298 Apuntes del Alcázar de Sevilla
E
nglish
version
Reconstruction of small gaps of mortars placed inside the pre-
served
fragments with specific lime and sand mortars.
Reconstruction of large gaps of mortar to a low level situated out-
side the preserved fragments
with specific lime and sand mortars.
Volumetric reintegration of the intern stratums
, mainly when its
absence has caused instability in the preserved surface, using a selec-
tion of lime mortars properly rationed. The holes and volumetric
lost of mortars have been refilled to a low level. As a general rule,
the lost of painting has not been pictorially reintegrated except the
paintings of barrel vault because of the reasons aforementioned
about its state of preservation.
At the end of the interventions, among the suggested goals, it has
been achieved:
1. The maintenance of the goods in question
2. The restoration of the material stability of preserved original
areas by attachment and by the consolidation of the layers.
3. The removal of limes and others added material layers which
invaded the whole pictorial Surface.
4. The cleaning of preserved areas. The restoration of iconographic
legibility of the fragments perfectly preserved, by the removing of
all the added layers and the crust that caused the poor visibility
of the pictorial composition.
5. The solidification of gaps of mortars by a unique and global rule.
6. The improvement of the conditions of the main elements.
7. The improvement of the unity and its aesthetic image.
8. An improvement in the image, projected towards the respect for
the goods.
VALUATION OF THE CONSERVATIVE REFURBISHMENT
OF THE BAÑOS MURALS FROM 1997
The concern about the conditions of themural paintings of the
Alc
á
zar
comes to a reality in 1997, being the conservator D. José Mª Cabeza
who put Teresa Valle Fernández in charge of the editorial Proyecto
Global de Conservación de PinturasMurales
23
inwhich the first studies
about the conditions of preservation were included the pictorial clad-
ding of the
Ba
ñ
os
. That is one of the most important areas regarding
murals painting of the
Real Alc
á
zar
, and by that time, was in the worst
conditions of the complex. In this study, we have examined 37 sectors
that compound the perimeter galleries of the
Ba
ñ
os de D
ª
Mar
í
a de Pa-
dilla
(12 in Western gallery, 13 in the North one and 12 in the Eastern
side) and that year and the next one, the first interventions begin, re-
storing in situ, three sectors, referenced as 3, 4 and 5 in the Eastern side.
In 2002, given to bad general conditions presented by the
Ba
ñ
os
and
for the future preservation of the walls in question, the Managerial
Board put in charge the author of this article the redaction of a re-
storative project of the cladding and walls paintings, focused on the
diagnostic of sectors that compound the perimeter galleries. In this
study, teams from different disciplines take part: conservators, biolo-
gists, chemists, draughtsmen and topographers, in order to evaluate
together the real situation and risks factors of the claddings and paint-
ings, evaluating each of the walls and of the surfaces of the 37 sectors.
In this study are described, evaluated, registered and placed the risks
factors that have been detected and their origins, their influence, as
well as their variations of each wall paintings, evaluating all the kinds
of biologic colonisations, the chemical characterisation of salty sedi-
ments, the results of the compositional and qualitative analysis of
the strata of the pictorial cladding, and the signal and register of the
humidity sources examined coming from the upper level and of the
intern background of the
Patio del Crucero
, keystone of the damage.
Equally, temperature, light and humidity of every surface are assessed
and the lightings conditions that affected negatively the prevention
of the paintings are studied. Considering the conclusions obtained
by the Project, and the tendency to high levels of humidity of the re-
taining wall, it is chosen a program of higher effect and wide ranging
technical consisting of the uproot and insulation of the paintings of
those retaining walls, and their following assembly in the same place
of a self-supporting panel with a resulting consolidation, cleaning, and
protection of all the prevented fragments.
Introducing this Project, the
Patronato
decides to restart the restora-
tion in the murals of the
Ba
ñ
os
, commissioning the restoration com-
pany Crest Arte, Ltd. the intervention of the sectors 6, 7 and 10 from
the East side. Given that sector 10 retains only two large fragments of
mural paintings, it is practiced an in situ treatment in the lower part
and an initial boot-up in the upper part of approximately 2,5 m
2
, in or-
der to compare the results, propose a methodology and present a suit-
able procedure to the characteristics of the pictorial coatings and the
support, taking also into account the former conditions of the working
area, such as the narrowness of these galleries and the humid environ-
ment of the
Ba
ñ
os
, common to all sectors. The results obtained from
the boot-up and the treatment after one year turned out very positive in
general, being decisive to continue with this methodology
26
.
Since 2003, the Managerial Board decides the interventions under
that starting procedure in the rest of the sectors of the perimeter gal-
leries with wall paintings, works that come together with
in situ
treat-
ments in the areas originally non-polychrome, such as vaults and the
visible parts of the blind arches facing the murals. From 2002 to 2008,
under Cabeza´s direction, sectors 6, 8, 11 and 12 from the east gallery
are intervened, the entire twelve sectors of the west gallery and the
sectors from 8 to 13 of the north gallery, twenty full sectors in total.
Following the recommendations provided in the 202 restoration pro-
ject, theManagerial Board addresses together with the restoration the
elevation and the partial covering of the arrow slits situated on the
east and west gallery, located over the
Patio del Crucero
platforms, al-
lowing the entry of air but preventing from the raining, irrigating and
flushing water; it also eliminates the labor planters attached to the
west and east walls of the upper part of the
Patio del Crucero
, whose
poor condition and lack of drainage caused the accumulation of water
and the direct infiltrations to the coronations of the walls withmurals
of the lower level. These improvements were noticed in the following
years, mainly in a minor incidence of stains on the walls and in the
absence of flooding during the rainy season in the east gallery.
From 2008 to 2011, under the leadership of the Art Conservator-
Restorer Mr. Antonio Balón, the program of actuations and the path
in the interventions of the mural painting of the
Ba
ñ
os
continues.
Sectors from 1 to 7 are undertaken, besides the outdoor courtyard of
the western gallery.
