Integrating analytical tools in treatment decision-making for a 1513 hand-colored Ptolemy Geographia Atlas
July 10, 2013
Video:
View video (54 minutes)
Program Schedule
| Introduction | Fenella France, Chief, Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress |
| Lecture* | Integrating analytical tools in treatment decision-making for a 1513 hand-colored Ptolemy Geographia Atlas Sylvia Albro, Senior Paper Conservator, Conservation Division, Library of Congress Lynn Brostoff, Research Scientist, Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress |
| Discussion | Current approaches to verdigris treatment Sylvia Albro, Senior Paper Conservator, Conservation Division, Library of Congress John Bertonaschi, Senior Book Conservator, Conservation Division, Library of Congress Lynn Brostoff, Research Scientist, Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress |
About the Program:
The ongoing technical study and conservation of an important 1513 hand-colored, printed edition of Ptolemy's Geographia at the Library of Congress has posed interesting challenges, especially in terms of the treatment of select maps that are in poor condition due to the presence of verdigris pigment on a poor quality paper, as well as a later restoration treatment. The speakers highlight the results of quantitative x-ray fluorescence (XRF) trace element analysis before, during, and after treatment of several maps, and discuss how this method of analysis has served as a key aid in the treatment decision-making process.
An offline discussion on current approaches to verdigris treatment, focusing on research shared at the ICOM-CC Graphic Document Working Group Interim Meeting in Vienna, April 18-19, 2013 will follow the lecture.
About the Speakers:
Sylvia Albro is a Senior Paper Conservator in the Conservation Division at the Library of Congress, a position she has held since 1984. She is a graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.
Dr. Lynn Brostoff is a Research Scientist in the Preservation Research & Testing Division of the Library of Congress. At the Library, she serves as Analytical Services Liaison and conducts research that currently focuses on "corrosive" media, including verdigris pigment and iron gall ink. Before coming to the Library in 2008, she held positions as a scientist at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She obtained a PhD in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
John Bertonaschi is a Senior Rare Book Conservator at the Library of Congress, a position he has held since 1997, following the completion of a Mellon Conservation Internship at the Folger Shakespeare Library. He earned an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama in 1992 and is a member of the Guild of Bookwookers, Washington Chapter.
Acknowledgments:
"Integrating analytical tools in treatment decision-making for a 1513 hand-colored Ptolemy Geographia Atlas" and the presentation of this research at ICOM-CC in Vienna on April 18, 2013, was possible through the generous support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Travel to Vienna was also funded in part by the Carolyn Horton Fund, administered by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC).
Related Resources:
Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises (ICOM-CC Graphic Document Working Group Interim Meeting, Vienna, 17-19 April, 2013)
Corrosive Media: Verdigris Studies into Deterioration Induced by Copper-Containing Pigments and Methods for Treatment (Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress)
Investigation of the stabilization of verdigris-containing rag paper by wet chemical treatments Heritage Science 2:12 (December 2014).
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