Zprávy památkové péče 2019, 79(4):402-420 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2019.4.03

Restoration research of the murals in the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Chapel of St. Catherine at Karlštejn Castle

Adam Pokorný¹, Petr Skalický²

¹ AVU

² NPÚ, GnŘ

This article describes the procedure and methods of restoration research of the wall decoration of the sacral premises of the Marian Tower of Karlštejn Castle, realized in 2018 and 2019. Although these decorations are one of the basic art milestones in the Czech Republic and in Central Europe, their detailed evaluation and interpretation by a restorer has yet to be carried out. Questions of painting techniques and other decoration techniques have remained marginal. Detailed research is the first and essential step in this direction. Its importance is not only research-oriented in nature, but it is crucial that it is as comprehensive as possible, since it will have a fundamental impact on the future determination of optimal long-term care and the correct choice of possible restorations. The authors draw attention to the need for research before commencing any responsible restoration. The methods of the selected research are always dependent on the specific work set before the restorer. The procedures applied to one heritage property cannot be mechanically transferred from one original property to another, and thus one can not expect the emergence of a long-term sustainable and differently applicable research methodology. Instead, the authors emphasize the need to continually publish current research results of properties that may come into mutual conflict in a wider professional context, and together to create a methodological awareness of research methods as well as their use and interpretation. The core of the article is a description of non-invasive research methods which are, from the perspective of conservation and restoration ethics, those methods that should be prioritized. The need for an invasive approach to any work should be completely minimized and, where appropriate, duly justified and supported by non-invasively unanswerable questions. The brief description of non-invasive imaging spectral-analytical methods aims to acquaint the wide range of readers of various professions with their basic possibilities and with the specifics before which the restorer and others participating in the research of a specific work are set. The description of each method is supplemented by a description of the specific situation and results from their realization at Karlštejn. The second part of the description of the research is devoted to the deepening phase of the second phase of the project, when the minimum number of microsamples was collected and their laboratory analysis was carried out. This was a collection that was duly supported by questions from the first non-destructive phase of the research and by questions that could not be answered otherwise, even though they have a serious impact on the concretization of the decoration techniques themselves. The authors understand the description of the research and its specifics as one of the basic and transparent inputs for opening a new chapter of "Karlštejn research". A publication of analogous research on medieval murals in the Prague Cathedral has yet to be created, and there is likewise no comprehensive restoration evaluation of the murals in the Na Slovanech Monastery in Prague. Similarly, research of the Great Tower of Karlštejn Castle should be deepened and updated in the future. Only the continuous processing of other analogous heritage properties can create a professional platform on the basis of which an optimal approach to these leading heritage properties can be solved in the future. Simultaneously, it would be beneficial to deepen the knowledge of the specifics of these important properties through the various disciplines involved, and to materially identify the finding situation by name in order to enable the correction of some of the previously established theses.

Keywords: Karlštejn, Church of the Virgin Mary, Chapel of St. Catherine, medieval murals, concept of restoration research, non-invasive methods of restoration research, restoration research methodology

Published: December 1, 2019  Show citation