ARCE

Members of project staff removing cement from back of mosaic with angular grinder

Description:
Members of project staff removing cement from back of mosaic with angular grinder
Photographer:
Image captured by Project Staff
Date Created:
2002
Collection:
Greco-Roman Museum Mosaic Conservation
Series:
Conservation work in progress
Subseries:
Stag Hunt Mosaic
Time Period:
Hellenistic Period and Ptolemaic Period
Topic:
Mosaics
Genre:
color photographs, personnel, field tools, conservation (process), old conservation, and concrete work
Conservation Note:
The conservation process began with carefully washing the Stag Hunt mosaic and its photographic documentation, after which a graphic relief was made in scale 1:1 on a nylon sheet. These figures were then protected with gauze strips, adhered using warm animal glue. The mosaic was divided into 22 sections and strips of cloth were attached along the section borders. The sections were then removed and overturned. Removed tesserae was preserved and numbered. New support for the mosaic was prepared in the form of water, acrylic, sand, stone powder, and hydraulic lime. After several hours, the cloths were removed and the sections were cleaned of the glue over the span of multiple days using water and plastic brushes, and a final wash using pure water. Along the borders, a 4 cm aluminum frame was attached. Lacunae were filled with mortar compatible in grain and color. Excess sediments were removed with a micro sandblasting machine. Finally, the mosaic was laid over a 6 cm cement bed, reinforced by net and metallic pivots.(Final Technical Report and Presentation Report).
Creative Commons License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Local ID:
arce_ca_mmc_images_0287.tif
Project History:
Within the walls of the Greco-Roman Museum, Alexandria, Egypt are three intricate mosaics of very fine quality between the second and third century, BCE. Under the auspices of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), Father Michele Piccirillo of the Studium Biblicum Franciscum directed the conservation of the mosaics. Notably, it resulted in the public viewing of the stag hunt mosaic for the first time since its discovery. Conservation work was made possible with the support of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (formerly the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities).
Funding Agency:
Greco-Roman Museum Mosaic Conservation project was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Grant No. 263-G-00-93-00089-00 and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP) of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).