Not a clue which forum this post belongs in so here it is.
Digging into just how easy it is to fake structural history under the guise of renovation and restoration I was off trying to track down 'old' cast stone recipes when up popped this superb example of how we cannot trust our own eyes when it comes to sculpture and structural elements. It is breathtaking how skilled the fakers are as these images show.
Given this is the case whenever one is near 'ancient sculpture' perhaps the thing to do is consider the artifact from a position of 'this is a fake' then look for clues.
gallery
Figurative Remodelling
Using specialist lime based conservation materials these figures were painstakinly restored to their original form. They had not only suffered from severe decay to the sandstone but they had also previously been very poorly “repaired” and then painted. Once the paint and cement based mortar “repairs” were removed from the figures it became apparent that there was very little of the original detail left to work form. The local library photo archives were trawled for any hint to the original form, luckily some were found and they were just good enough to allow the remodelling to take shape, with limbs and faces restored they finally emerged just how they would have appeared over 100 years ago.
Digging into just how easy it is to fake structural history under the guise of renovation and restoration I was off trying to track down 'old' cast stone recipes when up popped this superb example of how we cannot trust our own eyes when it comes to sculpture and structural elements. It is breathtaking how skilled the fakers are as these images show.
Given this is the case whenever one is near 'ancient sculpture' perhaps the thing to do is consider the artifact from a position of 'this is a fake' then look for clues.
gallery
Figurative Remodelling
Using specialist lime based conservation materials these figures were painstakinly restored to their original form. They had not only suffered from severe decay to the sandstone but they had also previously been very poorly “repaired” and then painted. Once the paint and cement based mortar “repairs” were removed from the figures it became apparent that there was very little of the original detail left to work form. The local library photo archives were trawled for any hint to the original form, luckily some were found and they were just good enough to allow the remodelling to take shape, with limbs and faces restored they finally emerged just how they would have appeared over 100 years ago.
