Zprávy památkové péče 2017, 77(3):294-302

Evaluation of the restoration of the mosaic floor of the minaret in Lednice, taking into account the transfers of the mosaic at the Synagogue in Čáslav and in the Cairn of Peace in Prace-Brno

Josef Červinka

The article describes the restoration of the mosaic floors of the minaret in the park of the Lednice State Chateau, including the related technological problems. The transfer of the floor mosaic is confronted with the transfers of the glass mosaic from the synagogue in Čáslav and the glass mosaic in the Cairn of Peace. The transfer of mosaic floors in the minaret of the Lednice Chateau, which are an original part of the building, arose from the requirement of static stabilization of the building and affected the interiors of 8 rooms, where the floor was installed by a raised static reinforced concrete slab and a sandwich of transferred parts interlined with its raster in the floor area. The Venetian terracotta itself was thinned to match the layer of mosaic on the surface, thus losing its characteristic strength and physical properties for which it was used. In contrast, the mosaic transfer in Čáslav worked with an artifact added to the building when its function was significantly changed from a religious space of the extinct community to a municipal cultural space. The transfer responded to another functional change in relation to the restoration of the original appearance of the object to a memorial to the extinct community. The mosaic was created secondary to the building and, after the transfer, found a new application in a public space where it was more suitable than in its original site. When transferring and re-installing the mosaic in the Cairn of Peace, this was a work that created an intact part of the interior of the building, like in the minaret floors. In both cases, the transfer was carried out to technically secure the building, and both works were transferred twice. The reason for the second transfer of the mosaic floors was the failed and unfinished transfer of the first, whose technical characteristics did not allow for the monument to be used for ordinary visitor traffic. With the mosaic from the Cairn of Peace, the second transfer was associated with the previous failed salvage of the building when the first transfer took place. The repeated transfer also brought reversibility issues, since its success was to some extent dependent on the reversibility of the technologies used during the previous restoration. If mosaics in the Cairn of Peace had been left in place without the transfer and masonry restoration, they likely would have been damaged. This also applies to the floors of the minaret, with the difference that the static construction could have been carried out in a different, less invasive manner.

Keywords: Venetian terracotta, mosaic, restoration, reversibility, transfer

Published: September 1, 2017  Show citation