Updates and Photos - Conservation Work on the Retablo
June 30, 2006

On Friday, June 30th, scaffolding will be installed in front of the retablo. This is in preparation for the treatment phase of the project to conserve the golden retablo and related elements in the Serra Chapel. Headed by John Griswold of Griswold Conservation Associates, the project will take one year to complete.

The project includes the following tasks:

• Cleaning
• Removing modern over-leafing and bronze painting and exposing all seventeenth-century surfaces, using methods and materials determined most effective and least invasive to the original materials
• Reattaching broken components of the carving to their original locations
• Treating for termite or fungal damage, where needed, and consolidating decayed wood
• Removing roughly-applied old patching materials (but retaining historic character defining work relevant to the 1920s installation)
• Removing or replacing inappropriate wood and plaster fill materials
• Reintegrating disfiguring areas of loss and damage using reversible inpainting and ingilding media
• Conducting digital photographic documentation of conditions after treatment (documentation of conditions before treatment has already been completed)

The scaffolding will cover approximately 50% of the retablo, meaning that the remaining 50% will be available for public view. The scaffolding will be up for a year although work may not be done each and every day it will make appreciable progress in a few months.

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