DellaRobbia

I'm Sarah Levin. We're Project Objects Conservators here at the Brooklyn Muse We have been working on the conservation of the Resurrection by Giovanni Della Robbia. The Resurrection of Christ, a glazed terracotta relief from the early 16th century, is a powerful blend of Giovanni Della Robbia's use of vibrant colors and dramatic postures, combined with The Resurrection was originally created for the Antenori family for their villa just south of Florence, and remained there until 1899 when the piece was purchased and brought to the Brooklyn Muse The artwork has been off view since 1999 due to renovations in the muse In preparation for its inclusion in the exhibition Della Robbia, sculpting with color in Renaissance Florence, opening on August 9, 2016 at the Muse The recent conservation campaign has involved extensive examination and structural intervention to address instabilities and make the artwork safe for travel and ex Originally, the 46 separate glazed ceramic tiles were attached to a masonry wall of the Antenori villa, and at some point before 1899, before the Resurrection was brought to the Brooklyn Muse The tiles were attached to the wooden board using iron brackets and wires embedded in the plaster. Over the past 117 plus years, t Given the old mounting system's instability, we removed each tile one by one so that we could examine and evaluate each more closely. The full extent of damage and instability in the plaster mounting materials became evident at therefore, we began removing the old hardware and cracked plaster from the original terracotta using mallets and c Removing the old mounting materials was essential for providing us further access to the tiles and aided in subsequent conservation treatments, such as when we discovered a complete loss to the original terracotta in to improve stability after the plaster was removed, we bridged the large gap in the original terracotta using a colored and bulked epoxy formed around a wooden core. In some cases, old restorations were discolored and degraded so much that they needed to be replaced. A new conservation grade epoxy fill strengthens the tile structurally and is also designed to be detachable and lightweight. To make a replacement fill, we protected the original ceramic with plastic wrap and pressed the epoxy into the edge to capture its impression. Once the epoxy was fully formed and dry, we sanded it to match the original shape and reattached it to the original with a strong yet reversible adhesive. At t During the in-painting phase, we tried to visually integrate new replacement pieces with the adjacent ceramic so they do not detract from the viewer's appreciation of the overall piece. On several pieces, the old restoration section is worn in better condition, so we did not remove or replace them. Instead, we looked for ways to further integrate them with the original glaze terracotta. If the joint edges were misaligned with the restoration and the original terracotta me, we filled and in-painted t Where the restoration paint was disfiguring, we applied a barrier coating and in-painted a more appropriate and matc Cleaning the tiles involved a combination of techniques, one of which was using steam to reduce dirt and grime that had acc Steam is gentle and removes dirt from inside pores in the glaze and the terracotta. To secure each of the 46 tiles to the wooden backing board, we custom-designed and created a new mounting system. Where there were large cavities be T We outlined each tile and mounting system onto clear template sheets. To avoid accidentally locking one or more pieces out of the assemblage, there was a strict order on when all the templates were laid onto the backing board, were able to follow the template outlines to install each piece slowly and safely. Finally, the last step was lifting the object. The work weighs over 1,000 pounds, so we used a specially designed rigging cage to evenly distribute the weight and prevent bowing. This nerve-wracking process tested the strength and stability of our mounts, but was made easier by the Muse It required the hands of now the resurrection is stable, conserved, and ready for packing. In t