TREATMENT OF THE VIRGIN MARY ICON OF THE PAINTER ANASTASI AL QUDSI AL RUMI DATING BACK TO 19TH CENTURY IN EGYPT

Henin, Emil; Abdallah, Mervat; Kaiser, Amany

doi:10.21608/ijaswa.2023.305517

TREATMENT OF THE VIRGIN MARY ICON OF THE PAINTER ANASTASI AL QUDSI AL RUMI DATING BACK TO 19TH CENTURY IN EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Coptic Paintings Conservation Department, Monasteries and Churches in Haret Zuwaila, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt

² Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University, Egypt.

³ Wood Laboratory, Conservation Center, Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza, Egypt

10.21608/ijaswa.2023.305517

Abstract

The present paper is intended to be a first part of a study on the restoration of the Virgin Mary icon in the Mary Church at the Menoufia Governorate in Egyptian Delta. This icon dating to 19th century and painted by famous painter in this period, Anastasi Al Qudsi Al Rumi who was responsible for the greater part of icons production in the middle of the 19th century in Egypt. Very valuable information is obtained both about the damage of the varnish layer in the paint surface due to the surrounding environment (Church wax, soot and tar, in place where icon lamps and candles are lit close by) and about the state of preservation of the icon. Finally, this paper is devoted to describing the Conservation process of this icon through different steps such as (Consolidation, Cleaning, Filling, Retouching, Varnishing).

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