COMINGOuT

Conservation and restoration of stucco marble decoration from the Olesko castle, integrated in a wooden souvenir table-top

Studio of Conservation and Restoration of Wall Painting

> Łukasz Wojtowicz

My professional interests revolve around the conservation of paintings on movable supports and wall painting, resulting from the major I chose during my studies at the Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Moreover, I am passionate about traditional woodwork and early carpentry. I put this passion into practice during projects associated with the conservation of antique furniture and workshops on early crafts.
What I like the most about the profession of conservator, is the search for a proper procedure and solving problems posed by an object which requires restoration. This ensures that every conservation implementation becomes an excellent collection of new experience and expertise, which lead to new passions and interests. So far, I have had the opportunity to participate in over a dozen projects related to the conservation of wall paintings, easel paintings, altars and polychrome wood sculptures.
In addition to the conservation of antiquities, I work in painting, drawing and art for comics. I have had an opportunity to present my pieces in these fields at several group exhibitions.

> Professor Paweł Marek Jakubowski

Łukasz Wojtowicz’s degree piece is exceptional, at least in two respects. It is a difficult conservation undertaking, requiring non-standard measures, and related to a highly valuable historical object which recently enriched the Wilanów Palace Museum collection. According the inscription in the wooden frame, the stucco mosaic (artificial marble) integrated into the top of the wooden table originates from the remains of walls of the chamber in the Olesko castle where John III Sobieski was born.
The table itself was manufactured in the nineteenth century as a part of decorative scenery, when Polish aristocracy developed a need to collect memorabilia from the times of greatness of the Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was also the period when the Grand Tour-style travels were fashionable in Western Europe.
In addition to travels to Italy, Polish aristocracy was visiting antiquities at home with great interest. Probably this table with stucco fragments from the Olesko castle was a keepsake brought from a travel to the old borderlands of the Commonwealth.
The stucco decoration of the table-top was preserved in a very bad condition. The main cause of damage was warping and cracking of wooden surface, to which stucco marble decoration fragments were glued. Conservation measures taken by Łukasz Wojtowicz effectively stopped progressive destruction of the stucco mosaic. With great precision he conducted the procedure of cutting-off stucco and transferred it onto a new, stable bearing structure. He preformed also numerous treatment procedures, including cleaning and replacing cavities in the stucco marble decoration. At the end, after conducting renovation of wooden elements, he re-assembled the antique table. It has to be emphasised that the work was done very honestly. Łukasz Wojtowicz distinguished himself with great talent, inquisitiveness and independent thinking, which led to excellent final outcome.