A. ICON PAINTING TECHNIQUE ON WOODEN SUPPORT
1. Historical sources (erminie, podlinniki). Comparison with Western technical treaties
2. Supports (wooden boards, linen, etc. = tabletki, povoloka)
3. Preparation of the levcas
4. Preliminary drawing (proris', priporoscia, prilep, nalep, andivoli )
5. Application of metals (gold, silver, dvoinik, imitation of gold)
6. Pictorial layer (tempera painting, oil painting; mixed media = pol'ia. lichnoe, dolichnoe, plav, proplasmos, dvizhki.)
7. Paints, lacquers (alifa)
8. Metal revetments (oklad, risa, basma, kaka, tamata).
9. Other coverings (of pearls): pelena, kiot.
B. ICONS MADE OF OTHER MATERIALS
1. Stone:
Shale
Steatite
Hematite
Semi-precious stones
Quartz
2. Metal:
Copper
Bronze
Niello
Enamels
Alloys
Noble metals
3. Mosaic
4. Wood
5. Terracotta, porcelain and majolica
6. Ivory, mother of pearl, bone
7. Prints on paper, linen, silk etc.
C. THE LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ICONOGRAPHIC PRODUCTION
Albania
Armenia
Bosnia
Bulgaria:
Trjavna
Bansco
Samokov
Czechia
Croatia:
Dalmatian School,
Dubrovnik School,
Bokokotorska School
Egypt
Ethiopia
Finland
Georgia
Greece:
Kastoria, late 15th c.
Schools in Macedonia
Mount Athos
Ionian Islands: Kefalonia, Corfu (Heptanesian School)
Northern Greece: Workshops in Ellada and Ioannina
Thebe
Crete: Cretan school of the fifteenth century, Italo-Cretan school of the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries, Cretan icons of the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries.
Cyprus
Erzegovina
Italy
Lebanon
Macedonia
Montenegro
Romania
Russia:
Novgorod, 12th c.
Pskov, 14th c.
Tver', 15th c.
Ryazan
Rostov-Suzdal’, 15th-16th cc.
Volga Region, 16th c.
Northern Russia, 16th c.
School of Stroganov end of 16th - beginning of the 17th century
Moscow, 17th c.
Tsar's School, 17th c.
Cities and monasteries near Moscow, 17th c.
Palech, 18th – 19th cc.
Kostromà, 18th – 19th c.
Romanovskie pis’ma, 18th – 19th cc.
Pomorskie pis’ma, 18th – 19th cc.
Pescechonovskie pis’ma, 18th – 19th cc.
Embossed icons
Silver Age Icons
Serbia
Sinai
Slovakia
Turkey
Ukraine
Hungary
Vojvodina
D. TECHNOLOGY AND EXAMINATION OF THE PAINTED ICON.
I. MAIN PHASES IN THE HISTORY OF ICON PAINTING TECHNOLOGY.
1. Support
2. Preparation and priming
3. Design
4. Gilding (metal foil)
5. Paint Layer
6. Protective layer
II. COMPLEX INVESTIGATION OF THE WORK
1. Examination of the support
2. Examination of the preparation (priming)
3. Drawing examination
4. Metal leaf examination
5. Examination of the paint layer
6. Examination of the protective layer
III. FUNDAMENTAL HISTORICAL PHASES IN THE INVESTIGATION OF THE WORK.
IV. METHODOLOGICAL BASES.
V. NON-DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES.
1. Investigations in the visible light register.
2. UV investigation. Equipment. Photographic fixation.
3. IR ray investigation. Equipment. Photographic fixation.
1. NIR (near infrared) spectroscopy.
2. X-ray investigation. Equipment. Recent innovations.
3. X-ray energodispersive analysis.
4. Other new techniques for ND study: electromagnetic resonance, special fiber optic devices, etc.
5. Order for the conduct of the operations.
VI. INVESTIGATIONS REQUIRING SAMPLE COLLECTION.
1. General scheme of examinations of pigments and mineral fillers of the preparation.
2. Microscopic investigation.
3. Microchemical analysis of inorganic materials.
4. Physico-chemical analysis of pigments.
5. Analysis of organic binders.
6. Identification of resins and paints.
7. Investigation of supports, stuccoes and any metal or fabric coverings.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
· Main technological types of organic pigments. Methods for their preparation from natural dyes.
· Main organic pigments derived from natural dyes of plant or animal origin.
· Diagnostic symptoms of organic pigments of various technological types.
· Diagnostics of organic blue, red and purple dyes of plant or animal origin in organic pigments.
· Systems adopted for the thin chromatography of natural dyes.
· Composition and some chemical and thermal peculiarities of the pigments used.
· Some characteristic adsorption maximums of organic and mineral pigments.
· Amino acid content in some animal and vegetable proteins (in %).
· Composition of the egg white and yolk of the chicken egg (in %).
· Composition of the rubbers used as a binder.
· Composition of fatty acids in some vegetable oils used in painting.
· Composition of the lipid complex of the chicken egg.
· Composition of chromatography mixtures on "Fixion 50 x 3" plates.
· Soaking and melting temperatures of some resins.
· Chemical composition of rosins (%).
· Composition of mixtures of turpentine and rosin resin acids (%).
· Composition of mixtures of resinic acids and their derivatives in Strasbourg and Venice turpentine and Canadian balsam (%).
· Chemical composition of shellac.
· Chemical composition of fresh, aged and fossil Kauri gum (in % of whole weight).
· Position of the bands of electrical oscillations in the C=O radicals of resin acids and in the COO-radicals of copper resinates in the IR spectrum of natural resins.
· Average ratios of surface sizes of maximums in the characteristic IR absorption bands of natural resins.
8. Description of the state of the work before restoration
E. CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION.
1. Damage and its causes.
2. Preparation of working solvents.
3. Treatment of parts damaged by microorganisms.
4. Prophylactic Gluing
5. Consolidation of the pictorial layer and the plaster background.
6. Restoration of the wooden support.
7. Elimination of residues on the surface.
8. Elimination of the old protection and repainting.
9. Characteristics of protectives and touch-ups in the various schools.
10. Organic solvents used to remove old paints.
11. Technology for the removal of old paints and touch-ups.
12. Pictorial integrations of the damaged areas.
13. Painting
14. Documentation after restoration
FURTHER INFORMATION: description of conservation and restoration processes
F. COPIES, REPLICAS AND FORGERIES IN ANTIQUITY AND TODAY.