T W E N T Y F I R S T E D I T I O N
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SERVICES & TREATMENT :
PROTEC TION & REMEDIAL TREATMENT
4.1
renders. Marble was, however, imported
around the Roman Empire in the form of
statuary, sculpture and monumental pieces to
furnish temples, public buildings and private
dwellings. Fine marble remains associated with
the 3rd-century AD Temple of Mithras, which
was excavated in 1954 in the City of London,
are on display in the Museum of London.
The use of marble tesserae in mosaic
flooring is also well recorded and in the
Middle Ages Italian craftsmen imported
material from archaeological remains in Italy
to reuse with indigenous stones in order to
achieve the decorative patterns and colour
combinations of the Cosmati pavements
at Westminster Abbey and Canterbury
Cathedral (both 13th century).
Alabaster was the main stone used
for religious sculptures and monuments
in Britain from the mid 14th century.
A vibrant and profitable industry grew up
in London, Nottingham, York and Burton
upon Trent and mass-produced sculptures
based on stock themes and imagery were
exported in large numbers to mainland
Europe. Sometimes mistakenly identified
and referred to as marble, alabaster is
geologically very different, being a form of
gypsum – hydrated calcium sulphate.
The 17th century saw the eventual
replacement of alabaster with marble as
the main material for church and other
monuments. Sculptural and architectural
styles based on European examples were
studied, copied and then developed in Britain
and the demand for marbles increased as
monuments became more exuberant and
ambitious in breaking free of the staid
conventions of the alabaster workshops.
A typical example of this development can be
seen at St Mary’s, Bottesford in Leicestershire,
where the use of alabaster for the fine
memorials to the Dukes of Rutland was
phased out in the middle of the 17th century in
favour of statuary marble.
Realistic portraiture became a
key component of many monumental
compositions with the finest statuary marble
being sought out to produce sculpture of
the very highest quality. Marble funerary
monuments were important commissions
for the top sculptors and carvers during
the late 17th century through to the late
19th century, with sculptors such as Gibbons,
Rysbrack, Westmacott, Flaxman and others
producing a range of monuments often
comprising large and complex architectural
arrangements. At the same time, fairly simple
marble wall tablets with incised and gilded or
painted inscriptions became commonplace
throughout the British Isles
.
The start of the 17th century also saw the
beginning of the use of marble as a decorative
feature for internal floors and walls, again
influenced by the architecture of Europe.
One of the earliest examples in Britain is at
the Queen’s House, Greenwich, where Inigo
Jones, who had returned from Italy in 1614,
used marble for the flooring in 1635. Dark and
brightly coloured marbles, which were deemed
unsuitable for sculpture, were often used to
decorate and enrich grand interiors.1
DURABILITY AND DEFECTS
Statuary marble has been used externally for
garden statuary and sculpture, churchyard
monuments and mausolea but its relative
vulnerability to frost and other atmospheric
conditions meant that limestones, sandstones
and granites became established as the
preferred materials for external stone pieces.2
Even in an internal location, marble
monuments are subject to a range of processes
that can cause deterioration. Moisture
is usually the key agent of decay, with
condensation or penetrating and rising damp
(often the result of a poorly maintained roof
or rainwater goods) leading to direct surface
erosion, soluble salt action and corrosion of
iron fixings.
It should be emphasised that the most
immediate consideration with any monument
is the structural integrity of the piece which,
if compromised, may constitute a significant
health and safety risk to users of the building
or surrounding area. Of major concern is
the corrosion and sometimes disintegration
of iron fixings, which can occasionally lead
to catastrophic failure. Larger monuments
may contain dozens of metal fixings, all
playing a role in keeping the various parts in
balance and uniting the whole as a coherent
Dust and soiling on a church monument caused by a
combination of atmospheric pollutants, waxes and
other applied surface materials
A finely decorated marble cartouche on a monument from the 1780s, before and after cleaning to remove dust, decorators paint and surface soiling. The monument had
been divided in two by a stud wall, hence the vertical paint marks. The solvents used included acetone, saliva and deionised water.
composition. Simpler memorials may rely on
just a handful of fixings. Clear indications
of corrosion can be seen in rust staining,
cracking, spalling and movement.
Surface soiling can be attributed primarily
to airborne dust and pollutants, degraded
coatings, staining through condensation or
water ingress, corrosion of metallic elements
and fixings, and human activity (such as
previous maintenance and restoration,
handling and graffiti).
Conservation of monuments may
therefore include partial or total rebuilding,
pinning and repair of breaks and losses,
re-pointing of failed and open joints, and
consolidation of decaying stonework or
decorative finishes.
Surface cleaning may therefore appear
to be low on the priority list for marble
monuments. However, it can enhance a
monument and allow a clearer reading of
both fine detail such as inscriptions and
the sculptural whole. There is also the
understandable desire to maintain a piece in
its best possible condition as a memorial to
an event or person and as a work of art in its
own right.
CLEANING ASSESSMENT
Before any cleaning is undertaken, careful
assessment and recording should be carried out.
As part of this initial process, an
assessment of the surfaces to be cleaned must
be made to get a better understanding of what
might be removed by cleaning and what may be
left. This must also take into consideration the
residues that could be left on the surface from
the cleaning process/material.
