Sculpture

Stone sculpture

With examples dating back to the enormous prehistoric statues of Easter Island, many types of stone have been employed over the centuries in sculpture. Some of these stones yield more readily to the sculptor’s chisel (such as limestone, marble, and soapstone), while others, such as granite, are more difficult to carve but have proved more durable over time. All of these are susceptible to the deterioration caused by water. Water can either directly dissolve stone or wear it away by carrying abrasive particles over its surface. Water can also deteriorate stone when it freezes and turns to ice. Ice crystals have greater volume than liquid water, and when water is contained in the porous structure of stone and then freezes, the resulting ice crystals place enormous stress on the pore walls. This stress leads to microfractures in the structure of the stone. If the ice then melts, migrates to another location in the porous stone, and freezes again (as will happen with the changing of seasons in temperate climates), it begins what is called a “freeze-thaw cycle,” in which repeated migration and freezing of the water causes the stone to lose cohesive strength, particularly near the surface. Freeze-thaw cycles can result in spalling, or delamination of the stone surface, eventually leaving no more than a shapeless mass in a relatively short amount of time.

Water can also carry soluble salts—such as the sodium chloride present in seawater or the nitrates found in groundwater polluted by fertilizers—into the porous structure of stone. These salts stay in solution and travel through the pores of the stone until the water begins to evaporate at the surface of the sculpture. Upon losing water, the salt will effloresce. Salt crystals, like ice crystals, have greater volume and place greater stresses on the pore walls, which leads to the same flaking or spalling caused by the freeze-thaw cycle. When the majority of the soluble salt crystallizes at the surface of the stone sculpture and forms a white powdery deposit, the process is defined as “surface-efflorescence.” Although this process is unsightly and can cause damage, it is not as destructive as “subefflorescence,” which occurs when the salt crystallizes in the pores of the stone below the actual surface. In the process of subefflorescence, the salt crystals are contained within the pores and hence place enormous pressure on the pore walls. Some types of stone contain large amounts of salt as part of their natural composition and as such are highly susceptible to damage under the right conditions. Other stones acquire salts from the environment, such as during burial, when they are exposed to groundwater laden with salt, or when they are exposed to water that has peculated through natural or man-made material (such as gypsum or cement) that also contains large amounts of salt.

Water also plays a role in the aggressive attack on stone by industrial air pollutants. Since the 19th century and to a limited degree well before that, the destructive properties of sulfur (released when fossil fuels are burned) have been well documented. Sulfur reacts in the atmosphere to form sulfur dioxide, which in turn combines with available moisture to form sulfuric acid. When in contact with marble or limestone (both of which are calcium carbonates), the sulfuric acid transforms the surface of the stone to gypsum (calcium sulfate). This transformation has several unfortunate results. First, the gypsum has greater volume and greater porosity, so it will hold more acidic water at the surface, continuing the acid attack on the underlying stone and encouraging other destructive processes such as biological activity (for example, the growth of mold). The gypsum crust formed often incorporates dark particulate matter from the polluted atmosphere, such as carbon, resulting in the unsightly black crusts seen on many urban buildings and monuments. This crust has a very different response to changes in temperature and will often crack or peel away, leaving fresh stone exposed to the same destructive cycle.

Biological deterioration of stone is also a concern. Root or vine growth can physically fracture marble, for example, if the root finds its way into a crack or fissure, similar to the way tree roots or weeds can fracture sidewalks or roads. Direct dissolution of stone by lichens and ivy is also possible, and the presence of such plants leads to the retention of water, which, as aforementioned, accelerates other destructive processes.

In the past, restoration of stone sculpture involved many aggressive methods aimed at erasing or disguising any damage or loss due to age, weathering, or accident. These techniques extended to the recutting of the sculpture or the reduction of the sculpted surface by means of abrasives or acids to remove damage or to “improve” the aesthetic appearance of the sculpture. Aesthetic dictates and fashion of the particular time in which the restoration was undertaken greatly influenced these choices, and often the sculpture became more of a product of the restorer’s hand and time, rather than a work reflecting the intent of the original artist.

Today sculpture restoration (normally limited to the cleaning and repair of major damage) is guided by the various professional codes of ethics (such as the Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works [AIC]) followed by professional conservators. Original material and surface are carefully guarded, and the conservator takes great care not to alter the intent or “spirit” of the object or influence the way in which it may be interpreted. Missing areas are often left missing, and damage is often repaired only if doing so does not require unacceptably invasive treatments that are extensive in nature or that may not be reversible. Nonetheless, when replacing missing segments is acceptable or necessary, the conservator does this in such a manner as to make the replacements or additions apparent under close inspection or through using easily available inspection techniques.

