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The Kanji Tsuglagkhang is a village temple and still in use today. The Drikung Order has expressed its interest in preserving and conserving this temple. More than once we were asked to complement the damaged patches of the painting. In order to observe all conservation guidelines concerning ethical, aesthetic, religious and cultural aspects, an extensive discussion and most likely also lengthy tests will be necessary, to achieve results satisfactory for all parties.
The inpainting test areas and the reconstruction of missing parts of the painting will be executed at the same time as the conservation work proper, so as to develop a satisfactory restoration concept upon completion of the conservation measures.
Different types of lacunae
The different types of damages and also the varying states of preservation of each wall section result in complex demands concerning the overall conservation of the temple’s interior.
Having taken stock of all damages, test sections for inpainting for every different kind of damage will need to be laid out. Damages to the paint layer can be distinguished as follows:
- Small areas of flaked-off paint in a local colour tone.
- Small lacunae in the paint layer. Due to their small size, the shapes and colour shades can be reconstructed.
- Larger missing parts of the painting. Since the motifs are repeated, the shapes and colours can be reconstructed.
- Larger missing parts of the painting, where we are not certain as to whether or not the shapes and colours can be reconstructed.
- Cracks of a minor width where the painting can be reconstructed.
- Wide cracks and cracks with displaced levels where the painting cannot be reconstructed.
In most cases, where the lacunae of the paint layer are relatively large, the loam structure is usually damaged. In those cases the painting as well as its supporting plaster will have to be complemented. The missing loam plaster will be filled during the conservation work. Other larger missing parts of the paint layer were caused by people rubbing against the painting or water flowing down the wall surface. In these cases, the fine loam plaster and the prime coating usually still exist.
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Restoration test areas in 2000 and 2001
Since 2000, different retouching tests have been executed in various wall sections and also on photo facsimiles.
1) Test area: westerly south wall / entrance wall right
Lacunae and cracks in different sizes appeared in this part of the wall. Isolated crevices right down to the white prime coating were visible. Here we chose a very reduced form of inpainting. The loam putty was covered with a pigmented liquid layer of markala thus obtaining a neutral shading. The missing parts, where the white prime coating was noticeable, were toned down with an inpainting known as ‘acqua sporca’ inpainting. This area will retain its fragmentary state.
2) Test area: southerly west wall / left wall left
This part is well preserved except for some smaller deep lacunae and small areas of flaked-off paint right down to the white prime coating. The inpainting was done only on the filled lacunae of the loam plaster and the flaked-off paint layer, so that the colour shade of the surrounding area turned out lighter than the original painting. Aquarelle colours were used for the inpainting work. In the course of this work it became quite apparent that the shapes of even smaller lacunae could be easily reconstructed but that the distinction between a reconstruction of basic shapes and details was somewhat blurred.
3) Test area: easterly south wall / entrance wall left
When choosing this test section, we directed our special attention on the inpainting problems of extremely washed out and reduced sections and large-scale plaster fillings.
The inpainting work was also carried out with aquarelle colours to achieve the tone of the surrounding area. Due to the poor preservation state and the extensive lacunae, the limitations of reconstruction became much more evident. Here we decided to only complement the basic form of the painting and not to reconstruct the details, but rather to colour them in their respective basic colour shade. The ”flames”, for example, were not reconstructed in this case, by contrast to the sample area 1.
Glazing with aquarelle colours are not an ideal painting method on large loam puttied areas. Monochrome inpaintings appear very busy. Since the loam support and the colours are very water sensitive, the first layer of the inpaintings will partly dissolve when a second layer of aquarelle colours is applied. More tests will have to be made to find a more suitable painting medium. Another problem poses the varying colour intensity of the area in question due to the differing states of conservation.
In general, the the use of glazing colours does not seem to be appropriate for large scale inpainting since they look too patchy on loam. On the other hand, an exact differentiation between original and reconstructed painting details can hardly be achieved.
4) Test area: south wall / entrance wall, above the door
The test section was chosen because it was very washed out and showed large lacunae right down to the loam structure. About half of the painting was washed out and the remaining part was strongly reduced with only fragments remaining. An inpainting was executed only on the existing painting fragments. The loam fillings were not inpainted. Here a reconstruction of the missing painting would be necessary, but the contents of the missing parts are not known with certainty and in detail. The retouching work was carried out with aquarelle colours which are ideal for small and isolated inpaintings on the white prime coating.
Summary of first results
The wall painting is colourful and relatively dark in those areas where the surface is largely intact. This contrasts strongly with the white prime coating which is exposed in several places. Furthermore, the comparatively bright markala plaster , the filling material for cracks and plaster lacunae, is aesthetically disturbing. In the section which was cleaned and consolidated in September 2000, these markala fillings were retouched, all of them with the same ‘Acqua sporca’ colour tone. It became quite clear that this method was optically not satisfactory as the colour differences of the bright and dark painting areas were too great to use only one retouching colour for all plaster fillings and areas of the exposed prime coating.
