About CHTD
Chemical and Technological Department
The Monuments Board of Slovak Republic
The Chemical and Technological Department is a specialised workplace of nation-wide operation, focusing on chemical and technological surveys and on research of movable and immovable cultural heritage, particularly with the aim of their restoration and conservation.
The Department performs professional research of historical monuments, gallery and museum collection items and works of art (canvas and wood paintings, sculptures, altars, historical wooden structural components, mural paintings, stone architectural articles, plasters, stucco and others). The information obtained on materials and technologies used initially, as well as on later repairs and restoration interventions provide source knowledge allowing to propose suitable reconstruction and conservation of a monument or work of art. It may be used when dating and confirming the authenticity of a work of art or when determining its author or origin. Moreover, the status, scope and reasons of the existing damage of objects are ascertained, technology procedures and materials are proposed for being used in restoration works and professional repair.
The Department also provides consultancy, advice and expertise in the field of conservation and restoration of cultural sights.
Researches and analyses may be ordered by restorers as well as by anyone interested like, for instance, building companies, custodians and owners of buildings and works of art, or anyone else.
Examples of Activities
Physical and Chemical Analyses and Research:
Canvas paintings, panel paintings, polychromed wooden and metal sculptures and reliefs, altars, iconostases, polychromed wooden structures (galleries, ceilings, cladding), furniture and others:
Survey of paint layers:
• Stratigraphic analysis
• Microphotographic documentation of sample cross-sections
• Identification of different pigments in paint layers and ground-layers
• Analyses of binding media and finishes
Survey of template:
• Identification of textile fabric type, wood species or metal
• Identification of type and scope of damage
• Technology proposed for its reconstruction
Mural paintings, stucco elements, stone and terracotta sculptures, reliefs and architectural components, historical plasters and masonry, historical construction materials (floor tiles, roofing materials, etc.)
• Petrographic identification of the type of rock used (sub-contracted)
• Silicate and grain size analysis of plaster or stucco materials
• Determining of the moisture contents, water absorption or hygroscopic moisture absorption
• Determining of the type and concentration of water-soluble salts
• Identification of the existing status and possible reasons of degradation, proposals of technology for reconstruction and conservation
Historical wooden structures (floors, roof trusses, joist ceilings, log structures, bell trusses and the like):
• Determining of the scope and type of damage (wood-destroying insects and fungi, mechanical damage, etc.)
• Identification of wood species
• Proposal of reconstruction, conservation and restoration measure
Non-Destructive Methods of Survey:
• X-ray survey of canvas paintings, panel paintings, wooden sculpture and reliefs by means of stationary or mobile X-ray
• Survey of stone sculpture and construction components by means of ultrasonic transmission device
• Measurement and evaluation of microclimate conditions
Participation in International Projects:
At the time being, the staff of the department participates in the following international projects:
Research and documentation of medieval mural paintings in the Carpathian Basin
• Under the project, surveys in churches of the following municipalities have been carried out: Slovakia – Leles, Rákoš, Držkovce, Koceľovce, Chyžné and Šivetice; Hungary – Szentsimon, Tornaszentandrás, Abaújvár and Ragály
Research and documentation of wooden painted ceilings and galleries in the Carpathian Basin
• Under the project, surveys of painted coffered ceilings and galleries in the following churches have been carried out: Prihradzany, Rimavská Baňa, Malé Teriakovce, Chyžné and Gemerský Jablonec
ROCEM – Research project under the 5th framework programme of the European Commission
Contact:
Ing. Daniela Cebecauerová
Eva Klučková
Chemicko-technologické oddelenie (Chemical and Technological Department)
Pamiatkový úrad SR (The Monuments Board Slovak Republic)
Cesta na Červený most 6
814 06 Bratislava
Slovak Republic
tel.: ++421 2 5479 3502
fax.: ++421 2 5477 5844 (CHTO)
e-mail: cebecauerova.daniela@pamiatky.gov.sk
Posledná editácia: 2009-11-29