Because soluble salts are so aggressively destructive to stone sculpture, their removal is of paramount importance if they are present in sufficient quantities. Traditionally, if the object is small enough to be submerged in water that is regularly refreshed, salts are soaked out until they are completely removed from the stone. However, when the sculpture is too large to submerge, too fragile to soak, or secured to a site, other methods must be employed. Also, some stones are composed of minerals that themselves will readily dissolve after prolonged contact with water; in such instances, poulticing is an optional method that avoids prolonged submersion of the stone in water and yet maximizes desalination. Poulticing involves wetting the sculpture with water and then placing a clay or paper pulp-based material mixed with water on the surface. As the water is drawn to the surface of the poultice by evaporation, the salts dissolved in the water are carried along and deposited in the poultice material. The poultice is then removed from the stone surface and the process repeated until all, or an acceptable amount, of the salts present are removed.

Stone can lose its cohesive strength when the material that binds the grains together becomes disrupted or lost through dissolution. In such a situation, the stone is described as “sugary,” because the individual grains or crystals become easily dislodged and have the appearance of loose sugar granules. The stone may begin to delaminate in flakelike sections. In such cases, the cohesive and structural strength of the stone must be reinstated by the introduction of a consolidant. The characteristics of good stone consolidants include long-term stability and strength under adverse conditions (outdoors), the ability to penetrate deeply into the stone and provide even distribution of the final consolidating product throughout the stone, and a minimal effect upon the appearance of the stone once it is introduced (i.e., it should not change the colour or other characteristics such as translucency or opacity of the stone).

Consolidants can be divided into two major categories: mineral and synthetic consolidants. Among the mineral consolidants are “lime water,” which is the introduction of a saturated water solution of calcium hydroxide into the matrix of a calcium-based stone (such as limestone or marble). Once the calcium hydroxide is deposited, its eventual interaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide forms a network of calcium carbonate, similar to that which makes up the stone itself. In a similar manner, the application of alkoxy silanes in recent decades offers the conservator a method by which amorphous silica can be introduced as a binder and strengthener for deteriorated sandstone. Some silanes will also impart water repellency to the stone. Synthetic polymer-based consolidants include acrylic polymers, epoxies, and polyesters. Although these are a considerable improvement over past materials such as wax and natural resins, some have proved unsuitable in certain environments and over long periods of exposure. Some epoxies have altered over a relatively short period of time and dramatically changed the appearance of the sculpture, while other synthetic consolidants have proved unable to penetrate deeply enough into the stone, and their application has resulted in a thin, dense, and impermeable crust that falls away owing to the buildup of salts or water vapour behind it.

A variety of coatings ranging from natural resins to waxes have been used for the protection of stone sculpture from either the outdoor elements or the deposition of dust and grime within the indoor environment. Acrylic polymers are now more commonly used for the less-demanding environments, whereas surface consolidants and water repellents based on silicone materials or hydrophobic silanes are often used for sculptures placed outdoors. Surface coatings can function to repel unwanted deposits or to serve as sacrificial layers that, when removed during regular maintenance, carry the deposits with them.

Cleaning was once undertaken with relatively aggressive methods such as abrasives, acids, and even chisels to remove the offending deposits or stains. More often than not, these approaches resulted in considerable damage to the original sculpted surface. At the turn of the 21st century, the professional conservator aggressively guards against any loss of original surface, even to the point of accepting the presence of a deposit or stain rather than endangering the original material of the sculpture. In some cases, the deposits that are obscuring the detail or subtle carving on the surface are in themselves informative and important and must be preserved rather than removed. In the case of many archaeological artifacts or ethnographic objects, for example, minute amounts of preserved material such as traces of pigment or deposits from original use can shed a great deal of light on the original appearance of the sculpture: its history, function, method of manufacture, and, to a degree, the artist’s intent.

Contemporary techniques of cleaning may range from simple mechanical removal of the deposit with a common soft eraser to the use of surgical scalpels, often with the aid of a binocular microscope for more cautious and delicate cleaning. Small-scale power tools are commonly used when the deposit is extremely hard—for example, dental ultrasonic descalers can be used to remove hard calcite- or silica-based deposits or residues of modern cement and grout. The conservator sometimes employs microair abrasive equipment that uses fine particulate powders such as walnut shell or talc. The technique requires that the operator have considerable experience and skill so that the stone surface itself is not abraded. Chemical agents such as surfactants (agents that reduce surface tension between a liquid and a solid), chelates (agents that form compounds with metal ions, making them more easy to remove), or solvents can also be used either in local application using a small cotton swab or mixed in a poultice. Just as poulticing works as a means of desalination, it also can be used to eliminate deposits and stains. Poulticing material may include clays (such as sepiolite, a magnesium trisilicate clay), paper pulp, or gel materials such as carboxymethylcellulose. Steam cleaning and water misting (sometimes called “nebulization”) are also often employed in the cleaning process, though like all the techniques already mentioned, they must be cautiously applied to ensure that only the desired deposit or grime is removed, without damaging the stone surface or other decorative elements.

First used in the 1970s to clean the black pollution crusts from stone architectural sculpture, laser technology has rapidly developed as a promising method for cleaning stone surfaces. Laser energy dislodges or vaporizes the offending material that is normally of a darker colour than the stone. The laser has become one of the most promising tools for future use in conservation due to the advancement of more commonly available units, a relative drop in cost of the equipment, and a greater familiarity with laser technology in the field of conservation.