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The international workshop titled “Colour Measurement and Documentation in Architectural Paint Research” took place on the 22nd–25th of October, 2019 in Tallinn and Kirna, Estonia. The workshop was organised by the Department of Cultural Heritage and Conservation of the Estonian Academy of Arts. Lecturers, conservators, heritage officials, architectural conservation students and architectural paint research specialists from Estonia, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Latvia and Lithuania made up the 25 participants of the workshop. After the international participants arrived on the 21st of October, the workshop formally begun on the following day. In the first half of the day, keynote lectures by Estonian and international speakers were held at the Estonian Academy of Arts. In the afternoon, the workshop participants left Tallinn for Järva County, first visiting the Purdi manor house to get acquainted with the architectural paint research practice in Estonia. Then, the group headed to the Kirna manor house and received an introductory tour of the building from one of its owners. Next morning, everyone once again assembled at the Kirna manor house and some of the participants presented case studies about their previous paint research projects. Subsequently, the 2-day long practical workshop begun with the participants being split into five research teams, each assigned a vault in the manor house entrance hall for paint investigation. The main aim of the workshop and the research in the entrance hall was to test out different paint investigation and colour measuring methods, techniques and tools (including colour measurement devices like colourimeters and spectrophotometers). The wider objective of this was to optimise and modernise the way historical colour information on architectural surfaces is identified, documented and preserved in Estonia and abroad. To learn from international expertise, the five research teams were assigned leaders from different countries (the Netherlands, Lithuania, Italy, Sweden, and Estonia), with each leader instructing their team members according to the prevalent architectural paint research methods in their respective country. Thus, every team had a distinct methodology and the participants were introduced to various research styles and techniques, which differ significantly between countries and researchers. In addition to the professional and educational purpose, it was also intended to investigate the finishes of the five vaults (one assigned to each team) and their adjacent architectural features. The preliminary research questions for the entrance hall are presented in chapter 4.1. In order to ascertain the historical paint layers and constructional stages, mechanical paint exposures and smaller openings were made in strategic areas like the vaults, pillars and pilasters, walls, window and door openings, doors, and the stucco decor on the vaults. Additionally, a few research teams took cross-sections of the finishes, some of which were microscopically examined to clarify the paint stratigraphy and pigments. The results were documented separately by each team in the form of reports and paint exposure/cross-section charts included in chapter 5. The team reports were mainly compiled by the participating students from the EAA Department of Cultural Heritage and Conservation, however, other team members contributed as well. The main results of the architectural paint research in the entrance hall, as well as a relative chronology of the discovered decorative finishes are presented in chapter 6. As the Kirna manor house is a listed building, permission for the aforementioned research was acquired beforehand by presenting the Estonian National Heritage Board a plan of action, which was approved by the Senior Inspector for Järva County.1 Simultaneously with the paint research, a colour vision test was conducted with the workshop participants. In the first part of the experiment, the test subjects were asked to describe and determine the colour of two different historical paint layers on one entrance hall wall in two different lighting conditions using the NCS INDEX 1950 colour chart. After the experiment was performed by all of the participants present, the colours were scientifically ascertained with the colourimeters NCS Colourpin SE and NCS Colour Scan 1.0 RM200, as well as the Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM 2300d. In the second part of the experiment, the test subjects took the Jean Jouannic's colour blindness test and the X-Rite hue test online to test their general colour perception and the ability to differentiate similar hues. Later, the results of these tests were compared with the colours they determined using a colour chart to see if the discoveries correlate. The outcome of this experiment is presented in chapter 7. The workshop was concluded on the 25th of October at the Estonian Academy of Arts with a presentation and discussion of the initial results. Each research team presented their methods and findings, and there were general discussions about the accuracy and preservability of different methods in identifying and collecting historical colour information. The conclusions of the participants are summarised in chapter 8. Thereafter, the preliminary results of the colour determination experiment were revealed. Finally, all of the participants received a certificate for part-taking in the workshop and a tour of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Conservation was conducted for the international participants. |
