Programme details

The ENVIART project brings us to Lower Silesia, Krzeszow, at a cultural crossroads. The region is particularly rich in cultural heritage.
Krseszow has one of the handsomest and most imposing Cisterian monasteries in a baroque style, constructed in the early 18th century, with one major specificity: a chapel was built on the eastern wing.

ENVIART Programme

This is the Dukes’ Chapel, the reference object of the European project Enviart. It contains very valuable decoration made of stucco marble.
The decoration was not restored for hundreds of years, so we had access to the original baroque surfaces. The chapel showed many signs of deterioration phenomena which is also very important for the ENVIART research.

History

The dynasty of the Dukes of Piast erected the first, gothic monastery in the 13th century.
With time, the monastery became very powerful and wealthy. In the 18th century, it was decided to pull down the old gothic church and build a vast new baroque church.

Stucco Marble Caracteristics

The technology of stucco marble used gypsum, water and animal glue. The pigments were added. If we look at the object very closely, we can see the sandstone in the first layer—the stucco marble is just few millimetres thick.
But because of its composition and the way it is applied to stone, stucco marble has a few weak points that constitute defects over the centuries.

Problems

Moisture is the principal factor causing damage to stucco marble. There are two main sources of moisture: damp from the ground penetrating the foundation walls and condensation.
The second cause of degradation is the interaction between humidity in the air and the crystallisation of salts.
These were the conclusions made by the Enviart project.

Objectives

In 1996, Christian Wittenburg, Professor at Hamburg University coordinated this project that includes Germany, Austria, Belgium and Poland. For two years, Enviart would decipher the Dukes’ Chapel.
The aim was to investigate the structure of this material, and analyse the environmental damages caused to it. An important part of the project was to make recommendations for proper restoration, telling the restorers what components they should use and what they should avoid in the future to preserve stucco marble.

Results

In 1998 the researchers had a lot of information about the percent of glue, pigments, gypsum, and we had experience with a replica of the stucco marble.
The ethical approach in conservation always aims at minimum intervention, the ENVIART programme at Krzeszow is a good example.

Conclusion

Today, the Polish government has decided to submit a dossier to Unesco to classify the Dukes’ Chapel and the Krzeszow monastery as a world heritage site.