Non-destructive and micro-analytical methods applied to the conservation of Chinese works of art at the Xi'an Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Relics (P.R. of China)

Abstract

Describes a cooperative project financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at establishing a conservation institute in Xian, the Xian Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Relics. The project, designed and implemented by the Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente in collaboration with the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro, has been a challenging experience, both scientifically and humanly, of interdisciplinary approach to the conservation of works of art. Italian professionals with different scientific backgrounds in the field of cultural property cooperated with Chinese counterparts for the implementation of a modern conservation institute characterized by the approach to conservation/restoration as a process based on the contribution of different scientific skills. During a two year teaching activity, the project trained 20 professional restorers and 13 conservation scientists, aided by a small group of archaeologists, in the methods and practice of scientific restoration. The new institution has three main sections: restoration laboratories, scientific laboratories, and archaeological laboratory. The use of nondestructive and microdestructive analytical techniques has been one of the main messages passed to Chinese trainees. In the past, the role played by nondestructive and microdestructive analytical techniques in the diagnostic process for the conservation of artworks was little considered in Chinese restoration practices. The elements for a critical evaluation of methodology have been exhaustively treated, including the fields of application, advantages, limits, and economic implications. Some preliminary results on two case studies--a ceramic vessel with a badly flaking painted decoration and a deeply corroded iron cauldron covered with a thick layer of loess soil--are here presented and evaluated.