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Conservation and restoration of wall paintings from Faras in the National Museum in Warsaw was one of the most important and innovative contemporary conservation operations, undertaken at an unprecedented scale. The excavations of the Polish Archaeological Expedition in Faras realised in years 1961–1964 resulted in discovery of more than 100 wall paintings decorating the ineriors of the cathedral, most of them very well preserved.

By the end of 1950s it was commonly acknowledged that due to the imminent construction of the Aswan High Dam, the site in Faras was to be flooded by the waters of a large, newly created reservoir; Lake Nasser. In response to UNESCO’s appeal to rescue the historical monuments in the area planned to be flooded it was decided that murals would be removed from walls and transported to a safe place to undergo extensive conservation. As a result sixty-seven paintings were transported to the National Museum in Warsaw, where that have become one of the most precious exhibits comprising the Faras Gallery, later named in Honour of Kazimierz Michałowski, the largest collection of the Nubian Christian art in the world. The remaining paintings were located in the National Museum in Khartoum where they form a twin gallery of Christian art from Sudan.

Realisation of Project
The implementation of operation was entrusted to the Research Laboratory of the Gallery of Ancient Art in the National Museum, headed by Doctor Hanna Jędrzejewska. The task of restoration of murals undertaken of the Polish project required working out of the new conservation techniques, as there were no established, analogous methods. Moreover, the condition of the paintings on their arrival in the laboratory in Warsaw required special attention. The murals were transported to Warsaw almost immediately after their discovery. Earlier they had been subject to a series of operations: first, during their removal from the walls of the Faras Cathedral, next to reinforce and safeguard them from the risks imposed by their transportatio

Preliminary Analyses and Tests
Therefore, the actual implementation of the task was preceded by theoretical analyses and a series of experiments. On 17th December 1962 the first murals, Archangel Michael with a Sword, and Mercurius, reached the National Museum in Warsaw where until 3rd March 1963 they were the subject of conservation and restoration preparing them for permanent exhibition in Warsaw and temporary exhibitions abroad. Conservators and technical employees of the National Museum in Warsaw were involved in the works alongside invited, external conservators and laboratory workers. Additionally two paintings from Bishop Johannes’s Chapel were sent to the conservation workshop of Professor Pico Cellini in Rome. Simultaneously, the external specialists were consulted and two conservation seminars were convened: one was held before the commencement of works, the other was organised in order to summarise the results of the work.

Rescue Works at Faras
Rescue works on the site in Faras were supervised by a conservator Józef Gazy. The fronts of the paintings were impregnated with a thick wax-rosin layer before being removed from the walls. Japanese tissue paper and gauze were ironed into this compound. Next, the paintings together with a protective layer of plaster were detached from the walls with the use of knives and saws. Further, the paintings were laid vertically and covered with several layers of gypsum reinforced with tow, aluminium netting and finally a grid of reinforcing wire. Additionally, gypsum profiles were installed near the painting faces and the whole objects were wrapped by cotton blankets. Following the relocation of the murals to Warsaw the conservators’ task was to remove both the wax-rosin layer and gypsum and to transfer the murals onto a new surface, taking into consideration their dimensions as well as the needs of their intended transport to international exhibitions.

Conservation Works Undertaken in Warsaw: Innovative Character
In 1960s the detachment of paintings from walls and their subsequent conservation in a facility situated far from their place of origin was a complete novelty. There were no general recommendations and methods available while the individual conservation schools operating at that time in Italy, Germany and the Soviet Union relied on different underlying assumptions and methods. Paintings from these countries differed by age and preservation status and had been executed with the use of different techniques (fresco, al secco, lime, tempera, oil, distemper) on various surfaces (lime wall, stone, brick, clay, silt, wood). However, the analyses and tests conducted by the Research Laboratory of the Gallery of Ancient Art in the National Museum enabled the determination of the original painting techniques and the paintings’ preservation status. Apparently, the vegetable gum was used as a painting binder and the paintings as such were made on gypsum primer of Nile silt and sand. The surface was saturated with wax and rosin. The layers of paint tended to chip off and crumble. The plaster was very fragile and loosely bound with the gypsum that was supposed to protect it. Based on the performed analyses a basic programme for the paintings’ conservation as well as a detailed scheme for their installation was determined. First and foremost, the original layer had to be improved. Next, an intermediate plywood panel matching the structure of the restored fragment was to be applied on the original layer. The connected original and intermediate sections would be installed on the rectangular background panels consisting of a rigid box with a grid. This plan was realized in 10 subsequent steps.

Results
In the year following the completion of the conservation process the paintings restored by Hanna Jędrzejewska’s team were stored in varied climatic conditions and they dealt well. The original method for the installation of the paintings employed in Warsaw facilitated the technique used for the conservation of the works. The applied method enabled simultaneous processing of the three component elements of the final installation, which eventually involved one binding and the installation of bolts. Moreover, this type of installation provided an easy adjustment of the individual fragments’ alignment on the background. The introduction of reinforcing panels ensured cushioning between the original surface and the background. Screw mounting enabled easy replacement of the base and backing, while the possibility to replace bolts proved useful during later changes to the installation. The experiment comprising conservation works performed in the National Museum was a complete success and led to the development of new conservation techniques.