New fresco restoration recipe

A salad dressing-like mixture of water, a bit of oil and a sugar-like molecule can safely clean ancient frescoes, according to a new nanotechnology research.

Scientists at the University of Florence, Italy, have discovered that the oil-in-water microemulsion — basically tiny droplets of oil suspended in water — can penetrate a painting’s pores and scrub away grime and acrylic resins.

The potion has proven particularly effective in cleaning frescoes that had been coated in thick layers of paraloid, an acrylic copolymer widely used by conservators in the 1960s. While the paraloid was intended to offer a protective coating for artworks, it turns out the aging of the acrylic, and reactions with calcium salts beneath the coating, produce a disastrous effect decades after the treatment.

Ah, how much of a restorer's time is spent undoing the effects of previous restorations! This recipe seems quite benign, however:

Using the microemulsions is rather simple. The researchers protect the painting with thin Japanese paper and pour the microemulsions — in the form of a paste or a gel — onto the wrapped artwork. After 10 minutes to a couple of hours, the paste or gel is removed, and with it, any grime and paraloid.

"It is a cheap, simple and environmentally friendly way to clean masterpieces. Using just one percent of oil, we basically managed to make water a very aggressive cleaning agent," Baglioni said.

From Discovery News.

Posted by David on June 4, 2007 11:44 AM