During the second work phase in 2001, further tests were made in severely damaged areas and on largely intact painting sections. It was evident that large scale inpaintings executed with glazing colours, applied directly on the strongly absorbing loam, resulted in a patchy appearance and were, therefore, aesthetically not satisfactory. It also showed that the differentiation between retouching and reconstructing was blurred and that therefore:
- all details which go beyond one colour tone will have to be clarified both formally and iconographically.
- for all reconstructing inpaintings, which require more than one colour tone, a method of inpainting will have to be used which can be distinguished from the original painting but, at the same time blends into the painting structure.
- To aid in reaching a decision on this problem, two different retouching alternatives were prepared on a photographic model and discussed during the Achi Association meeting in 2002.
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Two Retouching Methods
1) Inpainting with lines – tratteggio method
This is a retouching method using small vertical lines with an average length of about one centimetre. The first strokes, which determine the basic retouching tone are placed at regular intervals equal to the width of one line. In a second step, these intervals are filled with a different colour, and then again with a third colour, in order to reconstitute the required tone and modelling by means of the juxtaposition and superposition of colours which are as pure as possible. Each line in itself should be weak in intensity, the desired intensity of the whole being obtained by the superposition of glazes of transparent lines rather than by strength of colour, which would cause the retouching to lack the vibration indispensable for a good integration. Looked at from a certain distance, the lacuna blends in well with the original painting. Viewed at close range, the lacuna with its inpainting is clearly visible.
2) Complete inpainting at a level lower than to the original paint layer
The inpainting imitates the original painting. The level of the plaster filled lacuna is lower than the level of the original painting. The retouched areas can be distinguished from the original painting due to the different levels. The disadvantage of this retouching method is that it produces a very busy appearance in areas where many lacunae are closely situated. This is caused by the light and shadow effect of the edges of the different levels.
Photos retouching tests Udine
President HH Chetsang Rinpoche and also the majority of all those present at the meeting were in favour of further tests using the tratteggio method.
Provisional restoration concept
Pursuant to decisions taken at the basis of results obtained so far, a provisional programme to retouch and reconstruct the paintings was worked out, as follows:
- Small flake-offs of the paint layer within a local colour shade will be coloured in the surrounding colour tone.
- Small lacunae of the paint layer, where shapes and colour shades can be reconstructed, will be inpainted by use of the tratteggio technique, after having clarified the missing painting details in collaboration with art historians.
- It does not seem sensible to use the small tratteggio method for the larger lacunae of the paint layer where, due to repetitive motifs, shapes and colours can be reconstructed. An example is the upper frieze zone (geese and valance) as well as the frieze of the lower wall edge. Here the imitative complete retouching method on different levels could be tried out. A local thangka painter or a monk familiar with the paintings should participate in this work.
Further discussion is necessary as to how to deal with the following types of lacunae:
- Larger lacunae of the painting where shapes and colour tones cannot be determined with certainty.
- Cracks of small width where the painting can be reconstructed.
- Large cracks and cracks on shifted levels where the painting cannot be reconstructed.
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2003
In 2003, a sample area on the southerly west wall (left wall, left mandala) was chosen as a first application area for this inpainting concept.
Work area: Southern half of west wall / left wall left mandala
This wall section was chosen to put into practice the provisional inpainting concept, since the painting is well preserved, except for a large loam runner. The small and clearly limited lacunae make it possible to reconstruct the missing painting patches.
Measures taken and materials used:
The puttied lacunae were sealed off with a white liquid loam layer. This layer consists of alabaster gypsum mixed with a 2.5 % of Tylose solution. On this layer a further white prime coating was applied and smoothened out (alabaster gypsum and 5 % Tylose).
- Preparatory pencilled sketches of missing painting details.
- Underdrawing with paint brush and contour black.
- Execution of tratteggio inpainting. Gum arabic was used as the binding medium and earth and mineral-based pigments were used.
- Isolated inpaintings of smaller lacunae were made on the white prime coating with base tones resembling the surrounding colour.
Cracks with different levels of the plaster structure posed no obstacle to the inpainting job since the cracks were of minimal width. It was decided to fill the cracks below the original level. The edges were secured with putty so that the cracks remained visible.
It was decided to follow this concept. During the following years the restoration work concentrated on the West wall, south section. In 2005 the thangka painter Konchok Norbu from Kanji village started with the reconstruction of missing painting in the upper zone of the repetitive geeze frieze and valance motiv (see chronological report of conservation measures).
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