Church of st. Stanislaus the Bishop Martyr in Koźmin Wielkopolski
RENOVATION OF THE ORGAN FRONT FROM THE CHURCH OF ST. STANISLAUS THE BISHOP MARTYR IN KOŹMIN WIELKOPOLSKI
The organ front from the Bernardine church in Koźmin Wielkopolski was built by an organ maker Andrzej Majerowicz from Cracow in 1781.
The condition of the object can be called moderately satisfactory. Previous interventions to the object’s structure could be seen, the organ front had been repainted multiple times and secondarily covered with base metal gold foil (schlagmetal). Moreover, many insect inlet openings were noticed on the entire surface. In some places small cracks can be seen, especially in the places of wooden joints. Woodcarved decoration was topically strongly attacked by insects. Unoriginal repairs and inept joints of the individual openwork elements. Few visible losses of the sculptured details were seen. At the pedestal, one could notice clear delamination of unoriginal layers of the polychromy.
The aim of renovation was to restore the original aesthetics according to the character of the period when it was made. What is more, decay process had to be stopped by disinfection and sterilization.
Before works started, places for uncoverings which allowed to identify original layers of polychromy were chosen. During cleaning, two layers of repainting were discovered. When the uncoverings were being done, test were conducted to clean the repainting with soap pastes. Unoriginal overlays were ablated mechanically with scalpel and with the use of a heater which softened the paint layer with a stream of hot air. Chemical method proved to be most effective, which involved multiple use of compresses with soap paste and washing dirt with an organic solvent. Softened oil repainting were removed with a scalpel and metal wadding. Everything was cleaned with swabs soaked in acetone. During ablation of the unoriginal layers it was discovered that the gilding of the woodcarved detail was in good condition, and sometimes very good. During the cleaning of the sculptures of angels the original layer of chipolin was detected.
In the next stage, small carpentry repairs were done which involved the replacement of rotten fragments, the cornices were adhered and wood losses were filled. Then everything was impregnated. Next step was to fill the losses of mortar with acrylic putty, the surface of putties was protected with a solution of acrylic varnish in white spirit.
In the next stage, small carpentry works were done which involved replacing decayed fragments, the cornices were adhered and losses of wood filled. Then the whole object was impregnated. Next, the losses of mortar were filled with acrylic putty, the surface of putties was protected with a solution of acrylic varnish in white spirit. Then the places for gilding were prepared by applying four layers of bole on the surface. Gildings were made with 24 karat gold leaf with gloss and matt finish. Colours of filled losses of mortar were unified with acrylic paints, everything was covered with protective varnish.
The organ front was mounted in the church, then photographic and descriptive documentation was completed.
