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Restoration of sculptures from the Royal Conservatory of Music
Busts of Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, Ruperto Chapí, Joaquín Turina and Emilio Arrieta
The Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid is the oldest public institution of music education in Spain, which provides higher education in music, equivalent to university education. Its history, lasting a century and a half, is representative of the vicissitudes of music in Spanish society. This center, under the jurisdiction of the Community of Madrid, has a museum that houses Fine Arts collections along with musical instruments, all of them cultural assets that require conservation and restoration interventions, as has been the case of the four sculptures restored by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Community of Madrid.
Restored works
Bust of Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, 1943
65x50cm
Terracotta colored pigmented plaster, evoking ancient terracotta excavations with carbonation.
Images of the bust before and after restoration:
Bust of Ruperto Chapí, 1943
65x50cm
Terracotta colored pigmented plaster, evoking ancient terracotta excavations with carbonation.
Images of the bust before and after restoration:
Bust of Joaquín Turina, 1951
54x36cm
Terracotta colored pigmented plaster.
Images of the bust before and after restoration:
Bust of Emilio Arrieta, 1888
72x41cm
Made in plaster and finished imitating tenorite patina
Images of the bust before and after restoration:
Conservation and restoration of works
The busts of Ruperto Chapí and Francisco A. Barbieri They had dull patinas, with grayed colors, preventing the true value of the pieces from being appreciated. This was due to the fumes and greasy dirt adhered together with the oxidation of protections.
At the polychrome level Losses of color were widely seen, leaving the plaster of the support visible, many of them generated by anthropogenic factors (blows, friction, abrasions, etc.). On the two busts you could see a sgraffito graffiti that ran across the foreheads of the Masters, where the following reading could be interpreted: “DO NOT THROW", Everything indicates that at some point they were pardoned and that is why they were able to reach us.
At a material level The plasters did not present cohesion or disintegration problems, but volume losses were observed in the edges, corners, nose, beards, etc.
Like the two previous sculptures, the bust of Turina It offered a very dark image, with very dull color tones due to adhering greasy dirt, smoke and strong oxidation of protections or varnishes. Small material losses were also observed in the edges, corners, chin and nose; chipped due to blows during handling, given the fragility of the plaster.
The bust of Emilio Arrieta It appeared repainted with a thick layer of plastic appearance that dulled the details of its modeling. Also, losses of volume could be seen on the edges of the base, perimeters and more striking on the lapel of the suit, on the lower lip and hair.
- Firstly, they carried out solubility tests in the four sculptures in order to determine the solvents and materials to be used in the different processes.
- Next, to reinforce the degree of cohesion and consistency in the exposed plaster areas -due to volume loss or at the base of the busts- a material consolidation.
- With the data obtained in the solubility tests, the process of cleaning. They became small exam tastings to check the response to the solvents chosen in the patinas and determine the degree of compaction of the same.
- In the bust of Arrieta, there were also exam tastings to test the response of the chosen solvent, as well as the methodology to be applied to remove the repaints and check the existence of underlying polychromy.
- After cleaning and removal of repainting, the polychromes of the patinas were saturated returning them to the necessary degree of compaction. For this, an acrylic resin was used.
- Volume losses and abrasions were replaced with an epoxy resin light and inert that does not add weight or tension to the works, always applied with the criteria of minimum intervention and maximum respect. Subsequently These volumes were stuccoed, being prepared to receive the color.
- For chromatic reintegration reversible techniques were used, different from the original ones, following the criteria of minimum intervention and maximum respect. An acrylic base was applied to the replaced gaps and the chromatic values were adjusted with watercolor, applying the latter directly to the small gaps. The technique used was mimetic, since the patinas are very smooth films that have no graphic entity.
- For final protection An acrylic resin dissolved in acetone was applied to the busts, later tinted with a matt varnish until the satin appearance of each original patina was achieved.
With the treatments carried out, the four sculptures have recovered their initial originality.