The EU-Projekt 96/B/A/1 "Buildfresc"
G. Krist

In 1996 the European Commission announced in the framework of the Raphael Programme a call for proposals regarding the "Cooperation for the Preservation and Enhancement of the Value of the European Baroque Heritage". The Bundesdenkmalamt's Centre for Architectural Conservation at the Kartause Mauerbach formulated a project proposal concerning the Baroque wallpainting decorations located at the four corners of the Charterhouse´s cloister, which was accepted by the Commission. The Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence and the Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege in Munich, all actively involved in training as well as in wallpaintings conservation, were identified as efficient partner organizations and have subsequently offered their collaboration. The project formulated and named "Buildfresc - Examination and Conservation of the Baroque Wallpaintings in the Charterhouse at Mauerbach" included a series of measures carried out from the start of the project until the present and which will be presented in a publication, released in December 1998.

As was fitting for the Carthusian tradition of the period, multicoloured decorations are rare at Mauerbach. Exceptions are the church ceiling which carries monchrome paintings in ochre tones and the fresco-decoration of the Great Imperial Room illustrating the foundation of the Charterhouse at Mauerbach. Apart from the few existing paintings, the monastery complex is rich in important stucco works which better expressed the Carthusian predilection in the 17th century for sculptured and less colorful decorations. In the large cloister the wallpaintings of the 18th century served as a central reference point to be viewed when passing through and therefore are considered as important interdisciplinary research and study subjects.

In the 1980´s the Bundesdenkmalamt restored the southeastcorner of the cloister; the uncovering brought to light a fresco-painting depicting the archangels and which has been attributed to the painter Josef Iganz Mildorfer. The successful restoration a continuation of the interventions in the remaining corners, which have not been carried out to date due to the continous building work in the cloister, the paintings' poor state of preservation as well as the constant lack of money. The southwest corner and both corners in the north are covered by numerous limewashes and show extensive lacunae and repairs caused by past interventions, especially from the end of the 19th century until the late 1950´s when the building was first used as a hospital and later as a poorhouse. Both southern corners showed severe static problems and in the north, the lack of maintenance measures caused dramatic problems, mainly linked to raising damp and water infiltration.

Apart from the various studies and scientific examinations carried out, the project also included a first didactic component, an European Expert Meeting, held from June 9 - 11, 1997 at Mauerbach; this provided an opportunity to discuss the planned structural interventions as well as their consequences on the wallpaintings with invited experts from Italy and Germany. Together with the supervising architect at the Kartause and staff members from the Bundesdenkmalamt and the Bundesbaudirektion, the specialists evaluated possible solutions against the humidity in the northern corners and static consolidation measures in the southern part of the cloister. In addition, on June 11th, a one-day seminar was organized for a group of Austrian architects, civil engineers and specialized companies to further discuss the formulated solutions at a national level.

With its second didactic component, the European Workshop "Technical Problems and Current Methods in the Conservation of Wallpaintings", held from May 18 - 29, 1998, again at Mauerbach, the Buildfresc-Project has been concluded. The Baroque wallpaintings decoration in the four corners of the Charterhouse's cloister provided the practice-oriented basis for the workshop. Nineteen experienced conservator-restorers from nine European countries had the opportunity to exchange experiences and to collaborate on establishing practical guidelines for future work. Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Rumania were represented by one or more participants in the course.

Current methods for uncovering wallpaintings dominated the efforts in the southeast corner as well as measures for the integration of lacunae. In the southwest corner, participants were introduced in the Florentine method of preconsolidating the paintlayer by using ammonium carbonate and gypsum transformation with barium hydroxide. Particularly affected by moisture and increased salt damage as well as suffering later structural measures and numerous overpaintings, the northern tract of the cloister presented challenging problems to discuss. Testing render consolidation materials and methods as well as the application of desalination poultices and mortars. Furthermore, condition reports and stratigraphic analyses of the stucco and painting decorations were undertaken.

Sabino Giovannoni, from the Opificio, Jürgen Pursche from the Bayerisches Landesamt, Thomas Danzl, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Sachsen-Anhalt and Ernst Lux as the Austrian counterpart, guided the practical work. During the first week, the groups of participants were rotating in order that all could experience the full spectrum of the elaborated working programme for to each of the four corners. This also enabled personal experiences and working practices of the individual participants to be absorbed into the on-site discussions and thereby adding them to the development of future conservation measures. By the second week participants could select special areas of interest for in-depth analysis or practice in which the techniques and restoration measures presented could be implemented. Of particular importance to the interchange of professional experience was the variety of conservation tools and materials brought by the individual participants and workshop leaders themselves, who, in demonstrations and subsequent discussions thus broadened the scope of solution possibilities for the specific problems at hand.

The arthistorical studies and scientific examinations carried out for the preparation of the workshop as well as climatic measurements in the northern corridor, ultrasound, radar and thermovision examinations and analyses of the paintlayers and salts were coordinated by Johannes Weber from the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst, Institut für Silicatchemie. The newly-installed scientific laboratory at the Kartause provided the means of carrying out further paint and plaster analyses during the course of the workshop.

One afternoon was dedicated to a discussion of different viewpoints of wallpaintings conservation as well as an overview on restoration practices in Austria, Germany and Italy. Further lectures on selected topics pertinent to examination and conservation were presented by international experts during the evenings, particularly in order not to cut into the valuable workshop practical time. Two afternoons were allocated to the presentation of case-studies by the participants and workshop leaders with the intention of provoking discussion for concerted problem-solving. At the workshop's final event, concepts for maintenance and measures for care were defined as the Bundesdenkmalamt's most urgent priority; the conservators were invited to be active partners in their formulation and application.

The course evaluation revealed a desire for a follow-up. It appeared to be particularly useful and desirable to re-contact the same group of participants and to concentrate in a future event on a problem already introduced in the May-workshop.

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