Frescoes of the northern wall of the Vilnius Bernardine church: between conservation and restoration

Straipsnyje aukščiausios kategorijos sienų tapybos restauratorius ir Vilniaus dailės akademijos Paminklotvarkos katedros profesorius Juozas Algirdas Pilipavičius, remdamasis ilgamete profesine ir pedagogine patirtimi, restauravimo darbų dienoraščiuose užfiksuotomis mintimis, pristato Vilniaus Bernardinų bažnyčios šiaurinės sienos XVI a. freskų konservavimo ir restauravimo darbų metodikos pasirinkimo aplinkybes, parodo visus tvarkybos darbų etapus. Pateikiama konteksto analizė, įgyvendinimo galimybių suformavimas, tyrimų pobūdis, projektiniai variantai ir jų įgyvendinimo ypatumai. Vertinimai modeliuojami akcentuojant socialinės aplinkos įtaką.In the article, the top-qualification restorer of mural painting and professor of the Heritage Conservation Department of the Vilnius Academy of Arts Juozas Algirdas Pilipavičius introduces the circumstances of choosing the conservation and restoration methods of the early 16th century frescoes on the northern wall of the Vilnius Bernardine church and describes all stages of the work referring to his long-term professional and teaching experience and his ideas recorded in the diary of restoration works. The restoration context is analysed, the execution possibilities are formulated, and the nature of research, the variants of the project and the features of their implementation are presented. Assessments are made with an emphasis on the influence of the social environment. Frescoes were discovered on the northern wall of the Vilnius Bernardine church during the polychromatic research conducted in 1981. The first restoration works were carried out from 1993 to 1996. Painting was uncovered, the layer of paint was partly secured and fragmentary restoration works were performed. Already at that time it was realised that the main task in restoring these frescoes was the restoration of the destroyed areas. Initially, the aim was to use as little retouching as possible, but severe losses of the layer of paint did not allow to understand the artistic quality of the frescoes or the content of the depicted plots, particularly while looking at them from a distance. In 1996–1997, the fresco “Crucifixion” at the sacristy door in the Bernardine monastery, of similar condition and dating back to the same period, was restored. The experience gained during this work allowed formulating the methods that could prove efficient during the restoration of the frescoes on the northern wall of the church. Although it was not until 2010 that concrete restoration works of the northern wall of the church began, a period of several years was successfully used for preparatory works. During these years specialists in mural painting restoration were trained at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where they acquired both theoretical knowledge and practical experience; they took additional studies or improved their skills in Italy, Greece, France and elsewhere. Besides, in 2009, a group of restorers went to Italy, where they meticulously analysed the work of Italian restorers on Giotto’s frescoes in Assisi and Piero della Francesca’s frescoes in Arezzo and elsewhere. They found the methods of restoring Giotto’s frescoes in Assisi the most suitable. While referring to the information obtained during this trip and their former experience accumulated in Lithuania, they formulated the methodological approaches to the restoration of the frescoes on the northern wall. From 2010 to 2011, the works were carried out by the restorers Juozas Algirdas Pilipavičius (head of the works), Daumantas Tomas Pilipavičius, Indrė Vaičiūnaitė (today, Valkiūnienė) and Joana Gelažytė