Microscopic examination
Varnish removal
Gesso consolidation
Reversible inpainting
Stratigraphic pigment sampling under magnification identifies original egg tempera formulations, underlying gesso stability, and later secondary overpaint additions across the panel.
Targeted solvent blends gently dissolve darkened natural resins and heavy candle soot deposits without softening historical tempera binders underneath.
Rabbit-skin glue and archival adhesives are injected under warm compresses to bond detached gesso foundations back to the carved wood substructure.
Surface losses are retouched using mineral pigments suspended in removable conservation mediums, ensuring all modern interventions remain clearly discernible under ultraviolet examination.
True restoration never rewrites the hand of earlier iconographers; it clarifies their voice.
Every treatment strictly adheres to international museum and diocesan conservation charters. We apply non-destructive techniques and fully reversible materials, ensuring sacred panels endure for centuries of worship.
Restored sanctuary panels
Deesis tier panel stabilization
Severe longitudinal timber splits across a nineteenth-century oak board threatened the central Pantocrator figure. Archival joinery splines and hide glue realigned structural joints prior to pigment consolidation.
Soot extraction on Saint Nicholas
Decades of beeswax taper smoke formed an opaque film over the saint’s vestments. Incremental cotton-swab extraction revealed intact cinnabar garments and original liturgical Greek script.
We conduct on-site icon condition surveys and compile formal technical dossiers for church councils and diocesan commissions.