PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Preservation of wallpaper as a part of interiors
Figure 103. If damaged wallpapers are not planned to be exhibited,
they should not be retouched.
unity of an object, fragments are treated in a basic fashion. If
lacunae break the unity of an object, they can be reduced with
light toning or optical structuring of the background. 390
Two of the historic wallpapers found in the small palace
of Freyschlössl in Salzburg had survived in fragments. Both of
them had non-repeating decorations, which would have been
complicated to reconstruct. It was decided to conserve and preserve
both of them in situ as ruins. Since there were no plans to
exhibit them, no retouching was necessary. (Fig. 103)
Throughout the treatment of an object, different methods
of retouching can be combined.
In the case of widespread loss, the right strategy is to address
all of the smaller networks of loss first. As areas surrounding a
larger loss become unified in appearance, the manner of handling
the colour and opacity of the design becomes apparent. 391
Finding matching tones is the greatest challenge, because
even one that appears to be the same may not be the same once
it is applied. The best method of choosing a matching tone is
390
Leivo, “Kunstiteose esteetilise terviku taasloomise vajadustest ja ideedest...”, 15.
391
McClintock, “Compensating for Losses in Historic Wallpapers”, 149.
212