CONSERVATION TREATMENTS OF AZULEJO: MATERIALS FOR VOLUMETRIC REINTEGRATION

Abstract

Many conservation interventions have to consider the filling-gaps operation to remake missing parts of original material and this is still an active topic of debate since it raises technical, aesthetical and ethical issues. A wide variety of materials have been used as fillers, usually in an empirical way, without much knowledge of their characteristics, compatibility and reversibility or even durability issues when applied to glazed ceramic tile (azulejo). In order to improve conservation actions it is necessary to understand the existing solutions to choose those that adapt best to the azulejo substrate and try to develop better formulations to fill the missing parts, either from the glaze or the ceramic body. To achieve better results in the future it would therefore be important to know the different solutions adopted in the past and evaluate the performance of these treatments through time. The compilation of information proved to be a difficult task either because the reports had not been done or else were not retrievable. Some considerations about the advantages and disadvantages of these materials and their application for volumetric reintegration will be made.