Characterisation of stucco marble coatings towards their preservation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp2020055Keywords:
Decorative coatings, Imitation of stone, Stucco-marmo, Gypsum, Anhydrite, Architectural heritageAbstract
Stucco-marble is one of the most representative decorative techniques of the Baroque period in Europe. It intends to imitate stone architectural coatings. In Portugal, between the mid‑18th century and the mid‑20th century its use was much more frequent than previously thought. The lack of information regarding these coatings endangered their preservation. To fill this gap, a survey was made in the literature on the history and terminology related to stucco‑marble and buildings where it was used were identified. Samples were collected and the mineralogical composition using x‑ray diffraction (XRD) was determined. Physical and mechanical properties, namely capillary water absorption and dynamic modulus of elasticity, were also studied. In this paper, the results obtained are presented and discussed. They allowed concluding that most of the samples are made of gypsum‑anhydrite plaster, with physical and mechanical characteristics very similar to those of the materials they intend to imitate. Terminology issues are also debated. This study aims at contributing to the preservation of a decorative technique of outstanding patrimonial value.
Downloads
References
Gárate-Rojas, I., Artes de los Yesos. Yeserias e Estucos, Munilla-Lería, Instituto Español de Arquitectura, MRRP, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid (1999).
Gárate-Rojas, I., Artes de la Cal, ed. Munilla-Lería, 2a ed., Instituto Español de Arquitectura, MRRP, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid (2002).
Vieira, E., Técnicas tradicionais de fingidos e de estuques no Norte de Portugal. Contributo para o seu estudo e conservação, dissertação de mestrado, Universidade de Évora, Évora (2002), http://hdl.handle.net/10174/14696.
Arcolao, C., Le Ricette del Restauro, 2a ed., Marsilio Editore, Venezia (1998).
Beard, G., Stucco and Decorative Plasterwork in Europe, Thames and Hudson, London (1983).
Hayles, D., The Magic of Scagliola, ed. K. Whitney & B. Magill (2015).
Reithmeir, C., ‘Scagliola or stucco marble: Restoration of the altars in the church of Lichtenfels, Bavaria’, Transactions on the Built Environment 15 (1995) 213 223.
Turco, T., Il Gesso. Lavorazione, Trasformazione, Impieghi, 2a ed., Editore Ulrico Hoepli, Milano (2008).
Wittenburg, C.; Berner, M.; Weber, J.; Kozlowski, R.; Wouters, J.; Lamens, K.; Willers, U., Baroque Artificial Marble - Environmental Impacts, Degradation and Protection, ENVIART, Contract No ENV 4-CT95-0103, Protection and conservation of European cultural heritage. Research Report No 9.
Zecchini, A., Arte della Scagliola sul Lario, 5a ed., Editore Ulrico Hoepli, Milano (2001).
Kozlowski, R.; Wittenburg, C.; Zeunert, A., ‘Stucco marble in the Dukes Chapel in Krzeszów, Poland - Microclimate and degradation mechanisms’, Internationale Zeitschrift für Bauinstandsetzen und Baudenkmalpflege 6(4) (2000) 463 480.
‘Opificio delle Pietre Dure’, The Museums of Florence, http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/opificio_delle_pietre_dure.html (acesso em 2019-10-25).
Colli, D.; Garuti, A.; Pelloni, R., La Scagliola Carpigiana e L’Illusione Barroca, Artioli, Capri (1990).
Aguiar, J., Estudos cromáticos nas intervenções de conservação em centros históricos, dissertação de doutoramento, Universidade de Évora, Évora (1999), http://hdl.handle.net/10174/11200.
Vieira, E., Técnicas tradicionais de stuccos em revestimentos de interior portugueses. História e tecnologia. Aplicação à conservação e restauro, dissertação de doutoramento, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia (2008).
Martínez Fuentes, R., El estuco. Técnica, conservación y restauración. Aplicación a la reintegración del mármol, dissertação de doutoramento, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia (2003).
Báez, M. I.; García, M. J.; Vidal, L., ‘Los estucos-mármol del Palacio del Congreso de los Diputados de Madrid. Parte II: Estudio técnico de los cuatro escritorios’, Pátina II(13 14) (2006) 199 212.
