Project overview
The long-term maintenance of monuments relies on the preservation of traditional craft skills. This is the key to our work at Queluz. We began by forging a partnership with the expert sculpture conservator Rupert Harris. Not only were some of the sculptures brought back to his workshop in London, but more importantly, he ran the training workshops in Queluz that will ensure their future.
Heroes in need of rescuing
Adonis, Neptune and Samson are just three of the figures to be found in the gardens of Queluz Palace, the former residence of the Portuguese royal family. Over 100 varied sculptures by the English sculptor John Cheere once adorned these lavish gardens, and even in their dilapidated state they still exert a strong and emotive effect. Today only twenty now survive, and after years of being subjected to theft, vandalism, poor previous conservation, chemical erosion and biological degradation, these sculptures were in dire need of help.
An Anglo-Portuguese alliance
In 2003 WMF Britain and WMF Portugal signed a protocol for sharing responsibility for a large scale restoration project at the Palace. Given that the sculptures were originally made at Cheere’s Hyde Park Corner workshop, it made sense to continue this cultural dialogue. WMF Portugal (with IPPAR – The Portuguese Institute of Architectural Heritage) has taken responsibility for gardens and the extensive hydraulic system that feeds the fountains.
Meanwhile WMF Britain is leading the restoration work to the Cheere sculptures, many of which are significantly damaged and need sophisticated repair. Lead restoration techniques have developed greatly in the last ten years, and the Rupert Harris Conservation workshop is an international leader in the field.
From Portugal via East London to Tate Britain
Before they are returned home to Queluz Palace, Wedding of Bacchus and Dido and Aeneas will be exhibited at Tate Britain for 6 months from October 2008. Gallery 6 provides a temporary home for these masterpieces. They sit amongst a series of landscapes of a similar age, deliberately imitating the alfresco surroundings in which these sculptures would be accustomed. The exhibition follows the successful display of Anchises and Aeneas and The Rape of Persephone at the Victoria and Albert Museum in early 2004
See the sculptures being installed at Tate Britain
Blighted by time
Back on site, a major problem for both the restored and unrestored sculptures is the threat of lead oxide, which coats them in a brown layer. Although it may not be harming the statues, it is aesthetically unsightly when it occurs. Therefore none of the newly restored statues will be returned to the garden until the cause and effect of the lead oxide layer is understood.
Training in conservation skills
The first workshop successfully ran in October 2006, and a second is planned for October 2007. At this workshop two more sculptures - The Wedding of Bacchus and The Story of Melos will be brought to the UK along with two students. The training of these students will ensure the protection of these outstanding garden sculptures and other leads throughout Portugal.
Detail from the sculptures of Aeneas
and Anchises before restoration
showing heavy damage to the face
The damaged features are modeled, recast and applied