Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2015.16
The Use of Agar Gel in the Conservation of Artworks on Paper: Treatment of Pesarese’s Drawing Reinforcing the Palisade
Majda Begić Jarić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9343-4662
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Textiles, Paper and Leather, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Comprehensive conservation work on the drawing Reinforcing the Palisade, attributed to Simone Cantarini il Pesarese, a mid–17th–century Italian artist, was carried out in 2013 at the Section for Paper and Lather of the Croatian Conservation Institute. The drawing was done in the technique of graphite pencil and sepia on a hand–made paper that was additionally glued to a thicker hand–made paper with a partially visible watermark. As the subsequently glued paper became pH acidic, a decision was made to remove the back paper completely, chiefly in order to better read and investigate the watermark that was on it. Given that the drawing is not proof against larger amounts of moisture, removing the back paper presented an additional challenge in the conservation. Choosing the agar gel facilitated a controlled, localized, even, and long–term moisturizing of larger zones on the rear side, without unwanted moisture penetrating to the characteristic portions of the drawing.
Keywords
Simone Cantarini il Pesarese; 17th century; graphite pencil and wash sepia; paper drawing; conservation work; agar gel
Hrčak ID:
149933
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2015.
Visits: 1.346 *