PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Preservation of wallpaper as a part of interiors
able paint, dark tide-lines, moulded and darkened areas, and
losses in printing media and paper.
Since there is hardly any artistic tradition in the conservation
of art on paper, 384 the principles of wallpaper retouching
have been most commonly influenced by those used in painting
conservation.
The intensity and extent of retouching should be chosen
according to the appearance and stage of decay of a whole interior.
A wallpaper which is conserved close to its former state
should not dominate the whole room, but rather form a balanced
unity with other decorative details. Moreover, since the effects
of retouching a paper object are irreversible, retouching is often
considered not to be the best treatment for a historic wallpaper.
That is why it is most commonly undertaken on exhibited
samples and prestigious in situ wallpapers which form a part
of a decorative scheme. 385
According to Knut Nicolaus, there are four different methods
of retouching: normal, total, neutral and Tratteggio retouching
(developed according to a theory by Cesare Brandi). Of the four
methods, total retouching and Tratteggio are considered physically
reconstructive methods, and normal and neutral retouching
are optically reconstructive methods.
In addition, there are innumerable transitional forms and
combinations of the mentioned methods. For the decorative and
depicting properties of wallpaper, it can be compared to a painting.
This means that all the types of retouching used in painting
conservation can be implemented to conserve wallpapers.
The aim of normal retouching is to create an optically
uniform image when observed from a viewing distance. The
lacunae are “muted” and bound to the rest of an image with
the help of fine modelling lines or dots, which aim to imitate
the colours and missing forms. The retouched areas should not
be registered by the naked eye, but only distinguishable with a
magnifying glass or through closer examination. 386
384
Troschke, “Der Blaue Salon im Schloss Schönbrunn...”, 75.
385
Collier, “Wallpaper – In and Out of Context”, 58.
386
Knut Nicolaus, Handbuch der Gemälderestaurierung, 294 – 295.
208