarcophagus. The outer sarcophagus continued to be constructed from wood but was only simply painted: with the face and large wig, the jewelled collar, and a vertical text column with the name of the deceased.

Although there are several publications on the production of these cartonnages and even on their replication over a mould core using materials available in ancient Egypt, additional details could be observed from the six mummy cases in the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, which in comparison with similar objects from other collections revealed variations especially in the back slit and the closure of the foot end. For the latter, different materials and variations of attachment were employed.

Garofalo’s Resurrection of Christ Altarpiece (1520)
Provenance – Painting Technique – Technical Observations – Conservation

Francesca Del Torre Scheuch, Ingrid Hopfner und Sabine Stanek

pp. 38–103 Download (PDF, 6.3 MB)

Abstract
Following its acquisition in 1962, Garofalo’s 1520 Resurrection of Christ altarpiece, still on its original support, could no longer be presented in the Picture Gallery of the Kunst­historisches Museum from 1976, despite two rounds of conservation measures, due to severe damage. The poor condition of the monumental work (acute flaking, yellowed varnish, earlier water damage, etc.) made a comprehensive conservation treatment necessary, which was supported by an interdisciplinary research team comprised of curators, conservators, and scientists.

In preparation and parallel to the conservation measures, the scientific study of the painting technique played an important role, aided by investigations including infrared reflectography, x-radiography, microscopy, and binding medium analysis. The artist’s use of a limited selection of painting materials could be confirmed: drying oil as the binding medium for the paint layers, gypsum as the ground, an imprimitura containing lead white, and pigments including lead white, azurite, vermilion, lead-tin yellow, ochre, carbon black, and copper green are common for the artist’s period and region. The brilliant colourism of his palette, achieved through the use of a glazed painting technique, is impressive for this work and could be confirmed as typical for Garofalo’s oeuvre through comparison with his other paintings.

The treatment of the altarpiece sought both the stabilization of the endangered substance (consolidation of woodworm-damaged areas, securing of lifting paint, regluing of cracks in the support) and the unified appearance of the picture through aesthetic measures (removal of overpainting, retouching, and yellowed varnish; compensation/integration of abrasion and losses) to allow the quality of the painting’s brilliant colourism to again be appreciated. A new frame was also made and additional preventive mea­sures undertaken to ensure that this masterpiece of Ferrarese Renaissance painting remains publicly accessible in the long term.

The Conservation of an Imperial Chinese Lacquer Screen for the Reopening of the Weltmuseum Wien

Christiane Jordan, Silvia Miklin-Kniefacz und Richard Miklin

pp. 104–153 Download (PDF, 6.3 MB)

Abstract
The technical study and conservation treatment of the imperial Chinese carved lacquer screen from the Qianlong Period (1736–1796), created in the 1770s, was one of the largest projects undertaken as part of the re­opening of the Weltmuseum Wien in 2017. Imposing and of great artistic value, the screen was removed in 1900 by Austrian troops during the so-called Boxer Rebellion from the imperial hunting park Nan hai-tze (Nanhaizi) near Beijing and transport­ed via Pula to Vienna where – after its presentation in the Imperial and Royal Natural History Court Museum – it was continuously exhibited in the Museum of Ethnology from its opening in 1928 until 2004. The depiction, spanning all three panels of the screen, shows the mythical Pantao Feast, the birthday festivities of Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West. The reverse, executed in gold lacquer and gold painting, also relates to this.

The cracks and losses in the carved lacquer were consolidated and secured with Plextol D 360 and Plextol D 498 (3:2), with the addition of ground cork and organic phenolic resin microballoons for large gaps. Lifting lacquer on the reverse was set down traditionally using mugi-urushi, for which a so-called shimbari construction was also frequently employed. The secondary colophony coating on the reverse was retained, as was the presumably historic protective layer containing ibota wax. The carved lacquer surface was cleaned with a mixture of deionised water and isopropanol; the reverse largely with petroleum spirits. Losses in the carved lacquer areas and on the reverse were filled with pigmented microcrystalline wax. For the final surface consolidation on the reverse, the urushigatame method, developed in Japan, was applied. Nearly all old wood inserts had to be adjusted, and old retouching and overpaint was removed. New gold retouching on the reverse was achieved using a linseed oil mordant and gold powder. Missing metal hardware was cast and gilded galvanically.

Protected in an environmentally controlled glass showcase, the restored lacquer screen has been a centrepiece in the redisplayed collection of the Weltmuseum Wien since autumn of 2017.