Curiosity has no place in restoration
Malta’s Restoration Center was originally a hospital. Now,
“it’s a hospital for paintings and other works of art.” There are different
work areas for conserving and restoring paintings, books, prints and textiles.
In the painting restoration center, “each painting has to be treated on its own merit.” Paintings may have artistic value, historic value or both and should be restored with these merits in mind.
Regardless of the value of the painting, when restoring a work of art, “all materials and interventions should be reversible.” No intervention is done out of curiosity. X-raying a painting or testing the chemical composition of the paint just for the sake of knowledge is not a part of the restoration process. There are times when restoration brings to light something new underneath, but it isn’t the aim of restoration work to satisfy curiosity.
For the restoration of books, there is both a wet and dry area. The wet area allows reconstruction of pages, especially those attacked by bookworms. Because of their aversion to acidity in the ink, bookworms like to “eat between the lines.” Termites, on the other hand, eat everything.
In the textiles area, the Restoration Center works on flags, tapestries, military uniforms and other clothes. In spite of even the best conservation efforts, textiles will decay. The object is to get them to last as long as possible. This can be partially achieved through exhibit rotation.
In the painting restoration center, “each painting has to be treated on its own merit.” Paintings may have artistic value, historic value or both and should be restored with these merits in mind.
Regardless of the value of the painting, when restoring a work of art, “all materials and interventions should be reversible.” No intervention is done out of curiosity. X-raying a painting or testing the chemical composition of the paint just for the sake of knowledge is not a part of the restoration process. There are times when restoration brings to light something new underneath, but it isn’t the aim of restoration work to satisfy curiosity.
For the restoration of books, there is both a wet and dry area. The wet area allows reconstruction of pages, especially those attacked by bookworms. Because of their aversion to acidity in the ink, bookworms like to “eat between the lines.” Termites, on the other hand, eat everything.
In the textiles area, the Restoration Center works on flags, tapestries, military uniforms and other clothes. In spite of even the best conservation efforts, textiles will decay. The object is to get them to last as long as possible. This can be partially achieved through exhibit rotation.