The first two photographs show the work as it was to be entrusted to me with its missing parts (arms and others) but that was without taking into account an accident: the shock caused the sculpted group to fall from its pedestal, which broke into multiple pieces...
Memoir on the restoration of the sculpted group -Venus & Adonis- Invoice 28th century - Park of the Raba castle
Previous state:
The sculpted group in fine limestone of the "Charente" type was, among other things, in an advanced state of erosion, not to mention the losses, the accidents - then the fall which broke it into numerous fragments also pulverized some of them:
1) The anatomy was in many places considerably flaking
2) There were numerous anatomical losses, such as Adonis' sex, part of the arm, forearm and hand of Adonis, as well as various fingers of the two characters and uncertain facial features with eaten away eyes; the considerably eroded hair needs to be redone.
3) numerous chips which, according to in-depth studies, correspond to gunshots – thus we notice frontal impacts and others at an angle and the damage that followed.
4) The entire sculpture was covered and eaten away by moss and microscopic fungi, which had the effect of coloring the stone in depth – for the molds the term was to rot the stone in depth (more particularly on the tops), for other places on the contrary a very hard calcine had formed and had changed the color of the natural stone, which to recover its nature had to be cut everywhere over 3 millimeters and curved again to find the original design.
5) the piece beyond this state suffered a shock and fell from its pedestal to break into multiple pieces: seven main ones without counting unusable chips.
Phases of restoration :
First of all, it was a question of gathering the fragments, as intelligently as possible, taking into account all my skills and expertise, and in particular for a very delicate phase concerning the vertical part to be gathered where six anchor points had to be adjusted in one go; to do this, I used different lengths of pins. The choice of "Araldite Epoxy" glue was essential to hold them, a slow-setting glue and M-H approved - for the base it was simpler.
For the missing parts, I found a type of stone corresponding to the original which happened to have the same grain, the same hardness, and the same tone in terms of color: Caen stone. For the leveling I used "Minerstone" (M-H approved) which I nevertheless sieved and tinted to match the desired grain.
The missing parts were subject to a geometric refresh of the contact points at a minimum before execution, on which plaster frame models were based (to identify the anchor points in a certain way) and in plastiline for the search for the modeling that will be reproduced. The capable masses were then adjusted and held by pins to then be sculpted.
A smart restoration was carried out on the entire surface of the sculpture, consisting of the study of the shapes point by point and the cutting of rebellious parts (cullet having an inadequate color) or too soft (due to mold) and the action of sculpting again in compliance with the message delivered by the initial author and of restoring the drawing (in particular for the erased parts and the chips which were sometimes located in areas of expression).
Sculpted group completed (see photos series D):
I had to resolve to apply a limewash based on fatty lime because of persistent stains, especially in the upper parts due to mold that I could not resolve to cut deeper because they were located for many in the faces up to the shoulders of the subjects.
Thoughts about the base:
The base on which the sculpted group was is also to be rebuilt, but it seems to me that it is not original nor in its location - this having been relayed to me by Mr. Humbert who thinks that original photos exist. In any case, it might be wise to think about the location of the sculpture and to build the pedestal there either outside (with a foundation for the base) or inside (without a foundation) and to have it made by stonemasons if possible before the transport that I included in my estimate, by a crane truck, which could thus unload it directly onto its pedestal, which would avoid multiple handling operations.
Pierre Kauffmann – Sculpteur
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