BETWEEN SCENES AND PORTRAITS 2

Colored glass positive with mother-of-pearl details

Silver gelatin glass negative before conservation treatment. After the treatment, it was decided to highlight the original format (13x18cm) by including cardboard to complement the missing area.

Carbon print process on porcelain : gelatin impregnated with light-sensitive chromium salts. Pigments form the image.

Photographs on enameled metal: carbon print process on
enameled surface. One of them dates from 1886 and has the photographer's identification on the back.

The conservation treatment of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, stereograms and other special photographs involved the hiring of a specialized interdisciplinary team. 

The work lasted for six months and took place in a studio set up in the Historical Archive, under the supervision of museum staff. 

Each one of the treated photographs has undergone a diagnosis. The treatment included preliminary cleaning, followed by opening the set - when necessary - and eventual replacement of glasses.

The main objective of the interventions carried out in the cases and frames was to recover their historical identity with minimum intervention as to safeguard them. All materials used were similar to the originals and of proven conservation quality. 

The conservation and restoration treatment of the 10 cases in the collection was carried out in the studio set up in the museum.

All treated items were individually stored in boxes made in suitable formats and with specific materials to ensure the protection of the originals. Finally, the new cases were placed in an existing storage cabinet at the museum.

The photographic documentation aimed to record all the items selected for the conservation treatment, as well as to register the work of the technicians and to expand the access to this collection, now digitized.

The 83 pieces of the collection were pictured before and after the conservation to document the results of the interventions.