Should we reconsider the old masters’ experiences? On how to approach historical painted facades and/or facades with painted images

S tehnološkoga gledišta dosadašnja su hrvatska iskustva s restauriranjem obojenih i/ili oslikanih povijesnih žbuka najblaže rečeno negativna. Prelaskom s vapnene na rad s produžnom žbukom na povijesnim se građevinama ubrzalo propadanje njezinih izvornih ostataka, nakon čega je s vremenom smisao njihova daljnjeg čuvanja zamijenjen faksimilskim rješenjima, isprva izvedenima na produžnoj, a u posljednje doba ponajviše na industrijskoj žbuci i s njome tehnološki usklađenim bojama. Zabrinjavajući podatci o broju pročelja s kojih je u proteklih pola stoljeća izvorna obojena i/ili oslikana žbuka u cijelosti otučena i zamijenjena produžnom ili sveprisutnom industrijskom žbukom, upućuju na zaključak da bi, ne stane li se u Hrvatskoj odmah tomu na kraj, u iduća dva do tri desetljeća pročelja povijesnih građevina mogla u potpunosti ostati bez oslikanih izvornih žbuka. Stoga je opravdano zapitati se nije li za opstojnost povijesnih žbukanih i bojenih slojeva na pročeljima, umjesto njihova trajnog izlaganja, možda ipak bolje ponovnim prežbukavanjem i prebojavanjem izvorniku istovjetnim materijalima skloniti ih pod slojem unaprijed „žrtvovane žbuke i boje“? Njihovim sklanjanjem pod novim žbukanim i/ili bojenim slojem, bilo samo izvornoga bilo više naknadnih povijesnih slojeva, spriječilo bi se njihovo propadanje uzrokovano izravnim izlaganjem atmosferilijama ili unošenjem neodgovarajućih industrijskih proizvoda za njihovu „zaštitu“. Na takvom se, zamjenskome novom sloju, koji se periodično može mijenjati s istodobnim provođenjem kontrole stanja povijesnih slojeva, mogu replicirati ona povijesna oslikavanja za koja se prethodnom kritičkom interpretacijom utvrdi opravdanost njihove prezentacije.Painted facades and/or plaster with painted images is exposed to continuous weather changes and daily fluctuations in the polluted environment of urban centres, so from the technological point of view, the Croatian experience with the restoration of it is to say the least, negative. When lime plaster got substituted by extension plaster, the decay of historical buildings’ original remains accelerated, after which the sense of their further storage got replaced by a facsimile, originally on extension, and in recent times on industrial plaster and technologically compatible colors. The disturbing data about the number of facades, which in the past half-century have seen the original paint and / or painted plaster chipped in its entirety and replaced by extension or the ubiquitous industrial plaster, suggests that in the next two or three decades we could witness the compete disappearance of originally painted plaster, unless the practice immediately gets put to a halt. During the past half century, experiments with a wide range of different materials for the restoration of frescoes have not been without fault either, regardless of whether works were carried out in the interior or on the facades. From organic to synthetic and inorganic materials, from the former promising reversibility to contemporary proclaimed compatibility, frescoes had to endure all of our attempts and failures. Therefore, bearing in mind the fact that the current procedures for the protection of historical plaster and paint less than seldom did not result in quality solutions which would preserve the original structure of a material, a possible solution might still lie in the facades that remained intact by restoration, and that carry multiple layers of paint and plaster. Is it therefore not reasonable to ask why the same procedure has not been applied today, why the preserved historical layers of plaster and paint, after only limited restoration research, are not again protected by a new layer of lime plaster and lime-colored coating? Is it not perhaps better for the durability of historical plaster and painted layers on facades, to re-plaster and repaint the original in material identical to it and therefore hide it under a layer of pre-“sacrificed plaster and paint“, instead of continually exposing them? Putting the original or the original with subsequent historical layers under a new plastered and / or colored coating would prevent the decay, caused by their direct exposure to the atmosphere or the introduction of inappropriate industrial products for their „protection“. This substitute new layer, which can periodically be changed, together with the simultaneous control of historical layers’ state, can also replicate the historical imagery for which there exists a justification for representation, as stipulated by previous critical analysis