RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
A1 Berger, Tomáš
T1 Alfons Mucha: The Slav Epic. Technological and restoration survey
JF Staletá Praha
YR 2019
VO 35
IS 1
SP 98
OP 137
DO 10.56112/sp.2019.1.04
UL https://staletapraha.cz/en/artkey/pha-201901-0004.php
AB The article presents a restoration survey of twenty paintings of the Slav Epic, carried out at the end of 2016 by photographic and laboratory methods, archival research and evaluation of current knowledge. The author based his work on preparatory drawings, historical photographs and, above all, the opportunity to examine the paintings, exhibited at the Veletržní Palace in Prague. The survey compared outcomes of the optical and photographic processes with laboratory analysis of samples. Ultraviolet rays revealed various stages of repairing Mucha's work in the 20th century, and x-rays showed a gradual transition from tempera to oil painting and the increasing use of lead white. This was confirmed by chemical analysis and analytical methods in the number of samples taken from the last years of the cycle. Stratigraphy revealed a very thin undercoat as well as fine layers of the paintings.The survey was carried out before the exhibition was de-installed and the paintings were rented to the National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan and, among other things, was to answer the Prague City Gallery's question whether the works could be rolled over and transported overseas. The present paper shows how such a technological survey can reveal the author's preparation and his contribution to future dealing with the work.