Week 1 - Panagia - Semi Dome

Image: This image is showing a section of the wall paintings after a cleaning test

This week the team; Adam, Anna, Arek, Matteo, Melissa and Noel arrived from Sydney to begin work on the conservation of the paintings within the church.

The scaffolding was already up in the sanctuary and work was immediately started in stabilising the paint layer. The consolidation process in basic terms involves applying a conservation grade glue behind the paint flakes with a fine paint brush or syringe and laying them back into position.
The next stage was to clean the painting and tests began into how exactly to do this.

With time a significant layer of grime has accumulated, generally a smoke and dust mixture quite common in churches. The cleaning will be carried out in two parts, first dry cleaning with a molecular sponge to lift away the lightly adhered dirt. Secondly with a water based cleaning agent that removes the remaining dirt.

The tests have been very promising and the paint comes up quite beautifully. This coming week Noel and Matteo will be spend cleaning the paint surface, filling losses and re-touching damages.

Video: Paint layer consolidation