Some of the methods currently being employed have been used by
decades of conservators at Pompeii. Individual tesserae have been
replaced, one by one, in each mosaic, using ancient tiles whenever
possible. Frescoes have been cleaned by hand using a scalpel or a
chemical solution. Painted surfaces have been consolidated with an
acrylic resin diluted with deionized water and then injected into
cracks. However, the teams today also have more high-tech tools at their
disposal, including lasers to clean the frescoes, and ultrasound,
thermal imaging, and radar to evaluate the level of decay of the walls
and paintings. And drones are being used to examine the entirety of the
villa’s protective covering. “The preciousness and historical importance
of the Villa of the Mysteries necessitates great care,” says Vanacore.
“I’m aware that we are working in one of Pompeii’s most important
houses, and that our responsibility is enormous. I know that the work
will forever be judged by the results, by people, and by time.”
Although frescoes appear to exist as a single layer
on a wall, they are actually created in multiple layers in a way that
makes the artwork part of the wall itself. True fresco is made by
beginning with several coats of plaster—usually two rough coats that are
allowed to dry and harden, and a third, smooth one. Dry pigments mixed
with water are painted on while the third coat is still wet. As this
uppermost layer dries, the painting becomes part of the wall, creating a
durable surface that can last for hundreds, indeed thousands, of years,
unlike an oil painting on canvas, for example, which can easily peel or
chip. The Villa of the Mysteries has dozens of frescoed walls, almost
all of which need attention, according to Vanacore.
Though
these walls are durable, they still must be handled carefully. “We felt
that lasers were a good method to clean the frescoes because they allow
for the gentle cleaning of hard surfaces, and there is minimal impact
on the work of art,” says Vanacore. Although lasers are generally used
for cleaning stone, they have been tested on metals and pottery as well
to great success. The process by which the lasers clean the frescoes—a
few microns at a time—is called photoablation, a sort of vaporization of
what can appear as a layer of black crust. “This allows for precise
cleaning of very delicate surfaces, and it’s also much less time
consuming than using a scalpel or chemicals,” Vanacore adds. Even where
the surface is very degraded, lasers can remove minuscule amounts of
dirt without affecting the layer underneath, revealing as much of the
ancient painting as possible without putting it at risk.
πηγή : http://www.archaeology.org/issues/124-1403/features/1813-pompeii-saving-the-villa-of-the-mysteries#art_page3
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