Báez, M. I.; García, M. J.; Vidal, L., ‘Los estucos-mármol del Palacio del Congreso de los Diputados de Madrid. Parte I: Estudio documental del salón de conferencias y los escritorios’, Pátina II(13 14) (2006) 113 126.
González Yunta, F.; González Cortina, M.; Lasheras Merino, F., ‘Influencia del tratamiento a fuego en las características del estuco tradicional con cal’, Informes de la construcción 67(537) (2015) 1 8, https://doi.org/10.3989/ic.13.016.
Füller, J., Manual do Formador e Estucador, 2.ª ed., Livrarias Aillaud e Bertrand, Lisboa (n.d.)
Segurado, J. E. S., Acabamentos das Construções, Livrarias Aillaud e Bertrand, Lisboa (n.d.)
Wouters, J.; Van Bos, M.; Lamens, K., ‘Baroque stucco marble decorations. I. Preparation of laboratory replicas and establishment of criteria for analytical evaluation of organic materials’, Studies in Conservation 45(2) (2000) 106 116, https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.2000.45.2.106.
Wouters, J.; Van Bos, M.; Lamens, K., ‘Baroque stucco marble decorations. II. Composition and degradation of the organic materials in historical samples and implication for their conservation’, Studies in Conservation 45(3) (2000) 169 179, https://doi.org/10.2307/1506763.
Freire, T.; Silva, A. S.; Veiga, M. R.; Brito, J., ‘The 19th century revivalisms in the Portuguese architecture: Characterization of the interior plaster coatings of Monserrate Palace in Sintra’, in Proceedings of the 4th Historic Mortars Conference HMC2016, ed. I. Papayianni, M. Stefanidou & V. Pachta, Laboratory of Building Materials, Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Tessaloniki, Santorini (2016) 187 194.
Freire, M. T.; Silva, A. S.; Veiga, M. R.; Brito, J.; Schluetter, F., ‘Natural or artificial? Multi-analytical study of a scagliola from Estoi Palace simulating imperial red porphyry’, Microscopy and Microanalysis 22(6) (2016) 1281 1303, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616011909.
Veiga, M. R.; Magalhães, A.; Bosilijkov, V., ‘Capillarity tests on historic mortar samples extracted from site. Methodology and compared results.’, in 13th International Brick and Block Masonry Conference, ed. D. Martens & A. Vermeltfoort, Eindhoven, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (2004).
NP EN 12504-4:2007, ‘Ensaios de betão nas estruturas. Parte 4: Determinação da velocidade de propagação dos ultra-sons’, Instituto Português da Qualidade, Lisboa (2007).
Freire, M. T.; Silva, A. S.; Veiga, M. R.; Brito, J., ‘Studies in ancient gypsum based plasters towards their repair: Mineralogy and microstructure’, Construction and Building Materials, 196 (2019) 512 529, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.11.037.
Freire, M. T.; Veiga, M. R.; Silva, A. S.; Brito, J., ‘Studies in ancient gypsum based plasters towards their repair: Physical and mechanical properties’, Construction and Building Materials, 202 (2019) 319 331, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.12.214.
Sousa, R.; Sousa, H., ‘Stability evaluation of marble stone cladding affected by bowing and wind pressure – A case study’, in Proceedings IRF2018: 6th International Conference Integrity-Reliability-Failure, ed. J. F. Silva Gomes & S. A. Meguid, Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Gestão Industrial, Lisboa (2018) 679 688.
Freire, M. T., ‘Restoration of ancient Portuguese interior plaster coatings: Characterization and development of compatible gypsum-based products’, dissertação de doutoramento, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa (2016).
Middendorf, B.; Knöfel, D., ‘Characterization of historic mortars from buildings in Germany and The Netherlands’, in Conservation of Historic Brick Structures, eds. N. S. Baer, S. Fitz & R. A. Livingston, Routledge, London (1998) 178 196.
Dalui, S. K.; Roychowdhury, M.; Phani, K. K., ‘Ultrasonic evaluation of gypsum plaster’, Journal of Materials Science 31(5) (1996) 1261 1263, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353105.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium following no commercial or derivatives, provided the original author and source are credited.
Copyright remains with the authors.
