Preservation of Medieval Art

The Preservation of Medieval Art and Architecture

by Nicole Petilli

The Preservation of Medieval Art

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Abstract

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Introduction

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Section 1: Background

First it is necessary to distinguish between preservation, conservation, and restoration, because each means a very different future for what is being conserved. Preservation will be defined as trying to keep the object as found without making and changes to correct for previous or future damage. Restoration would be trying to recreate lost elements of the object using what is left behind. Conservation is the keeping the object in a predetermined state via preservation, restoration or both. additionally we need to differentiate between preservation goals and presentation goals since both factor into how an object should be conserved.

Preservation

It is impossible to keep art and architecture from being damaged or corroded entirely but some measures can be taken to reduce the amount of damage they take and extend their lifetime. Historical Palaces does a lot of preservation work to keep their collections in a presentable state. At the Tower of London they have identified different risk factors and have done work to minimize them. The potential dangers are dust, light, pollution, vibrations, and weather.
Dust can cause damage by working its way into materials or by caking onto a material. With more susceptible materials like fabrics, dust can work its way into the fibers and cause damage and weaken the material. It can also sometimes chemically react with the material causing further damage., along with absorbing moisture or pollutants which can also cause damage. additionally it can serve as food for pests which could also then damage the material. with more resistant materials dust can cement on over time which makes it hard to remove without causing damage. Frequently dusting objects can prevent it from cementing on or prevent it from absorbing pollution and moisture and prevent damage. preventing dust from getting on them in the first place woks as well. since most dust indoors comes from people, keeping a distance between them and the object can prevent dust from accumulating.
Light can cause bleaching in more sensitive materials like the ones used for tapestries and paintings. Sunlight is usually the most damaging variety since it covers such a large range of waves and such an extensive variety of ultra violet rays but all light can be damaging. Once a material has been discolored or faded and even weakened due to light exposure it is impossible to repair.Since sunlight is the most damaging variety of light, keeping the objects indoors with limited natural light and low amounts of artificial lighting can limit damage due to light exposure.
Pollution, like dust can work its way into different materials and chemically react with them or cause other damage. Castles and art located in large cities are more at risk for damage due to pollution due to gas emissions from cars and other vehicles. Monitoring the amount of pollution and keeping objects in cases when the levels are high can prevent damage due to pollution.
Vibration can loosen floorboards and windows or cause cracks and damage to structures. Vibration tends to work in small amounts overtime and causes damage through cyclic fatigue. It can be caused by crowds of people walking through an area. Keeping activity in the area low can reduce the amount of vibrations. vibrations should be kept low enough to prevent damage and can be monitored in higher risk areas with sensors.
Harsh weather like rain, wind, snow or frost can increase erosion significantly. Improper conditions such as humidity and temperature can even damage more sensitive items while there indoors. Shielding items outdoors and keeping more sensitive items on a climate controlled display case can prevent damage.
It is near impossible to preserve a building since there is no way of protecting it from either weather or pollution. most of the preservation cases of buildings are when part of the building had been buried and there is an active choice to leave it that way instead of excavating in order to prevent exposing it to the elements. In the case of Wigmore Castle, ferns and other greenery was deliberately left on the walls because the protection the plats were giving was doing more conservative work that the roots were doing damage to the mortar.

Restoration

There is some controversy as to whether restoration is good for historic items or damaging. i depends on the conservative goals and the quality of the restoration.

Section 2: Deliverable

Additional Image

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Quality of Restorations and Effectiveness of Preservation Efforts

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Comparing Persevered Castles to Abandoned Castles

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Gallery

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Conclusion

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References

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External Links

To the Historic Royal Palace Site: http://www.hrp.org.uk/conservation/#gs.PB0fyas

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